It's a nice lazy Saturday and I'm in a weird mood, upset with myself for a few reasons, so I decided I would post to try to get my mind off things and remember that sometimes people make mistakes. Mike says that he is done listening to me talk about it, and he's right I need to just chill out a bit and enjoy the weekend.
I haven't posted on here since last January! Guess it might be because I've been a little busy since then. Since last January, I have spent almost 7 months apart from Mike during the first part of our engagement. I got moved up from my position as the receptionist at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to an assistant for one of the branches. More responsibility equals more stress. But it has definitely been a learning experience. Also, in the months since I last wrote, Mike moved out to the US for good (July), we moved in together (basement apartment), got married (ayayyayayayayayayyyyyyyy September 10, 2010), and have basically just been adjusting ever since. A lot has been happening, and I feel like we are mostly just trying to take each day as it comes. It isn't neccessarily easy, but it's good, because we are dealing with it together. That's what we have always wanted.
Right now I am lying in bed, snuggled up in comfy pants and my most recent most favorite hoody, the striped blue, white, and grey one that I bought in the men's dept at Primark on Oxford Street. Good sweater. Mike is laying on the couch across the room (of our studio basement apartment), watching the football on the Fox Soccer Channel which he was finally able to get set up on our tv so he could watch the games. It's really good that he got it set up, but it also means for even more frustration when Chelsea loses terribly. Between that and the Rams losing a lot of the time...part of me wishes he liked a team that won more often whether it be american football or "the" football. :)
Today after we get tidied up around here and dressed and ready to go out, we're gonna go buy tickets to see the newest Harry Potter at the Studio Movie Grill in Roswell because I got some good coupons on Groupon for $5 tickets and a soda there. We're taking my mom too because we all want to go see it. I've already heard that it is very good.
All right, felt good to write, let's see if I can update this more often. Right now, I am going to go tidy up the kitchen with the mess Mike made in there after cooking our delicious English breakfast (fried egg, buttered toast, cumberland sausage, hickory-smoked bacon, beans, & mushrooms...so worth the mess made), and then I will go shower, do my hair makeup getting ready routine, and then get dressed and get Mike started on getting ready so we can go out and enjoy the Saturday.
I need some sort of a change. Not with my personal life. I feel like I'm ready for something more. I want to start trying to figure out what it is I really want.
That's all for now.
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
Almost the end of January already...
So it's getting to the end of the first month of 2010, and I'm happy when I think that I only have a little bit longer before I get to see Mike again. I'm liking my new job. Today was a good day. I think I'm more likely to blog on good days than I am on bad ones. Which is fine I think, but I might also start trying to write on days where I don't feel so positive about things. But for right now, I am feeling good. The one thing that I keep catching myself thinking about is my birthday. I wonder if it's bad to start thinking about what one wants for bday presents almost 2 months before one's birthday...because I already have decided TWO things that I really really want for my 23rd birthday. Thing one: "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" musical on DVD. My favorite, and I've been realllllly wanting to watch it lately, but I refuse to pay $15 for a DVD. I'm cheap. I know. Thing two: A plane ticket to London. I really miss Mike, and I'd looooove to go see him for my birthday. I know that me writing these things on my blog does not make them actually happen, but I just wanted to get that little wishlist off my chest. Yahhhhhhhh.
Yesterday was nice too. I think yesterday helped to put me in a good mood for today. And Saturday was actually pretty all right too. Saturday I made myself breakfast (fried eggs and sourdough toast) and then cleaned my bathroom with really good-smelling house cleaner from Target. Cleaning your bathroom while listening to good loud music and while using pleasant-smelling bathroom cleaning products makes the whole experience a lot less painful. After cleaning, I went on a brisk walk with mom lady, and then showered and went out exploring for a bit. By exploring, I mean exploring Alpharetta, GA-style: I went antiques shopping (aka browsing and talking on the phone with Mike), to Super Target, and then to Fry's. It was pleasant. Then I came home and drank Corona Light and watched "The Hangover." Funny funny movie, but not as good the second time, since you know where Doug is. Still humorous though.
Sunday was nice too. I went with my mom to a bridal faire in Atlanta at this fancy schmancy hotel downtown, and she was very pleasant to hang out with, and we enjoyed ourselves and taking free samples and meeting crazyyyy wedding vendors. Actually found two photographers who we really liked though, which made me happy. Afterwards, went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen back in Alpharetta, then explored Pier One Imports, then went to go see the 4:40 showing of "Leap Year" with Amy Adams. Gotta love Amy Adams, she is totally precious, and it helped that the movie was a silly romantic comedy about an American falling for a guy from the United Kingdom. Ireland, not England...but you see why I liked it. :) The guy also had a beard with a little spot in it where no hair grows...like Mike. I liked that. I'm such a freaking goober. Anyways, Sunday was nice and I actually got to bed a little later than I'd planned, but it was ok because I slept really well.
This morning I actually woke up feeling well-rested, which doesn't happen very often. It carried throughout the rest of the day as well, which I was VERY pleased about. I also had a good day at work, followed by a nice conversation with the wifey (who I haven't gotten to talk to in awhile), and then a nice convo with the fiance, and then a lovely workout at the gym where I got a free 7-day pass to use. So it was good. I'm a little worried that with all this positivity and happiness, tomorrow is gonna suck so bad. But I'm happy now and therefore I am going to enjoy that. I am just going to deal with right now for right now, and see what tomorrow's about when tomorrow comes.
Yesterday was nice too. I think yesterday helped to put me in a good mood for today. And Saturday was actually pretty all right too. Saturday I made myself breakfast (fried eggs and sourdough toast) and then cleaned my bathroom with really good-smelling house cleaner from Target. Cleaning your bathroom while listening to good loud music and while using pleasant-smelling bathroom cleaning products makes the whole experience a lot less painful. After cleaning, I went on a brisk walk with mom lady, and then showered and went out exploring for a bit. By exploring, I mean exploring Alpharetta, GA-style: I went antiques shopping (aka browsing and talking on the phone with Mike), to Super Target, and then to Fry's. It was pleasant. Then I came home and drank Corona Light and watched "The Hangover." Funny funny movie, but not as good the second time, since you know where Doug is. Still humorous though.
Sunday was nice too. I went with my mom to a bridal faire in Atlanta at this fancy schmancy hotel downtown, and she was very pleasant to hang out with, and we enjoyed ourselves and taking free samples and meeting crazyyyy wedding vendors. Actually found two photographers who we really liked though, which made me happy. Afterwards, went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen back in Alpharetta, then explored Pier One Imports, then went to go see the 4:40 showing of "Leap Year" with Amy Adams. Gotta love Amy Adams, she is totally precious, and it helped that the movie was a silly romantic comedy about an American falling for a guy from the United Kingdom. Ireland, not England...but you see why I liked it. :) The guy also had a beard with a little spot in it where no hair grows...like Mike. I liked that. I'm such a freaking goober. Anyways, Sunday was nice and I actually got to bed a little later than I'd planned, but it was ok because I slept really well.
This morning I actually woke up feeling well-rested, which doesn't happen very often. It carried throughout the rest of the day as well, which I was VERY pleased about. I also had a good day at work, followed by a nice conversation with the wifey (who I haven't gotten to talk to in awhile), and then a nice convo with the fiance, and then a lovely workout at the gym where I got a free 7-day pass to use. So it was good. I'm a little worried that with all this positivity and happiness, tomorrow is gonna suck so bad. But I'm happy now and therefore I am going to enjoy that. I am just going to deal with right now for right now, and see what tomorrow's about when tomorrow comes.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
2010: A new year, with so many new and wonderful things
Well, I know that it has been a very long time since I have posted on here, but I figured that it was probably about time that I did, because so much has been happening since my last post. And I realize that someday I am going to want to remember exactly how I was feeling at this point in my life and without writing on here, I really would have no other way to document what is going on at this time in my life. So here we are again!! At my semester abroad-turned living with my boyfriend abroad-turned ENGAGED-turned filling out Visa applications-ever exciting Withlovefromlondon blog. :)
The last time I wrote, I was still living with Mike in Milton Keynes, and at the end of my allowed time there in the UK (end of September). After leaving England, I came back to Alpharetta to move back home and live with my Mom and Bobby and Jim. I missed Mike, but fortunately, our new plan included him moving to live with us for three months in Alpharetta. Which turned out to be really nice. Mike was able to help around the house and the yard with stuff to make the house all pretty for when my parents decide to put it back on the market again. And I started the job search, which was pretty slow-going, so in the meantime I got a part-time job at Gap at Northpoint Mall. I kept on looking for another full-time job, and ended up getting a position as a receptionist at a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage branch here in Alpharetta, which is not only a great starting position for me, but it's also really great because it's only a short commute.
I had just started working at Wells Fargo, and time was passing so so so quickly, and then Mike had to go back to England at the end of the month - when Mike surprised me with a weekend away to Nashville. He picked me up from work on Friday and told me that we had to stop by Trader Joe's for some special juice that my mom wanted...so we started driving in that direction, and when we passed the store, I asked him why we didn't stop and he said because we're going somewhere else. I guessed Nashville, and he was like YES!! So we drove the 4 hours up to Tennessee, and got a room at America's Best Value Inn (aka really cheap). The next morning, we ate a yummyyyyy breakfast at Waffle House down the road from our hotel, and then set out for a day of sightseeing. It was soooooo cold in Nashville, but it was nice to just bundle up and enjoy a day together with peace and quiet because there weren't really very many people around. We first went to go see the Bicenntennial State Park, which was pretty, but it was too cold to hang outside much, so we ended up heading over to the State Capitol Building over across the street.
It was a really pretty building sitting on top of a big hill right in the middle of the city, and we had to walk up a huge flight of stairs, but once we got to the top, the views were so pretty and it was just nice to walk around together hand in hand. We walked around the building to the front to see if we could go inside for a tour, but I guess it was closed for the day, so we just stood out in front looking out onto the courtyard below, with a festively decorated Christmas tree right in the center of it all. I was just standing there taking in the scenery when Mike turned to me and told me that he had a question to ask me. I got really excited, because I had a feeling that I might know what that question was.
For the past week or so, Mike and I had been talking about our plans for when he left on December 29th. And although we had talked about marriage before, it never was something we actually had started making plans for. Except this time it was for real. We were really serious and we were really ready and we were so excited about getting to spend the rest of our lives together. So, we told my Mom and Bobby about our plans the weekend before we went to Nashville, and Mike was able to ask my Dad for his blessing when he had a layover on that Monday in Atlanta. After much searching, we were able to find a ring that I loved and that he could afford right now, and put it on layaway. But earlier that week, Mike had told me that when he'd gone to pick up the ring, it hadn't been sized yet and it wouldn't be ready for a few more days. I was bummed, because although I didn't know about Nashville yet, I'd figured that Mike would probably propose that weekend anyways.
So, needless to say, when Mike said that he had a question to ask me, I was pretty excited, because I had seen him clutching at his sweatshirt pocket all day, like he was trying to hold something in there. I thought that it might be the ring, but I didn't want to get my hopes up because I knew it was still in the shop getting sized. But then, as he turned toward me and got down onto one knee and pulled the ring box out of his pocket, I knew that it was really happening. I knew that he was asking me to marry him. He held out the ring box and told me that he loves me so much and he can't imagine not spending the rest of his life with me and then he said, "Simone, will you please be my wife?" And I just could not stop smiling. I said yes, of course I will be your wife. And he slipped the beautiful ring onto my finger and stood up and pulled me close to give me the warmest and biggest hug ever. I held onto him and just could not stop smiling because I was so happy that we were going to have this future together.
The rest of the weekend was really fun too, because Mike surprised me with Ashley coming down to celebrate with us!!! It was awesome, she came to surprise me on my happy day! So that night we all got gussied up and went out in downtown Nashville for a looooot of beer (PBR) and good live music. It was a great night, followed by a lovely breakfast the next morning at Waffle House and then Ashley hit the road for Louisville, and we headed back down to Atlanta because we had to go see a show with the family that night. But I couldn't have imagined a better weekend surprise.
Christmas came and it was really great to have some time off work and eat yummy food and spend time with the family altogether. And then, that Tuesday, Mike had to go back to England. It was sad to see him go, but a little bit easier than it usually is, because although we knew that we wouldn't be seeing each other for awhile, at least we knew that the next time we were together, it would be for good. Forever.
So, we've started the Visa application process....which is a lot of paperwork, and pretty nerve-racking, but now that I have sent off the first packet of forms and paperwork and evidence and proof, I feel a little bit better because I know that at least we've gotten the ball rolling. The next thing to do is just wait until they've received it, and then there's the waiting time for them to get to our case and start to process it. Then, we wait until they're approved us for a fiance visa, and then they schedule Mike's interview at the U.S. Embassy in London, and then after that goes well (fingers crossed!!), they give a date when he can enter the United States! And then, once he's here, we have 90 days to get married. Which is why we're going to have a court ceremony first, and then our real wedding celebration next summer most likely with all of our friends and family there. Gives everyone enough time to save up to be there with us, and us enough time to get settled and everything and save as well to help pay for the wedding!
Back to the whole visa process though....it can take anywhere from 6-8 months total, which kind of sucks because that will be the longest that Mike and I have gone without seeing each other. We have Skype, and webcam chats, phone calls, emails, letters, and texts to get us through til then though, but it will be tough nonetheless. But Mike keeps telling me to keep my chin up and not to get sad, because when we are together, it will be forever, and we will be DONE with the long-distance thing forever!!! Which makes me really happy.
PHEW. Well, that's it for now. I think that this post was more for myself than for other people, because I just started typing, and then I couldn't stop. haha! So, if you're reading this (and made it this far...), now you're all updated on my life! I'm ready for 2010 to be a year of changes, both good and bad, and for me to continue on my path of growing up...slowly, but surely. It's scary sometimes, but deep down, I can feel that it's a good thing.
The last time I wrote, I was still living with Mike in Milton Keynes, and at the end of my allowed time there in the UK (end of September). After leaving England, I came back to Alpharetta to move back home and live with my Mom and Bobby and Jim. I missed Mike, but fortunately, our new plan included him moving to live with us for three months in Alpharetta. Which turned out to be really nice. Mike was able to help around the house and the yard with stuff to make the house all pretty for when my parents decide to put it back on the market again. And I started the job search, which was pretty slow-going, so in the meantime I got a part-time job at Gap at Northpoint Mall. I kept on looking for another full-time job, and ended up getting a position as a receptionist at a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage branch here in Alpharetta, which is not only a great starting position for me, but it's also really great because it's only a short commute.
I had just started working at Wells Fargo, and time was passing so so so quickly, and then Mike had to go back to England at the end of the month - when Mike surprised me with a weekend away to Nashville. He picked me up from work on Friday and told me that we had to stop by Trader Joe's for some special juice that my mom wanted...so we started driving in that direction, and when we passed the store, I asked him why we didn't stop and he said because we're going somewhere else. I guessed Nashville, and he was like YES!! So we drove the 4 hours up to Tennessee, and got a room at America's Best Value Inn (aka really cheap). The next morning, we ate a yummyyyyy breakfast at Waffle House down the road from our hotel, and then set out for a day of sightseeing. It was soooooo cold in Nashville, but it was nice to just bundle up and enjoy a day together with peace and quiet because there weren't really very many people around. We first went to go see the Bicenntennial State Park, which was pretty, but it was too cold to hang outside much, so we ended up heading over to the State Capitol Building over across the street.
It was a really pretty building sitting on top of a big hill right in the middle of the city, and we had to walk up a huge flight of stairs, but once we got to the top, the views were so pretty and it was just nice to walk around together hand in hand. We walked around the building to the front to see if we could go inside for a tour, but I guess it was closed for the day, so we just stood out in front looking out onto the courtyard below, with a festively decorated Christmas tree right in the center of it all. I was just standing there taking in the scenery when Mike turned to me and told me that he had a question to ask me. I got really excited, because I had a feeling that I might know what that question was.
For the past week or so, Mike and I had been talking about our plans for when he left on December 29th. And although we had talked about marriage before, it never was something we actually had started making plans for. Except this time it was for real. We were really serious and we were really ready and we were so excited about getting to spend the rest of our lives together. So, we told my Mom and Bobby about our plans the weekend before we went to Nashville, and Mike was able to ask my Dad for his blessing when he had a layover on that Monday in Atlanta. After much searching, we were able to find a ring that I loved and that he could afford right now, and put it on layaway. But earlier that week, Mike had told me that when he'd gone to pick up the ring, it hadn't been sized yet and it wouldn't be ready for a few more days. I was bummed, because although I didn't know about Nashville yet, I'd figured that Mike would probably propose that weekend anyways.
So, needless to say, when Mike said that he had a question to ask me, I was pretty excited, because I had seen him clutching at his sweatshirt pocket all day, like he was trying to hold something in there. I thought that it might be the ring, but I didn't want to get my hopes up because I knew it was still in the shop getting sized. But then, as he turned toward me and got down onto one knee and pulled the ring box out of his pocket, I knew that it was really happening. I knew that he was asking me to marry him. He held out the ring box and told me that he loves me so much and he can't imagine not spending the rest of his life with me and then he said, "Simone, will you please be my wife?" And I just could not stop smiling. I said yes, of course I will be your wife. And he slipped the beautiful ring onto my finger and stood up and pulled me close to give me the warmest and biggest hug ever. I held onto him and just could not stop smiling because I was so happy that we were going to have this future together.
The rest of the weekend was really fun too, because Mike surprised me with Ashley coming down to celebrate with us!!! It was awesome, she came to surprise me on my happy day! So that night we all got gussied up and went out in downtown Nashville for a looooot of beer (PBR) and good live music. It was a great night, followed by a lovely breakfast the next morning at Waffle House and then Ashley hit the road for Louisville, and we headed back down to Atlanta because we had to go see a show with the family that night. But I couldn't have imagined a better weekend surprise.
Christmas came and it was really great to have some time off work and eat yummy food and spend time with the family altogether. And then, that Tuesday, Mike had to go back to England. It was sad to see him go, but a little bit easier than it usually is, because although we knew that we wouldn't be seeing each other for awhile, at least we knew that the next time we were together, it would be for good. Forever.
So, we've started the Visa application process....which is a lot of paperwork, and pretty nerve-racking, but now that I have sent off the first packet of forms and paperwork and evidence and proof, I feel a little bit better because I know that at least we've gotten the ball rolling. The next thing to do is just wait until they've received it, and then there's the waiting time for them to get to our case and start to process it. Then, we wait until they're approved us for a fiance visa, and then they schedule Mike's interview at the U.S. Embassy in London, and then after that goes well (fingers crossed!!), they give a date when he can enter the United States! And then, once he's here, we have 90 days to get married. Which is why we're going to have a court ceremony first, and then our real wedding celebration next summer most likely with all of our friends and family there. Gives everyone enough time to save up to be there with us, and us enough time to get settled and everything and save as well to help pay for the wedding!
Back to the whole visa process though....it can take anywhere from 6-8 months total, which kind of sucks because that will be the longest that Mike and I have gone without seeing each other. We have Skype, and webcam chats, phone calls, emails, letters, and texts to get us through til then though, but it will be tough nonetheless. But Mike keeps telling me to keep my chin up and not to get sad, because when we are together, it will be forever, and we will be DONE with the long-distance thing forever!!! Which makes me really happy.
PHEW. Well, that's it for now. I think that this post was more for myself than for other people, because I just started typing, and then I couldn't stop. haha! So, if you're reading this (and made it this far...), now you're all updated on my life! I'm ready for 2010 to be a year of changes, both good and bad, and for me to continue on my path of growing up...slowly, but surely. It's scary sometimes, but deep down, I can feel that it's a good thing.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Updates..because I'm really behind on them!!
So, seeing that my Dad updates his blog more than I do made me realize I should really keep this thing more up-to-date!
Things have really been pretty much the same lately, just hanging out spending time with Mike while I'm over here in London. Since he works during the week, I mostly just stay at home and read some books, watch tv, and chat with friends from home. I love the weekends though because most of the time Mike doesn't have to work weekends at the bar, so we get to spend a lot more time together. It's nice. Sometimes we'll go hang out in a fun park and have a picnic or something, other times we'll just sleep in til late, cook a yummy breakfast at home, go to a pub and watch "the football" (soccer), or last weekend Mike was able to find a local pub that was showing the first Cal game!! It was SUCH a good game too, we dominated over Maryland, and it was really fun to watch American college football here because everyone who walked past was so confused about why we even watching it...heehee. Mike wore one of his hundreds of Cal tees that I've gotten him as gifties, and I wore my Cal alumni hoodie that I love.
In other exciting news, I've finally booked my ticket to come back home to the States!! My flight back to Atlanta is on Sept. 26th, and I'm actually really looking forward to getting back home again. I miss my friends and family so much, and I really just miss not being a foreigner. It sounds weird, but I miss American culture and food and stores and even the currency!! haha. But I feel like it's going to be weird getting used to dollars instead of pound coins again...sigh. I'm not sad to leave Mike behind either, because he's planning on coming to visit just one week later! So I won't have to miss him too much.
This weekend we're leaving on Thursday to go up to visit Mike's "Pop" for a few days, so I am looking forward to that because I really like all of Mike's family and his grandpa is a really nice man. Then, we're coming back on Saturday and going to a housewarming party for Mike's friend, and on Sunday it's our 1-year anniversary!! Neither of us is really sure what we're doing to celebrate just yet, but we'll probably try someplace new for dinner and just have a nice night out. So I'm looking forward to that. :)
That's all for now!! I'll update more lata.
Things have really been pretty much the same lately, just hanging out spending time with Mike while I'm over here in London. Since he works during the week, I mostly just stay at home and read some books, watch tv, and chat with friends from home. I love the weekends though because most of the time Mike doesn't have to work weekends at the bar, so we get to spend a lot more time together. It's nice. Sometimes we'll go hang out in a fun park and have a picnic or something, other times we'll just sleep in til late, cook a yummy breakfast at home, go to a pub and watch "the football" (soccer), or last weekend Mike was able to find a local pub that was showing the first Cal game!! It was SUCH a good game too, we dominated over Maryland, and it was really fun to watch American college football here because everyone who walked past was so confused about why we even watching it...heehee. Mike wore one of his hundreds of Cal tees that I've gotten him as gifties, and I wore my Cal alumni hoodie that I love.
In other exciting news, I've finally booked my ticket to come back home to the States!! My flight back to Atlanta is on Sept. 26th, and I'm actually really looking forward to getting back home again. I miss my friends and family so much, and I really just miss not being a foreigner. It sounds weird, but I miss American culture and food and stores and even the currency!! haha. But I feel like it's going to be weird getting used to dollars instead of pound coins again...sigh. I'm not sad to leave Mike behind either, because he's planning on coming to visit just one week later! So I won't have to miss him too much.
This weekend we're leaving on Thursday to go up to visit Mike's "Pop" for a few days, so I am looking forward to that because I really like all of Mike's family and his grandpa is a really nice man. Then, we're coming back on Saturday and going to a housewarming party for Mike's friend, and on Sunday it's our 1-year anniversary!! Neither of us is really sure what we're doing to celebrate just yet, but we'll probably try someplace new for dinner and just have a nice night out. So I'm looking forward to that. :)
That's all for now!! I'll update more lata.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
The Hanging Basket!
Last Friday night, Mike and I felt like going out in Bedford, nothing special just having a drink or two in a local pub and perhaps listening to some live music as well. So, we walked down the main street away from the house where we are staying and came across a pub called "The Flowerpot" that looked nice and small and casual and had a sign out front that said there was live music there on Friday nights. We went inside and it was a small place, with just a few people scattered about the bar chatting to each other, and there was a young guy playing his guitar over on the left side of the place, and a few people who looked like his friends sitting right up in front of him. Mike ordered a Magner's cider and ordered me a rose wine and then we took our drinks over to a table by the guy playing the guitar so we could watch and listen and enjoy the music.
The singer/guitarist guy turned out to be named Sam Miller or something like that, and he sounded a little bit like Paolo Nutini combined with Gavin DeGraw or something..it was good music, he played some covers as well as some of his own stuff. It was nice to just get out of the house and go somewhere and hang out and chat and listen to good music and have a few drinks on a Friday night. After we'd been there a few hours, we decided to head back home and as we were walking home - Mike got confused and said he'd had a fun time at that bar...what was it called..the Hanging Basket?
Food
As much as people say that food in England is limited to fish and chips, I have to say that I really enjoy being here because the food is pretty good. It's not like I eat fancy cuisine or anything, but I love the little snackie-type things that I eat all the time. Like, today for lunch I had a yummy cheese and pickle sandwich with mature white cheddar cheese (very strong and delicious) and Branston's pickle (it comes in a jar, and is like a diced pickle in a sweet/tart brown-colored sauce, sounds weird, but tastes YUM), on delicious Hovis thick-sliced white bread. I also had a bag of tasty McCoy's thick ridged crisps that were cheese and onion flavor with a jalepeno twist, yummy. So yea, even though this food all sounds super weird - I love it! haha. Also, the other night for dinner, Mike and I were ready for a change of pace from our usual fare: pizza, pasta, spaghetti, or chili and decided to make "breakfast for dinner" with a full English-style breakfast. It turned out SO good too! Mike did most of it, but I helped with the grilled mushrooms and onions. Our breakfast was one fried egg, white toast, Heinz baked beans, mushrooms and onions, two pork sausages, one thick piece of bacon, anddd...I think that's it!! Our plates were pretty much overflowing - we were so pleased. :) And for dessert, Mike wanted to prove that he could bake a cake from scratch, so we followed the recipe for a Victoria Sandwich cake (white cake with jam sandwiched in the middle) off the back of the flour bag and it turned out all right actually. The only problem was we decided to make powdered sugar frosting and we added vanilla flavouring and some red food coloring, and it ended up tasting just a little bit too sweet. But the cake itself was surprisingly nice. Mike even decorated it with the sweets he'd bought earlier in the day. It was good with a cold glass of milk. Yum!
Monday, 13 July 2009
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.
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.
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