Repurposing...

OK, do you believe me about my return to the blogging world yet? Well.. my husband says I only last a week when I get into something... I blame it on my self diagnosed Adult Onset ADHD...

Anyway.. Is it true that Rihanna and Chris Brown are back together??!!! I just heard this on the radio and was shocked...

Back to the real story at hand.. Since I've started this blog, it's gone through a few changes (once again blaming the ADHD)... The direction I'm going to head it towards now is my take on living in England. Most, well a lot, of my readers (all three of you) have never lived in England, or anywhere besides the great US of A, before and I'm always getting asked questions about what it's like. Well I've decided to take it topic by topic. I am going to list some of these topics here so I don't forget... (ADHD)

Things you get to look forward to reading about:

• The people
• The language
• British radio (believe me I have a lot to say on this one..)
• Driving
• Shopping
•  Restaurants
• What is the difference between Great Britain, England, Wales, ect.??
•  Housing
• Modes of transportation
• Likelihood of meeting Royalty
• Likelihood of becoming Royalty
• Beer
• Surprisingly, yes, there are other cities in England besides London..
• London
• The "Traveling Community" or as I lovingly, not derogatorily (yup that's a word), refer to them.. Gypsies..
• Why you should come visit me
•  Castles
• Fashion
• Surviving without Walmart
• No I haven't seen Harry Potter yet... But I do giggle when I see people walking around in dress robes in Cambridge.. 
• Owning pets
• Being a minority 

That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have questions for me, I'd be more than happy to give you an answer.. or maybe even your own post!

And now a post with pictures...

My Current Dilemma: 

Or

Disclaimer: All pictures have been stolen off Google Images. Thank you.

On a side note.. I google searched "hot female body". Only after I clicked enter did I realize the types of pictures that might show up... (Surprisingly there were NOT any pornographic pictures much to my relief!) It is pretty sad to note that NONE of the hundreds of pictures that did show up were my idea of a hot female body. They were either steroid muscle builders or anorexic "models". That makes me really sad! I had to specifically search for this picture of what my husband considers a "hot female body". On the other hand, googling "cake" brought up tons of pictures of cakes that I would be more than happy to eat! : )

My Facebook Fast... and my return to blogging?

Hello again world! It's been a LOOONG time!

So much has changed since my last post, but I feel like with all the other social media(s) (is that word pluralized??) out there you already know what's been going on! So, I don't really feel the need to update you on the past, but instead the present and future!

So a few weeks ago I decided that I had had enough with Facebook. It has always been a source of annoyance for Everett ("Why are you so OBSESSED with Facebook??" Let's face it.. it got annoying just hearing that everyday..), so with Lent coming up I decided to give it up. Now I knew better than to completed delete my account.. I have been on it since 2004, the beginning of college, and I feel like it's been a great chronicle of my adulthood. Yes, I AM one of those people who reminisces of the "gold ol' days" on Facebook, where the only colleges, I repeat COLLEGES, that had access to Facebook were Harvard and the University of Kansas.. OK and maybe a few other.. COLLEGES. It made networking and making friends at my new school so much easier. But then things started to change.. first they let colleges like Missouri join.. Mistake #1. Then they let students in high school join.. Mistake #2. THEN, the cherry on top of that cake o' mistakes, they let anyone join. And that is when Facebook fell apart.

A lot of people are embarrassed by the fact that their parents are on Facebook. I can't say that because my mom joined back when it was only for college students.. because she WAS in college. My biggest problem is all of those people out there who use Facebook for what it was not intended, and after my few week hiatus I want to share what I have discovered.

THINGS FACEBOOK IS NOT FOR:
1. Making inappropriate announcements on Facebook: Please don't immediately get on Facebook to announce the death of someone or that someone, like my grandma, is in the hospital. It is very troublesome for those of us not in immediate contact with family... Make sure everyone knows about it before posting it all over the internet.

2. Talking to Facebook directly: Facebook is not a person, don't tell it good morning.. It won't respond back... I promise.

3. Airing your dirty laundry: Do I really want to hear that your baby daddy isn't paying child support? Not really.. It only makes me talk crap about you behind your back... Which is my reason for why it was appropriate to give up for Lent- It makes me become judgmental...

4. Telling your "friends" about your day.. step.. by.. step..: Again, I promise, we don't care how many grapes your child ate for snack. We don't care that you had to pee as soon as you woke up. We don't care that you are bored or tired or any other mundane thing you have to say about your day. If you would like to share step by step let me give you two other places to air that information: invent your own blog or go to twitter. *I may have previously broken this rule, but it has since stopped.

5. Using Facebook as your personal therapist: What really gets me going are these people who complain NONSTOP about their problems.. no not the occasional bad day.. I'm talking every day they want to tell us their problems. I'm fairly certain most of your Facebook friends are not licensed therapists. If you "want a boyfriend", get off Facebook and find one. If you are "sad and lonely", get off Facebook and find some friends. Hey.. it's what we're all thinking..

6. Using Facebook to repeatedly promote something: Once a day is fine. When you post something once an hour I consider you spam.. and will report you.

7. Only using Facebook to play the lame games: Ok, once again I may have broken this one in the past. But I have been off the games for at least a year.

8. Your only means of communication to your friends: Let's face it, if you don't talk to them outside of Facebook, then they aren't your friend. Thus the reason I plan on deleting a BUNCH of people as soon as I return.

I'm pretty sure I could come up with more but that's all I have for now.

THINGS FACEBOOK SHOULD BE USED FOR:
1. Posting APPROPRIATE pictures of events, trips, etc.: My definition of appropriate has changed over the years. I noticed this when I went back to some of the pictures I had on here from my early days and was horrified by what I saw. They were deleted or hidden from the world.

2. Keeping in touch with people that have been separated from you due to circumstances beyond your control: i.e. your husband's job forcing you to move to England.

3. Sending your friends something you found on the internet that you felt they needed to see: Because not everyone is on Pinterest yet...

4. Making important announcements to the masses: Because it's easier than sending out 100 text messages. By the way- Congrats to all those who are announcing any pregnancies or pending nuptials that have recently announced via Facebook. It has actually been refreshing getting to be excited for these people face to face so they can see my very excited reaction!

5. Inviting people to events: Because it's easier than sending out 100 text messages and a more organized way of getting RSVPs.

6. Having important groups that give helpful information: Remember the days when groups on Facebook were titled "70s Rock Club Party" and that's really what it was about. A group of people who were attending a fake 70's Rock Club Party. (No... I NEVER added myself to one of those groups...........) Anyway.. those are not the ones I'm talking about. I'm talking about groups for a class reunion for example, or a spouse group for my husbands squadron. They are places where I can get helpful information that has to do with the real world. Although I did enjoy convincing people to make me an admin and give me a cool title. I wish I could remember my title from the Rock Club Party that I was never in...

Now I'm not posting this to tell everyone how to use Facebook (or am I??), I'm just letting you know how I will proceed to use Facebook in the future. And if you don't want to follow by my rules, then I'll have to come up with some other form of communication to get in touch with you if necessary.

By this point I know many of you are thinking, if she has this many issues, why doesn't she just block all those people. Well... the point of Facebook is not to block all of your friends who annoy you. (Which if they annoy you they probably aren't your friend and should be deleted.) So, no.. I will not block them because if they do have something important to say.. some day.. I want to know about it.

After my Facebook fast is over, I can't wait to get back on and delete my non-friends. Just think about how much more exciting my high school reunion will be when I don't know who married whom, or that person is that other person's baby daddy. Or she married HIM? Or wow their kid is ugly/adorable. It will be so much more entertaining than already knowing!





ANY WAY, I made a huge space because I'm segmenting into another topic: My return to blogging. Now it isn't official until I actually start, but my Facebook fast has helped me realize how much I feel I need to tell the world. So maybe venting on an appropriate social media where only the people who are actually interested in what I have to say will read it would be a nice change for me.

With that said, did you hear that Jan is in the hospital? Have a great day, Facebook! Ugh.. I wish Everett would stop leaving is dirty underwear on the floor. I'm off to the gym, after that I'm going to do a Jillian Michaels workout video, eat some dinner, play with my puppies, and eventually go to bed. I'm so depressed that my husband had to work today and has to go to school tonight... I'm so lonely...  (HEY.. it's my blog I can do what I want!!)

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!!

Double, Double Toil and Trouble..

Happy Halloween everyone!!

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

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

The puppies wanted to help me!

That's better!

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

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

In the dark..

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

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

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

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

Close up of Everett's face...

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

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

Kacee was a Chipotle burrito..

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

My poor dogs.. Haha...

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

More Puppy Pictures!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween too!!

Answered Prayers!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here to see our house!!

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

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

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

Growing Pains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend Update!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

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!!

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!