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Sunday, October 4, 2009

A Trip to Stephanie's (Written Word!)

This week, I have the pleasure of being a guest on Stephanie's Written Word, where I wrote a post about my experiences taking a class on Jane Austen...in England...with my husband... Note the picture of us playing croquet on the university lawn. (Yes, I was a dozen years younger then--sigh--and thinner, too. :-) This is the "nice" photo, by the way. We were behaving ourselves and attempting to look very proper. I also have another one--locked deep in our family photo album--of me holding the croquet mallet, the bottom of it poised only inches from striking the top of my dear hubby's head--LOL!

We had a great visit. There's nothing like a shared reading of Pride & Prejudice or Persuasion, followed by a rousing group discussion over trifle, to bond two English lit geeks. But the best part was that we've also had years of laughs and a treasure box of memories thanks to that trip. Writing about it was a pleasant stroll back in time to where one of my favorite Austen adventures took place.

I'll be giving away 3 signed copies of According to Jane to commenters on that post so, if you're interested, please feel free to stop by. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

9 comments:

Maria Geraci said...

Sounds like it was an awesome trip, and what a great pic of you and the hubby!

Pamela Cayne said...

That is one of the cutest photographs I have ever seen. And I'm incredibly jealous of your trip--this is the London Bridge one, no? ;-)

Marilyn Brant said...

Thanks, Maria :). We had a fun time. Looking back, we were almost kids then!

Pamela~thank you, my dear! This was a different one--a few years later. We got engaged on the London Bridge trip... Here, we'd been married a whole 3 years ;-).

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

Love the photo of you and your hubby! I *love* the UK but when I finally dragged my husband there he wasn't impressed (only with Cambridge). Not even with Bath...and we stayed in the Royal Crescent (yes, THE one, it nearly bankrupted us and was not good value for money as the only Austenesque thing was a tiny little plaque announcing the royal patronage from 17something to 18something, but we stayed there!) Anyway, at least your hubby looks like he was having a great time with you. :)

Nancy J. Parra said...

lovely picture! Must have been a fabulous trip. Thanks for posting!

Marilyn Brant said...

Wow, Ann! To stay in the Royal Crescent...that still must have been an interesting experience--although I don't doubt it was an expensive one! Yes, my hubby had a really good time on that trip. He loves to travel, though, so he would've been in a good mood in almost any foreign location. He esp. appreciated England because he's not a confident foreign-language speaker--communicating easily was a great thrill for him. Plus, there were REAL castles in the U.K. And cool historical stuff. And new sports like cricket! (For me, England = Jane Austen, Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals and Cadbury bars. ;-)

Thanks, Nancy! It was a really lovely trip, but it's funny--looking at the picture, I'm reminded of how much time has passed. It was taken before our son was born and feels very much like we were living on a different planet... :)

K.M. Saint James said...

I have pics like this. Well, not with the mallet, but of a thinner, younger me. Hubby was thinner, too. But I love going back and pulling those memories out and wrapping them around me like a warm fuzzy blanket.

Pamala Knight said...

What a gorgeous picture! You both look so elegant and happy. Your trip sounds heavenly too. Thanks for sharing.

See you Saturday!

Marilyn Brant said...

Sandra, I love looking through old albums, too... The time just dissolves, doesn't it?

Pamala, it was a really lovely class with a very nice group of people (can't get enough of learning about Jane!), and thank you in advance for coming to see me on Saturday! Looking forward to talking with you. :)