Easter for the Duffy's

Easter was celebrated at our home church here in Illinois - Willow Hill. I was asked to sing with the praise band & it felt like old times. The church is growing but not much more has changed. The kids had an awesome time & Sophie hunted easter eggs off & on all day. The girls had lots & lots of chocolate. Whitney & Micah came by first thing in the morning - what a great way to start the day.

Dad & Naomi arrived about mid day. We all had an easter dinner provided by Nana K & Jim ~ good pork roast, mashed potatos, veggies, mmmm good. It was a good relaxing day!

Bottom line - God is good, All the Time ~ All the Time, God is Good

There's no place like home

As I click my heels together and chant "there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home" to my wondrous surprise I opened my eyes to see that I was indeed home! Unlike Dorothy who realized it had all been a dream, my last 15 months have been reality. A wonderful reality filled with hard times and good times but with great memories. I have made some great friends while living in England, but this blog is to be about good ole Illinois...

Sophie was a dream on the trip. She sat beside me while Brittney & Kevin sat half a plane away. Sophie napped at times, played with her DS, listened to music, watched a little tv - but all in all, she stayed occupied and in a good mood. Kevin & Brittney did some school work and napped - boring!


After two plane rides within 18 hours, Whitney met us at the Peoria airport. The girls ran to her, squealing in delight. We needed two cars to get all of the luggage to our farm so it was a good thing she was there. Driving to the farm felt like a dream. Nothing much has changed, which some would say is a good thing.

Friday morning we woke up early. Truth be told we had not had enough sleep, but I think we were all a little too excited to sleep anymore. We were ready to look around the farm, plan our day, and get to it. We have air mattresses in the bedrooms, lawn furniture for a kitchen table, but hey, we are home! I have loved watching the girls run around the yard, hike around the lake, play on their playset, play hide-and-go-seek in the house, write with side walk chalk ~ basically, just having fun. We sat for awhile down by the lake and both girls asked if they could go swimming. Keep in mind, the lake freezes during the winter & the temperature hasn't been warm for too long here... obviously, I said no :-)

About mid-morning we girls decided to visit Willow Hill. We knew they would be busy getting ready for Easter, but we were anxious to make our first contact. We were able to catch up with Pam, Kari, Gina, and Pastor Ken. It was awesome. The girls wanted to see the youth room, but I told them we would wait til Sunday. We visited for about 30 minutes but needed to let them get back to the preparations for Easter. So we headed back home (that sounds so good to say...).

Our first visitors were from the youth group - Greg, Amanda, and David - and were waiting for us when we returned from the church. It was so good to see them. We sat around catching up, talking about their future plans, and discussing possible "dates" during the next few weeks. It is amazing to see how they have grown up over the last 15 months.

Soon after, Nana K and Jim arrived in their motor home. The girls were ecstatic. They ran out of the house to greet them with a big hug & kiss. We spent the remainder of Friday catching up with Nana & Jim, visiting with Whitney & Micah, and a second trip to Walmart. Nana prepared our favorite dish - Swiss Steak; it was as good as we remember.

Saturday morning started with the listing of the remodel project. After a little breakfast Jim, Kevin, and Brittney started ripping carpet out of the upstairs. Within a few hours the floors were down to the sub-floor. After a quick snack, Kevin & Jim were busting up the bathroom. Our garage is full of the former carpet and bathroom cabinets. Then it was time for the first of many trips to Lowes. We bought tile for the bathroom, paint for the bedrooms, and who knows what else. Kevin & Jim were like kids in a toy store. Before Saturday would end we would have a new sub-floor for the upstairs bathroom and our "list" for the next day.

Sunday will include services at Willow Hill (enjoying seeing everyone), Easter lunch, Easter egg hunts, and lots of memories... I'll write more soon, but for now remember THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Walk Like an Egyptian...

Brittney has been learning about Egypt & Egyptians at school this semester. In an earlier blog I talked about us going to London to visit the King Tut exhibit & how she was able to educate Kevin & I on many things... well, today was Brittney's Egyptian dress day. She went as Princess Isis. The princess was Queen of Egypt ruling with Pharoh Osiris. Legend has it when they died the Pharoh and Princess became King & Queen of the Underworld.

Back to School

Approximately a month ago I wrote a blog about going back to school. Well, the time is finally here. Last week I got the information for my first class - Research Development and Design. Please remember, my first degree is in accounting. We had research papers and research projects but not anything too bad (maybe a 5 page report or a group project of 50 to a 100 pages). For my Research class this time I am to choose a topic of interest from my department of study (Theologoy) and write a reserach paper with 50 sources, 20 pages, and 5000 words. Now to my PhD husband that doesn't sound like a lot, but to me - I am overwhelmed. I know I can do this, but man - how can I pick a topic of interest when I haven't taken any other Theology classes yet. One of my friends was suggesting picking a topic from the Bible and using each book of the Bible as one of my sources. Good idea, but I'm sure that is not what they had in mind at school.

I am to learn more in a few days so I know stressing about it right now won't do me much good. But talk about shooting my confidence before I even start. I guess that is how I know this will be from God not me... He did promise when we are weak, He is strong.

Mixed Emotions

The last few days have been filled with so many emotions... I have 2 friends moving back to the states, we are getting ready to go back to the states for our first visit in 15 months, and today was Sophie's class assembly at school. WOW - I find myself crying at almost anything right now. I guess that is why I am glad there are no Hallmark commercials here in the UK :-)

Friends moving back to the states is a reality of living in a "temporary" environment. When you move an ocean away from family and friends, the ISE (International Service Employees) friends you make become your new family. I don't think I could have made it through the last 15 months if it weren't for my new ISE friends. We have Bible studies together, book clubs, lunches, brunches, shopping trips, sweating together at the gym, grumbling about our spouses (who doesn't do that at times :-)), bunco, euchere, you name it - we probably do it. But the most important thing we all do together is "have each other's back" - we help each other stay positive. I know we will still be friends when we get back, but life changes & absences can be scary.

When it comes to going back home in 2 weeks - I am so nervous. I have purposely avoided going home before now. I know it will not be the same; I know it will be tough at times & great at times. Things change and we have to be prepared for that. So, I have decided to focus on the things I know will be okay - I am looking forward to seeing my family; I am looking forward to being on the farm (I love all our land); I can't wait to visit Willow Hill; and I cannot wait to see friends. On a different note, the first place I want to eat is Alexanders ~ oh to have a good, juicy steak with a huge baked potato and the salad bar from heaven. Man, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Sophie's class assembly was awesome! She was so confident on stage. She was so proud of herself ~as she should have been. She had a small speaking part "I have two dogs that I take for a walk in the park with my family." I was amazed. She spoke clearly and projected her voice. It was more than enough to make a mom proud. But a warning to everyone back home - she has a strong British accent (maybe not strong to the Brit's but to us Americans, it is a strong accent).

The assembly started with 250+ kids from the school making there way into the hall. They walk so properly, are dressed so properly, and sit without making a sound. It was soooo cute. Then in walks Sophie's class - 30 kids all barefooted. They had them take their shoes off for assembly so they wouldn't be tempted to pound their feet on the stage :-). For anyone that knows Sophie, you know she was in heaven ~ nothing has changed in that respect, she loves to have her shoes off.

I was very proud of her. She did an excellent job. It was enough to make a mom tear up at times...

Weekend in London

After a long night on Friday (Kevin & I stayed out too late playing cards), we all got up early to catch the train down to London. After then taking the underground to our hotel, mom took a nap while dad & the girls "rested". Our first item on the itinerary was to see the Tutankhamun Exhibit.


Brittney is studying Egypt history at school and really wanted to see it. She was explaining things to Kevin & me at times :-). We got the ear phones for all of us - Sophie kept walking through the exhibit asking (in her not so quite voice) what number do I push. You never had to worry about loosing her - just wait a minute & you would hear "what number. Mom, what number do I push. Mom." We learned about the mummy process, and I must admit it was pretty impressive to learn someone from 3000+ yrs ago was able to "preserve" items.

The next morning we woke up early to visit the Science Museum. The girls and Kevin had a blast. They looked at the human body, the early engines, and the space area. Most all of the museums in London are free, and there are lots of museums to see. Next time we'll see more of the science museum and another one...


You now, I am not into museums. I go for Brittney, Sophie, and Kevin... just don't ask too much of me :-) In the Science Museum I found a quiet and dark corner to test my eyelids :-) But they found me.

On our way to the show we visited our favorite restaurant - Texas Embassy. They serve authentic Mexican food (something very difficult to find in the UK) and give free refills on your drinks (again, something very difficult to find in the UK). Then we walked through our "favorite" - Trafalgar Square. Sophie loves to chase the pigeons (terrorize them might be a better description) and both of the girls love to climb on the Lion statues in the corner.

After dinner, after the pigeons, and after a "short" walk we found the theater. Kevin had gotten us second row seats, all the girls went potty, and now it was time for the big moment!

The show followed the movie to a "t". The opening scene is unbelievable. They actually bring to "life" the animals in the kingdom. There are elephants, gazelles, giraffes, a rhino, and of course, lions. Most of the actors were American but there were a few British (easy to distinguish the two via the accents). Sophie's favorite part was Ed (the goofy hyena) sticking his tongue out & talking in gibberish. Brittney's favorite was everything. Kevin's was the opening scene, and my favorite is Mufasso showing mercy to Simba after going to the Elephant Grave Yard (also my favorite scene in the movie). The witch doctor was awesome - she had a great voice & was very believable.

I think our next show will be The Sound of Music. We hope to go sometime before the summer. I also plan to take Brittney to see Phatom of the Opera - just her and me.