Merry Christmas!

Well I won't lie...Christmas has been a bit different this year.  As I write this I am still in my pj's and it is 5:30 at night.  I kind of like that!  Ok I am lying I LOVE it.  I am trying to realize and understand that just because something is different doesn't mean it is better or worse than what you are use to...just different.

Yesterday Mark and I cooked our first turkey.  TOTALLY gross!  I am use to seeing it as white meat on a platter in front of me...done.  This "project" was a defrosting nasty mess.  It had guts in it and everything....ewwwww!  Blood....no no Shara doesn't do that!  Thank goodness for Mark!  He was a pro washing it and stuffing it with stuffing.  I had to leave the room so that I wouldn't be sick.  Seriously I did not need to know what it looked like before it was yummy in my tummy.  We did fine with it once it was in the oven.  Craving it...well that was entertaining too.  But the end produce was a success.  Yummy turkey.

It is Tetchner tradition to have turkey sandwiches on Christmas Eve so that is what we did.  Different....I am use to Magic Wok Chinese food....oh....how I wish I could have tasted some...but new and different is good.  We opened my parents gifts and that was fun.  Today we opened each others gifts and that was fun too.  So that is about it here.  I am about to watch the 3rd Disney movie of the day....yahoo!  Mark is off playing his video games...ah....all is well.  So thankful for a peaceful day!

I hope that all of you get to experience the true peace of Christmas and the reason for this wonderful season.  God coming to earth as a precious baby to dwell among us.  Lots of love to you and yours.  Gods blessings...
Wise men still seek Him!  Merry Christmas!  And Happy New Year!

Christmas is coming....

I can hardly believe Christmas is almost here!  I still feel like it should be the beginning of November...not almost the end of December!  Things are going well here over the pond.  Let me recap the last week for you.
Wednesday:  Mark came home with a case of "man flu".  Now we all know this is the worst kind of flu by far....was he really sick?  Well lets just say Bonnie would have never allowed Shara to stay home from school for this one...but I let it slide and tried to be sympathetic which can be hard for me to do even when someone is really sick.  I guess being a teacher it is always easier to just go to school sick and deal than write lesson plans and all the junk that goes with it.  Unless you are throwing up that morning...to school/work it is.  I guess that is just how I look at it.  (Doesn't help that my mom was a teacher and I was too...so there really is little sympathy.)  If you are well enough to play games and nap and then annoy your wife you are well enough to go to work.  Moving on....can you tell I am a bit bitter about this....nah?!?

Thursday:  I had another driving lesson.  Things are going really well.  I won't say I am ready to take my driving test yet but it is getting there.  I have my theory test on Jan. 7 so I need to study for that.  It is like the rules of the road test back in the states plus you have a hazard perception test too.  So silly that I have to redo it but whatever....

Friday: We cleaned house and just got everything organized....because Sat. Gemma and Darren were coming!

Sat:  On a mission Sat. morning to get some last minute Christmas gifts and then get back to the house in time to bake brownies and get ready for our guest to arrive.  We are half way done with our shopping when Mark looks at me with this horrified face.  "What's up" I ask?  "Do you have your keys?" "No...why?"  "**** I don't have mine...we are locked out!"  That is when I start laughing like a crazy person because I think it is comical.  My other half didn't quite see the humor that I did in this all.  I really thought he was going to have to either break glass or lift me through a window which just made me laugh harder.  Well needless to say our shopping was done...even though it really wasn't.  So back to the house we go.  Hubby thinks he is going to take the window off its hinge and then climb in.  I (the brains of the operation) think otherwise.  You see we have a cat flap on our back door...and I know that the extra keys are on a hook on the wall just inside the door.  I think...bust the cat flap open...use a stick to reach up and get the keys off the hook....pull them through the cat flap door and poof....we have the keys to open the house.  Hubby looks at me like a crazy person when I explain this all to him...but I just say try it...over...and over ...and over again.  Well once he realized his window plan was ridiculous he looks at me and says ok....give it a go.  Well guess who got us in?  Yep...me...it was a bit too easy actually so the keys are not there anymore...but we were in.  Just in enough time to make the brownies, change clothes, and then have Gemma and Daz arrive.

We had a lovely time with Gemma and Darren!  They brought their 2 dogs as well so it was a ton of fun.  It is nice to have people over...and they stayed the night here.  Sunday was a chill day...

Monday:  Mark came home early from work again...this time though it was because there is so few people in the office that they didn't need him anymore.  He literally was home by 9:45 which isn't bad considering he starts at 8 and it takes a half hour to get to work...real rough day!  Anywho...we made Christmas cookies together all day!  It was hilarious to watch the self proclaimed "Cookie Press King" making his cookies.  We seriously were like little kids....it was a blast...Christmas music playing as loud as it could...eating dough...you know...good stuff!

So that is my update...I am sure I will do one more before Christmas...but just incase...Merry Christmas!  What a wonderful time of year!  Remember the real reason we celebrate and enjoy every minute of it!  Off to eat some of our cookies...tehe...

Ah...where to begin...

Lots has happened over the past week....so I am not really sure where to begin.  Lets see...
Our house is pretty much finished.  There still needs to be a few more things up on the walls, but we aren't sure what quite yet...so at the moment we are leaving them bare.  It isn't exactly easy putting things up on brick walls...especially if you decide to later on move it...so we will just live with bare walls for a while.

Thursday evening was Mark's Office Christmas party.  They all get dressed up in suits and the ladies in nice dresses.  It was a really great evening.  I curled my hair for the event...so you know it had to be a big deal cause lets just face it...I NEVER do it.  It takes way too long...but with nothing else to do I figured why not.  It was really nice to be able to meet all the people Mark has talked about over the years and their wives/girlfriends as well.  It was just really fun to pretend to be a "grown-up" since I think that is what grown-ups do. LOL  The end of the night got a bit interesting...some townies tried to disturb our good time...but all ended well.

Sat. and Sun. Mark and I caught up on sleep and just had a really great time chilling out.  Watched the good old "Christmas Vacation".  I swear every time I watch that movie it reminds me more and more of my dad and our family.  You can't help but note the similarities between Clark Griswold and Clark Griffin...right down to the Bears hat he wears...I was cracking up!  My driving is coming along as well...last weeks lesson was reversing into a parking spot.  My instructor was shocked that I got it in the lines on the first try.  Hello?!?  How many times have a parked a car?  As well as my driveway growing up...you had no choice but to backup straight or you hit the stairs to the house.  Too funny.  I get to "try" parallel parking on Thursday.  I was good at it in the states...we shall see how I do in England.

Really not much else is new.  I got a wonderful package for my ladies in California (Becca and Katie).  It was seriously the best present ever!  It was a box filled with everything I miss from home...from an Old Navy shirt, to triscuits and Hamburger Helper.  It was an awesome surprise...but more than what was in the box that made me so happy was that they know me so well.  I mean they seriously got me what I would have bought myself if I had gone to an American grocery store!  When your friends know you that well, and can keep it a secret until it gets there...they are priceless!  You have no idea girls how much it meant to me...you are the best!

With that I am going to post some pics of our house and the night out.  12 more days till Christmas!  On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me.... tehe....Later!

 One side of our bedroom...

 Turned around the other side of our bedroom

 My cute little gorilla from my hubby

 Spare bedroom...part office as well

 Couch that turns into a bed...so we are ready for all our visitors!!!  That means you too!!!

 Looking down the hall from our 2nd spare room...aka my extra closet at the moment...doors on left go to above rooms...the other doors are the right go to the bathrooms...one just has the toilet the other has the rest.

 Mark and I all dressed up.

 Mark with his buddy Zak and Zak's girlfriend Harriet

 Ladies all the ladies...Kirsti, Heather, Harriet, and me

 Mark's work buddies...Mark Barry, Mark, Mark who is called Bob, Rob, and Kevin.

 Later on in the night....

 Us out for a walk on Sunday afternoon

 More of our house decorated for Christmas

Flowers my hubby brought home...he is a keeper.

Success!

So this weekend went by without a hitch.  Mark's parents stayed with us for the weekend and it was wonderful!  I was a bit nervous to have them here for the weekend.  I love them to bits...but I still am not the most confident cook.   They could have stayed for weeks if I wasn't responsible for cooking...but since I was the weekend was a bit stressful.  They liked what I made and well who doesn't like being waited on for a weekend so that went well.  They enjoyed their stay with us and that made me a happy woman!  They liked our house as well which was nice since you always want to make the parents happy, wether they are mine or his.  (you reading this mom...yes even I try to make you happy!)

Anyways...we went to the Lincoln Christmas market with his rents...never again!  So many people....in fact all I saw were armpits...you couldn't see the stands and what you could see was a bunch of you know what.  Really disappointed but you live and you learn.  I have heard good things about it before so maybe this year was just a bust...but man...no impressed.

Mark gets a day off every year to do Christmas shopping.  Must be nice....why don't they give that to teachers?  We are the ones that could do some serious damage.  Anyways...Mark had Tuesday off for his Christmas shopping so we spent the day together in town.  It was really nice to walk around without so many people there and get what we needed.  I don't think I have ever had so much shopping done this early in the game....um....EVER!  We only have really 1 more gift to buy and that is just something little so I am feeling good about being ready this year.  I am also on top of the Christmas cards.  I am 4/5 of the way done with them and should be by the weekend.  Yeah!  That means you might actually get one on time from me this year. LOL  We shall see.

It is amazing to me to look back on the last year of my life!  SO much has changed and yet some of the basics are the same.  Still kind of weird that a year ago I was hoping for a ring...and now I am wearing 2 (engagement/wedding) and sitting in England where I only use to visit for a few days at a time.  Seems totally normal and yet so not all at the same time.  Life goes by so fast...I swear...I can hardly keep up with it all.

Well that is about it....Oh did I mention my hubby is the best.  On our shopping day (yesterday) when we went to lunch he had a little stuffed animal hidden and waiting for me.  I am a big sucker for stuffed animals so this was extra sweet.  It is a little gorilla...so stinking cute.  I don't know if this was a tactic in getting me to buy him what he wanted for Christmas or if he was just being sweet...but it worked.  I won't say what I got him just in case he reads this...but you are a lucky boy....enough said.  Happy shopping everybody!  You only have 18 days to go!

TGIF

So I had another driving lesson today!  Went into town...which is crazy, up hill, and had people walk in front of me!  You have to be nuts or just plain stupid to walk in front of a "learn to drive" car.  HELLO people!  So I did well, everyone lived! lol  I have been getting the house ready for Christmas and for the Tetchner's.  They are coming down to stay with us for the weekend and we are going to go to the Lincoln Christmas market tomorrow.  Kind of excited about both.  I don't know if our house could be any cleaner lol and it will be nice to just have people around for a while.  I can't really say much else is new.  Lots going on next week which should be really good for me.  This house is getting a bit out of things to do.  So that is my little update.  I hope you all have a great weekend...22 days till Christmas Eve...not that I am counting.  tehe

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree....

In keeping with my American tradition, Mark and I set up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  The Brits around us probably think we are nuts because it is a bit early to put it up here but I couldn't be happier!  As soon as Mark got home on Friday we began the process of setting up our first Christmas tree.  Now he has helped me before, when I was living in the states, but this time it was OUR tree.  We had bought a new one since mine wouldn't fit in the box I shipped over here.  That was the easy part.  Agreeing on how many lights to put on the tree...a different story.  You see the Griffin's are kind of like the Griswald's (you know from the movie Christmas vacation).  If you can't see the tree from the street and have as many lights on it as your neighbors combined....well it just isn't bright enough.  The only problem with that idea here is that lights are big bucks and....most people put a strand maybe two on their trees.  So with the average being about 15 strands back home (my dad nearly doubles that) we had our first big compromise on our hands.  The tree looks good...could use a few more lights in my mind... but I did get to put it up when I wanted so I consider it a fair trade.

That really took most of the weekend.  We did the rest of the decorating on Sat. and then hung some things on the downstairs walls on Sun.  It was a really nice relaxing weekend.  This coming weekend the in-laws are coming down to stay with us.  That means the next few days I will be re-cleaning an already clean house just cause I want it to look nice for them coming.  lol I'm crazy like that.  We are planning on taking them to the big Lincoln Christmas market on Sat. which should be fun!  I hope you are all starting to get in that holiday spirit.  I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! tehe...off to do some cleaning...

 Me working on the lights...

 Somebody being a bit silly with the tree skirt...

The finished product!

Black Friday...

People look at me like I am crazy for evening mentioning such a thing...like what on earth are you talking about?!?  Only in America...I never really took part in the black Friday crazy rush but to not even have the option is a little disappointing.  Today, just like yesterday, are totally normal days here in jolly old England.  This is SO strange to me...the earth stops back in the states for Thanksgiving...more people travel, and are with family on a random Thursday in Nov. than any other time of the year...and here...just the same as a random Th. say in April...it is just well strange.  I know why we have Thanksgiving for a reason but to live some where  where there isn't .... it is just wrong.  I think every country should have a day where they pig out, give thanks for what they have, and then chill with family and friends.

Having said that Thanksgiving was low key here....since it is a normal day Mark worked and like moved on like last week Thursday.  We did have the Fazal's over for dinner which was really nice.  No turkey, I haven't mastered cooking that well quite yet, but it was a yummy filling dinner none the less.  Speaking of cooking, Mark and I made choc. chip cookies on Wed. night.  He had never made cookies before!!!  WHAT!!! How is that possible?!?  When I asked for more details he said cookies like that are an American thing!  OH....that is just nuts!  So we made them together...the teacher voice may have come out a few times in the amount of batter he was eating and how to scoop them out on to the tray.  Actually it was highly amusing to watch a grown man get excited about baking cookies...but the end result was yummy.

The really big news of this week though is my driving lessons!  Yahoo!!!  Oh how I miss driving...you have no idea.  So the guy came on Wed. and we did just some basics...driving around the block and such.  I have never driving stick before so the whole using 2 feet to drive as well as stop is just a foreign concept to me.  I did well and didn't stall once on the first day.  Yesterday we went out again and I stalled once but he said I was doing really well for an "American" woman driver.  He got a dirty look from me when he said that...but he said I was really good.  Funny part...he was like if you feel bold enough you can get it up to speed....I took off...I don't think he expected that...cause the look on his face told me most people don't usually go full speed on day 2 of driving lessons.  Ahhhh....my love for speed and to drive have motivated me beyond belief to master the clutch and get back out on the road.  I did roundabouts and everything...ahhh it was a good day!

So that is it.  I do wish I could have been a part of the crazy Olson/Griffin clan Thanksgiving cause that is some serious food!  Looking back to just a year ago it is hard to believe that everything worked out and that I am here married to my Brit.  Time flies...I am so thankful to be done wedding planning...move planning...visa planning...life moving....but most of all for all the support from everyone!  My parents for letting me go and supporting me all the way, my church community for praying for me, my friends for encouraging me, and my hubby for loving me and taking a risk on a rather stubborn, slightly crazy American girl.  I am so very thankful!  Lots of love...eat that left over turkey...and let the Christmas decorating begin!!!!

Downstairs Done!

So these are pictures of our house.  We still need to finish the upstairs so those pics will come a bit later.  We also still need to put stuff up on the walls but hey...it is a work in progress...Enjoy.

 This is the dining room looking in from the living room.

 Dining room from the other side of the room.

 The kitchen.

 Different angle of the kitchen...doorway on right goes into dining room.

 Doorway in the center goes to dining room...doorway on right goes to entrance hallway.

 Looking into the backyard from the kitchen window...aka my view while washing dishes!

 Downstairs bathroom.

 From the front door looking in...door on left is the bathroom...doorway ahead leads into kitchen.

 Living room from hall entrance way.

Just moved the camera for this shot...you can see where the living room leads to the dining room on the left

 Standing in front of front window in the living room...door straight ahead leads to hallway entrance.

Looking through the kitchen door into the entrance/hallway.  Door on left goes into living room.  That is our front door which is really on the side of the house.

Hope that gives you kind of an idea of what we are working with.  Yes we have radiators...yuck!  I like my central heating but it works.  Off I go to work on the upstairs....

Never too old for Disney!

On Friday I got to be a kid again.  Just for the morning...but still...a kid again.  You see my new little friend Aimee (the oldest Fazal girl) was feeling sick and needed to stay home from school.  Penny (her mom) still needed to take the smallest one to school and go grocery shopping.  So I volunteered to watch Aimee while this all got done.  Greatest idea I have ever had.  Aimee and I watched Disney movies and colored all morning long!  It was amazing!!!  Why do we all not do that every Friday morning?  It put me in the best of moods and I felt no stress nor thought about anything else while I was doing this.  (This might become a new way for me to spend my Fri. mornings!)  Seriously it was a good reminder that some of the things I use to love to do...that I don't do anymore cause I am "a grown up" need to come back into my life. Coloring...wonderful... and Disney well that never grows old!

The rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing as well.  We went to Mark's parents house and just chilled out.  Did a bit of Christmas shopping on Sat. and then got to watch some more Disney with his mom on Sun.  I will say, since I have been cooking lately, it is so nice when someone else does it for you!  We went out for lunch on Sat. and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  Same nachos we always get at the restaurant but there was no prep or cleaning involved!  Fabulous! The same was true for the Tetchner's cooking over the rest of the weekend...ten times better cause I didn't have anything to do with it.  I am sure a bunch of you can relate to that but man it was nice.

So that is it here.  Starting to get a little bummed that I am not going home for Thanksgiving...mostly for the food but also to see everybody.  Make sure you enjoy every bit of it for me cause you don't know how much you would miss it if you couldn't have it!  Peace.

Am I really back at a Staff Meeting....

SO..I am not sure what they actually call them here but it was a town meeting.  I went cause I was interested in what this community is really like and wanted to know any details I could get my hands on.  It  consisted of a higher up from the RAF, the housing guy for the RAF, a different dude, a police woman, and the secretary.  I thought ok...low key...should be in and out in an hour or so.  WRONG!!!  I felt like I was at a Rich Central staff meeting all over again.  (Really any teacher or person who has to sit through pointless meeting after pointless meeting knows what I am talking about!)  Seriously people are just ...well...stupid!

So this poor guy is going through the agenda and minutes from last time and this one particular lady (we all have her in our meetings) goes on this tangent about...what? yeah no one knows.  She FINALLY gets to ask her question and the guy answers her.  She then wastes the next half hour or so asking similar questions to which she gets the same answer.  I wanted to be like look lady...just cause you ask a slightly different question doesn't mean you are gonna get a different answer.  In fact you are gonna get the same answer and if you don't understand English get a translator.  Oh I was soooo annoyed.  I didn't say anything cause I am the new person but next time the real Shara will speak up and be like can we move on please...!!!!  I swear they should have meetings for the people who have common sense and get things the 1st time and then a special meeting for the question asking, think they are more important, or really they are just slower than other people group.  The meeting should have lasted maybe 45 mins tops...but thanks to her nonsense and some other really stupid...like I mean I think 5 year olds ask better questions people...It lasted almost 1:30 plus.  GRRRRRR....

So in saying all of that...I do feel very blessed to not have to have gone to a pointless staff meeting or any other kind of meeting for that matter in over 5 months now.  While life is strange and different here...meetings are the same.  And so thank you Lord for letting me have a break from the most annoying thing I can think of for the last little bit....meetings!  That truly is a blessing...and something that keeps my blood pressure from boiling over.  ahhhhhh breath.

The house is getting there.  I built the desk yesterday, which means all of the IKEA stuff is officially built! YAHOO!!!  I hope to have the house put together fully by next week so then I will post some pics.  It is off to the in-laws for the weekend here.  Have a good weekend. Peace....Im outta here.

Love hate kind of thing....

With IKEA that is.  You see I swore never again would I get another thing from that flat packing, do it yourself, frustrating and aggravating place...but I love it all at the same time!  AHHHH so this weekend Mark and I went back for round 5 million.  Ok not quite but it sure seemed like it.  We thought Sunday afternoon would be a quieter day...o were we wrong!  A cabinet, some organizers, and a huge desk later we were crammed in the car for the hour ride back home.  And when I say crammed I mean like my knees were up against the dashboard (which we all know how short I am) and my head was at such an angle that I had a sore neck for the next day...but hey...we got our stuff home!  lol....ridiculous!  So guess what I have been up to lately....haha...yes building...and organizing some more.  It really does look like people actually live here now, which is nice.  I have been cooking a bunch which is new but that is all going well.  It is really nice to hear the hubby come home and say things like "I thought you said you couldn't cook...this is good" and "you made a nice meal...(takes leftovers to work) the boys in the office want the recipe".  Make you wanna keep doing it.  We shall see what this week brings.

I am starting to realize as well that I was not made out to be the stay at home kind.  Not that there is anything wrong with it, and when we eventually have kids that might be the option I choose for a while, but permanently...not for me!  Lets just say I need to be a bit more busy and was use to being super crazy busy...so having time on my hands well...just isn't me.  Don't get me wrong it has been nice to have time off and get the house settled and stuff but it is just starting to get to where...well lets be honest I need to get a job and do something! lol  Music to the hubby's ears.  So driving lessons will start soon...that should be entertaining...and then off to find a job for me!

I also realized I really just write about me on this TetchnerTimes blog.  Mark is doing really well...he is off at his balintawak (stick fighting...martial arts thingy I don't know...) tonight while I write this.  He enjoys that a lot and has cut back going from what was 4 times a week to 2 since I would never see him otherwise.               He has proven to be a good choice in a hubby in that he knows me better than I thought (sometimes a bit creepy but mostly just awesome).  It has been great to have each other around all the time and not have the dreaded goodbye at the airport.  Work is work for him...still doing software programming at RAF Waddington.  And yeah...he's good.  So that about raps it up from over here.  Hope you all are doing well over there.  adios for now

Not much new...

So this week has gone by really quickly!  I got to do a bit of Christmas shopping on Wednesday...well more like Christmas idea shopping.  I also spend 2 1/2 hrs in the grocery store today...but got a weeks worth of shopping done!  So confusing still but getting better slowly but surely.  They just don't have what we have food wise...like no flavored creamers for coffee!  What!  How could they!?!  But so far I am 5 for 5 with feeding the boy.  He seems to like my American food and I like that he likes it...so that is good!  We got our new sofa bed for visitors to come and stay on.  Looks pretty nice...just need the visitors to start coming....so if you are reading this that means YOU!  tehe  The house is starting to actually look like a home and for that I am grateful.  We have a bit to go and once we get it to where I love it I will put pics on here for you all to see.  For now...we will leave you hanging.

To be honest I set up house all day...organize...reorganize cause I think I can get a bit more in a different way and then organize some more.  I know you are so shocked by this...(sarcasm included).  I have also been really fascinated with the news on this whole Eurozone crisis.  I don't know if you have this much coverage of it over in the states but it is interesting to listen to.  I'm a nerd I know...but this is history people!  Ok...enough from me...

Oh one last thing.  Here everyone wears poppies for the whole week leading up to Veteran's Day (Armistice Day).  Then at 11 there is 2 mins of silence.  I was in the grocery store and literally it all stopped...you could have heard a pin drop in a grocery that was as filled as one is before Thanksgiving in the states!  It was really neat.  Thank you to all our Vets...and those serving our country now...both in the good ole U.S.A. and here!  I am a bit proud to say my hubby is serving his country tehe.  Have a great weekend peeps!  I'm out!

I'm too old for this...

So Friday I got up with Mark (6:45am) and got busy unpacking, washing clothes, arranging more of my stuff and what not.  I realized this unpacking setting up house thing is getting a bit old.  You see not only did I do the college thing...but then I moved so many times even I am starting to loose count.  (Lets see from college back to the rents, then to Fulton, IL, then Willowbrook, then Tinley Park...to a different less sketchy place in Tinley Park, back to Willowbrook, then back to the rents and now finally England).  All of that in a 9 year time span....ridiculous!  I am just to old for this!  I enjoy the first part...unpacking my stuff cause it is mine...but when you get down to that nitty gritty I have no idea what to do with this stuff point it is no longer fun!  Which is the point I am at right about now...so I write instead lol...

Another I am too old for this moment happened this weekend.  We went out with one of Mark's coworkers and his girlfriend on Saturday night.  It was just suppose to be dinner...at a Mexican restaurant! yeah!!! and then out for a few drinks.  Well we got in at 2:30am...again...I am too old for this.  Super fun time...I just like my sleep lol.  Sunday was sleeping in...you know until noon.  Had the best intentions of getting up early but I guess both of us slept through alarms set.  Oops.  The big success of Sunday was my first cooked alone meal.  I made my dad's mushroom chicken which was a HUGE success.  Mark's comment was, "I thought you said you couldn't cook?!  This is really good!"  I was as happy as a clam!

Today I went back to the gym to work off some of the food I ate on our honeymoon....again I am too old for this!  lol  Spent the whole day trying to get more stuff put away...made caesar salad for dinner as well...another success.  Who knew...
Well here is to hoping tomorrow's dinner goes well too...I don't know if I can be 3 for 3.

Oh...and one last thing.
On a sad note... one of my mom's teacher friends, Pat Hamilton, died today.  She had been battling cancer and lost.  She has a bunch of kids, one being a very friendly and sweet mentally handicapped son, Jeff, who works at the Dominick's by my house.  Would you please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.  She was such a wonderful woman and a dear friend of my mom.  Thanks.

Honeymoon....

Um....first off before we left for our honeymoon I went with the Fazal ladies to go see "Lion King 3D"...amazing!  I remembered almost every word to every song in the movie and most of the words as well.  I remembered quoting lines of that movie on notes passed between Christi, Becky and I... my freshmen year of high school...ahh...memories.

Ok...getting on to the honeymoon.....

Well it started off very early in the morning on Wednesday...like 2am early.  I was up and in the shower for our 3+ hour drive down to Gatwick airport.  We had used the travel agency to book our parking...that won't EVER happen again.  We parked Mark's car in the scariest, sketchiest place possible...and had to leave the keys with them!  We weren't sure if we would ever see little blue again:(  The 9hr. plane ride wasn't that bad...neither one of us really slept cause I think we were that excited.  All went well...got to our place (Almond Casurina Beach Resort) about midday.

Now I will say this...I know I am American and have been spoiled with some of the best anywhere can offer.  I try to be excepting of different peoples ideas and cultures but lets just say this place was not all I hoped and dreamed for in a honeymoon.  If fact upon walking into the room I burst into tears and Mark's face said he was just as disappointed as I was in where we were going to be spending our honeymoon.  You see we had gone on a nice vacation before together for our friends Daz (Mark's best man in the wedding) and Gemma's wedding to Riviera Maya in Mexico.  It was amazing...big resort

...romantic...beautiful...everything...so we were hoping for that here.  Yea...lets just say I have stayed in nicer rooms with my parents on vacation at the Holiday Inn!  Dirty, run down, not enough towels, moldy shower...you know not really what you want on a honeymoon.  It took me a bit to walk barefoot on the floor...ya know.

So saying that...the first day was a let down.  The resort was small....very small...and we just had such high hopes and expectations that this was just hard to swallow.  We decided that night that this was the only day we were going to be disappointed and to just enjoy each other and the weather while we were here and say o well with the rest.  I will say we both stuck too that rule.  We laid out at the pool everyday which was nice.  It was about 80 or so everyday...Mark got burned early on despite reapplying 30 sunscreen numerous times so he spend a lot of it in the shade while I was baking in the sun.  The food was good...which made it  livable for me.  (Although the last night I cut into my chicken had a bit or two and realized the rest was raw...yea not cool)  We were the youngest people there by far...ok a few other couples our age but mostly older 50/60 range plus...no offense to those of you who read this and are this age group:)

So the week went by quickly....we relaxed and just hung out most of the time.  We didn't do anything else besides hang out at the resort...I will say the staff was very friendly and helpful.  Mark said it was the typical cheap British holiday.  Not sure what he means by that but I said ok.  We hope to save up some money and go somewhere nice or what we had originally thought we were booking for maybe an anniversary or something.  We shall see.  So that is about it.  Had a horrible flight home...we got stuck in the middle of the middle of seats...worst flight ever for both of us...Mark's car was there for us when we got back (miracle) and well we got home and crashed.  Lol  Here are some pics...more on Facebook. Laters x

Weekend Update...

Well... this weekend consisted of building, building, and some more building.  Literally I think I might die if I see another unbuilt Ikea item. lol.  At present we have build 4 bookcases, 1 dining room hutch, a tv stand, 2 end tables, a coffee table, 3 dressers, 1 bathroom shelving thingy, a bed, 2 nightstands, and 6 chairs.  The only think left to build is our dining room table.  I have realized just how small a real closet is...and am struggling to get all of my clothes in.  While I appreciate always having a walk in closet, to go from that to a mini closet is not exactly fun.  Although I am thankful to have a closet.  I would post pictures but there is so much "stuff" in the way that I can't really get a good shot of any of them.  We are slowly emptying boxes...but man...did I tell you...I have a LOT of stuff!.

Some highlights of the weekend were Sat. night I got to go to Hull (a city about and hour N of here) and see Jessi Craig.  She is a friend and former co-worker from District 227.  It was really great to see her and hear a normal accent.  Lol.  She is also dating a Brit...we had a really good night.  Sun. we went over to the Fazal's for Sunday dinner...and yum yum yum.  Don't know if I even need to eat today. lol  Speaking of the Fazal's...Penny, the girls, and I are all going to see the Lion King 3D today!  For those of you who know me well you know I am a Disney freak and this is about as exciting for me as going on my honeymoon.  Ok maybe not that exciting but up there for sure.

I prob. won't have a chance to update before we leave for Barbados...and I for sure am not taking my computer there...no room for it out on my pool chair...tehe...so I will say adios for now...be back in a week and a half.

 Our bedroom...wohoo for not sleeping on the floor anymore!

Jessi and I out at a pub in Hull, England!

My stuff is HERE!!!

So...my stuff was suppose to arrive on Thursday but we got a call late in the afternoon on Wed. that they could drop off my stuff in the evening if we wanted it.  HELLO...of course.  So at about 4:15 the truck came...they unloaded all my stuff in 45 mins. (which is amazing) and so began the craziness.  We undid a lot of the wrapping on Wed. evening.  It seriously was like kids at Christmas...I mean open one...look inside...move to the next one.  We were trying to just take the wrapping off, get it to the right room of the house, and clear a pathway.  Well...I have a lot of "stuff"...we didn't quite finish...so from 8am till 11pm on Thursday I worked.  Got most of the kitchen stuff set up...and built the dining room hutch thingy.  So far nothing is broken which is a miracle if you ask me...and well I am off to work at it again today.  The goal is to have most of the house set up before we leave for our honeymoon on Wed.  We shall see...
Lets just say it is not easy fitting an American girl in an English house lol.  One funny story...so like 5 of the baking sheets I have...yeah... won't fit in the oven...nor a cabinet...we shall see what happens to those...Here are some pics of the delivery and after math...more to come.  Have a great weekend! 

 On the truck...

 Took up the whole dining room part of the kitchen and part of the living room lol

 Mark putting together the t.v. stand while I undo stuff for the kitchen.  First drink of pop in a real glass...ahhhhh.

 My new dining room hutch...not too shabby...took long enough to build but I likey!

 Still working on the kitchen lol...