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