Busy Bees!!

Holy cow! I just realized that my last post was in October.. and its already the end of November!! That must mean we have been busy doing something right??

Well.. as many of you know... well actually probably all of you that read this.. we have had an intensely busy November. We started off the month by packing up our entire home and putting it into the storage rooms of two of Everett's buddies (THANK YOU!!) while we went home for a couple of weeks!

LUCKILY everything worked out that I was able to take SpaceA (military flight) back home on Monday, November 8th. I almost didn't think it was going to happen because when I walked in, the terminal was PACKED and they generally only let 10 people go. Well as luck would have it, there was not 1 but 2 jets going to Wichita that day so I got a seat! It was a pretty long flight home, but I hadn't slept the night before, so I slept the entire flight back home. My dad got to pick me up off the flight line.. not gunna lie I kind of felt like I was getting back from a deployment... weird feeling!! Everett finally arrive on a commercial flight on Thursday.. the goofus accidentally bought a plane ticket for that Wednesday, and missed that flight (because he didn't want that one.. he wanted a Thursday flight), but luckily the company gave him a full reimbursement and then upgraded him to 1st class on his second flight home, but that was because it was Veteran's Day!

We had a great visit home and I felt like I got to see almost everyone! There were a few friends that I did not get to see, but I'm hoping I will when I come back in January!! Everett spent most of his days back hunting with family and friends. I was very lucky to be able to go to my friend Mikki's wedding reception and see all my close high school friends! Oh and I got to go on my family's yearly shopping trip.. so overall a very successful trip back home!!

Now you might be wondering.. where were your dogs at this whole time?! Once again, God came through and some friends of ours offered to dog sit while we were gone... I don't think they realized what they got themselves into! HAHA!! We were soooo thankful that they were the best dog sitters EVER!! Not only did they save us from having to kennel the dogs, but they also trained them into well behaved dogs while we were gone! I was so surprised at how much they had grown while we were gone.. I barely recognized them! Not only that, but they now know how to sit and shake, and they go right to the kennel when we have to leave or its bed time! I told you--best dog sitters EVER!! Thanks again Jami and Travis! We owe you!!

So we sadly had to end our visit back to Wichita on Monday, November 22nd. Everett was planning on flying back commercially as he came, and I was going to go SpaceA, but Everett decided to just fly back with me. This almost became a decision he regretted when we walked into the passenger terminal at McConnell... Once again filled with at least 30 people... and only 1 jet leaving this time. Shortly after we arrived we found out that the only people on the jet will be crew members which means they will have more space for passengers. This made us feel a little better, but then we ended up being numbers 5 and 6 on the list to go home, so we didn't have anything to worry about in the first place! In the end, all 26 of us got to go back to Mildenhall on a VERY packed jet!

I forgot to mention that on my flight back to Wichita, I rode with a nice older couple who's last name was also Marshall (side note: the guy sounded like Christopher Walken and it always made me giggle when he talked). This was really confusing for the crew and for the customs lady because they kept wanting to put us in the same family. Well they ended up being on the same flight back to England with us too! Once again.. they got us all mixed up!

So after yet another long flight, this time not sleeping as well as the first flight, we landed in Mildenhall early Tuesday morning, UK time. Our car was waiting for us in the parking lot, and after a brief freak out because everett thought he left the keys to this car in Cambridge about an hour drive away, we found the keys and made our way straight over to the Realtor office to sign the last papers and pick up the keys to our new house! We stopped for Everett to eat a little something and then headed "home". That's where the insanity began... from the time we arrived at the house, around noon, until 6am the next morning we were very busy moving our stuff from its various storage places and into our new home, only stopping to eat and pick up our puppies. By the time our heads hit the pillows we were out cold until the next afternoon, where we did it all over again!

On Wednesday, we had visits from the cable/internet guy and from the movers! MY MOVERS!!! I was so excited to see my stuff that had been in storage for months now--including our wedding gifts! Once the movers left, I began unpacking all of that stuff.. and it was like unwrapping the gifts for a second time! Ha!

The movers back in Wichita were some strange ones though.. instead of packing all of my stuff in boxes, they wrapped it up in a brown wrapping paper.. So for two hours straight, I sat up in a bedroom unwrapping things.. it was like some sort of Christmas Morning from Hell... I was so tired of unwrapping things by the time I was finished! On top of that.. there was so much wrapping paper that I was able to make a column from the floor to the ceiling.. I'm not even exaggerating! I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but the dogs made a makeshift leaf pile out of it and spread it all over the landing. I definitely felt like I should be planting a small forest of trees somewhere to make up for the wasted paper! But I did get to recycle all of it so that made me feel better!!

Needless to say, by Thursday, TURKEY DAY!!, we were ready for a break from the unpacking. We spent our holiday with some of Everett's work friends. I got to play a little wii with one of his friend's daughter. We ate, talked, and drank delicious margaritas!! My fav!! Then we came home and began cooking our own Thanksgiving feast which we have been feasting on since then!! See we were not very smart and went to the Commissary (our on base grocery store) on Wednesday... yes.. the day before Thanksgiving..... As I'm sure you have already assumed or possibly witnessed.. it was pretty chaotic! They were running out of everything!! Luckily we got all of our necessities, but Everett had to get the last turkey that they had left.. which just so happened to be 24 pounds.. just for the two of us.... Haha.. So we will be eating on it for a while!! Tomorrow's dinner... Turkey and Noodles! Tuesday... Turkey Enchiladas! Wednesday... Turkey Surprise! I think you get the idea...

After Thanksgiving, we were slowly losing our motivation to unpack things... I decided it would be a great time to start on the Christmas decorations, so I did that.. and Everett decided it would be a great idea to get the entertainment room set up.. so he did! Saturday we bought our Christmas tree and put that up.. no lights on it yet.. haven't found the motivation for it! We also have been playing a little too much of our PlayStation3 Move!! It is SO much fun... we LOVE sand volleyball!! But my arms are extremely sore from it!

That leads us on to today.. in which we got one more load in from Cambridge storage, and put away all of the boxes that were sitting in our dining room.. So NOW it looks more like a house and less like tornado valley! I plan on cleaning it up tomorrow.. and then we will be ready for guests! And I can do more than just unpack all day!! Maybe then I will find the motivation to put up Christmas lights?? We shall see...

I know many of you are asking for pictures... I haven't taken any yet because it was a huge mess.. but as soon as it looks picture worthy.. I will be sure to post!!

Until then.. Cheers!

Double, Double Toil and Trouble..

Happy Halloween everyone!!

We have been busy this weekend celebrating the holiday.. and yes.. they celebrate Halloween here in England too! Haha..

We started off Friday with our pumpkin carving and seed roasting.

The puppies wanted to help me!

That's better!

Everett cutting the top off his.. that's as far as he has gotten...

My finished product!! It's a cyclops.. haha.. We didn't have the best tools this year so I couldn't be as creative..

In the dark..

Everett washing off the seeds so I can cook them : )

On Saturday we had to do a lot of Everett's homework.. He roped me into helping him...... haha.. Then at night we headed off to the Halloween party at his co-worker's house.. We went as hillbillies! I later found out at the party that it is a curse to dress up as a pregnant lady... So if legend stays true.. we may be having a little bundle of joy sooner than planned... stay tuned to see how that one turns out.. haha!

It was raining so I had to keep my pumpkin inside...

Our costumes.. I forgot to put my robe on for this picture...

Close up of Everett's face...

Everett added his lovely sideburns and beard with my waterproof eyeliner... soooo it's still there today.. haha!

And for actual Halloween.. we have just been hanging around the house.. as much as I love trick or treaters.. I hope we don't get any because I just realized that we don't have any candy to hand out!! Our babies did get in their costumes just long enough for me to take a picture... they were pretty unhappy with me as you can tell..

Kacee was a Chipotle burrito..

Dallas was supposed to be a ghost.. but HATED it over his head...

My poor dogs.. Haha...

I have also uploaded recent pictures of the puppies on facebook.. Click the link below to go there and take a look!

More Puppy Pictures!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween too!!

Answered Prayers!!

Through this time of nonemployment, I have become quite a calm person. I used to be Miss Reactive who freaks out over every little thing (I'm sure many of you are chuckling and thinking of a time recent or not in which I have over reacted a bit..), but now that all my stress is gone.. I have but a care in the world! I didn't really realize this until a few weeks ago when I was working out at the gym and Everett came over (because it is right across from his building on base) to let me know that we are being kicked out of our current place a month before we are allowed to move into our next place. Now my typical reaction would be "OH MY GOD WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO??? WE WILL HAVE NO WHERE TO LIVE!! WHAT ABOUT THE DOGS?? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME EVERETT????" Well... not so in this case.. all I said was, "Ok.. I'm sure it will all work out.." I think Everett was more surprised by my reaction than I was because I received a really confused look and then he backed away a little freaked out..

If there is one thing I have learned in this few months of de-stressing, and probably the months or years of stress before them, it's that when you trust in God.. He will take care of you! He has proved that to me numerous times throughout my life, and I think I'm finally getting it.. 24 and a half years later...

So in our plan to work it all out.. we decided that I would go home for a few weeks, and Everett eventually decided to join me.. this left us with the only one choice for the dogs.. to kennel them.. Now I wasn't too excited about this, but while I was at the vet I found a brochure for a really nice kennel. They would be able to stay in the same unit, and the people let them out daily for individual attention and social time. They will also be going through a little training while they are there.. This made me feel a little better that they would be receiving a little love and attention while we are gone, but I know that I will miss them!

We had it all figured out, so I finally got brave enough to post a blog about it.. bad idea.. because once I broadcast anything... it allllll changes.. haha!

Yesterday I called Everett while he was at work to see if he had gotten a hold of the lady about when our house was to be completed.. he hadn't yet, but he DID have some really great news! His flag football team is currently number 1 at Mildenhall.. and with only a few more games left in the season, they are pretty much unbeatable.. If they do win, they get to go to the championships.. IN ITALY!!!! I was so excited because that is the place that I want to go really really bad! Then he told me the dates... November 11-14.... great... when I'm supposed to be going home... Well we don't even know yet if they will go, but if they do.. sorry.. I'm going to Italy! haha... And then I will be home from the 15-29! Which means THANKSGIVING!!!

So we got that taken care of, then the lady calls back about the house... And gives us that bad news.. It won't be ready until December and possibly January..... Yeeeeaaaahhhh.... Not happening! So Everett calls me up to tell me to start the search again.. This just irked me a bit, but I had been feeling this coming, so I  had spent the last couple days just seeing what is available.. Well I looked up what they had just posted that day, and there was one from Newmarket (where we currently live and don't want to leave) in our price range!!! I looked at the pictures and even though there may be a few painting changes (blue and yellow may make great wedding colors.. but are NOT good kitchen colors.. haha) it was perfect.. So I called Everett back up and told him with absolute confidence.. I have found our house!! He set up the appointment to view it just a few short hours later...

Driving up to the house I thought great.... here we go again... The houses looked kind of shabby... and we had plenty of experience looking at shabby houses... none of them good... We made it up to the house and were greeted by the current resident and her two adorable little girls, British accents and all! It is nice getting a tour by the current residents because they live there and will tell you the truth! She ushered us in and we started on the main level.. Walking in the entrance hallway to the right is a full bathroom, coat closet, and storage closet.. To the left is the rather large living room.. The wallpaper in both rooms is not the best.. but not the worst of what we have seen.. (Worst: Think bright purple with a very odd pattern... in the living room...) Then she leads us to the kitchen..... which is a definite selling point in the house.. it has not one but TWO full sized refrigerator/freezers.. now this may sound odd to Americans that I get excited about this.. but here in the UK they consider a dorm fridge to be a normal sized fridge.. so having two full sized is super luxurious! Not only that but they are built in so they look like cabinets!! So is the dishwasher and washing machine!! The stove is electric.. which most people here prefer gas.. NOT ME!! And it is all touch screen.. so it's really cool! Also, the current residents have taken the liberty to already paint the kitchen a normal color.. so I don't have to!! We joked a bit about the previous color scheme...

The dining room is connected to the kitchen, separated only by a bar area.. The dining room has all sorts of storage cabinets in it and is very roomy!! Both of these rooms have doors leading out to the rear garden (as they call it here) which has a nice deck, a stone BBQ area, and a yard with an actual garden in it! Plenty of room for the puppies.. and the best part is that our next door neighbors also have two German Shepherds!!

Going up the stairs in the hallway takes you to the bedrooms, there are four bedrooms.. three of good size, one that's pretty small.. And the best part about this.. they are all fitted with CLOSETS!! Another luxury here in the UK (they normally use wardrobes.. like in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe..). And then another great part is the main bathroom upstairs.. it has double sinks, and a full shower/bath.. AND enough counter space to make anyone jealous!!! The counters go around the whole room with the exception of the wall in which the bathtub takes up!!

Now it is kind of an older home, which is the reason for the shabbier looking outside, but the whole inside has been renovated and looks really great!! Plus, with it being 150 pounds under our monthly housing allotment, we are going to try to get them to throw in a gardener to make the outside look super nice (and to keep the plants alive since I have a brown thumb..) So of course we fell in love, but hadn't heard back from the landlord on whether or not we could have pets.. but considering the current people had a puppy.. we were hoping we would be OK..

Well... Everett got the call this morning that we and the puppies are APPROVED!!!! We couldn't be more excited!! We got everything we wanted.. including location.. which we didn't think was possible after our months of searching.. but like I said before.. God gave us what we wanted... he just made us be a little more patient about it!! Click on the link below to go to the website I found the house on and you can see some of the pictures of the house!

Click here to see our house!!

Now the only downside is that the current people (who are moving to Melbourne, Australia) won't be moving out until the 15th.. and we have to move out of our house on the 9th.. so there is a week of time in which we will be in limbo... BUT the lady was super nice and is willing to work with us if we need to move some of our stuff in a little earlier since their international movers will be taking their stuff on the 9th and 10th!! So it looks like the week of the 8th through the 15th just got even busier for us!! We are definitely going to have to figure out our priorities.. but we decided that no matter what we are STILL coming home!! So you don't have to worry about that!!

Whew.. what a whirlwind week!! Can't wait for the weekend so we can relax a bit!! And party for Halloween!!!! That reminds me.. I still need a costume......

Well.. that is all the updates I have for now!! Have a safe and Happy Halloween!!!!

There's No Place Like Home!!

So it sounds like my 3 clicks with my ruby red shoes have worked! Everett and I will be coming home for a while in November!!!! : ) I thought it was only going to be me, it is looking like he will be able to get the time off to come with me!

Now this is the military.. so we can't be 100% sure until we are actually there.. but I will be flying home military around November 8th and then flying back to England around November 22nd. I most likely won't be there for Thanksgiving.. We decided to spend that with just the two of us since Everett wouldn't be able to stay in the states that long, and it's not too fair for him to have to be here by himself for the holiday.
Everett will be flying out commercially on the 11th and then returning around November 22nd as well. Because military flights aren't always a guarantee, he decided to go the commercial route to be sure he gets back to work on time!

We are so very excited to come back for a visit! It already sounds like we are going to have a busy time while we are there, but are going to try and fit in as much as we can! As of right now I am heading off to Kansas City the weekend of the 12th for our annual Opening Hunting Weekend shopping trip. Also that weekend in Kansas City my good friend from high school is having her wedding reception, so I am SOO happy to be able to attend both events!! Everett plans on hunting as much as he can while he is home since he can't do much of that over here!

Other than that.. no new news over here! We are still waiting to hear on our housing for sure.. I'm hoping Everett figures that one out tomorrow!! Also, Everett is responsible for getting my command sponsorship through so that I CAN go home!! A lot of waiting on Everett... he needs to get with it!! haha.. I really want that command sponsorship though.. I've already had to sit out on trips to Greece and Spain : ( Fortunately there will be more opportunities in the future so I'm not miss TOO much!

Alright.. I need to get to bed! Can't wait to see you all soon!!!

Growing Pains

So it has been a quick minute since I have last posted, which can only mean that life has been pretty boring over here.. haha.. Mostly I have just been waiting for things to actually happen before I update (like our housing situation), but I figured I could update you about some of our other changes.. Like our growing puppies!!

Kacee and Dallas continue to make life very interesting for us. They have adapted really well to our home, and are pretty much done potty training, which means I can now start training them in other areas!! They love to go for runs in the race horse training fields (called The Gallops).. which is a good workout for both mommy and puppies!! Every time we go, they get compliments from every one we pass! They socialize really well with the other dogs, and don't even need to be on a lead because they follow me so well! Everyone is impressed with how well behaved they are and how beautiful they are. They are still sleeping quite a bit, but are getting more and more energy everyday!

What I am most surprised about is how quickly they grow!! When we got Kacee she weighed about 7 pounds... Three weeks later she is up to 15.5 pounds! Dallas is even worse.. He was about 9 pounds when we got him, and he is up to 20 pounds... He is a VERY solid dog!!

They went to their last vet appointment of the year yesterday, and I was told that I spoil my dogs a little too much... Especially my little girl.. Dallas is pretty independent.. definitely not a snuggler! He would rather be sleeping on the floor than on the couch (which is probably a good thing!).. Kacee on the other hand is an attention whore, for lack of a better term... She always has to be close to you.. Recently she started this thing where she literally hugs my leg with her front paws.. I asked the vet why she does this, and he said, "You know how toddlers hug their parent's leg when they want to be picked up... It's very much the same.." So basically  I don't have a puppy.. I have a toddler......... But it's hard for me not to pick them up.. I'm going to be sad when I won't be able to do that anymore!!

They attended their first slumber party on Thursday! My friend Margaret invited me and Nichole over for a girls night and since Everett was supposed to have a middle of the night flight I had to bring the puppies with me... Their crate is too big for the car, so they had to go without for the first time which really scared me because I didn't want them peeing or worse in Margaret's house! I did bring the child's gate with me and we locked them in the kitchen.. Not too surprisingly... They slept for the better part of the night since I took them to Everett's football game before, and they got to play with all the kids at the game (my favorite thing.. built in puppy sitters!!) I slept on the couch downstairs so I could be sure to take them out every few hours to ensure no accidents.. and they did great!! Not a single mistake inside!!

Besides going to the Gallops, they LOVE going to Everett's football games on base! It's a really great place to socialize them with kids, since there are so many! They have done AMAZING with the little kids.. they have been in contact with kids aged only a few months to about 10 years old.. They even did great when this insane little boy kept trying to pick them up by their hind legs, and when a toddler was pulling on their tails.. It always makes me a little nervous because if something were to happen it would be my fault, but the parents don't seem too bothered and some even want their kids around the dogs.. so that makes me feel a little better! They will definitely be kid ready when we have a few of our own!

Luckily they have not torn up our house yet... Kacee isn't really a chewer, but Dallas is..... He will stop when you tell him to, but if they don't have any of their own chew toys around.. they will get your shoes!! I have really been working on that, because there is nothing worse than a chewer... They understand which toys are theirs, but every once in a while they like to push my buttons...... One thing I find really funny that they like to chew are rocks... yeah... we have THOSE kids......

As most of you know, we will be moving soon due to the fact that our current home does not have a yard for the dogs... There are only two patches of grass on the property, and they are right by our front door... There are two things that I hate dogs doing, chewing and digging... unfortunately.. our dogs are showing signs of digging.... They dig the heck out of our two patches of no longer grass, but now dirt because of all their digging... I'm not really sure how to end this problem, so any help or advice you have I would appreciate to know before we do get a yard.. I don't want them to tear it up!!

Alright.. now that you feel like you know Kacee and Dallas, I guess I will end this! The next time I post will probably be when we find out about our housing!! OR when I get command sponsership.. which SHOULD be sometime next week!! OR when I find out if I get to come home in November or not!! Lots of possibilities!! Keep checking back for updates!!

Weekend Update!

So... A LOT has been going on in the last week! First, we got our puppies!! Our beautiful Kacee and handsome Dallas were picked up last Friday from the breeder, and we couldn't have been more excited! In one day I got my husband back and my two babies!!

If you would like to see pictures of them, I update from this website all the time: Click here for puppy pics!

Our first big goal with them was of course potty training.. We didn't have a crate the first few days, so we locked them up in the kitchen.. which was NOT a good idea considering every time we got home or woke up the kitchen was filled with pee and poop.. yuck! I finally convinced Everett we needed a crate and that problem has been solved ever since! My wonderful little boy has had very few accidents over the last few days.. my little girl however is a completely different story... She just doesn't seem to get the concept.. I take her out every 20 minutes, and as soon as she gets back inside.. she goes on the floor... UGH!!! I just gotta keep consistent, but I wish she was as quick of a learner as her brother!

Another big update is that we finally found a 2nd car!! We were looking before Everett left for Iceland, but all we got were dead ends so we kind of gave up for a while. Since he was back, I knew I didn't want to be stuck at home all day, so I went online and found a nice Ford Explorer that I showed to Everett.. Well we went to look at it today and he loved it so we will be picking it up tomorrow!! Finally something that is going our way!!

On to things that aren't quite going our way.... So since we got the dogs, I have kind of been pushing Everett to look into moving into a house that has a yard (or garden has they call it here). He really didn't like the idea of moving, but we are currently being pushed out of our house, so it looks like I will be getting my way! See, Everett started renting this house from the older gentleman that lives next door. This used to be his racquetball court that he converted into a house. Well his wife just died in December, so he decided to sell both his house and this one as well to another couple. This new couple called Everett up to sign a new lease on Monday. His old lease said we could have pets, which is why we got the dogs, but this new lease said that he is not allowed to have pets. When he saw this he said he was going to have to think about it and refused to sign as his old contract is not up until November. They claimed that they would allow us to have pets, but then they sent over the realtor yesterday and she said we could stay but the dogs would have to go. Well... we aren't getting rid of our dogs, so we are in a huge search for a house at the moment.

We went looking at these really cool houses yesterday, the location wasn't really what we wanted as it is kind of far away, but the houses were SO cool! The building is the former village elementary school, so it has flint walls and gothic windows, but they completely gutted the inside and transformed them into 5 brand new houses. They were very roomy and we fell in love with one of them. We still wanted to think about it because the location wasn't what we really wanted, but as soon as we got home, we found out the house we wanted was already gone : ( That was kind of a let down.. So now we have a bunch of houses that are options, but we are finding that a lot of them don't allow pets, or don't want 2 large german shepherds living in them... so we are praying that we find the perfect one! But we don't have much time!! I'm asking for lots of prayers that the perfect house will show up for us.. and soon!!!

That's about all the excitement here! Everett was lucky enough to get pretty much all of last week off, and he will have Monday off as well, so it's been nice having him around all day! He has been having class all evening though, so I still only get half a day with him : ( Yesterday I went to the Lakenheath Bazaar with my friend Margaret, didn't really find anything I had to have so we went to Pizza Express for some yummy dinner and wine! We went to the one in village of Ely that has this beautiful cathedral which Margaret informed me has been in a couple of movies including "The Other Boleyn Sister". Since it was so late, it was closed, but the outside was very cool! I can't wait to get to see the inside!!

Well I guess that is all for now! I will update you if we find a new home to live in!! Until then.. Cheers!

London on a budget!

Hello!! Sorry it has been a while since I have posted last.. It has been an extremely busy week, and I'm just now getting to it!!

So last Wednesday I went on a day trip to London by myself.. Many people think that England is very expensive (well... it is..); however, there are many things that you can do here for FREE!! I decided that I was going to try to save as much money as I could on my trip to London, AND it gave me the opportunity to experience some things i.e. museums that I can add to my "tours" I will be giving next year! : )

So here is my day:

Woke up at 7:30 to leave by 8:30 so I could catch the 9:20 train in Cambridge.. I had a WONDERFUL friend who offered to drive me to London so I wouldn't have to 1) drive through the crazy Cambridge traffic and 2) pay for parking (see.. already saving money!!) So my first purchase of the day was my 20 pound round trip ticket to London Kings Cross.

  It is a 50 minute train ride to London, so I arrived around 10:10.. Since I was already by the British Library, and had a little over an hour before I needed to be at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, I decided this is where I would stop. Inside this ginormous library, they have many different galleries. The one I really wanted to see was the Gallery of Treasures. This free gallery has so different many "treasures" in it. It contains original compositions from famous composers ranging from Mendel to the Beatles. They also have the Magna Carta, original Shakespeare work, the original Beowulf, the Gutenberg Bible, and da Vinci work. The odd thing I found was a collection of different types of Alice in Wonderland books, from Disney to Robert Sabuda (pop-up book) to Salvidor Dali. This is just the most famous things, they also have original manuscripts from a variety of different regions of the world. I spent about 30 minutes there, but you could spend a LOT more time depending on how much you like to read! They don't allow for pictures inside, so here is what is on the outside of the Library! Cost: FREE!

Next I hopped on the Tube and headed over to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guards. I (wrongly) assumed that since it was a weekday at the end of September, which means no longer tourist season, that not THAT many people will come out for the Changing.. Well... This is what it looked like:

PACKED!! I found a spot off to the right side, hoping that I could at least see a little bit. Although I couldn't really see what was going on, they paraded in front of us, so I took a video.. here it is..

I just chalked this one up as a lesson learned.. Now I know where the best spot to view is and I know to get there at least an hour early so we can get that perfect spot!! Another great thing about this event... It's FREE!!

My View

After the Changing, it was lunch time. As I said before, it was a day of saving money, so instead of buying food, I brought my lunch with me to eat in St. James Park while on my way to Westminster Abbey. I was lucky that it was a BEAUTIFUL day out.. sunny and 70 degrees, so my lunch was very enjoyable!!

I brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some tortilla chips.. YUMMY!! You can rent these chairs at the park if you are willing.. I believe it is 1.50 pounds for 3 hours. I opted to just sit on the ground, since it was free!!

 After my enjoyable lunch/stroll through the park, I headed over to Westminster Abbey for my splurge of the day! It does cost 15 pounds to get into the Abbey. I chose to swallow this cost because I have relatives buried inside. My Grandpa Slusser and Uncle Dean have done extensive research on our family heritage, and have found that my Grandma Slusser's family are direct descendants of the Plantagenet line of England, which ruled a LOOOONG time ago. Those royals are buried in Westminster Abbey, along with tons of other famous people. Not only are there lots of dead people, but also beautiful sculptures, stained glass, and architecture. As cool as it was, I probably would never do it again. I was really upset that I could not even take pictures inside... But I did get this one outside looking in... it does not do this Abbey justice though!

Next on the list was the Natural History museum. If you like science, this is your place! From dinosaurs to dodo birds, diamonds to magma, earthquakes to a 3 story cocoon.. and that's not even half of what this museum offers! The map has the 15 must see things, and it took me an hour and a half just to get through those!! I really can't wait to go back and see more, especially since its FREE! Think of KU's dinosaur museum times 1000! Here are just a few pictures from here..

The Outside

The Inside!

The dinosaur exhibit was huge!

Life size blue whale

The giant cocoon that houses the Butterfly Exhibit

Escalator going through a metal Earth sculpture

Whew.. by this time, my feet HURT! But I still had 2 more places to go before meeting up with my friends for dinner! Next up, the British Museum.. To explain this museum, I will use an analogy.. The British Museum is to History as the Natural History Museum is to Science... The one thing that I HAD to see at this museum was the Rosetta Stone. As cool as it was to see, this museum had so much more to offer! There were all sorts of sarcophagus-es and mummies, and relics from every civilization that ever existed! Not only that, but the architecture in the main hall literally took my breath away.. You walk into this really old building, and the last thing you expect to see is this: --------------------------------->

Rosetta Stone

It was built inside of the old building's courtyard. It was so cool! Anyway, I definitely did not have the time that this museum deserved to see even a quarter of their artifacts. One thing I thought was a little out of the ordinary was that it had the largest clock exhibit I have ever seen in a museum! Strange but true! Once again, this museum is absolutely FREE!!

After the British Museum, I only had one more place to go, the National Gallery. I have never been in a real gallery before, so I was really excited to see all of these famous paintings in REAL LIFE... I wasn't sure how exciting this museum would be, but it definitely WOWed me! It's amazing how vivid the colors are in real life!! I never understood how people could get emotional over art, but one painting actually made me tear up a bit.. It's just unbelievable how much thought and hard work goes into creating such a masterpiece! I was not allowed to take photos inside, so I'll just tell you the artists I saw. They had my absolute favorite, Van Gogh, along with Rousseau, Monet, Picasso, Michelangelo (and all the other Ninja Turtles), da Vinci, and Rembrandt just to name a select few.. basically it was the whose who in art history! Very cool and very free!!

Since the National Gallery is in Trafalgar Square, I got this pretty little shot of all the action.. Look for Big Ben in the background!

I had a super busy day in London, but my favorite part of course was getting to see my friends that I met in Australia. They live to the West of London, and I live to the East, so we met up in the middle for a little Pizza Express for dinner! It was great to catch up with them after a year and a half!!

After dinner, I made my way back to Cambridge and then on to Newmarket where I fell FAST asleep!!

So, here is a recap of my budget day in London:

Train Ticket: 20 pounds
Tube Day pass: 5 pound 40 pence
Westminster Abbey: 15 pounds
Dinner at Pizza Express: 10 pounds
Spending a day learning about all the different elements of culture: PRICELESS!!

In total, I spent 50 pounds and 40 pence, approximately $80.. and yeah... That's a budget day........ I told you it was expensive here!!

Runnin' just as fast as we can...

...holdin' on to one anothers hands...

Sorry had to finish the lyric! So I thought I was going to be SOOOO bored this week without Everett being home, but I have managed to keep myself very busy!!! With the motivation of a friend, I have gone to the gym TWICE this week.. yeah I know.. that's a first!! We are taking a fitness class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.. and then doing cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays.. It is my hope to hit my goals right around the holidays... so I can get fat again! Ha!! Actually since I will only be home for one holiday this year I won't be getting as much of that delicious food.. so sad!!

Besides working out, I have been trying to update a bunch of stuff.. putting up pictures from the whole summer to now, updating my Susan G. Komen page.. (Please make a donation at this link: My Race Website).. and catching up on all my TV shows before the new seasons start this week!!

This weekend I was lucky enough to attend another horserace with a couple of wives from Everett's squadron.. We started off by meeting at Nichole's house for puppy chow, salsa, and Sangria.. then we walked on over to the races! I ended up be with 47 more pounds (about $73) than I started with.. which never happens to me!! I'm always a loser when it comes to betting!! Needless to say I was pretty excited and plan on spending the money on my trip to London tomorrow!! Here is a picture of all of us girls dressed up with our awesome hair pieces!

Me, Danell, Margaret, and Nichole

Excited because my horse placed 1st and hers placed 2nd!!

Walking to the races with our water bottle of Sangria... Classy!!

As I said before, tomorrow is my trip to London.. My plan is to get there in time to see the changing of the guards, then head over to Westminster Abbey for the tour of the inside. After that I will hit up the Natural History Museum, British Museum, and National Gallery (all free.. awesome.. I know!) If the weather is nice, I would like to walk over to the "London Bridge" (known as the Tower Bridge) and go see St. Paul's Cathedral.. If for some reason I get all of this done and have extra time, I want to see the Grant Museum of Zoology.. where they have bones of the dodo bird!! Last but not least I will make my way over to the British Library to see the cool things they have to offer which just so happens to be next to Kings Cross Station where I will be meeting my two friends that I met in Australia for dinner! After dinner, its back to Newmarket for me!! I have a feeling I might be a bit ambitious, but I will just try to get through as much as I can! And with the Tube being back in operation.. it will be easy travels!!

Thursday will be a day at home for me.. probably resting after my busy Wednesday.. I will update my blog on my London excursion and then get started on my Thank Yous!! Then Friday Everett will come home!!! So excited for that!!

Ta ta for now!!

3 posts in one day??

This has to be some sort of record! Here is the link to my England pictures.. I will probably refer to this a lot since it will be an ongoing photo album!

Click here for England Pictures!!

Click here for Iceland Pictures!!

Let me know if it works!!

Ain't No Party Like a Reykjavik Party!!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Since we arrived in Iceland after midnight, technically it was a new day!! So we touched down and the boys surprised us by being at the airport with our bedding for the hostel! See the reason it was a surprise is that the base they were staying on closes its gates at midnight, and since we landed after midnight we didn't think they were going to be able to make it.. somehow they "worked it" and were there!! Which we were thankful for since they did have our bedding...

After a quick hello and goodbye, we boarded the bus to take us into Reykjavik (pronounced wreck ya veck) since the international airport is 45 minutes from the city center. We were dropped off at the hostel at 2am and we were SOOO tired.. we checked in and the lady told us that there were already 2 females in the room so be quiet. We got into the room and got ready for bed by the light of our cellphones..

A few short hours later, the alarm went off because it was horseback riding day... oh wait.. I guess it wasn't our alarm that went off but our roommates... And it wasn't a normal alarm it was just alarming because I was awoken by the sound of a man's voice....... We gave them the benefit of the doubt and just figured the girl had a cold, that was until the person got out of the bed from underneath me and even my legally blind eyes could tell that this was no female as the desk attendant promised.... We waited until they exited the room and Nichole and I had a little freak out together and decided to ask to be changed rooms. Before we were able to do that, the couple came back and we found out that they were Belgian and VERY nice.. but we still felt uncomfortable sharing a room with a guy.. We left to get some breakfast, changed rooms, and took a nap.. After the nap it was horseback riding time!!

We arrived to the site and found out that we were the only ones in the group who had ever ridden a horse before! For some, it was their first time seeing a horse!! We were placed on our horses.. mine was named Besse (although it was a boy)...

We made our way through the Lava fields... in the rain : ( As cool as it was to ride an Icelandic horse (the difference is that they are smaller and they give a much smoother ride), however the tour wasn't what we hoped for.. the people in charge did not explain where we were or anything.. they just kept telling us how great we were doing.... Here is a pic of the lava fields...

After the horseback ride the boys were supposed to meet up with us, but did not feel up to the drive : ( Us girls decided we were going to get ourselves a nice meal, and walked over to the Ruby Tuesday's... After that it was time for bed!!

Thursday September 9th, 2010

Today was the day for Blue Lagoon!! Nichole and I left the hostel to drive 45 minutes out to these geothermal pools where the boys were going to meet us.. Since we got there a little bit before them, we decided to get our swimsuits on and check out what it had to offer... We started with a glass of wine and then went over to put on some silica mud... before we made it over, we were stopped by a worker who yelled at us in Icelandic Sign Language that we were not allowed to drink in that area... we swam back to the bar, finished our wine and tried the mud again... We were a little unimpressed... felt like it dried out our faces than it did good... The boys still weren't there so we decided to sign up for a massage!! There were only 2 massages left, a 20 minute and a 30 minute, so we had to play paper scissors rocks for the 30 minute... which I won!! It was at that moment that the guys got there.. we hung out.. got our WONDERFUL massages from some large Icelandic we called Ivan.. We laid on a float thing and he put a blanket over us and he began.. I've never received a back massage laying face up but it sure worked in he water!! After the massages we got dressed and ate dinner at the Lava restaurant where we got to try some whale! It was ok.. not much flavor and I think I would have preferred it on bread or something.. Then it was time to say goodbye to the boys and get back to the hostel for the night..

Nichole and I in the Blue Lagoon

Outside the Blue Lagoon

Friday September 10th, 2010

We started off this day by leaving our hostel behind and making our way to the hotel where we stayed for the rest of the trip with our husbands.. We decided to use the "easy" Reykjavik bus system... easy maybe if you speak Icelandic!! We got on (barely.. my luggage almost didn't make it!) and picked the destination we were going to get off on and hoped and prayed it would be close to the hotel... We are so awesome that the stop was about 1/4 a mile from the hotel!! We checked in, dropped the bags and explored the city!! This is where we found our lovely mustaches... and had our day 1 of the photo shoot!

During lunch, there was an ash storm where it "rained" ash from the volcano... we didn't realize it was ash until the next day when an Icelandic guy let us know! We then went back to the hotel and took naps until the boys made it! We then decided to go get some liquor since the boys didn't bring much (in Reykjavik because alcohol in the bars is SO expensive they drink at home until midnight and then go out to the bars..), we had seen a liquor store "down the road" earlier in the day and set off... little did we tell the boys that down the road was about a 20 minute walk... they weren't too happy with us, especially considering the liquor store was closed by the time we arrived!! We decided to make our trip worth it and got the famous Icelandic hot dogs before we went back to the hotel... These hot dogs are "best served" with everything on it... which includes grilled onions, funyuns, mayonnaise, and remoulade (sort of a tartar sauce gravy)... I surprisingly tried it with all of that considering the only thing on that list I like is mayo... and not with hot dogs! It wasn't bad.... but I probably wouldn't eat it again!! That night we had our first night out in Reykjavik.. it was fun but tiring!!

Fist pumps!!

Saturday September 11th, 2010

We had to wake up super early to go snorkeling in the tectonic! We made our hour long journey out to the highlands passing by all the wild sheep.. We had to wear dry suits because the water was SOOOO cold! Your face is the only thing not completely covered and it goes numb within a few seconds of being in the water! After the snorkeling, we got to jump off the rocks into the beautiful blue water..

Me jumping!! See my reflection?

After that our Icelandic guide gave us a little tour of their National Park then it was time to get back to Reykjavik to take naps before our next night out!

Oh I forgot!! I got to see my first glacier that day too here it is!

It's that mountain looking thing in the background.. why is it not white you ask? Because the recent volcano eruption covered it in ash....

Sunday September 12th, 2010

This was our last full day with the guys.. so we decided to see the Golden Circle, which is a tour that includes the National Park (which we already saw), the original Geysir for which all other geysers were named.., and Gullfoss, a large waterfall.. Since taking a bus for this tour would have cost us $82 per person, we decided to use the car the boys rented to take the tour... So I put Gullfoss into the GPS and we were on our way... However, about an hour later, we felt like we were probably lost... The GPS told us to turn down "Unnamed Road", which was probably our first mistake... This road was THE worst road I have ever been on, I mean our car bottomed out at least twice and then we had to go through this rock formation that our car barely fit through... Unfortunately we never got pictures of this part of our trip, but after about an hour, we found a random Icelandic guy and got back on the right road!

Our car on the better road we found...

Random waterfall we found..

The first stop was Geysir.. The original one no longer erupts, so we saw this other one..

Everett and Wold being Japanese tourists in front of the original Geysir

We then made our way to Gullfoss...

After Gullfoss we went back to Reykjavik to dry off (oh did I forget to mention it was raining all day??) and then we went to the base in Keflavik to just hang out for the night.. I got to see my last Icelandic sunset..

That night we made our way back to the hotel when I noticed it was the first clear night we have had since we got there! So I asked if we could drive down a random road to get out of the city lights so we can see the Northern Lights... which we did!! They were faintly green, not as bright as normal because it was not yet that far into the Winter and the lights of Reykjavik were still showing! But nonetheless.. they were beautiful and I was so excited to see them!!

Monday, September 13th, 2010

We woke up, got packed, and sadly said goodbye to our husbands : ( We decided that we wanted to finish our mustache photoshoot around Reykjavik before we had to board the plane back to London... Here is a sampling of what we have..

After the shoot, we quickly got on the bus back to the airport, boarded our plane and after a VERY VERY SCARY flight, we safely made it to London! That was just the first two stages (bus and plane) of our long journey back home, once we made it to London, we had an hour long Tube journey to the train station, then another hour long train ride back to Cambridge, then a 30 minute car ride to Newmarket! Boy was I ready to be home!!!

So there is my trip... sorry not as colorful as normal because I knew I had a lot to cover!! To make up for that I will be posting TOOOONNNS of pictures which I will put the link to on here as soon as I upload them!! Hope you have enjoyed my recap! Come back soon for the link to the pictures!!

London Times

Alright.. I'm forcing myself to sit here and pen out my trip to Iceland.. I'm going to do it on a day by day so I will hopefully not forget anything! So.. here goes!

Monday, September 6th:

Nichole picked me up from my house and we made our way down to Cambridge to jump on the train that will take us to downtown London. We decided to go a day before our flight so I can see London in the daylight. We were dropped off on Platform 9 at Kings Cross Station. For all you Harry Potter lovers, this is just 3/4ths of a platform away from the famous Platform 9 3/4!! We decided to cross that off the list first until we unfortunately noticed that because of all the construction, there was no way to get to Platfrom 9 3/4 : ( So I will have to save that for another trip...

So on we went to find out hotel and drop out baggage off. Because our hotel was overbooked they sent us to another hotel which the lady claimed was "so beautiful".. I looked it up before we got into the taxi and we were upgraded from a 2 star to a 4 star hotel!! SCORE!!! We made our way in the taxi, and were a little sad to see that we were not at the hotel that I saw on the internet, but it didn't matter because we were only going to be there for the night... So we dropped the stuff off and went off to find the only Chipotle in the United Kingdom... It was very easy to find and so we enjoyed our burritos while people watching.. two of my favorite things!! After dinner was shopping on Oxford St. and then it was back to the hotel for the night..

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

The next morning we set off to go see the sights, only to be let down by the fact that the London Tube (subway system) workers were on strike that day... making the easiest form of London transportation unusable... we decided that that wasn't going to stop us and we set off to learn the London Bus route. Our hotel was by Hyde Park, so we got to see a little of that including Speakers Corner (no one was speaking..) where we loaded our double decker bus and set off to find Abbey Road. After a little navigating we found it!! We signed our names on the wall and walked across the road..

Next on the list was Buckingham Palace... I really wanted to take a picture with the guards, but we couldn't get to them : (

See the guard in the background? That was as close as I could get...

Then we walked through St. James park towards the Horse Guards..

Park with Horse Guard's House in the background

The horse guard and I

Walking down the street.. we found Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye! Since you all know what those look like.. I will save those pictures for the album! We moved our little parade toward Piccadilly Circus, but we found Trafalgar Square first!!

One of the lions in Trafalgar Square

Piccadilly Circus is London's smaller version of Times Square.. By the time we reached it, it was time to get back to the hotel so we could pick up our bags and headed to the airport! Once again, because of the Tube strike, we had lost our easiest and cheapest transportation to the airport.. so we called a taxi to take us to the train station and had to take a train to the airport... We had allowed for plenty of time just in case we ran into issues, so we arrived at the airport 3 hours before our flight.. So we ate some dinner, charged our phones and waaaaaaiiiiitttttted... because our flight was delayed for more than an hour.. We finally boarded the plane and were off to Iceland to see our husbands!! After a VERY rough landing... we were there!!