#VivaLondon Updates – Halfway Point

With Photos! 🙂

So we’ve officially made it to the halfway point of our journey in the U.K. It seems somewhat strange to say that, as on one hand this time has passed rather quickly, and it’s hard to believe we’ve been here three months already. On the other hand, we feel more and more comfortable with our daily life here every day.

Quite a lot has transpired since we last updated all of you…so I’m going to try to catch up on as many things as I can. Apologies for the list format – it’s just easier to get it all out that way.

Driving on the Left

Well, that didn’t go according to plan. You might remember a couple of months ago that we bought an old Honda Civic to get us around while we’re here. It wasn’t supposed to be fancy, in fact it was one of the cheapest, most “reliable” vehicles that I could get my hands on. As it turned out, our little Civic was on it’s last leg, and one little meeting with an over-zealous speed hump cracked something underneath the car, creating an oil problem, which led to a sad day at the shop, finding out it would cost several times over what I initially paid for the car to get it fixed. At the end of the day, our Civic had seen it’s last journey, and we were back to GumTree to find another cheap car. Luckily, we found a slightly better car (albeit a little higher priced this time)…and were able to get it smoothly. Oh well. Now we’re watching out for those speed humps.

Visitors and Thanksgiving!

We were so fortunate to have some friends from the States, Clayton and Courtney Waters (along with their kiddos Atti and August), come and see us for a (very short) week. We did a lot of walking and eating and talking, and it was a very welcomed change of pace for us. They spent Thanksgiving with us and helped us feel not so far away from home with turkey and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce and all of the Thanksgiving-y things we were afraid we’d miss out on. We’re very grateful to have friends that are willing to go so far out of the way (literally) just to show us they care about us. Seriously can’t say enough about that.

More sights…

During the Waters’ visit, we got to spend some time exploring London and Windsor with the kids. The photo above this post is inside of Windsor Castle, and is just about the greatest presentation of a Christmas tree that I can imagine. We also visited the London Eye (at night this time!), Camden Market, the Natural History Museum, and so much more. We’re still continuously blown away by the history and architecture of all of these places. We take it for granted just how new everything is in the U.S., and Texas especially, and it’s nice to just pass by unassuming things that are centuries old.

Work, and more work…

I’ve had several people ask us, here and back in the States, how work has been going. I don’t intend to bore you with details, but suffice it to say we’ve been really fortunate to be able to keep up our work back at home while we’ve been here. As a part of our visa while we’re here, we can’t work for British companies (or volunteer for that matter), without the consent of the U.K. government. We can, however, work for American clients that pay us in America. This wouldn’t be any different than working while on holiday. So, between that and some very amazing clients, we’ve been able to keep our company rolling remotely.

…and Art

I wrote a few weeks ago about the “reinvention” of our faith, philosophy, and approaches both as individuals and as a couple. We’ve been working hard to take this time of being out of our comfort zone to dig deep into the whys and whats of who we are. It all sounds a bit hippy (and when have you ever known us to be that? 🙂 ) but it’s something that is having a profound impact on us still. One such thing has been finding the things that we truly enjoy and see as a form of worship, and pursuing those things directly. For Yvette, that has been diving into her art. Those of you who know her know that she’s an immensely talented artist, and like me, often struggles to find outlets for it. Over the last several weeks, she has jumped fully in to Bible journaling, and has seen a resurgence in her art. (Personally, I’m inspired.) As for me, I’ve been digging deeper into filmmaking and have some pretty exciting opportunities and ideas for exploring that further. More on that later.

We’re thrilled that you all have been keeping in touch with us and sending your well wishes. As Christmas approaches (and admittedly, our homesickness reaches a peak), we are grateful for your thoughts, words, and prayers. We love you all and can’t wait to share more with you soon.

With love….Harlan, Yvette and Baron.