Amsterdam and My 30 before 30 Page

Amsterdam
Ok, so the last few weeks have been... interesting.. I can't remember if I blogged about Amsterdam yet.. don't think I did, but it was fantastic! So far my favorite CITY in Europe. I feel like that was because I didn't go there with any real expectations on what it should be like, so I didn't set it up for failure! : ) As great as Paris and Rome were (ok Paris wasn't great.. it was yucky..).. I thought they would be these magical places, which they were not! Don't get me wrong, there are magical places INSIDE these cities, but the cities themselves were just.. well.. cities!

Back to Amsterdam... Everett took me as a birthday present and we went with another couple with whom we are great friends, Jonathan and Ashley Taylor!

Ashley and Jonathan Taylor

We didn't really DO much, but we SAW a lot! On the very first day we were there, we got to know just how much walking we would be doing, so on the second day we decided to rent bicycles for the remainder of the trip. At first, Ashley and I thought this idea was completely stupid as we were swerving in and out of traffic, that included large trams that did NOT stop! I, of course, haven't rode a non-stationary bike in about 10 years.. and considering my past track record, which may or may not include running into a parked vehicle, I started off on the bike very, very wobbly! By the second half of the day, I got my confidence and did much better! Although whenever I had to maneuver in tight spaces my wobbliness came back!

Me on the bike in front of our apartment!

Anyway, the bikes ended up being a brilliant idea. They allowed us to get to and from places quickly, which enabled us to see more! The downside was that I was unable to take pictures while riding, but I have a lot of mental images! : ) What we got to do was: go to both the Albert Cuyp market and the Flower market (Bloemenmarkt), the Heineken Brewery Experience, Anne Frank House, and the Red Light District. We didn't really DO the Red Light District, but we definitely spent a few evenings there people watching..

Everett and I in front of a windmill.

We stayed in a really cute apartment in a really nice part of town. Of course I forgot to take pictures of inside the apartment, but just trust me.. it was cute! The canals there were beautiful.. no pictures could ever do it justice! It was just a really great time with really great friends! We did not get to go out to the tulip fields, they were just beginning to bloom, and we were having so much fun in the city that we didn't want to take away our time by finding a way out into the country! I did get to see one little tulip blooming while I was riding my bike and that was enough for me!

Overall, I found Amsterdam to be a very interesting city, with plenty to do, wonderfully kind people who spoke English, beautiful sites to see, and a place I could actually see myself living! I can't say that about any of the larger cities I've visited thus far! If you would like to view more photos of my trip you can do that here!

30 before 30 Page

So I installed a new page to the blog called 30 before 30. It's just a page listing 30 goals I want to accomplish before I turn 30. Now I have 4 years to do this, but as I'm sure you have experienced, 4 years can FLY BY!! Some of the goals are serious, some are silly, but I hope to accomplish all within the next 4 years!

More Thankful.. Less Whining...

While perusing the travel pins on Pinterest this morning, I began to realize how many wonderful opportunities this life has afforded me in my 25 and 11/12 years. I can be a pretty big whiner and complainer when things don't go my way, which I'm fairly certain my husband takes as some of my more charming qualities... but sometimes things catch me and I have to stop and be thankful for what I do have...

One of the biggest things I complain about on a daily basis is living in England.. The weather isn't warm enough, the people think I'm an over-emotional, rude American (what??), I'm thousands of miles away from the people who love me, they talk funny and I can't always understand them (the English.. not my family), my husband is always gone, blah blah blah..

What I seem to forget is that holy crap.. I LIVE IN ENGLAND!! That's like a huge bucket list item for at least 80% of Americans right? Well.. maybe not living in England specifically, but definitely packing up and moving to a pretty cool international destination for a few years! And as much as I miss the convenience that America offers, I know without a doubt that I will miss what England has been offering me these last 20 or so odd months way more! I'll miss knowing that when I have to make a right turn (the one that's across traffic in these neck of the woods), it's almost 100% guaranteed that if there's tons of traffic, the car that has the right of way will stop to let me go.. yeah.. they are that nice here.. And I will miss speaking in a "British" accent during Mass so that I don't get stared at.. (that's in quotation marks because I still haven't perfected that accent.. but I have gotten significantly less stares..) And I will miss knowing that I can figure out how to get Road Tax while my husband is gone or navigate around letting agencies who refuse to fix your moldy ceiling for 2+ months or listening to your neighbors have an all out fight in their backyard at 3am because it's the middle of summer and your windows are open because you don't have air conditioning.

No doubt it does suck being what seems like millions of miles away from my family during holidays or other special events, but I can't forget that I have a new family that I made with my wonderful friends here.. Friends who DO in fact love me or else they wouldn't put up with my crap! And it does suck that I wish I could get a full time teaching job here since that's what I worked my butt off for 4.5 years in college to do, but I can't forget the amazing people I'm meeting and the new classroom experiences/techniques/ideas that I am getting from Lakenheath Elementary. And it does suck that my husband has deployed more here than he did at McConnell (at least that's how it feels..), but I can't forget all the cool places I've gotten to visit because of his deployments.. not many people have been to Iceland before!!

Life might not always be what you pictured it to be, but it is probably better that way! If I had my way when I was 16, I'd already have like a 5 year old now... And not that I don't want kids.. but I wouldn't be who I was and have the experiences that I do if I would have locked down at such an early age..

You may be asking yourself.. what in the world does this have to do with the Travel pins on Pinterest? Well.. when you realize that those are probably the top destinations that people want to go see.. and you have already been to quite  a few of them.. it humbles you a bit..

Blue Lagoon in Iceland.. Oh how I wanna go back!

The Super Blog: Our First British Winter

Sorry.. no clever title to this one.. it's ALLLLL business!! I have been meaning to blog since.. ummm... well the middle of December, but with the holidays and our cruise.. time just went by too fast!! Then after it died down, I was so overwhelmed that I have just been putting it off! No excuse... I know...... Instead of doing a million singular blogs, I'm just going to do one big super blog.. subtitles included!! Here goes nothing!

Christmas

As many of you know, I was a little bummed about being away for my very first Christmas, so we decided to cheer ourselves up by making it an exciting one! On Christmas Eve morning, we woke up bright and early, and headed for the closest Tube station. We began our hour long journey into the center of London, and went to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. It is basically a Christmas themed carnival/Renaissance festival.. some of my very favorite things! We started off the day with the hard work: Ice skating!

After we worked our behinds off at ice skating, it was time to explore the Christmas markets there and EAT!! The markets were filled with all sorts of interesting things... from fake snow to wooden ties! Everett decided he couldn't resist the opportunity to purchase a wooden tie.. here he is modeling it for you--------------------->

I decided I didn't need any of the goods they had available.. instead I went straight for the food! I had a Christmas tree shaped waffle.. it was very very delicious!

After we had all our fun at Winter Wonderland, we headed off to go to Christmas Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral. We arrived over an hour early in hopes of getting a seat inside, but as soon as we walked up and joined the queue we were informed that all of the seats inside had been filled.. However, in the square next to the church they had a large screen in which they were broadcasting the Mass. By the time Mass started, the square was filled with tons of people, which was nice because then we kept warm! It was a carol Mass, and my first experience with the Anglican church, and here is how I interpreted it: Sing a carol, an important person says a reading, rinse and repeat oh about 10 times.. Then the Arch Bishop of London says a few words and Mass is over! The choir was an all boys choir which I have never seen before in person, so that was really cool... They were extremely talented, and we got to see them as they paraded out front after the Mass. I didn't know many of the carols, but the ones I did know I was sure to sing!

Trafalgar Square at night

After the Mass was over, our friends Jonathan and Ashley Taylor met up with us for some touring and dinner. We first headed to Trafalgar Square to see this big Christmas tree that is said to rival the one in NYC.. Well it was only decorated in white lights, so in my opinion... not as great! We also went and looked at some of the streets that were supposed to be heavily decorated, but once again we were disappointed. Cold, tired, and hungry, we headed off to our dinner reservations at the only restaurant in the city of London that seemed to be open... and I tell you what.. It was definitely no substitute for Grandma Gerstenkorn's Christmas Eve meal, but it was really really delicious! After dinner, Ashley and I were presented with roses from the owner, and we once again headed off to Winter Wonderland so that Ashley and Jonathan could see what it was all about. After a quick walk through, we decided to go visit Kensington Palace, which is also in Hyde Park... but after walking around 3 of the 4 corners of Hyde Park (no easy feat considering the size of Hyde Park) without finding it, we gave up and found the closest Tube station back to our cars... Ashley and Jonathan looked it up the next day and found out that if we would have walked in the opposite direction to begin with.. we would have walked right into it.. WHOOPS!!


On our way home, around midnight, when I should have been enjoying Grandpa and Grandpa Cooley's company, our luck had apparently run its course for the day as Everett noticed some sparks flying up in the rear view mirror. Fortunately, the Taylors were following us and pulled up behind us. Using their headlights, because we didn't have a flashlight and the high ways here are very poorly lit.. and by poorly lit I mean not lit at all, Everett discovered that our muffler had fallen down from its correct position. Unfortunately, the only tools in the car we had to fix it were a screwdriver and a paperclip. After about 15 minutes, Everett successfully Macgyvered it and we were on our way home to get a good night's rest before our busy Christmas day!

We woke up around noon on Christmas day.. yes the perks of being without children and opened our presents shortly after. I had gotten the dogs some treat filled stockings, and being the crazy dog lady that I am, I made my dogs run down the stairs towards the Christmas tree for a photo op... After 20 attempts I finally got a decent shot.. and they got their treats! Everett and I were very excited about all of our presents, but we didn't get a chance to play with them before we had to be over at Everett's coworkers house for Christmas lunch!

We were joined there with about 10 other coworkers and spouses, enjoyed some really really delicious food, although it wasn't the same as being at Grandma and Grandpa Slusser's house!! We did a gift exchange, we got some really cool presents, and then Everett settled down to a 3 hour long game of Monopoly. This being my least favorite game in all the world, I was not too excited about that. I was really ready to go home to enjoy my Christmas presents!! On our way home, the Taylor's invited us over to their house to end the night with a bit of drinking. My only request was that I could bring over my Christmas presents so I could enjoy them! They agreed, which turned the night into one large dance/karoke party... It was a LOT of fun!

Overall, we had a great first Christmas together. Although I was sad not to be home doing our normal Christmas traditions, it was still a good Christmas!!

To see the entire album of our Christmas, please go here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2540891&id=16800957&l=2a2d54e602

New Year's 2011

New Year's this year was a bit of a mixed up mess. We really wanted to go do it big in a really cool location, but planning that only a few days in advance was not such a great idea. In the end, we just decided to do a party at our house, and then go to a club on High Street to ring it in. This plan was further complicated when Everett got called to go fly, and as typical Air Force business goes, his plane broke and he was delayed with a possibility of not being home on New Year's Eve. But, the Air Force came through for once and he landed at about 6pm, when our guests were scheduled to arrive around 8. 

As hectic as it was, we still had a lot of fun, although pretty uneventful!

Our Cruise/Quick Visit Home

Only a few days after New Years, we were scheduled to come home for our cruise!! We decided to take the military route home in order to save some money, but that ended up being yet another fiasco! Normally, there is a direct plane going from our base to the base in Wichita once a week. However, due to wintry weather conditions, this plane did not come to England, and went to Spain instead. So with no other choice, we decided to take a hop over to the base in Germany and see if we could get a flight into the US from there. Little did we know, our flight from England to Germany would be the last of our luck for the ENTIRE trip!

We wanted to get into Wichita a few days early so we could spend some time with the family. This, however, did not occur because of the huge mess that is Ramstein AFB in Germany. We arrived at approximately 8am on Tuesday morning, thinking we were definitely early enough to catch any flight back to the US no matter where it went. We had done a little research on where it would be easiest and cheapest to get to Wichita from, but beggers can't be choosers so we were open to anything. However, we decided that we would ask anyway if we could get onto this flight going to Balitmore. Since it was flying into an actual airport instead of a base, we could just hop onto the next flight to Wichita once we got there, instead of having to rent a car or taxi to take us from a base to an airport.

Well.... Things apparently don't work that way at Ramstein...... Since most of you are not in the military, you most likely have never flown Space A before, so let me explain how it works before I move on in my story. First, you have to put your name on a list saying you want a seat (or two in our case)... check.... Next, you have to show up and once again, your name is put on a list... check... While you are putting your name on the list, generally you tell them which aircraft heading towards a specific base you want to be on (for example, if I want to come back home I would tell them I want the McConnell jet)..... well in this case... no check.... but in general, you get the plane you want, they figure out priority, such as rank and importance, then you get notified that you are on the plane.. or not...

Back to the story, we got in line to tell them we were here, and that we wanted the flight to Baltimore. At that point they pretty much laughed in our faces and said that we don't get to chose which airplane we get to take back into the states, we just get to chose to GO to the states. Our name gets put on this super long list, it was long because of the wintry weather mentioned before, and once an aircraft for the states is ready to board, they take the first however many seats are available off the list. If your name gets called.. you're in.. if it doesn't.. you wait for the next plane... Great...........

So since we were approximately 100 people down on the list, we knew it could be a while. The first gets called.. 40 seats going to McGuire in New Jersey... Our name doesn't get called... Second plane gets called.. 40 seats going to Baltimore (the jet we wanted on)... Our name doesn't get called.... then, by a stroke of luck... a bunch of people hadn't shown up so they were calling additional names... 10 names go by.... then 5 more... we knew at this point we were getting close! It was announced that there were 2 seats left, and only 3 more names needed to be called before it was our turn! Two names were called... and then it was announced that there was only one seat left, so at this point we knew we weren't going to be on that jet.

Our hearts sank a little, but now we were at the top of the list, with 3 more flights leaving that day.. One to Charleston, one to New Jersey, and one to Travis AFB in California. Sure enough, we were one of the first people called for the Charleston flight. We got our tickets, and went over and checked our bags. (For a time check, this was about 3pm.) About an hour later, we were called down to come get our bags back because the flight was being canceled. Not to worry though, there were still those other two flights! So New Jersey was next, we got called, checked our bags, and went over to the Mall to get some food as it was about 5pm now.

By the time we made it back over to the terminal, our newly found friends let us know that our flight was delayed due to maintenance issues. 30 minutes later, it was announced that the flight would be delayed until the next day. Since there was still a chance at the California flight, we marched over to the bag check and asked for our bags back. We canceled our tickets, and waited for the California flight to be announced. Sure enough, we were on the plane, checked our bags, and did some more waiting (8pm)... About 2 hours later, it was announced that we were delayed once again, and didn't need to show back up until 3am. At this point, we got our bags back from the bag check (3rd time in one day), and headed for the hotel. After a few hours of sleep, we made our way back to the terminal for day 2. Our flight was still scheduled to go, so we checked our bags, and headed to some chairs for a little nap. Apparently we slept through our boarding call because it was announced that the Marshall's needed to make their way to Gate 2... We hurried off, making our way through security and immigration, and onto the plane. It was 5am, take off was supposed to be at 6am... We spread out on the plane, waiting for take off... and waiting.... and waiting... and waiting.... we did not end up taking off  until 8am.. so yes.. for exactly 24 hours we were stuck at the Ramstein AFB terminal......

The good thing was that we did actually take off, and about 2 hours into the flight they announced that we were no longer gong to California, but instead we would be landing in Dover, Delaware... Awesome, thought Everett and I, they are dropping us off in the only state that does NOT have an airport..... wonderful! So, once we landed, we got a rental car, traveled an hour to get the the Philadelphia airport, went straight to the ticket counter and asked for the first plane leaving to Wichita (I totally felt like I was on the Amazing Race). We knew there was one leaving in 35 minutes and asked if there was any way we could get on it. Sure enough he got us on it, we rushed through security, and made it to the gate just as they were finishing boarding.

From there, we had a pretty smooth flight, nice little 45 minute lay over in Atlanta, and we arrive in Wichita around 11pm. Almost exactly 48 hours after we left England.... What a journey that was.... UGH!!!!

Since it was 11pm on Wednesday when we landed, and we were planning on leaving Thursday afternoon, we did not get to see ANYONE in Wichita.... I was super bummed, but figured we would catch them on our way back. We had a great time in Texas. We got to visit both of Everett's Grandmas, most of his family, and of course we got to see Zach for a little bit!

Sunday morning bright and early, we left the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to make our way to Galveston for our cruise. We had our friends Charlie and Bethany with us who were going on the cruise too! Since we got there a little early, we decided to check out the NASA area, although there wasn't much to see. So we headed further down and dropped Charlie and Bethany off at the port so they could check in early while we met up with Grandpa and Grandpa Slusser, Rita and Jim, and Renae and Jacquelyn at the hotel to park the car. I was really excited to see all of them, and shortly after we got there, it was our turn to get on the shuttle to get to the port!

We made our way through the line, we were some of the last passengers there. Unfortunately, halfway through the line we spotted Charlie and Bethany being pulled off to the side. Apparently they did not accept Bethany's birth certificate, so they were waiting for her Mom to find the correct one and fax it in. So we kept on going, got checked in, took our picture, and made our way on to the boat. About an hour later, we found out that since they couldn't find Bethany's birth certificate, they would not be allowed on the boat. We were really bummed since we were looking forward to spending time with them... plus Charlie had plans to propose during the cruise.. it was a real let down : (

Cruise Day 1: We left the port, had a really great dinner, and began our Cruise Bingo game! Socks with sandals? Check! Speedo? Check! Home grown sweater? Check check!!

Cruise Day 2: We had our first day at sea! The weather was beautiful and the sun was out, so we laid out and got our tans started! We also participated in a few events, Rita even judged the Hairiest Chest competition!!

Cruise Day 3: Our second day at sea, laying out and getting a tan! Once more we participated in the ship events... Failed miserably at the photo scavenger hunt and I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in ice cream!!

Cruise Day 4: Our first port... Jamaica!! Jim, Renae, Jacquelyn, Everett, and I participated in some zip lining through the forests! The guides taught us a little Jamaican... in which I practiced on the other guides. At one point, after saying "What's Up?" (in jamaican of course) to one of the guides, he shouted out, "Oh my gosh... we have J'Americans with us today!!" We had a lot of fun, wish we could have done a few more zip lines, but we thoroughly enjoyed the 4-wheel drive jeep tour on our way to and from some zip lines... The theme.. "Drive it like you stole it!" And they did... Renae almost fell out because of it! Once back at the port, none of us really needed any souvenirs so we made our way back on the ship. Everett and Jim participated in a corn hole competition while us "Gold Card Members" (Renae, Jacquelyn, Gma, Gpa, and I) got to drink as much as we could in an hour at the Past Guest Party... Needless to say we got VERY close to our waitress Sylvia!

Cruise Day 5: We woke up to a VERY rocky boat, and some really terrible rumors that we weren't going to be making it to our next port: Grand Cayman. Since we needed tenders for to get to the port, regardless of the rumors, we made our way to get into line so if we DID get to go, we would be on the first tender out. 10 minutes into waiting, the announcement was made that the waves were too big for the tenders to safely take us to shore, so we would be moving on to our next port early... And we would use this day as our 3rd day at sea. We immediately went back to bed, to sleep in little. To make up for the disappointment, a few members of our party decided that it would be their goal to be drunk by noon... which most of us achieved! We spent the day laying by the pool with no sun : ( and once again participating in ship events. Renae and I accidentally took 2nd place in the corn hole competition! We were pretty excited to receive our medals!

Cruise Day 6: Cozumel-Since we made it to port very early, and our SCUBA diving wasn't until later, we decided to sleep in a bit. Once we woke up and went up for breakfast, we overheard rumors that all water activities were being canceled due to high waves. We went to the guest services desk to check, and sure enough... yet another excursion canceled..... So... once again.. how do we make up for the disappointment?? We drink!!! I personally love Mexico, especially their margaritas, so we headed downtown to find a good restaurant.... and boy did we! We got 2 for $5 margaritas.. and as always they were delicious! After two rounds, Everett, Jacquelyn and I decided to make our way back to the port since there wasn't much we could do downtown.. Once at the port, we decided we weren't done drinking just yet, and got a couple yards at Fat Tuesdays, and as luck would have it Renae, who had spent the day with the rest of our party, found us and began to drink with us too! A few yards later we were feeling REEEEEAAAALLLLYYY good and it was time to get back on the ship! We got to watch the sunset from the pier and that was about the end of our day considering we all took a very long nap once we were back in our cabins!

Cruise Day 7: Our 4th fun day at sea, we decided to end the trip with a bang and participate and medal in every competition we could.. including the build a boat competition in which Renae and Everett were the only two competitors they had.... in the last few months!! By the end of the day, as a group, we had won 10 medals, 7 ships, and 1 bottle of champagne. What a success!!

Cruise Day 8: Back at port in Galveston! We were pretty ready to get off the boat considering it had been an EXTREMELY rocky ride since day 4. After waiting over an hour for our shuttle to pick us up, we met Charlie and Bethany back at the hotel where they announced that they had gotten engaged!!! We were so excited for them, and happy they made the best of their failed trip by spending some quality time in the Houston area. We drove straight home that day.. and ended up getting back at the house around 1 or 2 in the morning.

As much as I tried to talk Everett into letting me stay an extra week to see everyone, he reminded me that I had left the paperwork necessary for me to travel by myself back home in England, so there was no way. All I had was Monday to see as many people as I could.. Of course.. Grandparents were of highest importance, so they were the only ones I got to see... besides Kelly, Ben, Paige, and Kate who made a surprise appearance at the house! I was so happy I got to see them, since I probably won't see Kate again until after she is 1!!

After a busy Monday, Tuesday rolled around and it was time go to McConnell to get on our jet back to England... After another 7-8 hour wait in the terminal there due to maintenance issues... we took off and made it home early Wednesday morning! Although it wasn't the trip we were hoping for, we were glad we got a little bit of a vacation!!

To see all of our cruise pictures, please click here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2550750&id=16800957&l=b76dd0a4e2

February

In late January, we celebrated the puppies' very first half birthday, and our 6 month wedding anniversary... As always, time has flown by.. including February!! I can't believe it's almost March!! February has been kind of a lazy month. We have been trying to change our diet around a little bit and working out some more... we are still working on that.. haha!! Also, after a horrific experience in taking the puppies to the vet by myself, we enlisted the help of a trainer to teach them a few things. I have been trying to work on it with them.. Kacee is my smart girl, very quick learner!! And Dallas... well... as the trainer put it, he's my "special" child... Haha!! He tries hard, but has more brawn than brain!! And boy... are they GROWING!! Dallas is quickly approaching 80 pounds, while Kacee is trailing behind at about 60 pounds.

Click here to see updated pictures of the puppies:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2526367&id=16800957&l=0ba088e7cf

Everett has been flying a lot this month. He switched jobs at work so he is no longer at a desk job. This allows him to fly more often.. usually at least 3 times a week! He has been out of town the last two weekends doing different missions.. I sure do miss him!! Especially since he will be leaving soon to spend almost two months in Spain for work... the only good news on that is that I get to visit him!!! Kind of like Iceland!! When he's not flying, he has been playing on a tackle football team here called the Cambridgeshire Cats. Their games start this spring and they will be playing all over England! I'm excited to get to watch him out on the field!!

As for me, I have been my good ol' procrastinating self... Two of my good friends and I have joined the Newmarket Leisure Center (the gym) and have been swimming 3 mornings a week... and by mornings I mean 7am.... VERY early for me!! It has been a great way for me to get in shape, and I have been improving every week!! The first day I swam only 6 laps in 30 minutes. Now I am up to almost 20 in 30 mins!!  I also received my military passport while we were on our cruise, and as soon as we got back I applied for my Visa. I should be getting it back this next week so I can start looking for a job finally!!! I will keep you updated on that one!

Valentine's Day wasn't much for us! Everett was in Germany, and didn't get home until 11pm that day. He woke me up when he got home by stuffing the flowers he bought me in my face... Thanks honey....... We didn't really do much celebrating.. I just cooked him a really yummy dinner the next day! Good enough for us, especially since our birthdays are quickly approaching!!!

Whew.... I think I'm done!! All caught up!! I will TRY not to put these off any more!

Miss you and love ALL of you!!

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!!!!

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!!

Adding Two to the Family!!

No... I'm not pregnant with twins... We're getting puppies!!! Ever since we lost our precious Chloe a couple years ago, Everett and I have been itching to get a new dog. Well... we decided to make it TWO!!

As soon as our plane touched down in Mildenhall, I was already begging Everett for a dog. I knew I would be home for a while, perfect time to potty train right? Well, after some searching, I found an ad online for German Shepherd puppies and showed it to Everett. He made me email the lady to find out some info, then we kind of left it for a few days. Well out of the blue, Everett starts asking me a ton of puppy questions... how many do we want, a boy, a girl? Then one night he got home from work a LOT later than he was supposed to so I started wondering what was up...

Then last Friday, he had the day off, so he told me that we were going to go look at a dresser he found. Well I knew that we didn't need a dresser, a fact I made sure to state, so why would we go look at one?! He said it would be for our bedroom and not to worry about it.. So after a 35 minute drive we arrived at the house and were greeted by a very kind British woman who showed us to the back room of her house where there of course was NOT a dresser, but 8 puppies instead!!! They were born on July 26th, so they were less than a month old!

The lady made sure I knew my husband had a "wicked" sense of humor for trying to surprise me.. I guess he had been there the night before and picked out a dog.. a cute, LARGE girl. Well, we got to talking and we told her about Chloe and how she was obsessed with Everett. She let us know that girl German Shepherds will always "fancy the blokes", but that German Shepherd boys are more protective of women. At that moment I told Everett that I wanted a boy then. Since the whole reason for getting a dog out here is for my protection while Everett is deployed.

Thus began a 30 minute battle of which dog we should get. I was adamant about my little fellow, and I could tell the little girl already had Everett wrapped around her paw so to speak. Finally the lady was like, we will give you a deal if you want both... we discussed this for about 15 minutes, and finally I said fine... we'll take both!! They still don't have names.. as most of you know it took us about 2 weeks to name Chloe... so it may be a while!!

The breeders really suggest for us to come visit as much as possible to let the puppies get to know us. Since Everett will be in Iceland for the next month, and I'm a little scared to drive the country roads by myself, we went to visit them last night. I got to take some pictures and videos that I will share now...

Our babies... Sleeping.. Girl on left, Boy on right

Checking out his babies : )

Proud of his munchkins! Boy left Girl right

My precious boy

Everett's little girl

He loves making them fly.....

They love playing with kitten..

Me with my babies.. Girl left boy right

My puppy and I

We have a video as well.. Everett's girl was following him around the kitchen.. And you can take a guess as to watch she is doing at the end of the video : )

We won't be getting our bundles of joy until Everett gets back from Iceland.. so until then we will be puppy proofing the house and buying all their new stuff!! Oh.. and figuring out what to name them : )

And They're Off!!

Today was a very exciting day here in Newmarket. It was the very last horse race of the summer season! Lucky for us they still have an Autumn season as well so we still have a few more races to attend for the year! This however was MY first horse race, and being the horse lover that I am I was way excited to attend! We only got to watch 3 races but it was actually more entertaining than I even thought it would be!

Because of my new awesome iphone... most of the posts from here on out will most likely be photo posts!! YAY!! If you would like to make the picture bigger so you can see it better just click on it and it will take you to a new screen to view the larger picture. Then just hit back and you will go back to our page.. So here goes...

Here is a picture of the first race we saw.. with the horses crossing the finish line! The red target thing you see on the left side marks the finish line.

Before the race, the horses are paraded in this little arena with their trainers.. Then a bell rings and the jockeys come out and mount their horses.. Here is a jockey on a horse in the arena..

Once the jockey is on.. They take off to get to the start line..

Here are Ev and I.. Notice the thing on Ev's jacket.. that means he is super special at the horse races.. hahaha.. nah he just has "season tickets" and they give you that little medal to put on your jacket..

So little did we know that Jaime's Bachelorette party had a British Horse Race theme to it.. Instead of big outrageous hats, the British wear outrageous hair pieces to the horse races.. Notice the chick behind Everett...

Here is a close up of said hair piece... There were some pretty good ones, but this was the only one I could get a good pic of without being too obvious!

Here is a pic of one of the jockeys in the last race.. This guy was the oldest jockey of the day.. I think he was in his late 60's early 70's!

Last but not least.. Here is a video of the race we actually won! Everett bet on 6 and 8, I bet on 5 and 9.. The top three were 8, 9, 5.. So we did pretty good!! It was a 4 mile race (not all are that long..) Here is just the "tail end" of it.. hehe.. You will have to click the link to go to YouTube to view it!

Click here to watch the horse race!

So far today has been a pretty great day! Everett just got done surprising me with dinner... all my favs: chicken strips, mac and cheese, and corn! Don't I have just the greatest husband ever!!

I will be posting pictures on previous blogs, so you may want to scroll down to see some of them!

Thanks to all who have left comments.. we enjoy reading them!!

The Search is On!!

So this week has been busy for us because we are looking to buy me a new car! We had some prospects on Monday, so Everett took a half day to go look at a car in London. When we got there, the guy had us meet on some random side road. The car was nothing like the ad had said, and we were really weirded out by the whole situation. We decided to pass up on it because it was making funny noises on the test drive.

Sad that we drove an hour for nothing, we decided to use my wonderful new phone to look for other cars that might be in the area. All the cars we liked were already sold by the time we got them on the phone. Finally, we found a car for a very good price, the only problem was that it was 2.5 hours away on the northeastern coast. We decided what the heck and drove out there. Let me tell you.. the drive was GORGEOUS!! It is so green everywhere! However, the roads are super scary. Very narrow and curvy and people drive like speed demons on them!! I think this is why I'm not too hurried to find a car anytime soon! I'm afraid I'm going to get into an accident the moment I get behind the wheel!!

Anyways, we finally arrived at our destination, but the car was not all we thought it would be. We decided not to settle just because we drove all the way out there and made our way home.

Today I made my first dinner here... And I didn't burn or blow up a thing!! I wasn't a big fan because it was a little healthier than I like (since Ev has to lose some weight... haha), but Everett seemed to like it so I guess that's all that matters! Then we went to Everett's soccer game.. I went shopping while he played because it was SOOO cold outside! The weather today was very cloudy and VERY windy! It felt more like November than the end of August! I finally got to drive the car, I'm glad it was just on base because no one was around! I managed to stay on the correct side of the road and didn't hit anything!! I was pretty proud of myself!

Last but not least, I just finished purchasing my ticket to Iceland!! I will be there from September 7th - September 13th. Now we just have to figure out what we are going to do when we get there!!

Alright.. It's getting late and I am ready for bed! It's 11pm so YAY! Maybe I'm on UK time now!! I made sure to follow the facebook advice and try to wake up early and NO naps!! I guess it worked.. we will see for sure tomorrow!

Adios Amigos!

We made it!

Wow! What a busy month it has been since my last post! 


First off, we got married! The day went beautifully and so smoothly that I was having nightmares AFTER the wedding! I guess my brain didn't believe that it actually went so perfectly! We want to thank everyone for helping make our day special, and we hope you had as much fun as we did!!


After the wedding was our 10 day honeymoon to Cancun. We stayed at the Cancun Palace all inclusive and it was so wonderful! We went snorkeling at Xel-Ha, snorkeling with the whale sharks in the middle of the Gulf, and swimming with the dolphins. On our less busy days we spent our day by the pool playing water volleyball and sand volleyball. We also had complementary massages that we made good use out of! After 10 days, we were NOT ready to leave yet... it was so nice not to have to worry about a thing!


Once we got back to the states, things got a little crazy! We spent a few days down in Texas visiting Everett's family, and going to the Red Sox vs Rangers game with my brother Zach and Everett's brother Chris. We sat in the 2nd row about 50 feet from third base, so we had an excellent view! The game was very exciting.. I felt like I was watching a home run derby! 


After our short visit in Texas, we came back to Wichita to get ourselves packed up and ready to move. We got to spend Sunday celebrating birthdays with the Slusser's and Gerstenkorn's. It was nice getting to see them one last time before we left! On Monday, it was time for the movers to come get my things, and then we were off to McConnell to catch our flight! We almost didn't get on the plane because they claimed there were not enough seats, but 10 minutes prior to getting on the bus to get to the jet, they opened the seats for us and another couple! We got on the jet, which was approximately 120 degrees or so.. and of course... something breaks down! 3 hours and 16 mechanics later, they decided to postpone the flight for 24 hours.


So Tuesday we started what I refer to as "Round 2". After 2 more things went wrong with the jet, but were easily fixed, we were on our way to Iceland! I know.. we were supposed to be heading to England, but we had to make a stop in Iceland to drop some stuff off.. I was so excited because I have always wanted to see it, and here was a free trip! But, it was dark out, so all I saw were the lights of the airport : (


Two hours later, we arrived in England, bright and early in the morning! We made our way back to the house, unloaded the car, and vegged in front of the TV! We were trying really hard to stay awake in order to get on UK time, but we were so exhausted that we took a 6 hour nap!


Everett had to fly today, so I've just been hanging around. I have been meaning to start my housewifely duties by starting to clean and organize this dirty house, but I had no motivation... Maybe tomorrow!


I did get my new UK cell phone. Everett bought me one of the new iphones! I tell you.. he is so wonderful! I told him he will owe me once I get this house cleaned, so I guess he made good on that promise!


So far married life has been wonderful! It's so nice getting to be around him all the time and not having to worry about when he will leave again!


Alright, I guess I will end this now! I'll try to update as soon as life becomes more interesting over here! Right now, we are just getting settled in... so I'm sure there won't be much exciting news..


OH! I forgot, I did want to put our address and US phone number on here for you guys!


Address: 

PCS 37

Box 802

APO, AE 09459

Phone Number:
(817)230-4476

Our phone number is a US number, so there will be no charge for calling us! However, I would suggest using your cell phone instead of a land line if you are in the Wichita area because it is a Ft. Worth area code, that way you won't get charged for a long distance call on your land line! Also, we are 6 hours AHEAD of you.. so if you decide at 8pm that you desperately need to talk to one of us, keep in mind that it is 2am over here!

Love you all and check back soon for more updates on our adventures across the pond!!

Amber and Everett