Summertime

To everyone who enjoyed reading my blog while I was studying abroad last fall, I've decided to start writing on here again since I have now returned to the United Kingdom for an indeterminate amount of time to enjoy my summer months after graduation with my boyfriend. As you all probably know, Mike lives in a town called Milton Keynes, which is about an hour and half drive away from London. Milton Keynes is a newer city, kind of reminds me a little bit of Alpharetta in the way that it is suburban and the main downtown area is comprised of the mall. Not too much to do there, but there's always a good movie to see, a good pub to have a cider or two at, or a fun afternoon stroll around the "city center" (what they call the mall area here). When I got here a few weeks ago, I started living at Mike's house, but starting at the beginning of the month, Mike and I started housesitting for one of his old co-workers in a town called Bedford - which is about half an hour away from Milton Keynes.

The couple who live here usually have gone away on vacation for a few weeks, so Mike and I are watching their house and taking care of their dog Eric while they are off having fun in the sun. It's really nice being here actually, Downtown Bedford is only about a fifteen minute walk away, the dog is a really adorable chocolate lab, we have our own place (kind of..) for about a month, and it's a beautiful house as well which is an added bonus. Mike has to work during the week, so while he's away at the office, I usually stay at home here and clean, or read, or watch tv, or walk downtown, or just rest around with the doggie. It's kind of boring and I get a little lonely sometimes, but it's nice because rather than having to call Mike at the end of the day, I get to actually see him when he gets home from work!! It's a nice change of pace.

This weekend, we had Mike's sister and her boyfriend over to the house for a BBQ and a movie. It was fun to be able to have them over and cook up some chicken and burgers and drink some cider and wine and then watch a silly movie (Body of Lies with Leo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, it was all right, just a little long and overdramatic) and then just hang out and chat for awhile. And on Sunday, Mike cooked breakfast for the four of us, and then after our guests left we walked downtown and shopped (mostly window-shopping...) and just wandered around for awhile before coming home and resting the rest of the afternoon. We watched the movie Remember the Titans, and then got really inspired (as I always do with cheesssssyyyy movies) and so decided to throw the football around in the backyard (the back garden, as the Brits call it) for a little while. We had to stop though when the doggie got a little too riled-up and would rush us whenever we'd try to throw the ball. It makes it difficult to enjoy playing catch when you have a pretty strong dog running straight at you while you are trying to catch the football. So, we just sat outside in the swinging chair thingie (don't know the real name for one of those) and enjoyed the nice cool summery weather.

Today I've just been up and about cleaning, jogging on the treadmill (for a verrryyy short amount of time), hanging out with the doggie, watching tv, eating yummy cheese and pickle sandwich for lunch, and now I'm doing some laundry. I'm gonna post some pictures below (as usual!!) for you all to see one of our nights out with Mike's sister and her boyfriend, pics from our adventure to Bournemouth Beach, Mike's two cats at home, and our little doggie friend here too! Miss you all very much, love you, and if you come across any free tickets to England - I'd love some visitors.