Oh December!

Happy Advent everyone! Sorry I have not been the best at updating my blog...life has been busy and full of surprises around here! To share some things I have been up to...first, Manchester is becoming more and more decorated for Christmas. It is absolutely beautiful! I do loooove Christmas and am really embracing it in England. I went with a family to an outside ice skating rink downtown Man. and it was brilliant. One of my favourite Sunday's I would have to say! We went ice skating for a while, then went to the Christmas Markets, which are like tons and tons of tiny stands that sell Christmas food, Christmas crafts, presents, etc. If you have been to Nordic Fest, it is similar in that the cute little houses and booths look alike, but just a massive amount of them. And thousands and thousand of people. It was hard to even walk! But it was great fun. Then we went back to their house and had a huge Sunday Roast...which is an English traditional meal on Sunday evenings. Then we spent the rest of the night singing karaoke, watching X Factor (like American Idol) and playing guitar/piano/wii. It was a lovely day. I also went to a pantomime the other day. It is a very English play..where the audience is very much included and the cast interacts with us quite a bit. I was called out upon...and very embarrassed...they were calling out for an Amanda that was in the audience..and I was sure it was someone else. But then they said, "Amanda, here from the USA...?" So of course I knew it was me and had to give a wave and everyone turned to look...not my cup of tea! Ha. Speaking of cups of tea..I am still downing tea about 5 cups a day! I don't know what I would do without it. It seems to be the reliever of all stress and business..if you are in a hurry and have a lot to do, then you sit and have tea to relax and get that energy back. I am so glad I have become a "tea person." We are now working on our nativity play. So Friday's are no longer our normal kids clubs anymore, it is all of the kids clubs together rehearsing. It was great fun because for the older two groups, Sarah and I wrote the sketch that they are going to perform. I loooved doing that and I hope it turns out alright, the kids seem to enjoy it. It is based around the X factor (American Idol type thing again). Let me pause here and tell you all the sad sad story of X Factor...it was the finale last night...and my main man, Olly, did not win. I was very sad about it...I know its lame..but oh so true! Ha. Right when we found out, Ian said "Ok Im going to get get Amanda some chocolate" and we all ate a bunch of chocolate. I recovered quite quickly. Okay back to the Nativity...we have one more rehearsal this Friday and then the performance on Sunday! Looking forward to that! One last piece of news...I had my first basketball clinic yesterday. Unfortunately, the stomach bug has been going around so we lost quite a few kids to that so had a fairly small group to work with but it was so much fun! Finally got to play ball again and the kids seemed to really like it! We did drills and scrimmaged, played some other games and got to know a few new faces that will hopefully come to more things! So I think overall it was successful. I thank God for that and His work through that clinic. That is all the news I have for now. I do hope that you are all well and enjoying the cold, crisp, December air. No snow here...just rain...and rain. But it is still beautiful and kind of feels like December! Oh very very exciting news!! My mom and sister Kelly are arriving here for a visit on the 27th of December! So I am looking forward to see them and spending some QT with them...as well as going to Ireland with them! So excited. Ok. Lots of love to you all. Peace be with you.
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