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!!

Back in the Saddle Again...

So I am back in England after my week long amazing trip to Iceland.. but I am leaving Iceland for a whole other post which will probably be up in the next few days.. Just updating you on other facets of our life before I get to that big post...

There is good news to share and there is sad news as well... Since I like to end on a happy note, I will start with the sad..

The day after I got back from Iceland we received news that one of our close friends had died. This news led to shock, disbelief and overwhelming saddness. I was trying to see if I could fly home to be with her husband, who was Everett's best man, but with circumstances being as they are, I am not able to. Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated for their family as they get through this rough time. She was an amazing and supportive friend who welcomed Everett into their home for over a year, helped out with the wedding, and attended both my bridal shower and bachelorette party.. We will miss her very much.


Danielle and I.. RIP



Everett and Danielle.. We will miss her!

It's times like these that make us wake up and appreciate the life we have been given.. which is sad that such things have to occur before we do realize what we have.

With that said, we will be receiving our puppies in less than 2 weeks and I think we have figured out their names!! They may change once we get them depending on their personalities. We are going to name the boy Dallas, after a major city in Everett's home state, and the girl will be Kacee, after a major city in my home state (as in Kansas City.. KC)... I really wanted to name them something very British since they are British dogs.. but Everett was very much against that.. Everett wanted to name them after pro sports teams which I was very much against.. so this was our compromise!

As for anything else, we received our wedding photos!! I will try to upload them to a site where anyone can see them soon and post it on here.. They turned out really great! Now I just have to work on finishing these Thank You notes so I can send them off!! That is the goal before Everett returns next week!

As I said before, be expecting an Iceland post soon!!

Spider Wars Episodes I and II

Not that long ago, in a country far far away........ SPIDER WARS! (cue awesome music here..)

So if you have talked to me at all in the last few weeks I have been here.. you probably have heard me talk about the wonderful spiders that live in our house... Most are just harmless daddy long legs that thought they were more than welcome here due to my wonderful husbands lack of sweeping... However, there are a few rather larger spiders that live here as well..

These larger spiders are unlike any spider I have ever seen... and having lived in a few basements... I have seen my fair share of spiders! A typical spider when confronted with an object moving towards them will move away from that object right? Well.. not these guys.... they have two techniques to stay alive which have proved to work pretty well for them... for a while!

The first technique is what I like to call the kamikaze.. this is where the spider runs directly towards the object that is moving towards them... i.e. ME... This works for a while because I run in the opposite direction screaming bloody murder (Isn't that what the spider is supposed to do??) until my husband comes to the rescue and kills it for me.. what a manly man : )  Luckily for me the spiders tend to use this technique when said husband is home...

The second technique these ginormous spiders like to use is what I have named playing dead.. As the name implies, this is where the spider plays dead after I have hit it once... now even though I have played softball most of my life... I don't always have the best spider aim......

 Spider Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (It was already a perfect title.. no need for changing it!)

Now that I have given you the background information on these wonderfully unique spiders, I have a story for you.... So since Everett has left for his TDY/deployment/free trip to Iceland (whatever you would like to refer to it as..) there is one particular spider that has decided to make his presence known.. Now I have seen some large spiders in this house... but this guy takes the cake... His first appearance was Thursday evening when I spied him in the corner by our front door. He was in a very bad position for me to go in for the kill for fear he may use the kamikaze on me.. and I was pretty sure this sucker could take off my big toe if he wanted.. so I went for the throw the shoe approach.. Well I hit him, not dead on, but I could tell from a distance that I had broken 2 legs and he didn't move, so one would obviously assume that if a spider has just had a large Everett size 13 shoe thrown at him taking off two legs, if the sucker was still alive he wouldn't be anywhere near his original position anymore.. Not completely convinced, I decided to give him an hour to move, then I would go in for a second round...

An hour later, I go to check on him.. and of course... he must have used the playing dead technique because he was no where to be found.... So then I was just creeped out knowing a huge 6 legged spider was roaming around my house somewhere...

Spider Wars Episode II: Attack of Mr. Six Legs

I had obviously gotten over it and hadn't had any signs of him for over 24 hours, figured he probably crawled up in a hole somewhere and died.. that was until about 20 minutes ago I was minding my own business catching up on some Secret Life (yes.. I am a closet watcher and yes.. I found out how to watch American TV on the internet thanks to Nichole!!!) when out of the corner of my eye I see something run across the floor... I look over to investigate, and sure enough.. my friend was back.. at least I was hoping it was him and not yet another one, but I was not close enough to count his legs.. I swear to you once it saw me it turned around and ran right back to where it came from.. into my dark hallway in which the light switch for the hallway is on the opposite side that I was... This guy was forcing me to walk into a dark hallway with him... OHHH NOO... I know his tactics... I'm not letting him use no kamikaze on me in the dark!! So I do what any technologically gifted person would do in this day in age... I went and got my cell phone to light my path to the light switch!

Once the light was on.. I was on the search for the spider... He wasn't hard to miss.. he was just about to crawl underneath the door and into our hall closet.. I apologize in advance, but I'm going to have to make a small tangent here.. Now the funny thing about this closet is that it holds all cleaning supplies for the house, including any brooms, vacuums, etc. along with a bunch of random Christmas decorations and TV boxes.. As an avid reader of this blog, you might remember that I had to thoroughly clean this house when I arrived in England, therefore I have made pretty good use out of this closet. When I first got in this closet I was a little scared because I knew it would make a good spider house so I never ventured far into it, just grabbing what I needed and shutting the door.. This closet goes pretty far back because it's underneath the staircase (Kind of like the one that Harry had to stay in at his Aunt and Uncles house for you Harry Potter readers.. fitting considering I'm living in England right?), and my husband decided it was a good idea to place the vacuum WAAAAAYYY in the back of the closet, not close enough for my grab and go, therefore the house has not yet been vacuumed... Everett, after looking in the closet for something for his friend, swore that there were no spiders in this closet... it will be at this point that I will resume my story...



Once the light was on.. I was on the search for the spider... He wasn't hard to miss.. he was just about to crawl underneath the door and into our hall closet.. the hall closet that "no spiders live in" according to my husband... um honey... THINK AGAIN!!! He only had about 2 legs under the door, and was once again trying the play dead tactic.. but as the saying goes.. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... Well I am not about to get schooled by this spider twice, so I went upstairs to get my spider stompers AKA Everett's size 13 boots..

At this point I could not tell if this was Mr. Six Leg from Episode I or not because as I said before he had 2 legs under the door, which put him at yet another corner.. Man.. this spider is smart! He knows I suck at corners!! So, outsmarting the spider, I banged on the closet door to hopefully either scare him in or out... He chose out and out popped his 2 broken legs.. IT WAS MR. SIX LEG!! (Which I was super thankful that I didn't have 2 huge spiders running around.. and hopefully still don't!!) I decided at this point that this needed to be documented, so I went back and got my wonderful phone.. after taking a picture and messaging it to Everett I decided a murder was definitely needed...

And after about 5 minutes of getting up my courage (note that the spider was still in playing dead mode) I stomped him and made sure it was worth it... and it was.. at least I think so!! He looked pretty dead, which I also documented and will post below... I did decide to give him an hour to make sure he wasn't still playing dead... I will have to update you on that at a later date!!

Here are your pictures!!

It was at this point I couldn't tell if he was Mr. Six Leg or not...

And he reveals his 2 broken legs received from Epsiode I

I have defeated him!! He looks pretty dead to me!

My weapon of choice..

So I'm hoping there will be no Episode III for this little adventure, but only time can tell!

On to better news... Everett left on Thursday which left me to myself for a few days... Fortunately I met a wonderful new friend here named Nichole. She is married to the pilot that is flying with Everett on this mission, so we will be going to Iceland together next week.. (only 3 more days!!!) She has been entertaining me while our husbands are gone.. We went shopping in Newmarket on Thursday and then I invited her over to my house tonight for a little Chinese take out and wine and to discuss plans to visit London on Monday and Tuesday!! Since we are flying out from there, and I have yet to see it in the daylight, she offered to go with me a day early to check it out! Some of the things on our itinerary are Platform 9 3/4 (once again for all you Harry Potter fans!!), Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, CHIPOTLE!!!, and shopping at Harrods. We will probably be doing some other things as well such as the London Eye and the Aquarium depending on time and weather.. With that said, all day Sunday will be packing for me.. so this will be my last post until I get back from ICELAND!!!! Can't wait!!

Hope you all have/had a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend!! I miss being at the lake and am really looking forward to hearing what the big surprise was!!

Until next time!! Cheers!!