Day 351 of 365: Good Times

Yes, you're seeing right! That there in the middle of the lovely picture above on the bottom is Meg and Ryan!

Jamie, Reagan, Ian and I made our way down today to visit the two lovelies. Unfortunately, Alan and Matt both had to work, so we were unable to have two of the 3 husbands together. But next time we will all DEFINITELY be together.

Was lovely meeting Meg and seeing the infamous Ryan and Myst in the flesh!

And Ryan and Reagan hit it off. We'll all be at their wedding in 18 or so years. :p

We had lunch at Subway today, where we chit chatted, laughed, talked babies, and had to avoid eye contact with a very creepy, smelly, insane tramp (a.k.a. a bum in American).

But it was a good time...and thankfully the rain held out until our drive home.

So now we are back home, after eating at a really nice Chinese buffet in Swindon.

Tomorrow? Who knows. We've got shopping to do, and hopefully some Beatles RockBand to play since the guitar dongle came in the post while we were gone. :)

Day 350 of 365: Movin' On Up

Up in Middlewich today to visit Jamie, Alan, and Reagan.

Ian and I felt bad that we couldn't spend as much time with them as we wanted over the weekend, so we thought since we had the week off, head up to see them (so yes, essentially we invited ourselves).

Ian went to Alan to watch him play pool, while I had girl time with Jamie and Reagan.

Bath time for Reagan

Then we laughed until the late hours of the night.

Good times with good friends. :)

Day 225 of 365: You Make Me Sick

Nooooooo photo today, will explain why.

So, today Ian and I were supposed to be heading to Middlewich to spend the next few days with Jamie and Alan.

Well, got a text from Jamie yesterday when we were at Roger's place to phone her.

She is ill. VERY ill.

So, Ian and I were going to stay at Roger's place tonight and tomorrow night, and go into York and Liverpool.

Well, I woke up in the middle of the night with stomach pains. Went to the toilet a lot (will spare the gritty details).

Ian and I went into York thinking I would be fine, but that was stupid of me. I was in SOOOOOOOOOOO much pain. We went to Boots to get some Pepto Bismol, but that didn't help, and I ended up wretching it back up anyway.

So, since I am so ill, and Ian and I had no where to go (because everyone at Roger's house was at work), we decided to end the holiday early. Ian drove us back to Romsey during today while I tossed and turned in the backseat, and upchucked in the front while Ian drove until the sun went down.

Now, I'm laid up in bed feeling absolutely dreadful.....and missing my friends AND Liverpool. Bah!

Day 224 of 365: Hornsea Rock City???

Left Edinburgh very early this morning to head to Yorkshire. Specifically Hornsea, Yorkshire to see our friend Roger.

I slept most of the time in the car, but at one point Ian slapped my leg so I could wake up to see The Angel of the North.


I know, my shot is terrible because normally it looks like this:


But I had JUST woken up, and I wanted to hurry up and get a shot of it. Mind you, the closer we got, the better my shot would have been, buuuutttt I was still half asleep.

So we finally arrived in Hornsea where Roger met us outside.


We met his Mum (lovely woman. If you ever read this, Ruth, you're wonderful :) ).

Then Ian, Roger, and I played Beatles RockBand for about an hour (we're SO totally getting a Wii and the RockBand set once we can afford it). Ian rocked as Ringo. And Roger and I took turns playing on Paul's bass (which was used as lead guitar) and singing.



Then we headed out to The Deep, which is the aquarium in Hull. Had a really great time there...and even made a new friend:


After The Deep, we went to a Chinese buffet where if you ate and were out by 7pm, it cost £3 less. We ate fast! lol

Oh yes, and today is our 6 month wedding anniversary. Woo hoo! :)

Day 223 of 365: Boarding all Passengers

Attention all passengers, Concord is now about to take off! I'll be your stewardess for this flight.

O.k., so the drive to Loch Ness was MUCH longer than Ian and I thought it would be. Sooooo....after checking some emails, putzing on the hotel computers (£1 for 20 minutes...better than the airport atlesat), we decided to drive 45 minutes east of Edinburgh to check out the National Museum of Flight.

It was cold and rainy, but thankfully most of the exhibits were inside. There was also a really cool interactive bit that Ian and I enjoyed. It was for children, but who said we're not kids at heart?!

Also, since we had the hired car, and there was lots of space in the parking lot, Ian wanted to see if I could start, move, and stop a manual car without stalling it. And you know what? I DID! :) Sooo....within the next few months I will be taking some more driving lessons, but in a manual.

Anyways...

After getting back I really wanted to go to this Christmas store by the Castle. So Ian and I trekked up the hill once again, only to purchase nothing because it was so pricey!

But, the Castle at night was quite beautiful...


Tomorrow it's off to Yorkshire to see our friend Roger!

Day 222 of 365: You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

Left Cologne today (booooo!!) to head to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Ian and I had always wanted to visit Edinburgh, so for a bit of "alone time" we're spending a few days here to explore.



Today we went to Edinburgh Castle. Quite massive, I must say. And we basically walked up a hill that was almost at a 90 degree angle. Bad move. Our legs were like jello by the time we got to the top. But, was a good time. And from the top you could see all of Edinburgh.

Tomorrow we may go and see Loch Ness if the drive isn't too bad.

Day 221 of 365: A Day in Cologne

Photo(s) to come after I get the disk in the post

Today Ian and I got a tour around Cologne from Mel.

We woke up, had a lazy breakfast, and then headed into the city.

There we spent lots of time looking at Cologne Cathedral, which I absolutely fell in love with. Beautiful. And, the bones of The Three Wise Men are inside.

We walked around even more afterwards. Mel showed us a spot where they're digging up an old Roman bath.

We went to the Lindt chocolate factory as well..where we got a free piece. :)

Then we took a photo at the "usual spot" next to the bridge.

Was a wonderfully, beautiful day. I really liked Cologne, but also, the weekend brought Mel and I closer together, I think. She and I got to talk a lot more, which was nice. Looking forward to her move to England in 6 months time. :)

Day 220 of 365: All Together Now

L to R: Mel, me, Ian, Jan, Veerle, Abel

Well, just about anyway.

Arrived in Germany last night. Mel met Ian and I at the airport in Dusseldorf. We had a very tasty pizza after waiting about 45 minutes for the guy to deliver it to Mel's place (we got a free bottle of wine though!).

Today the three of us traveled up to Meeden, The Netherlands to see our Dutchies - Jan, Abel, and little Veerle. Today was the first day I met Veerle. I knew I would love her so much. :) It was tough leaving the Dutchies again. Never like saying good bye to them. But, the seven hours we all spent together were wonderful.

Day 219 of 365: Leavin' on a Jet Plane

No photo for today because I'm too busy getting ready to head out to Germany to kick off our holiday.

Photo tomorrow though!

Off to the airport!

Day 193 of 365: Time To Say Goodbye

Today was our last day at Alan and Jamie's place.

We went for a nice walk in the morning/afternoon, then we went back and had a roast dinner at 1pm.

Afterwards, we all kind of sat around the living room and took a nap...lol.

As the rain fell, we walked to The Cheese (one of the pubs that Jamie works at) and met some of their friends. We also met Alan's uncle, Bob.

After a drink, we went up the road to The King's Lock where we saw a tribute show to Rod Stewart. He was quite good!



Then, as it was getting late, Ian and I said our good byes and headed back to Romsey.

Didn't really want to leave, but we will be seeing Jamie and Alan again for my birthday, which we shall be heading to Liverpool! :)

Day 192 of 365: Here We Go!

Ian and I made our way up to Middlewich to see Jamie and Alan tonight.

It's really difficult to take a photo of street signs while driving by in the dark...lol.

Day 152 of 365: I Like Pleasure Spiked With Pain, and Music Is My Aeroplane...

Spent some of the evening looking at prices for flights.

Ian and I had always said that once we were together, we'd go on a short holiday where it was just us, and we didn't have anything important to do. Our last "us holiday" was to Chicago, but that was to take care of my spousal visa. So it wasn't EXACTLY like a holiday/honeymoon.

And since I haven't worked yet since getting here, we had to scrap the idea of going to America this October (TOO expensive to go for just one week!). I'm a bit sad by it, but then again, I'm excited about going to Edinburgh, Cologne, and Meeden.

So, we decided to go back to America for two weeks for our one year wedding anniversary. Right now we've just got WAY too much to save money for.

Day 135 of 365: On the Road Again....

Wow...today was quite the busy day!

Woke up when Ian did because I had loads to do.

First, I had to get things squared away with my MIL for the weekend. The family was taking my MIL out to purchase paints and whatnot for her bedroom. She will be going up to London to stay with my sister-in-law, Cheryl, while we redecorate her room next week/weekend.

Then I had to make a batch of deviled eggs for my MIL's birthday party on Sunday.


After that, I had to pack, make sure I had everything I needed for my interview, get ahold of Ian (who was taking me to my interview), and whatnot.

But, the icing on the cake was, after we packed up the car so we could head to Josy's RIGHT after my interview, we tried starting the piece of crap, and it wouldn't start!

Ian took me to my interview in his work van, and while I was sweating and answering questions, he was able to find us a rental car.

So....went home for a bit because we couldn't pick up the car until 5pm. Then, after getting it, we headed out and made our way to Paighton. The B&B we stayed at was lovely (so if you go down to the coast, stay with Jill and Richard! :)). It was their first night as "landlords" I suppose. They had JUST taken over the place.


And there was a ginger cat that lives next door that darted out of the bushes when we were walking to and from getting our things. It was hilarious!

So, one thing I didn't want to boldly announce was that a few hours after my interview, the nursing home phoned and offered me to the job! So I shall start training here soon. Just need to wait for the recruitment office to do my paperwork and whatnot. YAY!!!!! So I now have a job in England!!!!