Oxford

Our wonderful friends Sherry and Mark invited us to a trip to Oxford, one of their very favorite places in the world, and also where their daughter attended the very prestigious Oxford University.  It was very sweet of them to share this space that has a special place in their hearts.

We first stopped at a small village outside of Oxford to have some coffee and breakfast, back when Trevor was not completely addicted to the stuff.  The village was beautiful with vines and flowers everywhere and old thatched roof buildings. 

We then drove a short way to Oxford a very busy and bustling city.  In fact we had to park the car at a bus station and take the bus in to town in order to avoid extreme traffic, insanity, and any additional walking.  It was a very private campus, only allowing entrance to students, staff or esteemed nominated scientists.  In fact, their is one building that only permits entrance to those who have been invited based on their scientific achievement, so very few eyes have seen it on the inside. 

We were not able to see inside this area due to graduation taking place, but inside is where the dining room scenes took place in the movie Harry Potter.

It was a wonderful trip and there was such beautiful architecture beyond that which our camera could capture. 

Complications of Being an International Student

My apologies for being away from my blog for so long, I have missed it, but things have been irreparably crazy. To begin this blog, we are going to have to go back to the very start before we even left the U.S. changing Countries is a huge undertaking so when we were discussing moving to England we wanted to be sure that there would be support in place in the case that we would need it which is in the form of US financial aid. I used FAFSA's online support system, I called my loan companies that I have borrowed from, I did everything that a responsible student would. All these sources confirmed that my loans would stay deferred while I was attending school at least part time, however what they did not stipulate at that time which I know now is that they will do this only under one exception, that you are attending a US supported institution.

You are probably all wondering “a US supported institution”, what the hell does that mean! Essentially it means if your school abroad does not have an agreement with the US through a Federal School Code the US will not allow you to access loan money, nor will they continue to defer your undergraduate loans even though you are continuing your schooling. We originally thought that I could continue to go to school and we could just pay for my tuition out of pocket, no big deal right. Unfortunately it was, because they don't just want you to be paying tuition, they want you to be making loan payments as well.  Trevor was lucky enough that his institution happened to be one of the few universities that by coincidence had a federal school code (which doesn't mean the loan companies made it easy for him either). Over the year that we have lived in the UK it has taken literally until now for this very important information to be relayed to us. Trevor and I have filled in and submitted countless “In School Deferment Forms” to the loan companies which they are already supposed to have on record...let me tell you they don't and don't trust them. Most forms we submitted were denied to the reasoning that they were not filled out to the companies liking, but did they send them back to us, or give us a call or email...no the didn't they called and harassed our contacts we provided on our loan agreements and asked how they could get in contact with us like we were some sort of criminals. After we had already given them all of our UK contact information mind you.  So, EVENTUALLY, after the loan companies finally figured out the British write their dates differently they accepted Trevor’s forms.

While Trevor's forms were accepted mine continued to be denied, and after I had to contact them it finally clicked in someone’s head as to why I was not being deferred. So I was very blunt with them and obviously very angry and asked, “what is it you would like me to do, quit my school and transfer so you can tick the box on your paperwork”, and she said yes! So, here I am a month before graduate school starts up again, and guess what I am doing? That's right...applying to graduate schools...again. While I am very annoyed, there are quite a few positives to this change. 1.) My undergraduate loans will go back on deferment and I will be able to access additional loans, so there will be no financial struggle this school year. 2.) I was beginning to re-think the direction my Master's was taking me anyway, so I am now applying to programs that I believe align more with my interests which are in microbiology and parasitology. 3.) I have the possibility of attending a school closer to home (my last university was a 2 hour train ride each way), which means more time to study and more time spent at home with my family, and less stress.

Now that I am sure I have given all of you a headache just thinking about bureaucracy I am going to end my rant and catch you up with other life happenings. I finally found a job part-time to help out a little with our finances, it doesn't pay much, but the benefits are great (kisses and cuddles). These are some of my bosses.

The last few months for Trevor and I have consisted of travelling, events, and house guests. It's been crazy and it's been wonderful. We have also as a result of our hectic dog filled lifestyle adapted to running every night, for the sake of our sanity and the dogs we watch. We have so many stories we are excited to tell all of you and we promise you they will not be as boring as this post. So get ready to be re-immersed in our English adventure!

See you soon,

Jessica and Trevor <3

Sweet Vindication: DIY Fencing

As some of you may know I have been on a quest to build a fence in our backyard (garden).  Our initial fence was deteriorating and becoming unsafe for Nova and an addition to this Wednesday we have our inspection to move forward with our dog sitting business so we wanted to be sure we would pass inspection as we would both really love to do this for some extra money and to give Nova a buddy.  Initially we contacted a local handyman to get a quote on what he would charge to replace the fence and got a quote of 297 pounds!  After discussing this quote with Trevor I told him I wanted to build the fence to save money.  Trevor was shocked, while he is a wonderfully feminist husband who believes I can do anything he was worried that building a fence required carpentry skills.  Not to mention he was worried that we did not have the proper tools, which we didn't, I had to use a handsaw for the entire project.  Talk about being exhausted and sore.  I would like to announce that I have completed the fence (no carpentry skills necessary) at a total cost of 125 pounds as well as assembled a garden door out of the remaining fence panels!  Check out my hard work...and I admit a little of Trevor's because he thought it "looked fun".

Before

Old fencing coming lose and detaching from the house from wind gusts.  We had to make a temporary solution to keep the dog in, so we stapled it and tied it to the house.  

Very old flimsy gate which didn't latch properly.

Thee was only one piece of wood keeping Nova from escaping.  

After

Ta Da!  I really believe this was a worth while project.  We saved a lot of money, and truthfully I had a lot of funny.  How come no one told me destroying things was so fun!  I had a blast hammering and kicking down what was left of the old fence.  It also tests your problem solving skills and keeps you thinking.  And I enjoyed watching Trevor explain to the neighbors that his wife was building the fence...ha ha.  Next time a project like this comes along I think I am going to hire myself as the handyman!

This is Where Our Journey Truly Began...

Do you remember that old adage that went something to the tune of, “Don't ever forget where you came from otherwise you'll never remember where you're going”? I have been reflecting on that quote a lot lately. All of these changes in our lives have given us a lot of time to reflect on just how unbelievable it is that we are living in another country while studying for our Graduate Degrees! I mean, how the hell did two poor, first-generation kids from Rice Lake Wisconsin end up studying in England? Well, I will tell you a little secret...we were given a gift among the greatest gifts that have ever been given. It was the gift of opportunity.

Nope, we are not those arrogant and conceded people that will try to tell you we did it all on our own. We received this very critical gift from the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program. A program for traditionally unrepresented students to become researchers and to ultimately became Msc's or PhD's. The McNair Scholars Program was made in honor of Ronald E. McNair, an African-American physicist/astronaut who was killed in the Challenger explosion. Ronald McNair himself faced growing up in an impoverished area in South Carolina, as well as social and economic barriers. But, he knew how to work hard, he was diligent in College until he achieved his goal of attaining his Ph.D. From Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Much like Trevor and I, the man was up to almost impossible odds, but because of the McNair program we have been given the training in professionalism, coaching in confidence, and skills necessary to produce research to pursue a degree traditionally meant for those who came from families with money.  

I can still recall how our McNair advisor pushed us and how I thought it was just a total mistake that I had gotten into the program at all. I always felt as though I was pretending to be someone that I just wasn't.  It's just so much easier to believe for some reason you are the exception, or the one that slipped through the cracks. It was so easy to feel like an imposter in a world full of these amazing intellectuals and academics.  I always remember my McNair Director telling me, you “fake it until you make it”, and I never had really fully understood what that meant until the day I realized that I had made it. That day was the day that I received two offers for a place in Masters Degree Programs in England.

McNair sent us both on summer internships while in undergraduate.  I went to Idaho to study Steelhead Kelt, and Trevor went to both the prestigious Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee to study black holes, as well as the University of Worcester to study game implementation in education.  McNair helped us find these experiences, apply to them, write essays for them, and gave us continuing support throughout them.  McNair helped us foot the bills on plane tickets and living expenses while the Universities would also pay us for our work which greatly helped us pay for our rent and tuition when the school year began again.  They again helped us with all the application materials to graduate school, reviewing our essays countless times, paying for bills for us to go to educational conferences to develop ourselves and our resumes. 

Today I wanted to write and tell my story for others to hear in the face of major budget cuts to these TRIO programs like McNair that have so dramatically changed our lives.  I would like to ask all my family and friends to sign the petition because you all know that this program can change lives.  Please just take a minute to sign the petition on this link...  http://www.change.org/petitions/members-of-congress-and-secretary-of-education-arne-duncan-don-t-eliminate-75-mcnair-programs# .  It only takes 30 seconds to enter your name and address and click submit...and if you feel ambitious you can write a reason why you believe this program should not have budget cuts and feel free to discuss us. Trevor and I are also proud of Tanner Tomesh (Trevor's little brother) for being accepted into the program and we would really like to keep this funding around for him to continue receiving the full benefits of being a McNair Scholar.  Thank you all!  

Our First Anniversary Adventure: Continued

We have arrived safely home from Bath City as of this Thursday evening and had a wonderful time.  We chose not to bring an wifi devices so we would spend as much time as possible in the city and with each other rather than on our devices, but now that I am home even though we both took off all week to celebrate, I cannot resist blogging about our fun and beautiful trip.  We did not take that many pictures because we wanted to enjoy ourselves a little and not be stopping at everything pretty to take a picture...even though I was tempted because Bath is an incredibly beautiful place.  However, of the things I did snap photos of these are some of our favorite highlights of the journey.

Nova was so excited to go on vacation!  This is a picture right in front of our house before we left.

Standing outside our house getting ready to go.  

Trevor and Nova waiting for the train off of platform one.  

Waiting at Worcester Foregate Station just a short walk from home...we had to wait here for a while because Trevor was worried we would miss the train ;)   What a silly train newby my husband is.  

The rail off of platform one.

At Worcester Foregate Station waiting.

Nova's first train ride!  He really did remarkably well, he was a little anxious and barked at a couple of people he did not like, but other than that he slept and looked out the window.  However the little monster did get into something skunky smelling while we were waiting at the train station so he smelled so bad the entire train ride.

So we had to give him a bath right away when we got to the hotel.  He likes to dry himself on the bed.

We opened gifts right away on the 14th because Trevor get's impatient...lol.  Look at my beautifully wrapped gift.  

My beautiful necklace Trevor bought me.  It is pink sapphire and white gold...the picture doesn't do it justice but the pink sapphires are on a progression from a darker pink at the top to a lighter at the bottom.  The stones match my wedding ring!  

Another picture of my necklace which is impossible to take pictures of.  

Trevor and one of his gifts a sweatshirt with a picture of a creeper from the video game called minecraft...he was pretty excited.  Some random kids and english people were shouting at him telling him how cool he looked...my anniversary gift clearly brought Trevor's cool points up by at least ten thousand.  

Beautiful Architecture

I thought the Thai balcony was really cool looking.

This is the entrance outside of the Roman baths...

Here is a close up of the detail.

There were many really amazing street performers including this guy who was really funny and could juggle knives with an axe balancing on his head.  We ended up leaving before he finished his performance because we were in a rush to see everything and the performer shouted at Trevor "the man with the dog, please come back!".  

This is the Bath Abbey Church...this building was unbelievably detailed.

Bath Abbey Church again.

A picture from the inside of the Roman baths...we did not get very good pictures because we could not get inside with the dog, but it was still beautiful.  

Trevor and I outside of the Roman baths.

Beautiful details...

Look at this amazing door to the Bath Abbey!  

The cop cars around here always make me laugh...you could never miss them coming against the dull colors of the english streets.

The River below the Pulteney Bridge.  

The Pulteney Bridge...I took this awful crooked picture...sorry.  Different shops are built into this bridge...such a cool idea.  

They had these cute signs to help us navigate all around town.

This was probably one of my favorite sites to see...this is a garden maze.  I have an affinity for mazes and have always wanted to go to one and this was my first!

So naturally we had to go through the maze to see if we could make it to the middle.

Trevor striking a pose..Nova and I followed him around in the maze...Nova was really confused throughout and did not get why we were weaving around on the ground.

We finally made it to the middle of the maze...notice the face of a man below our feet (or paws).  

A cute telephone booth....even though I would not use it because it is very littered on the inside.  

Another insane street performer...I was very worried for the slack rope walking violinist...he would purposely dangle on one foot at a time.

My knight in shinning armor!  

Some Italian gelato...yum...I got the truffle and raspberry flavor.  

Trevor and I with our yummy gelato aka ice cream.

The cake Trevor picked up for me...what a sweetheart!  

Me and my cake.

Twenty fricking three years old...ugh...I am so old!  :)

Blowing out the candles, eating the cake, and heading home the next morning.

We had a wonderful time in Bath and can't wait to start exploring the area more...finances willing since it isn't cheap!  Trevor and I are still keeping the rest of the week low key and will be relaxing, but I just did not want to forget any detail of the trip so it would be well documented for us and all you readers out there.  Thanks again everyone for all the wonderful well wishes over our anniversary and my birthday!