Today is one of those days...

One of those wonderful days! You know, when the air is crisp and you can tell that Fall is on it's way. I love days like today.

Ever since we've moved in to our house (photos soon, I promise) I have been doing my shopping at the village (photos soon, I promise). I ride my bike up to the shops and go from store to store with my shopping list. We have two grocery chains in town Somerfield and Iceland. Now I'm not quite sure but Iceland is not the place I like to shop. Somerfield seems more inviting and also stocks more organic, earth friendly products. Plus Iceland just sound cold. But I tend to get all of my veggies, meats and bread from their respective shops in the village. And on Wednesdays there is a market in the center where I can get all sorts of fresh fruits and veggies!

Today I needed to get milk and decided that the front basket on my bike isn't condusive for heavy loads so I went to the bike shop to get a basket for the back. So I am now officially equiped for full on shopping in my village of Portchester. I feel so local.

Photos!

Here's the Castle from the view of the church's cemetary

This is the church I go to...morning prayer every day! I've become an Anglican, who would have guessed?

We went to the top of the Keep last weekend and the view is fantastic!

Here's the courtyard of the castle...and Victor!

We met up with Nikki in London and it was too much fun.

We took a bike tour around the city and it was so fun...even in the rain.

Me and Victor survived spending a whole month together...24 hours a day...non-stop...all the time...just the two of us

Another Bible lesson for Victor

As some of you may know, Victor didn't go to church when he was a kid. In fact, until he met me, the only time he went to church was for the occasional wedding. Every so often there are moments when he will say something or talk about a topic that has roots in Biblical stories but he doesn't understand where it comes from.

Yesterday he tried to tell me that "turn the other cheek" meant to look the other way.

I will use it in a sentence: I noticed that Victor was stealing a candy bar at the store but I turned the other cheek.

Right... so our little lesson consisted of me telling him that turning the other cheek was Christ's response to "eye for an eye". He had no idea what I was talking about. I love him.

I can't wait until I can upload photos

Yesterday we spent a beautiful day in Oxford and today is just as beautiful. But today we're doing laundry on base. We drove up to Croughton on Thursday to get some stuff done and pick up the mail.

Speaking of the mail: I got my first package from Knitpicks! I ordered some yarn, needles, a book and a pattern thing with magnets (this all excites me very much). So I've already cast on a baby blanket for my friend Beth and it's about 1/3 of the way done. I love my new needles that I want to be with them forever....ok, that might be a little overboard.

We move in to the house on Tuesday AND all of our stuff will be delivered by the end of the week too. Not that we have a lot of stuff but at least the place won't be so empty. What I'm really ready for is my computer. I would really like to download all the photos from my camera and start posting them. Soon...very soon.

WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!! (no it's not the castle in the photo)

That's right kids! Today we ended our search of the perfect place to live. I didn't bring my camera so no photos yet (and I'm still working off of shared computers anyway) but hopefully in a few weeks you can see our house. It is the true British experience, let me tell you.

We live down the street from Portchester Castle (photo above or click here too) in a neighborhood that dates back to Medieval times. Our house, however, is not THAT old but it is quite charming and I love it!

Now that a house has been selected I am so relieved that I can hardly stand it. The owners are replacing carpet, painting and doing some renevations so right now it looks like total crap inside. But we love the layout and location so much that we decided to go ahead and get it off the market and hopefully sign the lease next week. Move in date will be in about two weeks but we don't even have any of our household goods right now anyway so it's not really a problem to wait a bit. So once I get the address I'll send it out to you all.

This weekend we're going to London to meet up with one of my friends from Camp Luther and it's going to be fantastic...yes, I already know. We're going on a bike tour of London on Saturday and there is a huge street fair on Regent St on Sunday I would love to go to.

AND I also found a church in Gosport that I totally love. We don't really live close to the church...actually, we live close, but I can't actually take a boat across the water to get there. I have to drive around the long way. But the Vicar is so cool and it's such a great community. Hopefully I'll be able to attend there or I heard there is a church on the Castle grounds too. It's nuts.

The fun of our in process

We're traveling this week to in process at various bases around England. First we're up by Oxford at RAF Croughton. And while I can hop on the internet for blogging and email checking, I can't log in to Facebook...seriously, what will I do?
Then tomorrow we head over to Lakenheath for more in processing fun. But not only will that be fun but we get to see our friends Jim and Jean while we're there! Jim has been a friend of mine since he first stumbled into the doors of Peace Lutheran Church as a lowly AFIT student and was immediately overtaken by the Hedlund family. It's a really long story BUT if it wasn't for Jim coming to church I would have never met Victor....it's a REALLY long story.
Today was also our first day to experience driving in England. We rented a car and it came manual (apparently you have to request automatic) and without blinking an eye, Victor took to it like a fish out of water! Ok, so it wasn't that bad and once you get used to the backwardness of it all, it's really not that scary. Of course, I haven't tried yet but maybe he'll let me drive on base. We pick up our car this week too so that will be strange to drive an American made car on the left side of the road.
So far I've been taking long naps during the day but sleeping well at night. Getting adjusted really takes some time. It will be a while before I can start posting photos but as soon as I get set up you'll see where we live from my point of view. However, we've been so exhausted we haven't even thought of getting out the camera.

We made it! And I edited the address because I had it wrong!!

Well kids, we're in England and it's fabulous! Yesterday two Yanks from Vic's office picked us up form the airport and really helped get us around. They live close to our hotel and showed us around Portsmouth. We went to the touristy area for dinner and mainly to stay awake. It was similar to the San Francisco Fisharman's Warf but also nothing like it. Maybe just the water part. And the weather is just like Seattle- yesterday it was really sunny and everyone was shocked and in love with the sun. Today is half as sunny (but the sun is still out) and big clouds. This is the EXACT opposite from where we just came from. I think we'll be suffering from weather shock more than culture shock.

Just to let you know, I totally forgot about where I was moving until I actually got here:
1) I live on an Island. Totally forgot that.
2) I live near the ocean. Totally forgot that too.
3) I'm the one with the accent. Yeah, it's not REAL until you actually get here.

So if you want to see where I live check out the official website on Portsmouth at http://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/
And as for now we don't have a place to live but we do have a post box. So if you really want to send us something use this address:
PSC 50 Box 541
APO AE 09494
It's the mail box we have on the closest base about two hours away. If you send something there it's just like sending it in the US so there is NO extra postage.

That's it from the Island. I'll be keeping more updates when I have internet at home.

Are we there yet?

So we moved into a hotel on Thursday night and I'm just about ready to get on an airplane as soon as possible. However, there is the flip side of not really wanting to leave so soon after moving here. I'm really just starting to make some good friends and saying goodbye just isn't fun. Victor was teasing me the other day when he said that I should just be mean to everyone so it's easier to leave. Ummmmm, I don't think I can do that.

The plus side of living in a hotel is that we have cable and we can watch the Olympics! But we don't really spend much time here so that makes a difference.

We leave on Wednesday at 1pm and there is still a lot to do. Once we get to England I have a feeling that my internet access might be limited so let's hope that I'll keep up with the blog....and facebook....and ravelry!! Arugh, I think I'm addicted.

Olympics 2008: I can't believe I don't have a TV

I just watched the Men's 400m relay on NBC.com and it was so amazing I can hardly find the words. I read an article about the win on Yahoo but then decided to watch it because it sounded too amazing. Tears were in my eyes as I watched the final 50m. And I wonder if I'm sentimental because I have some hard core swimmer friends or because I'm moving out of the country in a week.

Seriously, if you haven't seen it then you must now!

Just click here!

Ou est la piscine?

This one is for my cousin Molly who loves French. Also, I love Flight of the Conchords. It's a good match. And if you don't like this video then you might want to catch FotC on HBO and see why they are hilarious.

What are those photos about?

Ok, so I didn't really explain any of my photos. Here's what they are about:

The first three are of me, Patric, James and Mark on our canoe trip to the Cranford Canoe Club for ice cream. We picked up the river in their back yard (how cool is that?!) and headed down stream about a mile to the boathouse. What a life!

The Snicker's cupcake was at Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC. Too amazing for words.

Next I have a photo of James in Central Park where I taught him how to knit. He turned out to be REALLY good! Must be in the genes.

Then there is the crew hanging out in Central Park on a gorgeous day. Elisabeth had a friend in town from Florida and we had an adventure in the City.

The next two are from when my grandma Judy and I went to Ft Wadsworth on Staten Island. Of all the years I've been to SI I have never been there.

And here's grandpa at Staten Island Historical Society Museum. We didn't actually go in but we did walk around Old Richmondtown. Good times.

Finally, the Alice Austin House.

I wrote about all these places a few posts ago but now you can see what I'm saying. For more photos, I'll be posting them on my facebook soon.

New York (Jersey) Adventure!

I heart NY

It feels like forever since I've been here but really it has only been one year. Last summer: about the same time. The past few days I've been hanging out with my grandparents and it's been GREAT! They live on Staten Island and even though I've been coming here my whole life, there are things I did on this trip I have never done before. At the end of Hylan Blvd, a few blocks from their front door, is the Alice Austin House. I've always known that it existed but never checked it out until this trip. You can also see this house in the movie: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days....ok not the house but in the scene where he's teaching her how to ride a motorcycle, you can see a white picked fence in the background and a house...that's it! Then I went to Fort Wadsworth at the end of Bay St. also located very close to my grandparents house. It is right at the base of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. When my dad was a kid, my grandpa took him and his brother to watch that bridge be built. How cool is that? Also, we took a walk around Old Richmond Town and caught a glimpse of what life was like in 1780. I'm not sure when my family came over on the boat but I don't think they would have lived in any of these houses.

And since my grandpa got a new car, he let me drive all over the Island. We went up the hills and into neighborhoods I never kenw existed. And most of all we had a good time. I heard all the old stories over and over again along with a few new ones. Now that I'm married, my grandpa wanted to make sure I knew about the birds and the bees...a conversation I thought I would never have and not sure I ever want to repeat.

Now I'm in New Jersey visitng with my cousin and her kids. Tomorrow I'll go into the city and decided that since I have become a knitting fiend I'll check out the good yarn stores. So I emailed Kay from Mason Dixon Knitting to get some advice and she so brilliantly replied! Now I have a list of a few places that I'll be parusing tomorrow and see what I can come up with. I packed all the yarn and I'm running out of what I have stashed for the trip to England!! So, unfortunately (?) I might just have to get come NYC yarn. Good times.

Yes, we are total geeks

We love Alex:)

Mom's visit! (edited for Diane)

My mom came to visit us in Albuquerque and it was SO FUN!! I sort of used her trip to visit some of the places I haven't been yet and wanted to visit before I left the country. It's always so wonderful to be with my mom and she really knows me so well. When we went to church on Sunday everyone thought she was my sister...we've pretty much heard that for the past 15 years or so. When we were out on our journey through the Jemez Mountains someone commented that we looked like friends rather than mother and daughter. Well, actually, we are friends. She's the best!
We went to an Isotopes game, Chaco Canyon (what a drive!), Santa Fe Spanish Market, Jemez Mountains, Bandelier National Monument and various other places in New Mexico. It's funny because we really didn't spend much time in Albuquerque, I didn't even take her to Old Town or Flying Star!! Oh, well maybe next time.....

PS- the little girl who looks asleep (and believe me, she's not asleep) in the photo is my friend's daughter. We all got tickets to the game and it was a blast!

ONCE

Seriously, you need to see this movie if you haven't yet. It is fantastic.

Sad news for me, happy news for someone else

So after EXTENSIVE research, blood, sweat and tears, Victor and I have come to the conclusion that it will not be possible to take our cats to England with us. In our opinion: IT SUCKS
However, we are hoping to find a nice family who will take them in for about two years until we get back. There is light at the end of the tunnel but sill sad. Yes, we could ship them as cargo but it would cost us anywhere from $2000-$4000 and we just don't have that kind of money to spare for the kitties.

So if you know that deep in your heart you would like to take care of two precious cats for two years then let me know. They really are wonderful and I am so sad not to have them living with me for two years but alas, that's just the way it goes.

Casey

Definition:
Noun. A leather football.

Sentence:
"Hey Victor, pass me the casey! No the CASEY! Oh, just give me the damn soccer ball!!"

(this is assuming that "football" really means "football" and not "football")

Is Cheating really that bad?

Last night I did something I'm not proud of....I went to another knitting group in town. It just so happened that I found another group on Ravelry and they were meeting Monday night at a Flying Star I had never been to. So I packed up and headed out. I was a little worried that they might be boring because I didn't know any of them and knitters can be boring people. It just so happened that I liked them and had a great time! I felt a little guilty but it's not like I skipped my Tuesday night group to be there or anything sneaky like that. However, I do think that these two groups should collide at some point because I think they would really like each other.
It's just too bad that I'm moving so soon...then again, I'm moving to England so it's really not that bad of a deal.

Bucket Down

Difinition:
Verb. To rain heavily.


Sentence:
"We're moving from the desert to a land where it buckets down. Two words: light therapy."