ChAoS

That is really the only word to describe the Scurlock household right now.  Both Josh and I are in a total state of chaoticness...is that even a word??  Well, it should be.

We've got so much going on in the next couple of weeks that I am having a difficult time even wrapping my head around it.  I am in the midst of packing up our household for our big move on May 25th back to the United States.  It might not sound like much, but I've some how managed to acquire quite a bit of stuff over the last 9 months.  On top of that, before we leave Europe completely, Josh and I are going on a last minute European vacation after his finals end.  We head to Rome the 19th-21st and Ibiza, Spain the 21st-24th.  We are both super excited for our vacation, but it does add a bit of stress to my life. I have to make sure not to pack the stuff that we will need for those travels yet.  Not to mention we arrive back to Newcastle at 10:00p.m. on May 24th and leave at 6:15a.m. the next morning for Los Angeles.  Everything's got to be ready to go before we leave for Italy.

SGU provided a huge help to students by setting up a boat that all students were allowed to buy space on to ship items from Newcastle to Grenada.  We are so thankful for this since we had to buy a lot of things for our flat here and would have been very sad to leave it all and have to re-buy (at a more expensive price) items we already had once we get to the island.  Josh and I purchased three spaces.  The items for the crate have to be delivered to the school on the last day of finals (which mean we will be in the UK for a week without dishes, pots, pans, etc).  That should be interesting. So I have been busy trying to pack boxes with items wrapped in bubble wrap and newspaper hoping that they make it safely across the water.  I have boxes, bubble wrap, scissors, tape, and newspaper all over my apartment. Not to mention that all the color has come down off the walls and made it's way into cardboard boxes.  It's a bit depressing to say the least.

Look at my apartment.

Boxes, Bins, and Labels Oh My!

Then of course there is closing bank accounts, canceling internet, water, and electric services, getting our deposit back, cleaning up the flat,and of course for Josh, that tiny little part about getting through his finals!  The schedule for term 2 finals is a bit daunting.  He actually started finals this past Wednesday.  He has one today, three next week, and his last final on Monday, May 16th.  If you are keeping up, that's 6 total! Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it.

So,while I am busy wrapping, taping, cutting, and boxing up our life in Newcastle (and making a huge mess while I'm at it), Josh is studying hard with books and notecards strewn about the apartment.  The place is a mess, and if you know me at all, you know that that's NOT how I like it. 

Josh has many study spots during finals.

I suppose there's nothing to do but let the chaos continue until we leave.  No point in fighting it this week.  Oh well!  Let's just pray everything gets done on time.  So here's to the chaos...keep it coming!

STILL Fascinated!

Yep, I'll admit it.  I'm STILL extremely obsessed fascinated by all the wedding shenanigans.  I KEEP watching the tv specials.  I KEEP reading the articles online.  And I KEEP looking at fascinators when I walk through Eldon Square.  Someone get me out of the UK before I do something crazy like buy a fascinator or try to crash a Royal Wedding so I can wear one!  Just Kidding!  Actually, not really. 

Speaking of leaving the UK, three weeks from today, Josh and I will be flying out of Newcastle bound for the western shores of California!  I can't believe we are almost done living in England and more importantly, Josh is less than two weeks away from being done with year 1 of medical school.  Crazy!  I am going to miss our flat and our little town of Jesmond, I'll miss walking through Jesmond Dene, but most importantly, I'll miss my BFF Julie.  She has made this term in Newcastle so amazing for me. 

We have become such close friends especially considering that until last November, we were total strangers.  It seems like most days some days, we spend more time with each other than we do with our significant others, which explains why our friendship has grown so much.  I seriously don't know what I will do without her once we get to Grenada in June.  Luckily, she and Kevin will be meeting up with us again in January 2012 in Grenada!  And if this year is any indication of how quickly our time in Grenada will fly by, then it won't seem like long before they are there too.

Anyway, back to fascinating fascinators.  Julie and I had a girl's day on the town today.  We had lunch in Jesmond at a quaint little cafe. After, we headed into city center for some errands and then a movie at The Gate.  We saw Water for Elephants.  It was great and I would definitely recommend it to everyone.  I read the book which I think is a MUST before seeing the movie, but if you aren't really into reading, the movie is still worth seeing.  While we were out shopping running errands, we tried on some fun fascinators at T K Maxx.  Yes, it's T K Maxx, like T J Maxx.  I don't know why they switch out the "J" for the "K" here but then again, I don't understand why they do a lot of the things they do here.  We had lots of fun putting on the different ones. 

I shoulda bought it!

Notice the "TK Maxx" sign in the background.

I think I really NEED to have one of these.  What do you think?   A girl's necessity?!?

Fascinated by Fascinators..And All Things Royal

I have been so obsessed with the Royal Wedding these last few weeks. 
Maybe it's because I LOVE fairy tales and this is a real life one. 
Maybe it's because my wedding was only a mere 10 months ago and so weddings are fresh in my mind.  Maybe it's because I currently live in England and so I feel so much more connected to it all then I would living anywhere else in the world. 
Or, maybe it's all of the above. 
Whatever the case may be, I have been completely and totally fascinated with all things royal.

I have watched all the documentaries, specials, and Lifetime movies about Prince William and Kate.  And yesterday, I barely took my eyes off of the television all day.  I went out and bought UK newspapers yesterday and today, and I have read so many articles online about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as well as the Royal family that I could practically write a biography on them.

My poor poor husband just can't understand my obsession.  I think he thinks it is bordering on crazy.  Buuuut that's okay with me, there are worse things to be addicted to.  And how can you not be anything but captivated by this family and their legacy?

I know we can't and won't ever have a King and Queen of America (though that might be a lot of fun), but can we please, please, PLEASE start wearing fascinators to weddings!!!   Julie and I almost bought one at Eldon Square to wear to my tea party, but they were expensive and I think Josh might have killed me.  I don't think I saw one person at the Royal Wedding not wearing a hat or a fascinator and now I know why.  It's part of the Royal Wedding dress code that all females wear a headpiece of some sort.  These were some of my favorites of the day.



Ahhh the Beckhams....FAB-U-LOUS



The blue fascinator is to die for!

But as with most things, there has to be a worst list.  And I think Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie absolutely take the cake.  I read online somewhere that one person thought Princess Beatrice's fascinator "looked like she had an octopus on her head."  I think they got it spot on.  Who is her stylist?  It's terrible.

Who wants to start a "Let's Get Fascinators in the USA" club?!?!?

A Day For The History Books

Once upon a time there was a common country girl named Kate.  But far away in a castle in London, there lived a handsome royal Prince named William.  All the girls in all the land wished and prayed that they could become William's Princess.  Fate brought country girl Kate and the handsome Prince together.  They fell in love and nine years later, on April 29, 2011, the Prince made Kate his Princess while billions watched.  And they lived happily ever after.

The End

I guess it's not the end.  It's actually more like the beginning.  It's a fairy tale story that touches the heartstrings of any girl who has ever watched Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, or The Little Mermaid.  We've all done it.  Hoped and dreamed that our Prince Charming would one day find us and sweep us off our feet.  And some of us, like me, were even able to find him.

As I watched the Royal Wedding of William Prince of Wales and Kate Middleton yesterday, I couldn't help but feel like I was witnessing one of the most historical moments of my lifetime so far.  When I think back to where I was during some big moments in history during my lifetime, only a handful come to mind.

1. The day O.J. Simpson was pronounced not guilty of murder.  I know this seems strange, but it WAS a big deal.  I hardly understood what was going on, but I remember being in my fourth grade teacher Mr. McCall's classroom.  Lots of the teachers had the news on their television and were extremely upset and surprised about the final verdict.
2. September 11, 2001.  I doubt anyone in the world, but especially anyone living in the United States will ever forget this day.  I found out right after I got to Stockdale High School that morning by friends in front of my locker.  It was scary and there was a lot of uncertainty about what would happen after that day.
3. The day Barack Obama became President of the United States of America.  I may not have voted for him and I may not agree with all of his policys and actions as President, but no one can deny that it was a big day in the history books when Obama became the first African American President of the USA.

And now, I will always remember that I was living in Newcastle upon Tyne, England when Kate Middleton became The Duchess of Cambrige by marrying Prince William of Wales in what was the most watched wedding in the world's history.

As fun as it might have been to go down to London to be part of the chaos that was the Royal Wedding, I quite enjoyed just watching it live from the comfort of my flat with all of my fellow SGU SO's and their children.  It was especially fun since I was just in London in March with my siblings, and I not only recognize the famous places passed on the Royal Route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, but I have walked along almost exactly the same route.

I invited all of the SO's over to my flat for a Royal Wedding Tea Party complete with tea, scones, cakes, and finger sandwhiches.  It was a lot of fun "oohing" and "ahhing" over Kate's absolutely stunning wedding gown.  Which, by the way, looks surpisingly similar to my Mom's wedding gown worn almost 27 years ago.  Apparently, Mama's got good taste.


Mama may not be a Royal, but she sure looked like a Princess on her wedding day.

My contribution to the tea party was a homemade Union Jack cake.  Although, I felt a little unpatriotic making a red, white, and blue cake that wasn't an American flag.  But, it turned out perfect and I am constantly surprised at my ever increasing abilites in the kitchen.

That's "made from scratch" whipped frosting too!

I did a little decorating for the party, because honestly, how could you not when all the stores are full of wedding paraphernalia.

It was a really fun day with the girls.  I am sure that we will all remember where we were the day the Prince and Kate were married.  It's a day that will be put in the history books....well at least the UK history books!

One big group!!

He is Risen

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! 

Yesterday, Josh and I celebrated our first Easter together away from our families.  I was a little sad at first, thinking about the fact that we were missing Easter church service with our family, dinner at our Gramma's house, and Easter baskets from Mom and Dad.  But then I realized that because we are here in the UK, we are also missing having to drive from one family's house to another family's house.  Practically missing dinner at every place.  Spending almost as much time in the car as we were at each house.  And being so busy that there is hardly even a chance to focus on the real reason for the day, Jesus' death on the cross in order to save us all from our sins and His resurrection three days later. 

So yesterday, Josh and I enjoyed a very pleasant Easter Sunday in Newcastle upon Tyne, where the weather was so perfect it could only have been planned by God and where there was only one stop for Easter dinner....our flat, with our good friends here that have truly become our family.

Growing up in the Fairman household, Easter baskets were a must.  Even last year (with four kids over the age of 18), Mom and Dad littered the Fairman floors with candy and goodies for us to collect on Easter morning.  I didn't make Josh hunt for candy and Easter eggs (though that would have been much more fun), but I did make us some Easter baskets, because honestly, Easter's not really complete without them.  And also, I have LOADS of time on my hands for fun crafts.

My little Easter Bunny Hubby

On Easter morning, Josh and I ventured down to St. George's Church (coincidence...I think not.) in Jesmond.  St. George's Church is Anglican, which is from what I can tell, some type of reformed Catholicism.  Josh and I aren't Catholic or Anglican for that matter.  At home, we regularly attend a Southern Baptist church, but here in the UK, Baptist churches are nearly impossible to find and in my opinion, whether you are Catholic or Anglican, Baptist or Mennonite, we are all worshiping the same God and so on Easter Sunday, Josh and I worshiped with the Anglicans, in what was probably the oldest and most beautiful church I have ever attended.  I really wanted to take pictures inside, but I figured that might be a little inappropriate.

St. George's Church

After the service, we headed back to our flat to finish the last minute preparations for our Easter lunch.  I finished cleaning up the house and preparing my additions to our potluck. 

My Easter table

Our friends Kevin, Julie, Kris, Tarrah, Ryan, Allison, and Austin came over to enjoy Easter lunch with us.  The afternoon began with an Easter egg hunt in our front yard for Austin.  He is just over one and a half and this was his first real Easter egg hunt.  He picked up the point of it surprisingly fast and after only a couple of minutes, he was running all over the yard collecting candy filled eggs.  It was soooo cute.

Josh and I

After stuffing our faces with lots of good food, including some amazing ham that Allison made and the best macaroni and cheese ever by Julie, we decided that before we could eat Kris's homemade lemon meringue pie, we needed to go for a stroll through Jesmond Dene.  It was such a perfect day for walking in the park.  We took a couple blankets out there, some drinks, and the football and spent an hour or so basking in the sunshine and enjoying the day.

When we returned to the flat, we indulged in pie, brownies, cupcakes, ice cream, and candy.  Not my best diet day by any means, but it was a great Easter Sunday with our friends.  We are so thankful for each and every one of them.



Our Newcastle Family



Spring Chicks

Tomorrow, Josh and I are hosting Easter Sunday Brunch at our flat for our Newcastle "family."  Everyone is bringing/making at least one thing for our potluck.  I am in charge of a salad, mashed potatos and gravy, and a dessert of my choice.

I frequently visit the website "Our Best Bites," and if you haven't looked at it before, you should definitely check it out here.  They have some GREAT recipes and some really fun crafts.  Julie and I have used quite a few recipes from here including the amazing Baked Potato Soup , Creamy Chicken Taquitos, and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Josh absolutely loves everything I have made from this website...and he is sometimes hard to please.

So, when I started looking for a good Easter dessert, this was the first place I checked.  And sure enough, "Our Best Bites" didn't let me down.  They had the cutest Easter cupcake recipe up and best of all, it's ridiculously easy to make!  I guess part of the reason this particular recipe is so easy is because you can make any type of cupcake that you want and then just use the "recipe" to decorate it.  I bought Betty Crocker boxed cake mix and frosting and baked some chocolate cupcakes.  I would have preferred white cake, but alas, the joys of living in a foreign country...

Next, I frosted them with white frosting which I added a teeny tiny amount of yellow food coloring to.  Then I used shredded coconut and added a few drops of the food coloring and mixed it together well to make baby chick hair, errr fur,  ummm feathers, fuzz?? What exactly do they have when they are born?? Ehh...you know what I mean. 

Shredded coconut with yellow food coloring.

 Using brown, blue, and green M&M's for the eyes and orange Starbursts cut up and molded for the beak...

I was able to create these adorable little Spring Chicks for our Easter lunch.  Aren't they just so cute!?!

I just think they turned out perfect!  I can't wait for everyone to see them tomorrow.

Happy Easter everyone!

Boot Camp

As my last post indicated, the weather in Newcastle as of late has just been fantastic.  There really are no other ways to describe it.  So today, instead of my normal routine at the gym (elliptical, some running, and some weight training), Julie and I decided to go out to Jesmond Dene and design our own boot camp!  We put on our gym clothes and our tennis shoes, packed our lunches, and headed down to the Dene for a workout in the sunshine.

Josh mocked me as I was walking out the door saying that all Julie and I can really accomplish when we are together is talking, talking, and more talking.  But I was determined to prove him wrong.  We set up 7 stations for exercising. 

Station 1:  Sprints
Station 2: Push-ups
Station 3: Walking Lunges
Station 4: Sit-ups
Station 5: Squats
Station 6: Planks
Station 7: Jumping Jacks

We did each station for one minute and then rotated and we completed the entire cycle five times.  By the end of it, we were sweating and we were worn out!  It might not sound that challenging at first glance, but I dare you to try it and then tell me it's not hard.  Have you ever done push-ups for one minute straight?!?  My arms are gonna be sore for days!  Our goal is to do this boot camp a couple of times a week together.  We'll probably switch up the stations, add more, do different ones, but it's so fun to workout outside with a friend.  It helps me stay motivated to workout when I can change up my workout routine. 

On a side note, there were some young kids (probably no older than 10 years) who were out throwing a ball around and were purposefully pegging us with it.  They kept saying "Sorry!" after they did it.  Finally, I said "You're not sorry.  You keep doing it."  The kid grabbed his ball and ran away yelling "Yeah! I'm not sorry cause you're AMERICAN!!"  What are parents teaching their children!?!?!?!

Oh well, Julie and I enjoyed the sun and a picnic lunch after our workout and then we were able to do just as Josh said "talk, talk, talk."