Christmas Time Is Here

Pictures of Mom's Festival of Trees tree: Stafordshire



Today marked the begining of the last full week of classes for Fall Semester 2006. I have so much to do that I'm not doing anything, sort of like a deer in the headlights. I have a presentation on Friday, AHA Christmas party on Saturday. Then I have a paper due the next monday, and 2 more before that week is out. Plus I have to administer a final and grade term papers and exams. I'll most likely being comming home the 23 or 24th- yuck but yay.
In the spirit of the season, here are some pictures that I thought would be fun to share.



Me and Ashley decorating the Christmas tree in our apartment.



Happy Christmas!

Too Busy To Post But I Still Love You All

I am taking a short break from writing about the fantasy in a Chippendale chair and I'm posting to say that I don't have time to post. Happy Thanksgiving!

Versaille & Marie Antoinette

We went and saw Marie Antoinette last night with a group of friends from art history. I don't really know about them, but I loved it. The culture was spot on and they included all of the things that we've been discussing in our feminism seminar: Chinoiserie, issuse with nursing, embracing everything English (which is partly why the French did not like Marie Antoinette), the Hamlet and Petite Trianon escapism, Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, etc... It was just wonderful. I really liked the superficiality of the film because it mirrored the superficiality of the late 18th century.

One of film's strengths, which may be a weakness for the critics, is that is avoids all of the historical 'text book' aspect of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. The movie ends with them leaving Versaille and does not go into their arrest or execution. It lets the story be its own thing and does not bring in all of the historical baggage of the Revolution. Plus, it really shows how isolated the aristocracy were at Versaille- there was no hint of outside problems in the film and when the mob came, it really was shocking and scary.

Now on to the reason of this post, the movie was shot at Versaille and it was insanely exciting for me to see the grand interiors put back into the 18th century with the costumes and lots of people buzzing around. Plus, we were just at Versaille last summer on our study abroad, so I'm illustrating this post with some of my photos.


Going through my Versaille pictures, I've sadly realized that they are severely lacking, but I'll put them up anyway. We had a wonderful time there and Versaille is always a hightlight of any trip to Paris. One of the pictures was a part of an art project where I got people from the group to pose as statues- so this is from the Apollo grotto follie at Versaille.


Moral of the Post: Go see Marie Antoinette if your in the mood for eye-candy, but not for deep plotlines and drama. Enjoy!

Red, Yellow, Orange, and Green... Oh My!

We went driving up Squaw Peak this week and the leaves were stunning. I have never seen such beautiful fall leaves ever. I wish the pictures could capture the amazing optical display but sadly fall leaves, like sunsets, are not photogenic whatsoever. Here are a few of the favourites for every one to enjoy. Happy Fall!

The Alpine Slide

We went on the Alpine Slide in Park City last Saturday. Cameron and Vickie invited Ashley and I to go with them and thier friends Jeff and Jade. Valie rode with her mom and we all had a blast riding the chairlift and going as fast as we could down the mountain. Ashley and I "raced" but she totally had me beat from the very begining so it wasn't much of a race. It was so fun to feel a chill in the air and see the leafs that have already turned spectacular shades of red, orange, and yellow. Thanks Cam, it was great!

Crossing the Bridge

I really like this picture of Lesley and myself that Ashley took. Les is in Finland right now with our parents and she has moved out of our apartment. It is kind of sad and strange and I'm in unfamiliar territory with out Lesley's things all around. My whole life, especially while at Waterford, people have told us that we need to be separate and independent from eachother. They would ask us what will we do when we separate and we always told them that we'll cross the bridge when we get to it. Now we have crossed that bridge and I feel like I've lost a part of myself. No worries, I know the feeling will only be temporary and all will be well in no time. I had a big bed all to myself last night and I have to admit that I really liked it, although it took me about an hour to find a comfortable spot; I slept right smack in the middle and did not move till morning. Life is good and I am so excited to officially start graduate school. Love to all!
ps: Ash and I got extremely bored last night and cut bangs. Just an FYI.

A Taste of Family

Here is a pre-release of our family photo:



Ashley did a great job and made personal family packets for everyone. Mom and Dad have a master copy of all the photographs and everyone else has the big family photos and thier own family shots. Lesley and I will try to get the packets to you as soon as possible.

Here is our extended family photo from last weekend:

The Merriment of Commencement Commences

Congratulations Lesley! She graduated from BYU today and now it is time to celebrate. Lesley's cousin Margaret also graduated today and they are both in the School of Family Life, so we got to see them graduate together. It was really fun for all of our family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents) to sit togther and see them get thier diplomas and take tons of photos. I think my favorite is where Lesley's cap poked Cameron in the eye when he gave her a hug. Then our family went to lunch at the Brick Oven here in Provo. We are all getting together later tonight at our parent's house for a bbq. It will be great and we are all so proud of Lesley and her achievements. She has worked very hard to get to this point and she is going to take that strong determination of hers out into the world and do great things. Love you lots Leelee!

I Heart The UK

Here are some of my favorite photos from our jont across the pond- enjoy


Big Ben


Phone Booth in the Middle of Nowhere


Ash at Windsor Castle


Waiting to go to into Parliment (Ashley's Glamour Shot)


Regent's Park Theater


Alli at Windsor

The 5-Day Heat Wave

This was written on Sunday, the 2nd of July 2006
It has taken me almost a week to post this as we have been in the country with out any access to the internet.



It’s HOT! The week started out rainy and chilly and now that it is Sunday, London is now in a five-day heat wave. The heat comes and goes, but it is especially hot tonight in our hotel room. We were out in the country all day yesterday and we went to Sherbourne Castle, Montecute House, and we got to stop in Bath for the evening on our way back to London.

We only went to the garden at Sherbourne Castle and we saw a 17th century dairy. Ashlee Whitaker is researching those for her thesis. Then we went to Montecute House, which is where a part of “Sense and Sensibility” was filmed. It was the part of Mr. Palmer’s house where Marianne walks in the rain and gets ill. Courtney Peacock is researching a relief panel that is actually shown in the movie. The part where the doctor tells Charlotte to take the baby away, there is a white marble panel on the back wall that is fairly large (just incase you want to see it). There were beautiful gardens and it was a great Jacobean house with a little bit of Elizabethan as well. The family ran out of money so they never updated to future fashions, which makes it great for us art historians. We had a great time there.

Then the best part of the day came when we went to Bath, yes Lesley, Bath. We got there around 5:30, so everything was closed and the England vs. Portugal World Cup match was just about over. We stopped in at the door of a pub where we could see the big screen. They had just gone into extra time and tension was high. We watched for the first 15 min, and then we decided to walk on towards the Abbey and Pump Room. We actually, honestly, “partook of the waters,” but only Ashley, Mark, and I finished our glass full. Mark and Ash chugged it all at once. I took one sip and almost gagged, and then I had to be brave and finish my glass, so I chugged the rest. The water is rather warm, like shower water warm and it taste like water, except when you swallow it and it burns and taste like sulfur. It was an accomplishment to say the least. Then we walked up toward the Royal Circus and Royal Crescent. On our way, we stopped at another pub as the match was going into penalty kicks. It was exciting to be there as they were neck and neck. People were insane! As soon as Portugal got their last goal, we got out of there, beer bottles were thrown at the screen, and a bloody fight broke out with in the first 5 seconds. It got scary, but we just kept walking up the street. People were drunk and angry, which is a dangerous combination.

We went into the Royal Crescent Hotel and saw their garden. It is small but posh hotel. Then we tried to go to the Assembly Rooms, but there was a crowd of people in black-tie apparel. We then went to the new spa using the Roman sacred spring water. The architecture was really modern, which is out of place in Georgian Bath, but they did use Bath stone, but it is covered with high-tech glass; it looks really neat. Mark is way into getting “scholarly” pictures of us doing research and studying on-site, but he poses us to get the right shot. It is an extremely un-glamorous photo shoot. At least, it is hopefully getting what he needs to get more funding for trips like these. It has been amazing to study and do research, or at least get comfortable doing it here in London.

We left Bath at 8:20 PM and we arrived in London at 12:12 AM. It took us 4 hours to make a 1 hour and 45 min drive. There were a lot of detours/diversions on the M4 and so we had to drive through a lot of small towns like Marlborough and Salisbury. Mark would kept saying, “I’m not cranky, just frustrated!” It was an adventure to say the least.
Now that it is Sunday, we went to church and then went to Ham House. We had a picnic on the lawn that was pretty much cheese and bread and Tesco/M&S food. It was a refreshingly different kind of garden, pre-Capability Brown. The house is very well preserved along with the textiles on the walls. It was fun and a great Sunday activity. Now we are back in the hotel and dying of heat. It is 10:30 PM and we are sweating just lying in our beds, but it still does not feel as hot as last summer. This 5-day heat wave could end soon, so says the newspapers. Either way, we are all having a blast and enjoying our colleague’s interests. There is value in all the places we go, for everyone. Love you all and see you in a week!