A Double Dose

Happy Early Birthdays, Aunt Sarah and Aunt Chelsey! Sorry to lump your videos together in one day, but we didn't know if we'd have much Internet access while in the Lake District this week, and we wanted you to know we're thinking of you both as we prepare to head out. Hope you both have great birthdays this week!

For Aunt Sarah


For Aunt Chelsey

Transcript: It's Aunt Chelsey's turn.

For Fun

Transcript: look like a bunny, and you smell like one...

Facebook viewers will have to go to wbsenglish.blogspot.com to see these.

Culture Shock?

If urine samples gross you out, don't read this post.

One cultural difference we've wondered about since living in the UK this time around is the approach toward taking urine samples. Our doctor's office instructed us to bring a sample along to an appointment in any washed bottle we had at home. And now that I'm receiving prenatal care and have to provide samples regularly, I've been given a vile to bring full to each appointment then take home, wash, and use again the next time. Good idea from a recycling point of view, but I'm wondering why at my midwife's clinic in the US I had to follow 5 or 10 carefully prescribed steps to produce a sample properly? Are both methods equally valid?

Gearing Up for Keswick

We're getting prepared for a 6-hour drive to the Lake District Saturday. Wes'll be manning a UCCF booth for a week at a Christian convention there that's been running since 1875 or so.

It's supposed to be rainy (it is England, after all), so we're making sure we have our boots (Wellies) with us this time, so we don't come home covered in mud like we did after the torrential rains of Forum last year. Sophia has just acquired some new red, Paddington Bear boots with which she's very pleased.

I'm not sure what Sophia and I'll be doing, but we'll be glad to be with Wes for the week. Also, the scenery is supposed to be beautiful, so hopefully we can take nice walks, and I'll try to get some good pictures.

Please pray for a peaceful journey to and from Keswick (pronounced Kezick) and for Christians at the convention to be interested in supporting UCCF's work among university students in the UK.

A Grinding Experience with Cardamom

Today was my last day teaching English to Shakiba from Afghanistan (left) and Negeste from Eritrea (right), so I made them recipes from their countries. They were both quite pleased with their gifts, so I guess the recipes turned out to be authentic enough. The fruit kabob with lime, pineapple, and watermelon for Negeste wasn't too hard. And I thought the Afghan cookies were going to be fairly simple, too--only a handful of ingredients and steps. After all, I was using a cookbook of recipes from around the world for kids. Perhaps the problem is that the cookbook was made in the US and my grocery store in the UK didn't carry cardamom in any form except pods. So, following the instructions on the back of the bottle, I split open the pods (usually with some difficulty with a knife) and tried to gently crush the seeds (with the back of a spoon). No gentleness was needed. Those seeds did not want to crush. Perhaps it would've been an easier experience if I'd had better equipment. In the end I probably spent an hour and a half or more trying to crush a tablespoon's worth of cardamom seeds with a knife (the knife was Wes' idea and worked better than any of mine). So, my kitchen floor has a lot of semi-crushed cardamom seeds on it now. Needless to say (for those of you who know my culinary tendencies), I don't anticipate using cardamom again any time soon. Can anyone use half a bottle of pods?