Emily said:

“Aretha, you wear that hat girl!”

“Aretha’s past her time.”

Drew said:

“Warren didn’t just invoke Jesus’ name, but in Arabic!”

“I was expecting a rapper when she said ‘Yo-Yo Ma’.”

“This arrangement of Simple Gifts is dirty.”

Paul Edwards via Twitter said:

“Michelle Obama is the new Diana.”

“The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning” (US Flag Code, TITLE 4, CHAPTER 1, Section 8, (k)).

Still not sure you want to send Old Glory up in flames? The Town of Wake Forest’s got you covered with

a Flag Retirement Cerimony [sic] on December 6, 2008 in Downtown Wake Forest.  The event will begin promptly at 5pm.  If anyone has an old-worn-tattered flag they would like to have properly retired, you can bring it to the American Legion, Post #187, in Wake Forest (they are across from the Wake Forest Post Office on E. Holding Avenue) and place it in the “mailbox” recepticle in the back of the parking lot; or you can attend the cerimony [sic] and it will be retired in your presence.

Maybe this is what’s been going on in the Middle East for years; but then again that doesn’t explain the burning of presidential effigies.

May God grant us mercy and grace as we seek to fulfill our responsibilities as citizens — and our responsibilities as Christians.  This world is not our home, but we do bear responsibilities as followers of Christ as we are living here.

May God bless America, not because this nation deserves to be blessed, but because He is a God of grace and mercy.  Oh God . . . save us from ourselves.

When pressed for comment, Sir Nigel D concluded, “Quite right and jolly good show.  Let’s bring back the British Empire while we’re at it, eh, old boy, what, what?”

I don’t know about the Empire business, but Emily is most certainly my queen.

’Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous places and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of their kings —
But now I think I’ve had enough of antiquated things.

So it’s home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

Oh, London is a man’s town, there’s power in the air;
And Paris is a woman’s town, with flowers in the hair;
And it’s sweet to dream in Venice, and it’s great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living… there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe’s wonderful, yet something seems to lack:
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make our Future free —
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it’s home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that’s westward bound to plough the rolling sea
To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

JUST KIDDING! The year has flown by and when I think of all that has happened this year its amazing that I am still on my feet. I flew over on February 3rd 2006 just in time for the Superbowl. I then went on to pass my drivers test (on the second go…..I would have passed the first time if I wasn’t having so much difficulty staying on the right side of the road!) in March. Then in May I got the job as a Nurses assistant in Morgantown at a Rehab hospital. That same month Drew and I moved to a new apartment. Come August, 95% of The Hayes Family came to visit West Virginia and were amazed by how many trees there were. Throughout the months we went on small trips including New York, Grandma Diller’s house, visiting the In-Laws and camping at Maust Mountain. Then December arrived and everything went crazy. I resigned from my job, we rented a U-Haul and moved ourselves down to North Carolina to prepare for life at Seminary. Christmas raced towards us at full speed yet again. The New Year was welcomed in as we spent the night playing games and snacking on Salmon at a strangers house (that story is told on request). Drew and I then sat around for a month waiting for his classes to start, watching DVDs while I sat at my laptop applying for jobs via email! Then Late January I got a call from The Olde English Teas Rooms and was offered a job as a server. There I am and there I will stay.

Well, what a year! Don’t think me big headed if I say I think I have done well. I believe I settled in well and kept going when times seemed slow and struggling. God has been my strength though, don’t think this is all me. Without his advice and unconditional love I don’t know how I would have done it all. Early on in my American life I found it hard to be without a job, without a driver’s license (and public transport) and without close friends around. But God sat with me while I was at home all day everyday waiting for Drew to get off classes and bike home to see me. I could talk to God when the time difference made it hard to talk to my mummy and I could feel God’s presence when times seemed lonely. I owe everything to God. From the very beginning of this whole adventure.

Today I feel it the perfect time to express my gratitude because it truly is an amazing story how God bought me to America in the first place as a young exchange student. How he worked out his plan for Drew and I to get connected and then stay connected over such a long distance. Then to give me the courage and motivation to pursue my love in the summer of 2004 and to inspire us to choose between all or nothing. It was simply God’s Will that we would choose ALL. But then to work out the immigration process, to allow us the financial means, to give Drew the ability to go over everything clearly and just be there while the papers were being sent and passed over seas so many times!!! I feel overwhelmed when I begin to think about all we have been through and all that has been accomplished. Maybe I don’t need to go on because its true… its in the past now. Those years of living apart, being married but still living apart went so slowly yet now it seems like nothing. But I do feel like those times are the most important to reflect and rejoice in God’s awesome promises to us. To protect, to guide, to not forsake, to give us a future. And thankfully I find myself telling the story almost once a day to the guests that come in to the tea rooms or people at church. I love telling it. I love the fact that the underlying reason for this story is Drew, that he is the one I moved for, that he is the one I live apart from my family for. And I say that in the most honest and purest way, not to make him feel guilty and not to make him feel like he should owe me something but to make him feel special. Because he truly is a special and unique young man. Even though God is my ultimate provider, Drew is my side-kick!!! lol. When I cry he silently understands and demands nothing. I don’t have to explain my homesickness and there doesn’t need to be a reason. But he will always hug me until I stop. Drew is just a fantastic husband, he is hilariously funny and extremely smart, sometimes too smart for his own good! But i believe we are the prefect companions. Thank you Drew for being my reason to move to America.

England will always be my home but America is like a 4 star hotel.

Gatwick was busy, very busy. We queued for this, we queued for that. The man in front had a bottle of clear liquid in his pocket. The swift hand of a security guard whipped it out like a pistol. “No liquids on the plane, Sir” Even the “Sir” sounded menacing. The man looked middle-eastern. “Go on, blow up his bag. It’s probably a bomb”.

“Take you shoes off”. A huge black lady hollared at me. Her shirt uniform was 2 sizes too small and she was sweating profusely. I had reached the security arch. “No, don’t carry them through the arch. Put them through the x-ray machine”. She was annoyed. She thought me an idiot. I felt like one, especially with no shoes on.

Another guard was rifling through my hand luggage. He, too was large, and he looked hungry. He pulled out my packet of mints with a smile. “I shall have to keep these”. I thought e might. Too bad if I develop halitosis on this flight.

We scanned the other passengers for potential terrorists. He has children. Another has a wife and maybe mother-in-law. Could you blow up your mother-in-law? Naa. Lucky number Slevin and the X-Men substituted fantasy terror for real-life terror. RV was just so funny.

Wait a minute. That young man, definitely Asian, sprouting a beard, looks shifty. No, that’s the pilot. Maybe an inside job? Nobody would intentionally blow themselves up. That would be insane… Detroit looks so pretty from the air. I bet it’s a really handsome city on the ground. What a relief when the plane touches down. Will it stop?

Plane to Pittsburgh. Everything is suddenly calm & relaxed. No thought of terrorism. The flight will be pleasant. After all, no planes are brought down by terrorists in peaceful Pennsylvania.

It’s dark by the time we get to Pittsburgh. We walk around the airport 3 times to find our bags. It’s alright The luggage claim by the back door. We could have walked in off the street and got them. It’s great in America. Everyone must be so honest and law-abiding. We like it here. No surprises.

Two thugs jump us from behind. My hand instinctively turns into a lethal, karate-chopping weapon. No need, it’s Emily and Drew. Hugs and kisses all round with abandon.

Then some more. I restrain myself from hugging a passsing cop. He might not like it. We’ve arrived. We’re in America!!!