Ok, Ok. I know it's half way through October, but I thought I should finally put something up about our comings and goings for the month of September--very busy and exciting.
September 3rd & 4th: Hopped on a nice, big British Airways jet to London to attend and present a paper at the BERA (British Educational Research Association) Annual Conference. Sadly, I had to leave Tim behind in AZ to start his grueling life as a 1st year MBA student. I arrived in London, hopped on the tube into town only to discover that there was a massive tube strike. There weren't any signs posted about the strike and the woman at the tubestop at Heathrow airport failed to mention the fact that the Picadilly line (the line from Heathrow airport) was the only one operating that day. I lugged my heavy suitcase up and down countless stairs before I realized the fact that no other lines were operating and finally made my way up to the street to walk approximately 2.5 miles to my "free conference accomodation" with about 8 million other London residents making their way home from work on foot. The BERA conference generously offered one night's free accommodation in the University College London Dorms. I knew they would be dorms, but hey it was one night I didn't have to pay for and I thought I'd be too tired to care. I guess I should have made the connection that these were the exact same dorms Louise's brother Andrew lived in during his first year at UCL when I was living in London. That might have prepared me for what to expect. I do realize just how spoiled I am though. I always get to stay in wonderful Marriott hotels that I would never normally be able to afford if it weren't for the Pablo connection and those ridiculously cheap associate rates. Oh, how thankful I am for those rates. The next morning I gladly turned in my dorm and multiple security passkeys and checked into the Regent's Park Marriott. Clean sheets never looked so good.
September 5th: BERA Conference presentation. I presented my paper on the DC Public Charter School research that I did last year as part of my research assistantship. I was the first presenter, in the first session of the conference, so my nerves didn't have time to get the best of me and I was able to acutally sit and enjoy the other presenters. It went really well. Good question and answer with the audience, too. The discussant/chair of my session was the assistant dean of research at the Institute of Education, University of London and also happened to have published a lot of research on the UK equivalent of charter schools. She was lovely. We had a really nice chat after the session and she invited me back to her office and gave me her book on the relevant material and a lot of good feedback and encouragement on my research. I was so shocked at her kindness and generosity. Probably, because I haven't encountered anything even vaguely similar in my own program. If I ever do decide to go the academic route and teach, I'd like to be a professor and mentor like Dr. Marianne Coleman.
September 6th-8th: Louise joined me at the Regent's Park Marriott and we had so much fun. Out to eat at our favorite places. We went to see the Mary Poppin's musical, which surprisingly I really enjoyed. We had dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant Haandi's in Knightsbridge with good friend Erika and just had so much fun being together and talking. Oh yeah, and I did attend a few more sessions of the BERA conference. Thanks to George Washington University and the BERA conference for paying for this incredible trip.
September 8th-10th: Went to Louise and Jonathon's adorable new house in a village about an hour south of London. It was great to spend time with them and their friends in their new home. I'm just waiting for the house next door to go up for sale so that Tim and I can move in. I think I could get used to English country living :) We also got to spend a great evening with the Neu family. They have the most adorable 4 year old twin girls who each have vocabularies (and adorable accents) that belie their age.
September 10th-12th: Happy Birthday to me! In June, for my 30th birthday, Louise gave me a girls trip to Barcelona. Can you believe that? I'm spoiled rotten. I have the most kind, generous, and thoughtful best friend. I'll let you read her version of our travels. She's a much better journaler (word?) than I am. And has a much better memory. I just love her. Just click on the links below.
September 13th: Home again. I was sad to leave London. It is always too little time with Louise. But I was missing Tim a lot. It was nice to get back to my wonderful husband.
September 14-16: Back on a plane. This time to Utah for my brother Bradon's mission farewell. It was beautiful and bittersweet. He gave a great talk that made me realize my baby brother is kind of a man now. Weird...and again, bittersweet. He was only 6 years old when I left home for college. Oh, how time flies.
September 17-26: I can't really remember what happened during this week, except that Tim was already taking exams and spending insane hours on campus studying and I was working on some paper edits. Busy, Busy.
September 26-Oct 3: I went back to Utah to "babysit" my brothers while my parents went on a church history tour around New England. Not much to babysit with a 19 and 17 year old, but it was a great excuse for me to have just a little more time with them before Bradon left for the mission. Here are a couple of pics of Provo in September (minus the snowstorm we experienced on Sat. Sept 29...I'm still waiting for Maddie to email the pics of me and my Bros...right Maddie?
The Provo river that runs through my parents backyard.
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