Goodbye

Emily and I said goodbye to our first place we lived in as a married couple.  Here's a picture.

We are all moved out and packing up our bags to leave on Saturday!  Stay tuned for more updates.

A Farewell to Princeton

Yesterday Brandon and I, along with the help of his parents, loaded up our belongings on a trailer and moved out of our house in Princeton.  So, I feel that it is necessary to say a few thank yous to the people and places that made my four years (five years for Brandon) in Princeton special.

To the people and youth of St. Matthews: This church has been so wonderful to us since we moved to Princeton!  They allowed us to live in the parish house and helped us "get on our feet" as a young married couple.  As the music director, I made some people uncomfortable with my "contemporary" songs and choices, but they embraced the change and allowed me to experiment and learn.  The adult choir put up with my crazy warmups and the bell choir was patient and willing as we learned from scratch!  There were also those outside the music groups that supported us and encouraged us and made us feel like family.  I can't thank this church enough for the love and support it has offered us and you will all be dearly missed.

To the teachers, students and parents of Princeton Elementary: I have learned so much these past four years about teaching, working with young people, interacting with parents and just overall being an adult with a real job!  You have all helped me grow as a person and a teacher and I thank you for being patient when I made mistakes, as well as celebrating with me when things went well!  Thank you especially to the administration who supported the music program in every way, even as the music programs in communities around us dwindled away.  I hope that you all have a great school year and I hope to one day come back and continue to work in Princeton community.

Even though I do not know what the future holds, if we will come back to Princeton, or end up in a new city, we are thankful for the experiences and people we met in Princeton.  Even though it is a small town, it is full of life and promise.  The arts and performing scene is alive with Festival 56, the Prairie Arts Center and the Community band and choir.  I know Brandon and I have so much more to offer in this town if our path brings us back.  But for now we will say goodbye to Princeton and look forward to our new life in London.

Pre-course readings

The reading list has begun.  Emily and I have gotten some pdf's and ordered some books to begin reading for school.  I share with you a new found quote from "How Musical is Man?" by John Blacking.

"The very existence of a professional performer (musician)... depends on listeners who in one important respect must be no less musically proficient than he is.  They must be able to distinguish and interrelate different patterns of sound." 

Thus we are all musicians and we are all musically talented, just not all in western style music. 

Packing and Parties

This past month's theme in the Stover house has been: packing.  Every few days we drive to Bloomington with another car load full of stuff, to store at Brandon's parent's house.  They are being generous enough to allow us to leave all of our things there for the year, rather than paying for a storage unit.  I find it ironic that for the past five years Brandon has been trying to get all of his stuff out of his parent's house and now we are just taking it right back!

I have also been planning on what items to bring with me to London.  I am trying to limit myself to one checked bag and one carry-on size suitcase.  I have a plan for clothes, hoping I can fit them all in my suitcase, based on this website: http://www.academichic.com/2009/05/27/how-to-pack-for-a-research-year-abroad/  I am trying to base my wardrobe on her great suggestions, but I probably still have too many items picked out.  Check out later in the month for my final packing list and pictures of what I end up taking.

In the midst of all this packing, I get to celebrate the upcoming marriage of my closest friend Kathryn.  This weekend we had a great time at her bachelorette party, keeping it real classy by painting pottery and tasting wines at August Hill in Utica.  Thanks to the generosity of a couple from our church we were able to stay in a really beautiful cabin for the night.  We then hiked the Matthiessen State Park trails in the morning.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate with friends and the blushing bride-to-be!

Painting Pottery

Wine Tasting with the Bride-to-Be

Hiking in the Morning

Our first day, not back

Today would have been our first day back to school. Instead we slept in and will be packing and cleaning up the house. We've been spending these last weeks saying goodbye to friends at work and church. We had dinner with friends last night and have dinner again tonight and it is a good thing because there is next to nothing at our house!

Three weeks from tomorrow we leave Illinois. 

Final hurdles

Today our visa's arrived in the mail and we can officially go to London. We now have a short list of things to tidy up around Illinois, say our goodbyes to friends and family, and fly off to the UK. 

One thing is missing, after 6 nights in the UK, we will be homeless. Our first tasks in the UK will be to get a mobil and flat. After that we can be tourists for a week and then school starts!  It's hard to imagine that almost 6 years after graduating from Millikin (4 for Emily) We will finally be going back to school. 

We are really glad we got approved for our visas as it was a long, difficult, and expensive process to do on your own. One good thing we saw, we are able to stay in London through November next year (2014) if we wish to stay a little longer. 

Cheers

Visa Woes

So, applying for a Visa (a document which allows us to stay in the UK for more than 3 months) is really a pain in the you know what!!

Here is a list of what needs to be included in the Visa application process....and keep in mind we have to prepare one of these for EACH of us...so multiply all of this by two!

1) $495
2) A drive to Naperville, IL to get fingerprints taken
3) Online application submitted via the UK Border Agency website
 The following sent in an envelope to the UK Consulate in New York City
4) Printed copy of online application
5) A slightly different application filled out by hand (called the Appendix...)
6) Current passport and any old passports
7) a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies - basically a letter from our school proving that we have been accepted as students)
8) Proof of Loan acceptance
9) Bank statements that prove we have enough money to live in London for the year
10) Transcripts from undergrad studies
11) Copies of all the above mentioned documents (I'm assuming they keep the copies and send us back the originals???)
12) Prepaid, addressed envelope to send us our passports and the actual VISA, around $70

So yeah, it's a lot of work, and I probably forgot to mention a form or document or something....

Here's to hoping we did everything correctly and successfully receive our Student Visas!

Emily