December

Life sure is keeping us busy here!  My goodness.  Things are going good for the most part and we have all sorts of exciting things to report.  In no particular order, here we go...

First off, the best news of all:  We received a call last week that an afternoon slot has opened up at a nearby Nursery School (AKA preschool) and Ady was given top priority in being offered the position.  We are so very excited about this!  The school is AMAZING & will be such a good opportunity for Ady.  She will go to Nursery School from 12:15 pm to 3:15 pm Monday thru Friday, which is perfect because our second bit of good news is that I was accepted into the graduate program at USU and will be starting class (just one, for now) January 10th.  It works out so well for both of us.

Here is a link to Ady's school.  It is called Robinsfield.  I took a tour of it last month and was so impressed by the facilities, the faculty, their mission & their program.  It is an infant school and only kids ages 3-7 attend, which allows the school to focus on the needs and abilities of kids at this age.  

http://www.robinsfield.westminster.sch.uk/

A note on my school:  I have decided I am a big geek because when I see all the classes I can take, I get REALLY excited, and I want to take them ALL!  You never know... I may have a doctorate degree some day because of this.  Ironically, though, I have realized that getting a Masters of Natural Resource via online classes is pretty lame since on campus classes are always getting outside and doing awesome things!  What the #$&% was I thinking?!  No, it will still be good.  I am very excited.

So now for a bit of crappy news:  Our phone line has still yet to be installed!  Unbelievable!  I don't want to get into the details of it all because it will flare up large and ugly amounts of anger inside me that I have tucked away for now in order to be able to function in other facets of life.  Suffice it to say, two months have gone by without a phone line and good quality internet.  Absolutely ridiculous.  The company we are working with actually admitted that they lied to us and have been giving us false information, which has caused us all sorts of unnecessary running around and scheduling of unnecessary appointments.  So, if your first impulse, like mine, thinks, "cut service with the company and just go with someone else," you might relate with my extreme frustration when you learn that if we do this, it could take up to 6 more weeks for us to get an appointment booked!!!  I am far beyond irate with this company- and it is an understatement to say that I am stretching my patience muscles to the brink to give them one last chance to make this right.  They are scheduled to come and install the line on Thursday (for real this time, we think).  We'll see what happens.  I might just punch them in the mouth even if they do get it right.  

Speaking of waiting... this past weekend we finally got some much needed wardrobes installed in the master bedroom.  Aside from the kitchen, our flat has had little to no storage, which has made it feel like it never gets clean of all the clutter.  If you know me, you probably know what a nazi I was about simplifying our belongings and de-cluttering our house in Stansbury over the past year.  To my surprise, I am having to start from square one again- and REALLY question the necessity of each item we have here so that our stuff doesn't overtake our lives.  This book is my bible when it comes to simplifying and I highly recommend it to anyone.  It has completely transformed the way we live for the better.  At least for me, it got at the real inner-workings of our lives and improved so many things.  Tyler and I actually felt younger after implementing this book because it just lightens burdens you didn't even realize you had.   So go get it and read it if you haven't yet!!!  :)

Okay.  Sorry.  I am off my soap box.  Back to our wardrobes...  So in our rental agreement it stated that the wardrobes must be done before 6 weeks, otherwise, we would receive 20 pounds per day payment until they were completed.  We counted that it has been 12 days without wardrobes beyond the 6 weeks, which comes to 240 pounds for our pockets.  Chick-ching!  Our waiting paid off this time.

Christmas shopping has been fun this year.  I have discovered some great stores on the infamous Oxford Street.  We have a bus stop just outside our door that can take us straight there, which is extremely convenient.  Oxford Street is all decorated up for the holidays.  On the weekends, much of the street is closed to traffic and many of the stores have live bands, choirs, or performers.  It is a really fun treat.  I feel like the stores here have so many thoughtful and unique things, which makes gift-giving much more fun.  There are also several Christmas markets around London and beyond that are magical.  We went to one in Hyde Park over the weekend that was like a Christmas theme park as big as Lagoon with all sorts of good food and interesting little shops.  Ady actually willingly went to Santa this year and informed him that she wants some princess costumes for Christmas.  I think she might get her wish, if she can work on curbing those silly tantrums.  Hmmmmm.... I may, or may not have had to use Santa threats a time or two to get good behavior.

Can you find Tyler in this picture?  Look really hard.

We went ice skating a couple weeks ago with some friends at the museum of natural history. 

We wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and we send our love!

Your Comments Will Work Now!

I am so sorry.  I finally realized what I needed to do so people could leave comments.  I have changed the settings and I would love to read what you have to say.  Sorry it took me so long to figure it out!  :)

Paris

We had a great time in Paris last week.  The weather was pretty chilly and boggy, and Ady wasn't always too keen on us dragging her all over town, but the sites were AMAZING!!!  The food was good too.  Here is a quick summary of our trip...

Wednesday:  Happy Birthday to Tyler!  With our stuff all packed and ready to go, we left our flat to go catch the 10 am train bound for the City of Love.  After about 10 steps out of the building, however, we were stopped right in our tracks.  Next to the dumpster were 3 beautiful shoe storage cabinets someone had just gotten rid of.  We must have been doing something good in our lives because we desperately needed shoe cabinets.  I had been eyeing them in the IKEA catalogue for a while, but was not happy about paying 100 pounds for them.  (I am quite sure these must have fallen from the clouds straight to our door step -because there is just no other logical explanation for it.)  Or, maybe, the neighbors were just moving and no longer needed them.  Like a couple of hoarders, we dropped our bags, grabbed the cabinets and headed right back into our flat.  Thank you neighbor, errr, clouds!  As if Paris wasn't reason enough to be excited, this was the icing on the cake for me.  I glowed all week just thinking about our great cabinets we had just inherited.

The train ride was good and went by quickly.  It was pretty awesome to go through the chunnel.  Once we popped out of that, it was still a bit of a jaunt to Paris, so we were able to see quite a bit of the French countryside.  As we got off the train, we were hit with the reality that we did not speak or read a word of French- all the signs were gobble-di-gook to us.  We had to be shameless in asking if people spoke English everywhere we went.  Fortunately, most people were fine about it, and would help us out.

We checked into our hotel and headed out to see the city.  First stop:  Arc de Triomphe.  Second stop:  Champs de Elysees.  Third stop:  Eiffel Tower.  It was so exciting to actually be there and finally get to see, in person, all these things you have heard about or seen pictures of.  WOW!  They are wayyyyyyyy better and even more mind-blowing in person.

Eiffel Tower Footage:

Ady Singing Happy Birthday to Dada:

Thursday:  We spent this day at the Palace of Versailles.  Even with the fountains not flowing, the statues covered, and the cold & fog, this place was absolutely amazing!  The gardens here went on and on for miles.  The canals and water features were beautiful and contained dramatic and interesting statues.  I can only imagine how amazing this place is in the summer time.  We had a great time taking the audio tour of the main palace and also walking through Marie Antoinette's "play" farmhouse where she enjoyed dressing up as a farmhand and milking her (very clean and well-groomed) cows using porcelain buckets. 

That night, we walked to the Moulin Rouge and to Sacre Coeur.  It was fun to stroll the neighborhood streets between the sites to get a better feel for how the locals live.  I absolutely LOVED the FREE self-cleaning public restrooms on the streets.  After each person would use the bathroom, the door would close and the entire little room would be sprayed down with disinfectant.  Ady seems to always need to use the bathroom at the most inconvenient times and in the places with the dirtiest restrooms, so it was glorious to happen upon these gems!

 Friday:  We planned to -and attempted to take a guided tour of Notre Dame, but Ady was not taking to the rain much and was having a bit of a meltdown- so we strolled around the place ourselves for a bit and enjoyed the medieval style architecture.  A gigantic Christmas tree was being decorated outside the building.  There was a man there who had a big heart for the little birds and pigeons.  He hung nets of food in the bushes and would hold food out in his hand while the birds fluttered all around him.  Good thing he was wearing a hat.  I couldn't help singing a little Mary Poppins "feed the birds" inside my head as we walked by.  

We spent the rest of the day at the Louvre.  We saw many, many well-known pieces of art, including the Mona Lisa.  It was thrilling to stop and realize we were really there and really seeing these things.  The Louvre was extremely interesting, but it was completely overwhelming, too!  You could spend a week in there and still not have enough time to take it all in.  

A week, or so, before our trip, we ordered an Ergobaby carrying pack.  This was our saving grace!  I swear by these things!  We did not want to haul a stroller everywhere we went- so we would throw this inside our backpack and take it out to use when Ady was tired of walking and needed some rest.  Once inside it, she would get so cozy and fall right to sleep.  It seriously made all the difference in the world for us on this trip.  I was so glad we had this!!!

Saturday:  We decided this would be a good day to take a bus tour of the city.  It was a 2 hour long tour that took us around many of the main sites in Paris.  We got off the bus at the Church of the Madeline (the church in the picture with all the columns).  After exploring the church, we took some time to visit a few of the nearby stores and to sample the chocolate at the Elitist sweets shops.  


We later found ourselves at a huge Christmas market full of good foods, handmade goods, and junk shops.  Ady even got to ride on a little ride we called the "Candyland train," which she still talks about today.  


Despite the fact that the bed in our hotel was an old, thin, little sofa bed, we slept so well every night because we were completely exhausted.  I would almost compare the amount of energy it took to tour Paris to the amount of energy it takes to do a big backpacking trip.  We walked most everywhere we went- up stairs, down hills, through tunnels, etc., we were gone from morning till evening, and we hauled a big backpack full of extra clothing for warmth, camera, snacks, & water bottles and even Ady, at times, through it all.  I think even just a small patch of grass would have sufficed for a nice comfortable place to sleep at the end of the day.  

Sunday:  Woke up and headed back to London!  It was a great trip!  We saw many amazing and beautiful things and tried many delicious foods.  Sadly, all good things come to an end.  But, one cannot deny that it is also nice get back home.  


We are looking forward to exploring all the places around us over the next 22 months!


A few more pictures from our trip:

Au Revoir!

Just a Few Grumblings

I am sorry to all of you who have emailed me and are waiting to hear back from me!  I feel like a big jerk.  We have very limited internet right now- so I try to update the blog as I can in order to reach the most people.  We are scheduled to get internet and phone on December 8th.  Oh Glory!  How will I ever survive!  For now, we are tethering the internet from our phone, which provides less than desirable choppy internet service and gets expensive fast!  In 3 weeks of use, we had to pay 40 pounds, which translates to about $65.  I laughed in disbelief when I first heard it could take up to 6 weeks to get internet and phones hooked up in the UK because it just seemed absolutely ridiculous.  ...To my dismay... it is 100% true!  and it is, in fact, perfectly acceptable to those who are from here.  That is just how it is.

Truth be told, this process of finding a place and getting our life in order has been one of the most stressful and daunting experiences I have ever had.  I mean, it is normal to expect some high stress during an international relocation, of course.  But from others we have talked to that have moved here from another country, we are all in agreement that, for whatever reason, the UK makes everything a drawn out, painful, and maddening process.  I am not very impressed with their way of doing business.  Often when you are trying to accomplish something, people will tell you what you want to hear and lead you to believe that things are resolved, but then you go on to do the next step, and find out that that person gave you completely bogus information (and is virtually unaccountable), so you are sent back to square one to fight the battle all over again, questioning always if you are getting good information.  It is definitely an "If you don't ask, they won't tell you" kind of situation.  It is clear that most people here are not out to do you any favors or help you finish any process.  They are there to do their part of the job and it is up to you to assure that all goes smoothly (as if that is possible).  This has been particularly troubling because being new here, we don't comprehend how things all work, so it is very difficult to know the right questions to ask.  ...Then consider having limited internet and the complications involved with not having your own personal vehicle.  It is straight daunting.  It truly forces you to be honest with yourself about how badly you want what you are trying to get- be it goods, services, education for your child, etc...  I think I have lost 10 good years off my life from dealing with these situations, I am sure of it.  Maybe if I eat good and exercise regularly, I can buy back a few of those.  I will admit that I have had days where I would have preferred to sleep the day away instead of be driven in more and more circles only to accomplish nothing at the end of the day.

London is a fun city, but a stressful city.  In the beginning, I figured it was just me trying to get a grip on the big change we made in our life, but I have come to learn that everyone here is very stressed.  It is the nature of the city.  It is very natural to feel stressed here, maybe because living life here is completely unnatural.  You are competing with millions of other people for EVERYTHING- space on the tube/bus/sidewalk, products, TV/internet service, a time slot for grocery delivery, personal space in general, and peace & quiet (there is no such thing)...  It is madness in many ways.  It makes some sense why many people here seem to have become cold to social etiquette.  For example-  some people here don't seem to care at all if you have a little child with you.  They will maintain their course straight for Ady and will NOT move even though it takes much more effort for her and I to move out of their way.  We have had a few times where people definitely saw Ady, but they proceeded to whack her with their bag as they passed, almost as if trying to hint to us that a child doesn't belong here.  I have become very protective of Ady and I am her shield anytime we go out anymore.  It is STRESS, STRESS, STRESS City here!    

Wow!  Phew.  Sorry about that.  Just had to do a little venting.  I hope I haven't ruined your day!

Aside from the UK way of doing business and the intense stress of functioning here, I need to say that we are are happy to be here & we think the change has been good for us.  There are obviously many, many great things about living here if you can find a way to manage your stress level.  I think things will improve once we have the initial set up with companies and agencies out of the way.

One thing we have been spending time doing lately is touring all the nursery (preschools) in the area for Ady.  Schooling is very competitive here, but the quality of the schools is amazing.  In addition to learning the colors, letters, numbers, etc., there is a major focus on physical ability, establishing independence, and confidence.  Unfortunately, there are currently no spots available in the state schools.  We have been put on many waiting lists and will wait to hear if anything opens up.  One of our favorite schools may soon have a vacancy and it sounded possible that Ady may be offered the spot- but we shall see.  Of course, just as soon as we are done getting on all the nursery school waiting lists, we will need to apply for "reception school," which is preschool for 4 year olds, to be in the running for Ady to start in August.  I was shocked to learn that 4 year olds go to school full time Monday through Friday 9am - 3pm.  It makes me a bit nervous since Ady & I would go from spending all day every day together to spending hardly any time together.  Despite this, I think she would really enjoy school and the social benefit would be a very great thing for her.

Tyler's birthday is next week.  He turns 29 this year.  We decided to go all out and get an Xbox & Kinect and then spend the week in Paris to celebrate.  It is only a 2 hour train ride to Paris from here- so we are all extremely excited for our first major outing.  We will leave here on Wednesday and come back on Sunday.  Have I said that we are really, really excited about this trip?!  The access to other places and the sightseeing is just amazing out here.

I just finished applying to grad school.  I am hoping to hear back in early to mid December.  If I am accepted, I will just start out small- probably only take 1 or 2 classes each semester.  I want to work on my Masters Degree, but not let it overtake my life so that we can't get out on the weekends.  I am actually really looking forward to getting back to school- especially when Ady is in school from 9am - 3pm!!  Oh me, Oh my!  That is a long day.  

Here are a few pictures from our riverboat ride down the Thames a couple weekends ago.  This is a MUST DO for any visitors.  It is a relatively cheap way of seeing many of the iconic London sites- and was rather relaxing and entertaining.

Hope you are all doing good.  We hope to be in touch soon!

British Quote of the Day

"YUMMY MUMMY"

A ritzy (& sorta snooty) mama dressed to impress and decked out with top of the line pram & baby gear, and baby dressed head to toe in name brand everything.

Seven Sisters Country Park

On Saturday we headed for the coast to a town named Brighton. It was about an hour train ride from London. The town had many wonderful little shops full of unique and beautiful things- a perfect place to do your Christmas shopping and do some sightseeing. From Brighton, we took a 45 minute bus ride through some other little towns and the green rolling hills of the English countryside to arrive at the Seven Sisters Country Park. The park is known for its 7 white chalk cliffs that are exposed and jut out into the river.

Here is a photo and link from Wikipedia with more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_Country_Park

We were starving when we arrived- so we ate at a little English cafe named the Exceat Farmhouse nearby the park visitor center. The food was delicious. The tea was particularly memorable. Mine was a hot berry tea and the taste lingered in my mouth all day. It was so yummy and warmed my soul! Ady enjoyed a strawberry milkshake and a fruit scone.

We were in a bit of a hurry to get hiking since we had arrived later to the park than we would have liked- It was approaching 3 pm when we finished our food -and the sun goes down about 3:30 pm now. It is straight dark by 4:30 pm! So we had to hurry if we wanted to see the cliffs before night fell. We crossed the road and were on our way. Along the path, I stopped to take a few pictures and when I went to catch up to Tyler and Ady, they started running away and laughing. Ady was giggling and having a great time- so I ran faster and chased them. Tyler grabbed Ady to hold her so they could run faster, and suddenly Ady started crying. Then she cried harder, and then couldn't stop crying. In all our fun, her poor elbow had popped out of socket... again. Our hike to the Seven Sisters abruptly ended and soon enough, we were back on the bus toward Brighton. A nice woman was sitting on the bus and gave us all the information on how to get to the hospital. She even told the bus driver to inform us when our stop was. When he said to her, "Well, I will try to remember." She got stern and threatened him, "Well, you BEST remember!"

We found the hospital and got registered easily. We had to wait about 45 minutes, which was a bit unsettling- but once we got in, the doctor popped it back in. As we left the room, Ady was so angry and riled up from all the pain she had been in, that she let out a royal scream and gave me a good walloping on my face. Luckily, we didn't have to turn around and go back in for medical help for me. And frankly, I don't blame her for giving me a good paddy-whack to my face. She had to endure a floppy arm for almost 2 hours till we got her put back together again. She was soon back to her happy self- and we soon found ourselves on the train headed back to London.

When we arrived in London we stopped by Tyler's work to grab some dinner and take a tour of E&Y. We found a nice place to sit up on the 10th floor, overlooking the Thames river with all the boats lit up and Tower Bridge. It happened to be a holiday here that day and so our view was complete with a beautiful fireworks show. A little too dreamy, huh?

We headed home after that, happy to have survived the day.

Halloween in the UK

While Tyler was away for training in a far away land, Ady & I had a fun day together on Halloween. We took a walk outside through all the beautiful fall colors to the grocery store to buy what was left of the pumpkins. All that was left were these cool silverish-green ones and really small orange ones- so despite spending an exorbitant amount to get them, we were happy to have something familiar that reminded us of home and decided it was well worth it. Once we got home, we made a yummy roasted chicken and veggies dinner and baked up some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. People had told us that Halloween here was very different from the U.S. and not to expect much trick or treating- so I was assuming that we would just spend the night inside carving pumpkins and hanging out. Although, to my surprise, as we were munching on our dinner, I could hear kids outside. I figured it was just American families coming home from their little parties, but our streets kept filling with more and more kids wearing Halloween costumes and holding treat bags. In a flurry, I threw together a not-so-cute, but perfectly functional cat costume. I used Ady's Crayola markers to draw whiskers and a nose on her face & crossed my fingers that she wouldn't color all over herself after this as I just did to her. It was perhaps a costume only a mother could love, but Ady was thrilled, nonetheless. She was so very excited to go out with the other kids. Every time we saw other kids, she would ask me, "Mama, are those trick-or-treats?" She would gallop down the street holding her orange grocery sack. After an hour of walking the alleys begging for candy, we got home and tallied our goodies... we made away with a killing of 3 pieces of candy. WAHOO! So really, people were totally right. The British are not too keen on Trick-or-Treating apparently... but at least we gave it a good shot. Ady was perfectly thrilled with her 3 pieces of candy- & was even sweet enough to offer me one whole piece of candy and bites of her "hard as rock" (as she described them) gummy bears.