going to the chapel

today it finally hit me that i'm engaged.

it feels more real putting it in writing. unfortunately it hit me two months late...but it hit me nonetheless. it's so surreal and before now it has just felt too good to be true. actually it still does.

today's countdown is 196 days. that isn't very many and possibly a reason for the tidal wave of reality.

i love this photo shoot. is it too late to get married in italy or spain?? wait...let's not get out of hand here. i just got a recently got a grip on reality and can't let it slip quite yet. i'll save my italian wedding dreams for tomorrow. as of now san diego is looking lovely for a march wedding.

julia

Many of you know I'm completely obsessed with Julia Child. For many reasons. She's charming, lovable, creative and gave us delicious food. So I'm writing my senior thesis on her. In my research I realized she and her husband had a very similar relationship to M and I. Paul was creative and always took gorgeous pictures, did art shows and encouraged her to find her own creativity. She wouldn't have been the woman she was if it wasn't for him. M encourages me in the same way.

Maybe I'm just getting romantic in my research. Maybe not. I hope the latter. This is my favorite picture of them.

tuesday

some days just need a rice krispie treats and a breath of pretty flowers.

fort collins

this weekend i ventured to fort collins, colorado. it was sunny and snowy and magical. here are a few pictures i took on my iphone.

he took a piece of my heart

this little boy is just a dream.

in honor of my sister's wedding planning

i can't wait.

an unexpected combination

first let me start by saying i suck at blogging when i'm at school.

there. i said it! everyone else was thinking it so why not just say it. but with that aside i do love blogging and browsing blogs so here i go again.

todays blog is about the marriage between two unexpected things.

mango

and lime.

the two of them create a flawless summer snack. freshly sliced mango with dashes of squeezed lime juice makes a tasty afternoon treat by the pool. it's so sweet it feels like you're eating dessert.

and if you want to make the treat even more delicious throw into the bowl some honeydew, pineapple, cantaloupe (why is that u in there??) and top it off with toasted coconut. it is tropical and delightful and the perfect way to kick your fruit salad up a notch.

new years resolutions.

1. to write at least 4 times a week (not on this...just in general) good practice.

2. to try really hard to keep this resolution.

i'm trying to be realistic this year. sometimes i just shoot too far for my own good.

restarting

hello!

i will be restarting my blog as..well..random stuff? for a while i was blogging about my study abroad adventures in england and other wonderful places. but now i would like to take a few minutes of my day to put something lovely on here. so for now:

here's to christmas. and becoming far too easily fond of you, when you leave far too quickly.

and here's to you 2010. you'll have to outdo 2009, which was wonderful. but i choose to believe you have serious potential.

Clive Staples

You are my hero.

I had my CS Lewis Seminar on monday and the entire experience blew me away. not only did we have the most amazing discussion of The Great Divorce (which is one of my favorite books!) I also stumbled upon his "garden" which was the most incredible spot i have ever been in, maybe in my whole life. i can completely see where he got his inspiration for Narnia because i honestly stepped into Narnia for a few mintues. i loved it so much that I wrote my poem for this week on it, and i thought i would share a little bit of what i have been doing for that class so here it is:

Glassy pond, no single wrinkle, surface dusty.

Abundant branches, touching white patched sky.

Unstopping forest no green, but perfectly rusty.

Exposed trees, soft mud marked with footsteps passersby

One bird, two birds, glide producing folds by sides.

Distress turned smoke, blown off with affection.

Limbs growing down bending to get a drink at water’s tide.

Some trunks with knobs and knots, a demonstration.

More than the touch, more to discover, more than the seen.

More to desire, more to thirst for, more than what has been.

Hope you enjoyed it!

random happenings in colleen's life

take 3....4?

1. i read 3 books this weekend. 3.

2. i rediscovered how much i love toast and have eaten seven pieces in the past 2 days.

3. it is 40 degrees outside and i am almost refusing to step outside anymore.

4. i only have one more essay to write for my shakespeare tutorial and i will be 1/3 of the way done with my oxford semester.

5. i recently had a complete midlife crisis and came to grips with the fact that i will probably be eating one meal a week once i graduate (my dad promptly told me i was being ridiculous....and after reading that sentence over i have to agree.)

6. i have 30 days left in oxford.

7. i really want to go to disneyland after seeing the fireworks the other night.

8. i remembered how glad i am i got rid of my white sweatpants (thank you red and court...ps i love you)

9. i have made half coffee half hot coco every single night this week. it's the best.

10. my friend kathleen said this exact sentence, "one time when i was younger i was in a talent show at an asian only school and i was dressed as a mad scientist and my brother was dressed as a robot."...... let's be honest i will never ever hear that sentence again.

11. i have taken the title of uncreative college student and have been eating cereal for lunch and pancakes for dinner. i just really love breakfast.....and toast in between.

12. a boy just walked into the library with his entire head shaved except for the top, where he left a bleach blonde disheveled afro...i mean it's probably the latest style.

13. i sat next to a girl and boy from biola today in a lecture. i gave them the cold shoulder.

14. i met a woman from georgia today and she was so jet lagged she ordered a large americano with 7 shots...more power to you sister!

this was sort of a lame random happenings post...hopefully the next one will be a bit better. but its foggy outside and my brain is foggy from school. more tomorrow

xoxo

Gossip Girl.

(that was for you Shannon and Court and Red)

can we just talk about how adorable my parents are?

i hope i look half as good as my mom does when i am her age. miss you guys!

ps mom your costume blows mine out of the water.

this weekend

even though this weekend has consisted almost entirely of reading and more reading, we decided to take the night off last night and go into town for a Guy Fawkes day celebration. We celebrated the holiday with, what seemed like, the whole population of Oxford. people walked in pack down to south park for a fireworks show at 6:30. we arrived a little early and the november weather caught up with us as we were standing, waiting for the show in the 39 degree weather. i was very glad to have a wool coat, and kim bought us each candied apples, so that also helped get our minds off the cold. the fireworks show was beautiful and it was so fun to be able to celebrate the holiday with all of the brits. i might even go so far to say that it beat the disneyland fireworks show. shannon is going to think that that is blasphemy :] after the show we walked to one of our favorite pubs called The Chequers. it has been around since 1500. yeah. we ate dinner and had more cider and called it a night.

halloween

carving pumpkins!
end results! mine is the witch.
blenheim palace
the butterfly house
warwick castle, my favorite view.
friends at the castle.
owl costume.

let's start by stating the obvious: i have not been holding up to my end of the deal.

i'm really sorry about that...but you guys have the easier end of the deal....that's my only excuse. oh and i've been reading so much i'm sure i'll need a new glasses prescription when i get home. well not last weekend, but the weekend before (oh gosh i really am far behind) it was halloween, and was probably my favorite weekend of oxford so far. the friday night before halloween my friends and i carved pumpkins, watched harry potter and drank homemade cider. it was so nice to involve ourselves in an activity that didn't involve books, or writing an essay or anything intellectual...and i have to say it was the best pumpkin i have ever carved. maybe it was the oxford influence. i named it maple (before i turned it into a witch) after the pumpkin carving, a few of us got in our first round of costumes and headed over to a halloween party at St. Catherine's. The theme was to go as something you are afraid of. Hats off to the Brits and their costumes because my favorite part of going to the party was seeing the hilarious costumes everyone was wearing. It was a bit concerning, though, that half the girls that were walking around were dressed as brides, and half the boys walking around were dressed as girls.

The next day, Halloween day, the group that we are studying with went on a free trip that was planned for us to Blenheim Palace and Warwick Castle. The palace was unreal, and absolutely the most gorgeous place I have been to in England, so far. It was a perfect fall day and we enjoyed walking through the houses, on the huge grass fields and through the butterfly house. Warwick castle was completely decked out in Halloween decorations and almost every person there was in a costume. It was the perfect atmosphere to be in for Halloween. And provided the best view of England I have seen. That night we got in our real costumes and I threw together a not so impressive owl costume, but had a great time in it anyway.

the terrible two

this is kelly lepenske everyone. she's incredible and i love her a lot. and it was halloween so that's why i was dressed like that :]

i miss this

see you in 6 and a half weeks not so small sir.

a typical oxford sunday afternoon

this past sunday a few of us decided enough was enough when it came to studying, and went for a gorgeous walk on a beautifully sunny (remember that for later) sunday afternoon. we went on a walk that most of us had never been on and discovered a new part of town.

we walked down paths that looked like narnia, lampposts and all. we fed ducks, we found fields that looked they were from pride and prejudice, we found sticks that looked like wands and played with them.

but my favorite part, was the nook we found. it had started to sprinkle, and at that moment we looked to our right and saw an area covered by trees that would protect us from the rain. so we climbed through the branches and stepped into a little hole in the trees. we could hear the rain falling, but we couldn't feel it.

after a bit, we stepped back out and 20 yards later, we were caught in a downpour with no jackets and no umbrellas. by the time we got home we were a pack of drowned rats, but laughing and ready to spend the rest of the rainy afternoon reading for school. i personally spent it reading The Great Divorce. mm...one of my favorites :]

a good quote

"love. fall in love and stay in love. write only what you love, and love what you write. the key word is love. you have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for."

-ray bradbury

i know there are a lot of people who don't really like him, i personally am neutral. but i really adore this quote and i think its something that i will definitely have to keep in mind for my primary tutorial.

library

when we got here we were told that most of our time was going to be spent in the library. "yeah right," i thought. "i'm going to be doing so many other things and getting my stuff done, but definitely not in the library..."

well i know it's shocking but they were right. i have spent multiple hours in the libraries, but the things i'm learning and studying make the library time a bit enjoyable. plus, i get to be in some of the most renowned and beautiful libraries in the entire world. so, complaining is not an option....but as you can see in the picture...sleeping is.

you know you've lived in england for almost 2 months when...

(yeah thats the library i get to study in.)


- your thoughts have acquired a british accent.
- when you have no idea whether the person talking to you has an american accent or a british accent because neither stands out anymore
- you know every single place in town that gives student discounts and you milk it for all its worth at lunch time
- you have three stacks of books on your desk each from different libraries, ordered by due date
- it is second nature to put on tights and a scarf in the morning
- your tongue gets burned every day due to the scalding soup or tea
- you schedule "afternoon tea" into your day
- you make the walk home like a zombie from an entire day spent in the library
- you are genuinely sad when you feel like you didn't squeeze absolutely every drop of your tudor's brilliance out of each tutorial
- you're reading 5 different books at once
- you get confused when you see an american written date and are thrown off by a couple months (have i really been in the library that long?)
- you know not to go into the blackwell's cafe...ever. bc it's always so packed that you can't even hear your own british accented thoughts.
- you hold the exact change in your hand for your order of coffee at your favorite spot
- you start adding the letter "y" at the end of words. like "hiya!" and "soya milk"
- you know which side streets to take to avoid buisnessmen talking to people "no i do not have 10 seconds...and you will take so much longer than that. i know it."
- you carry an umbrella in your purse at all times
- it's exciting when you wake up and the sun is out
- you are constantly hungry from walking everywhere