Bono...

I'm pretty sure U2 owes me some royalties for promoting their lyric, "It's a beautiful day!" because I have repeated the phrase so often this weekend. Yesterday and today have truly been gorgeous days weather wise. It is not that cold (rare for late November in England), and it is SUNNY (rarer still for late November in England)!!! I've been moving my chair around the living room for the past two hours in order to be constantly immersed in as many rays as possible. My skin cells are practically rejoicing in their bath of Vitamin D.

Friday afternoon, Matthew and I agreed that it was just too beautiful a day to be wasted sitting inside working on boring stuff like papers and projects. So, we made the two-mile journey out to Girton College in about 20 minutes on bikeback (that's like "horseback" but with bikes...) It was the first visit I have made to his college since we moved here. Kind of sad, I know, but it is really so far out of the way that there is no sense in going there unless you have to. Matt has only been there like 3 times for formal dinners. He is more of a trooper than I am because during those few visits he has ridden in the rain twice, broken his bike's rear derailleur once, and run most of the way home on another occasion (walking takes too long) because the people he shared a taxi with on the way out there were sticking around late to hang out at the college bar. Had I encountered so many trials and tribulations I would probably have taken it as a sign from God that I wasn't supposed to step foot on the campus again. Nevertheless, we made it there and back in one piece and managed to get some pretty good pictures. Girton is relatively modern as far as Cambridge colleges are concerned. It was founded in 1869 and named the "College for Women," having only a loose connection to the University of Cambridge. In 1873, the female students moved to the current site in the town of Girton purposefully outside of the Cambridge city center in order "to discourage marauding male undergraduates," according to the Girton website. Finally in 1979, over one hundred years later, the college started admitting male students. Now, the ratio between males and females is unmatched in any other University of Cambridge college. So, Matt belongs to a girls' school. I think it's good for him. They have a Headmistress instead of a Headmaster, which can cause some confusion when Matthew refers to his mistress, but still... I think it challenges him to accept a woman's authority over his own. Haha. Anyway, here are some snapshots of Girton College.

Castle-like turrets with a background of bright blue sky.

I loved this little shoe scraper that was shaped like a dog. If your boots are a little muddy, wipe them on the doggie's back before you walk inside.

The dining hall was pretty from the inside and the outside, and there were many cloisters with tranquil views right outside almost every window.

Arched hallways and lots of windows were commonplace on the interior.

Antique furnishings for the ghosts of Girton-ers past.

Girton has one of the biggest dining halls we have seen.

Matt says that the dining hall is even more impressive at night with the cool light fixtures setting the mood.

More castle-like turrets. I think this one contains a spiral staircase. I also liked the massive trees on the property.

You can tell it was a girls' college because most of the stained glass has a floral motif.

The front entrance reminded me of the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C.

Closeup of one of the upper floors. Undergrads live upstairs.

Lots of greenery, and we actually saw people walking on the grass! Gasp.

I thought this was like the coolest doorbell.

It's really quite different from the other colleges in town. Being located on a big plot of land instead of surrounded by other non-academic buildings makes it feel like it is out in the country. Kind of peaceful. It almost reminded me of Old Central, the oldest building at Oklahoma State. The colors of brick are similar, and many of the interior walls are whitewashed with dark wood trim. I was a little creeped out by the number of portraits of various Victorian women that lined many of the hallways. That was a little too reminiscent of a haunted mansion in my opinion. Old furniture, spooky paintings with eyes that follow you, etc. Luckily I have been inside Disney's Haunted Mansion attraction enough times to work up the courage to face such daunting surroundings.

The rest of Matthew's weekend has been spent in front of his computer screen. He will end up producing around 5,000 words of writing and 3 different presentations in the next 3 weeks before the end of the term. No biggie. He turned in two reports during his senior year at OSU which were over 200 pages each.

These are the times I am content with not being in school anymore. Last night, I went to go see My Week with Marilyn at the Vue Cinema with my new friend Asha. She is also a member of Girton College, and Matt met her at their matriculation dinner. I had a splendid time, and the movie wasn't half bad. Michelle Williams does a pretty spot-on Marilyn Monroe.

It felt so good to go see a chick flick with a girlfriend. As time goes on, I realize how much it means to me to have strong girl friend relationships. Asha and I bonded over the fact that we are both married. She and her husband have been together for 10 years and married for 7. So, being happily settled down at 23 is not a foreign concept to her like it is to many other people we have met here. Hopefully we'll get to hang out more after Christmas break.

Finally, this beautiful Sunday morning was spent at Eden Baptist. Long story short, Holy Trinity has introduced us to some marvelous, welcoming people that we will keep up with during our time here (John, Jenny, Paola, etc.) However, we started thinking, why not try a Baptist church instead of an Evangelical Anglican one? Eden was much smaller than Holy Trinity, but the format was more familiar to our non-denominational upbringing. The teaching over the Sermon on the Mount was enlightening, and I came away with a new appreciation for the often over-used or overlooked "Golden Rule." The organ played during the hymns took me back to my Northside Christian Church childhood and memories of sitting near Mimi Kay while she belted out "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." I cherish my upbringing, and I will always love the words of old hymns.

A quick stop at Sainsbury's for some essential grocery items, and we are back home. I will be spending the remainder of the afternoon sipping tea and chasing the sunshine around our flat until it dips below the horizon around 4:15pm. Darkness sneaks up on me earlier and earlier every day. Darn daylight savings time. Oh well. To quote Bono once more, "It's a beautiful day. Don't let it get away. It's a beautiful day." Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend!