Our Alice In Wonderland

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

We thought it fitting for Millie to be Alice for Halloween since the story originated and was written in Oxford. The "real" Alice, Alice Liddell, was the daughter of the Dean of Oxford's "Christ Church" where Lutwidge Dodgson was a lecturer. Dodgson is the author of Alice In Wonderland, but he changed his name to Lewis Carroll for it's publication. It's told that Dodgson based his many stores around the people and places that surrounded him. Including the Original Sheep Shop (Alice goes there in the book and finds a sheep working the counter) to the famous Oxford Dodo and Alice herself. We had a great Halloween walking the city and visiting a few of these historical places. It was pretty cool to see a stuffed Dodo bird! Everyone we walked by had to stop and tell us how cute Millie was and Millie had to tell everyone her Nana made her costume. Thanks Nancy!

Millie, Brady, and the White Rabbit

Playing at Christs Church

The Old Sheep Shop

Amelia and Amanda

The Natural History Museum.

It was cool to see the Dodo but I definitely didn't mean to make this picture GIANT. Oh well.

The Next American Idol

Green Acres

Thursday seems to officially be our day out and today we headed to Millets Farm. It was sooooo fun and perfect, even for those without kids (Kristina). We had a new mommy join us today; Eisha and her two little girls Olivia who is 4 and Mary is 2. I met Eisha through church and since Olivia doesn't have school this week they were able to come with us. Okay so notice we have matching jackets, well it was FREEZING and they were only #5 at the little clothing store there. We all had to jump on the bandwagon. Next we headed to the play ground. The kids loved it! We then wondered on down to see the animals. Millie was so happy, she really misses going to Nana's house to feed the horseys apples. They had alpacas, cows, and sheep. Usually there are more animals, but they were taken somewhere else for the rest of the year. We had lunch and then headed out to do more shopping. It was a great day and we all had a lovely time.

(English phrase for the day)

Oliva(background) Eisha, Mary, Amanda, Millie, Danalisa, Owen, Kristina

Oh, cute....

The View

The three stooges + Owen

Mom, the perfect ladder

I love Millie!

Look Mom Look

Don't mind if I do!

A Day In The City

Millie and I have had such an interesting day. I did the same old things this morning like cleaning, but then we headed out to the Farmer's Market. It was so fun. First I came across TURKISH DELIGHT! I have wondered what it was ever since "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe." It was a gummy treat with icing powder (powdered sugar). There were so many different flavors: lemon, pistachio, lime, rose, orange, and then all of those plus coconut. My least favorite was the rose! It tasted like well like what a rose would taste like. I loved the lemon one but I don't think I would follow a random lady just to get some. I also got lots of produce and cleaning supplies (a little random, but everything was so cheap). I found the perfect little black shoes for Millie's Halloween costume for only #5. Next we headed to the regular market and on the way I ran into several different street performers including a bagpiper, Native American dancers, and last but not least a toothless guitar player. Got to love the city! All of West Gate Market is decorated for Christmas. I guess since there is no Thanksgiving they start extra early. When we were getting the rest of our groceries there was a nutty lady throwing her food and yelling at everyone. I tried to avoid her, but she saw Millie and came running at me! I was terrified! She stop in front of me and said, "I know how it is to be a single parent, I was one a long time ago, let me help you". I decided since it calmed her down to think I was a single mom I didn't correct her and did my best to hide my ring. Oh what a day and it's not over yet...

Book Review

Okay, so I feel like I haven't read a good book since Harry Potter and it's time for me to move on. I have been reading "Love and Logic" in hopes that there is a step-by-step manual on how to raise a two year old, but no luck there. It's time for some entertainment reading and I can't wait to hear what ya'lls favs are! Please leave me a post so I can start a book list. And thank you Danalisa for lending me "The Pact," maybe it's not your very favorite, but it's the first book on my list and I can't wait to get started!

Ruby Game

Things this week have been going well. Danalisa and I headed into Cowley to take the kidos to the park and shop a little. It was fun to have a "normal" day like I would have in Utah; The park, lunch, and running errands. Although we were in an unfamiliar part of town it was some how familiar. Tuesday wasn't as great. It rained all day! I had so much to do and did nothing. Well I cleaned and stuff but I needed to go to the market and things. Who wants to go grocery shopping with a two year old in the rain when you walk everywhere you go?Not Me! Wednesday was the most beautiful day. Millie and I got out early and did the things I needed to do the day before. On our way home the sun was shining, the leaves were falling, and the air had that wonderful crisp feeling. I would have stayed out all afternoon if I hadn't had milk and chicken in the stroller. After Millie's nap we headed to our 1st Oxford Rugby game. It was pretty fun to watch. I have only seen one game before that. I was glad that Danalisa was with us! She played in college, so she explained what in the world was going on. Today is Thursday and it has been Grrrrreat! Millie has been so good all day. She hasn't thrown any major fits and got into the stoller without a battle all day. Miracles do happen. We headed to the park this morning, but all the toys were wet so we didn't stay long. Jodi brought her dog CocoLicious and Millie couldn't have been happier. We hit the farmers market and then "Krispy Kreme!"All in all it has been a pretty good week and Lindsay pointed out to me that I have offically been here for a month. Time flys!

Amanda, Millie, Danalisa, Owen, Jodi

Is that Ron Weasley I see?

Jodi, Millie, CocoLicious

Millie on the Titer-Totter

Matriculation

Today was matriculation, which is the ceremony where new students officially become part of the university.

There are five MBA students in Merton College. From left to right: Tony, Raymond, Gareth, Sven, and Brady.

Here's a shot from the balcony where we sat. The ceremony was in Latin.

Brady, Amanda, and Millie under the bridge of sighs.

"I'm so proud of my daddy!"

My First Week of Classes

My first week of classes has come to an end and I thought I'd post a little about it. But before I do, it probably makes sense to give an overview of the group of MBAs I'm here with. There are just over 220 students from over 40 countries (48, if I remember right). I think the class size is perfect. Some of the better MBA programs in the US have 1,000-2,000 students. That class size may be good for networking, but you'd never get to know too many people well. Cambridge's class is just over 100, which I think is too small. By the end of the course I should know every classmate by name, even if I can't pronounce their names. We're split up into three sections, so I have every class with the same group of about 70 students. At the end of this term our sections will be changed.

The best word to describe this week is LONG. I'm not used to sitting still and paying attention for long periods of time, and 6 classes that are 3.5 hours each, in addition to other various meetings, left me totally wiped out. At this point it looks like I have anywhere from 30-100 pages of textbook reading for each class each week, in addition to case studies, homework, and group projects. If I'm not in class, chances are I'm studying in the library.

Monday - Strategy
Richard Whittington is my Strategy professor. He's English, and pretty dang funny. The class was fast paced (which all of my classes except Finance were), and the students were involved in the discussion a great deal. I think this will be my favorite class this term, as I really enjoy learning about business strategy. At this early point in my career search, I think I'd like to work in a role where I help determine the strategy of the firm, whether it be in the business development department of a large firm, in a start-up company, or with a venture capital firm (I believe most VC firms help guide the start-ups they invest in, although I could be wrong).

Tuesday - Financial Reporting AM, Managerial Economics PM
With two classes in one day, Tuesday was a very long day. I was very excited to start my Financial Reporting class, as I feel my accounting skills are an area where I need a lot of improvement. My professor is Tomo Suzuki, a hilarious Japanese international accounting expert. He had the class moving quickly and covering a lot of material, and we were laughing almost the entire time. I think this class will be quite difficult as we are expected to be familiar with the varying accounting terms used in different countries, as well as the core accounting concepts.

By the time our afternoon session started, most of the students were already a little tired. It said a lot about our professor, Nir Vulkan, that he could keep our attention through the entire class. We went over the basics of supply and demand, and had an in-class exercise where we all started with varying amounts of pretend money and stock (the stock was valued at differing amounts pre-assinged to each student) and as we traded the prices moved towards an equilibrium. It was interesting to see supply and demand working against each other.

Wednesday - Decision Science
All I can say is wow. I haven't heard that much yelling in three hours since the last time I went to Warped Tour. My Decision Science professor, Dolores Romero-Morales, is Spanish and extremely excited about statistics. It was great, because as much as I do enjoy statistics, talking about the math that goes into stats for over three hours can be boring, but she kept our attention. Much of this class will be spent doing hands on work with spreadsheets and real-world exercises - which I'm looking forward to.

Thursday - Finance
I wish I could test out of this class and spend the time learning something new, but it's required. Not only do I already have a degree in Finance, I've used the same textbook before. Our professor, Alexander Guembel is a German, and young, but accomplished nonetheless.

Friday - Developing Effective Managers
Tim Morris is my professor for this class and I my only disappointment was that he is English, because after Thursday night I thought I had a legitimate chance of having six professor from six countries. This class focuses mainly on people's behavior within organizations. When I took a similar class to this at the University of Utah, I thought it was useless. After working at OMNI for a couple of years, I realize the importance of interacting with differing personalities. We'll learn what our personality weaknesses are, as well as how best to work with people of differing personalities.

Blenheim Palace

My new found friends and I (I meaning me and millie) headed to Bleheim Palace today. It was the PERFECT day to go! There was a beautiful morning fog lurking over the Palace. As we approached, the Palace started to emerge from the thick fog and it was incredible. We headed inside to see the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The ceilings were covered with 24k gold throughout. We then took a break and ate lunch at a cute little cafe that over looked one of the many extravagant gardens. When we were finished we headed out to wander the rose garden and the rest of the estate. As we were leaving I had promised Millie that we could ride on the train, but it was a near fatal mistake! She dropped Pablo on the train tracks while we were moving! She nearly had a heartache and I was pretty sure he was going to get creamed. Luckily he fell to the side and on our way back we were able to rescue Pablo! There were two of us ready to snatch him off the track in case the 1st person missed. I don't think I have seen a happier little girl as I did when I handed Millie her precious Pablo. She said, "Hooray Pablo" and gave him a hug tighter then I have ever received myself. She reminded me of the creature on the Lord Of The Rings whenever he would get a hold of the ring.
(Jodi, Kristina, Danalisa-Owen, Janick, Amanda-Millie)

Bleheim Palace

Jodi (Tony's wife; he is in Merton with Brady) and Janick

I love the sunbeams shinning through. It was so beautiful there!

Bragging Explanation

I have had a few emails from confused people. Brady is going to the Said Business School at the University of Oxford, but he belongs to Merton College. The best way to explain this is to use "Harry Potter" terminology. Merton is Brady's Gryffindor. Harry goes to Hogwarts and belongs to the Gryffindor House. It is hard to get into Oxford, but it is even more impressive that he belongs to such an old college. Merton only excepts 4 MBA students every year and Brady made his way in. Merton College was established in 1249. Oh how I love Brady and Harry Potter. Where would I be without the two of them?

Day Trip

We headed into London for a day of shopping and I was stressed the whole time waiting for my terrible two to show her ugly head. She likes to scream as loud as she can in public these days. It's fantastic. She surprised us by onlying throwing one major fit. I have never been so happy. She did great! We made it through two hour and a half bus rides and a long day of running around.

We are American and we love our McDonalds. We got McFlurrys to reward Millie.

"I feel pretty, Oh so Pretty"

Buckle Up!

Millie reading one of her favorite books (Yankee Doodle) to Pablo and Baby.

Silly Millie

We have been in Oxford for around 3 weeks now and these are just a few random pictures of Millie being a goof ball.

"Boo Birdies!" We got yelled at my the locals for chasing the birds. Oh well, we had fun!

Mmmmmmm Chocolate! "Please mommy Ocolate."

Millie discovered that she can make homemade tap shoes by putting coins in between her toes. Our neighbores in the flat below must love us!

Merton College

The Merton Boys. Although it's not the best picture we thought you'd want to see Brady's Merton buddies; Gerath (Originally from South Africa, recently Australia) Sven (Germany, Brady couldn't be more pleased!)
There are two more of them, but this was the 1st time they met and the other guys weren't in town yet.

I thought this flower was cool.
Merton Quad
Merton Campus
Merton Chapel
This isn't Merton College, but we were sure happy to have Brady's cousin Dustin come visit us for a few days! Millie thought Dustin was her uncle Cody and she called Dustin that the whole time he was with us.

Happy Birthday Millie!

Millie's grandma Jager sent her a "real" set of pots and she loves to help me in the kitchen.
Although it was a rainy day we headed to the park.

Millie's Nana sent her a Curious George book. She wants to read it every day!

We got Millie a kitchen for her birthday. She loves it! I can't believe she is two already. It's crazy how fast time goes.

Our New Home Sweet Home

We decided since we are now away from family and friends that it was time to start a blog. That way we are not sending bulk emails to everyone all the time. Although we are not the most creative writers we hope you enjoy.