The XXX Olympiad...

London 2012 was the thirtieth modern day Olympic extravaganza. Thus, these were the games often referred to as the "Thirtieth Olympiad." And the TV guide people took full advantage of this numeric happenstance by labeling the cable channels that were carrying coverage of the games as "XXX Olympics." Clearly, they hoped the viewership would increase if subscribers believed they were getting a free (ah-hem) adult version of the festivities. I was honestly a little hesitant to click over to NBC Sports for fear of what visual images might be accidentally emblazoned on my conscious. And let's face it, you may have clicked on my blog title out of curiosity and a similar assumption. Well, we like to keep it family-oriented here, and fortunately so did NBC. But I'm guessing the channel naming guy chuckled to himself for his cleverness.

Anyway, Matthew and I were actually already here in Houston when the two weeks of Olympic competition began. However, during our final weekend in Cambridge, the torch was making its pass through our fair city on its final leg before going to the stadium in London. Friday night was an all-out carnival atmosphere on Parker's Pieces (the green lawn nearest the train station.) There were booths of ethnically diverse fair foods and homemade thingy-majiggers with thousands upon thousands of people milling around the area. It had been raining all day long (shocking), so the ground was quite sloppy, but my wellies got me through it. Ain't no mud gonna keep me from seeing the torch!

Remember Sela (Touch of Africa founder) and Xenia (yoga buddy extraordinaire)??? Aw, I miss them!!! Sela generously decked us out in patriotic gear. I found it ironic that three girls from Botswana, Germany, and America were donning British colors. I suppose it is only proper to dress for the occasion.

And of course, proper attire includes ridiculous faces. As if our headband flags weren't outlandish enough. 

After downing some delicious food cart cookies, the anticipation began to build. Time to line up along the barricades and crowd as close to your neighbor as possible!

The little kids were so excited. This boy was cracking me up with his commentary during the wait for the torch. The cutest thing he said was <in his adorable British accent>, "Daddy, we are soooo lucky to be here today!" What precious, once-a-lifetime memories for all these families.

Oh shoot! Don't blink or you'll miss it! The fire has arrived!!!

Thankful for these gigantic screens, we got to see the lighting of the Cambridge cauldron. They also aired a motivational video of athletic domination from past British Olympians. I felt inspired to run real fast and jump over stuff. But instead, I ate another cookie. Typical.

Then, the weirdness started. Giant paper-maché puppets, belly dancers, and school children??? Honestly could not tell you what in the world this portion of the programming was about.

Whatever. My hubby wore shutter shades. Life complete.

Oh wait, maybe now my life is complete. Took my very own picture with the torch. The woman holding it was nominated to be a bearer because of her recovery from severe anorexia and her ongoing work to help other women with eating disorders. You go, girl.

We thought she was a gymnast at first based on her height.

Ok, really, what more could you want besides a free limited edition Coke in a fancy London 2012 bottle?

All of the above served to excite me into full-blown Olympic mode. Yet, the next morning, I was pushed even further onto the brink of totally overwhelming enthusiasm. Somewhat substantiated rumors were swirling that my favorite royal couple were due for an appearance at a special torch ceremony. I would probably have kissed Xenia when she told me that she got us tickets to the aforementioned event, but she told me via text. So I couldn't.

Basically, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will and Kate) had never visited the city mentioned in their titles. Moreover, they were both Olympic Ambassadors and had not done much in the way of promoting those roles up until that point. It made logical sense that their inaugural trip to Cambridge would be schedule for the same weekend that the torch arrived. They could essentially kill two birds with one stone - appease the commoner 'constituents' with a royal sighting and bring in additional PR for the Games. Accompanying this logic were a few more encouraging tidbits: first, the Cambridge University college where the ceremony was to be held just so happened to be the one that Prince Charles (Will's father) attended; second, the BBC was set to air live coverage of the event; and third, the general public was not allowed to attend as it was an invitation-only affair.

I was convinced. This was my chance. I would finally see Kate and her gorgeousness in person. We would obviously have plenty of time for small talk, we'd bond over our newlywed experiences (clearly ours are remarkably similar), and ka-boom! Best friends for life. It was a foolproof plan. Xenia obtained the invites, and we met her before the sun came up on the morning of the event. They would start letting in spectators at 5:00am. We showed up at 4:45 just to be safe. First in line? Most definitely. Got cozy with the porter, which came in handy when he asked to check student IDs. (Shh... I don't have a Cambridge student ID.)

Pity that I waited until the last few days in England to see our town in the light of the pre-dawn hours. It was stunning. Silent, tranquil, ancient. Absolutely lovely.

Mesmerizing.

When we finally made it inside the courtyard (all by our lonesome selves), we staked our claim front and center. Matthew was ecstatic to be up so early.

Xenia and I were still holding out hope that Kate was coming! (Despite the fact that security was incredibly lax, the rain was incessant, and there was no red carpet.) Hey, it could happen!

Xenia was kind enough to share her umbrella with me, but I was eying the official Olympic merch. Probably would have jumped the barricade and nicked one of the umbrellas or jackets, but that would have destroyed my future friendship with Kate. Princesses are not encouraged to interact with criminals.

The torch bearer was eying something else. In this shot it looked like she was ticked that the cameraman was not focused on her. But whatever he saw sure made him happy. He was super smiley for six in the morning.

Almost two hours after we had left our flat, the moment of the torch lighting approached. Unless Will and Kate decided to swoop in at the last minute, their appearance was increasingly less likely with every passing moment. My heart broke a little.

The security folks who run alongside the torch carriers were pretty intimidating. Truly. I saw a video of one of them tackling a lady who jumped out of a crowd to take a picture. Tackled. To the ground. They don't mess around.

No William or Catherine to be found, but the torch whooshed to life nevertheless.

In sincere British fashion, the flame triumphed despite the rain.

However, as soon as that torch ran out the door, so did all of us. I'm surprised no one lost an eye with all those umbrellas poking around.

Although disappointed at the lost opportunity to rub shoulders with royalty,  I was feeling blessed to have one last chance at quality time with Xenia. Our frizzy hair was trying its best to ruin our final meeting, but we didn't let it. Plus, we were counting on the fact that this was not actually our last group picture! Perhaps next time we will have the chance for a more flattering hairstyle in a sunny locale.

It's hard to believe how quickly those 9 months flew by. Institutions like the Trinity library and the King's College Chapel are forever filed in my memory under "Places I Never Want to Forget." But these locales would have been cold and empty for Matthew and I had we not experienced them together with our new friends.

It's been just under a year since we emigrated from Oklahoma to England. And it's been just under two months since we moved again from England to Texas. The change we have undergone is immeasurable. It crept in subtly, but left us drastically different.

I think I'll attempt one more blog post this week before declaring that I am officially caught up to the present. Woo hoo!!! I do hope you have enjoyed keeping up with the Grants. Your support and prayers throughout countless transitions have kept us going and have guided us more than you will ever know. I have derived much comfort from the knowledge that though distance has separated us, we have been close in spirit. THANK YOU!