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!
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| 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!!
