winter wonderland

I apologize for not blogging sooner... The holiday season has been crazy! I was able to make the journey back to the states after my final papers were due to celebrate Christmas with my family in Iowa. Highlights include (but definitely aren't limited to) going out to the farm with my mom and dad to cut down our "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. My mom has a thing for trees that seem to be missing branches and a little thin through the middle, maybe it is sparked by compassion inside her to save a tree that wouldn't otherwise have been chosen.. I don't know! For those of you from the Cedar Valley, you may understand what I mean when I say that a couple trips to Cup of Joe on Main Street in Cedar Falls were a must! It is my favorite coffee shop, and a great place to meet with friends to catch up. I loved sharing stories about my journey this far- I didn't realize until recounting some of what I've learned just exactly how much I really am learning. This experience has been invaluable.

Christmas traditions run wild in my family, from Christmas Eve service as a family at my parent's church to leaving cookies out for Santa to reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke in the Bible before opening presents on Christmas morning. I spent New Year's in Banff, Canada with my sister, representing our family at wedding. This trip, planned last minute, was a blast! For those of you who have never been to Banff, it has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The last major highlight was January 5-- this date should ring a bell for all the Hawkeye fans out there-- the Orange Bowl. No, I wasn't able to go... but my brother is a redshirt freshman who got to dress for the game so my parents made the journey to Miami to support him and the team. I spent the evening with friends glued to a TV cheering them to victory! GO HAWKS! I'll tell ya, the Brits have no idea what they're missing. There's no way their football (soccer) could ever replace our football (American football) in my eyes!

It was really great to be home and experience what I would consider "real winter weather". I didn't realize how much I'd missed snow. I could do without the record-setting cold we've had the last couple days, but the snow was fun. However, this "real winter weather" currently has me trapped in Iowa, having had to postpone my flight back to the UK. Between the snowstorm that hit the midwest yesterday and Wednesday, and the unusually cold, snowy weather in London, there was no way I was able to make my scheduled flight yesterday. The next available flight I was able to get on is for Tuesday. Gotta love Iowa winters!

British holiday factoid for you as well: the day after Christmas in the UK is "Boxing Day." While the history of this day is fading through the generations (most people my age relate it to shopping, sort of like our Black Friday after Thanksgiving), and the day is marked by the opening of many shopping sales, the real meaning of it is quite interesting to me. Back when there was class segregation and wealthy families had servants that waited on them, the day after Christmas was the only day of the year that the servants had off to go visit and spend time with their families. The servants boxed up the leftovers from Christmas and left it for the families to eat while they were away. Thus being called "Boxing Day." A traditional Boxing Day in the UK, if one isn't hitting the shops, is spent with family having cold meat sandwiches. I like it.

Stay warm friends!!