guess what?

The McKenney's have some news......

(click play and listen while you read)

I know what you're thinking -

and that's not it!

We are moving back down south!

I have accepted a job as the Lower School Art Teacher at 

Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina.

We are thrilled to head home and be closer to family and friends.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Durham, England friends we will miss you tons!

Thanksgiving

This year Cullen and I hosted 

Thanksgiving dinner with some great friends,

here are a few pics before people arrived.

The hills are alive....

and we're off!

Cullen and I are off to meet our friends 

Graham and Elizabeth in Vienna.  

We will be traveling around Austria and Switzerland for a week.

More updates to come!

  credit

Life is but a dream

In England when it is sunny you pretty much have to drop whatever you are doing and enjoy the weather - 

cause you never know when you are going to get another pretty day 

(As I am writing this is it  45° and gray).

A few weekends ago we have had amazing weather. 

 One thing Cullen and I have wanted to do since we moved to Durham 

is rent a row boat on the Wear.

So here ya go:  Rowing on the Wear

Our boat Shirlery

Lil' Monsters

I never know what music is popular in the states, 

but here is what I have been listening to in England.

Of Monsters and Men

the whole album (My head is an Animal) is great!

Here is a little taste:

We moved to England August 10th 2011-

officially one year ago

(well a little more than a year now, but you get the drift)

Looking back it feels like we haven't been here that long and 

then in other ways it feels like we have been here forever.

Here we are, our first weekend in Durham

A lot has happened since then and we are thankful for this part of our journey together. 

This month I completed my old job and started a new job in the business school -
getting used to working 9 - 5. 

 I definitely prefer a teaching schedule and the surprises each day brings.

 

 England has so much to offer and

 we still love exploring and of course taking pictures of Weldan - 

 

Cullen and I recently discovered a new walking route that has become one of our favorite local spots. 

Also not sure if I shared our DIY project from a few months back.
One of our good friends gave us some old cottage doors and Cullen and I sanded and stained them to create a headboard.  



That's all for now.

USA..... and of course Team GB

OLYMPIC FEVER...  I know the Olympics already feel like they were forever ago, but I am just now getting around to posting our 2012 Olympic experience.  Plus the Para Olympics are about to start (29th)!

One of the Olympic venues was in Newcastle and Cullen and I went to two football matches

 

 

We had great seats.  I also deleted my memory card so I unfortunately do not have any images of the earlier game.  

We saw Japan vs. Morroco

and Spain vs. Honduras

 

Then Cullen and I made a last minute trip down to London the last weekend of the Olympics.  

I love the Olympics and even though we didn't have tickets I thought it unacceptable to live in the same country and not experience London during the Olympics.  

Thanks to the generosity of some friends, Cullen and I ended up going to Wrestling, Taekwondo and got to hang out at the USA House - where athletes, coaches and random people like us hang out. 

 

We watched a few events from Hyde Parke where they had a couple screens set up to show live footage - kinda felt like Music Midtown meets the Olympics.  

At the USA House

Silver medalists

 

Cullen and I are not looking our best, but enjoying hanging out with Liz in London.

All in all we were very impressed with the City of London and the many volunteers that made the Olympics a wonderful experience.  

I am back from my 3 week American adventure.  

Cullen and I spent two nights in London before I flew out

(where I realized my passport was still in Durham - long story for another post)

Then I headed to Boston for painting and photography classes for my MFA

Spent 10 days working in Boston

Flew to meet my family at Grayton Beach, Florida for a week

Then drove back to Atlanta for a few nights at home with family and friends.  

Now that I am back in Durham, I have been thrown into a crazy busy week at work, organizing an international humanitarian aid conference, lots of overdue school work, and the OLYMPICS!

So a few highlights from my trip

But more to come once life slows down a bit.   

BOSTON 
view from my dorm

Fine Arts Department

Hard at work

 

Red Sox Game

 

GRAYTON BEACH

 

Lindsay's Birthday!

 

ATLANTA 


Girls Dinner
 

Rose Coloured Glasses

Hello Instagram.  

I know I am late to the party - 

but I now see why people love documenting their life with Instagram.  

I can take an ordinary photo and BOOM -

instagram makes my life look automatically cooler!

It's true, look:

Borderlands

Thanks to the Queen and her 60th year of reign we had Monday and Tuesday off last week to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.

credit

Cullen and I went to Scotland with some friends for the long weekend.  We stayed in the beautiful estate, "Towerburn" that one of our American friends' parents own.  They were kind enough to offer it to us for the weekend.  

Towerburn is divided into a few apartments.  We were on the second floor on the left with the little patio.  The grounds were spectacular complete with wild pheasants roaming around.

Melrose Abbey 

One of the richest abbeys in the medieval world.  For all you Braveheart fans, legend has it that Robert the Bruce's heart is buried there.

Cullen and I went on a beautiful walk one afternoon up to Rubers Law. 

The view from the bottom of the hill:

 

These guys weren't so sure about us passing through their field 

 

I didn't have any group photos on my camera -

 I promise we actually went with friends!