Friday, August 30, 2013

Finally Settled in!

First of all I must apologize as it has been almost a month since I have posted. However in this crazy month LOTS of things have happened! Last time I posted we were in the process of being kicked out of the home we were renting. Well that did end up happening. Bailiffs started showing up to look through the house so we decided to move before any of our stuff was repossessed with the home. We ended up moving into a beautiful 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with a very large rear garden that is 100% fenced in! The girls love the extra space and from day 1 this has felt more like home. I am not sure what the reasoning behind why we were sent to the other home first but I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, even though right now the only reason I can see is that "It builds character".  The only downfall to this new place it that because no one had lived here for about 4 months there were spiders and webs EVERYWHERE and I HATE spiders! I can deal with many, many things...poop-not a problem...blood- gross but I can deal...puke-when its my kids, I deal with it...spiders- I squeal and scream and act like the total girly girl princess that I am! The first day we were here I think I vacuumed up about 150 of them!! EEEWWWWEEEEE!!!!!!!

Other than spiders, AJ has started walking!!!! FINALLY! She is now all over the place, attempting to run at times and looking like she is drunk all the time! There is something about a waddling, pot-bellied, gap toothed baby that is so heart warming I can't even begin to explain how much that site warms my heart! 

AL on the other hand is beginning to push many more buttons that ever before! Luckily for her she starts school on September 9th and will have to learn how to share with other children and listen to directions given from other adults that are not family members. This will be interesting...anyone want to place bets on how long before the school calls me?!?! The facial expressions that child has sometimes! I will be trying to capture them on film over the next few weeks to see if I can share them with you. They are good for a few laughs!

We also purchased two vehicles over the last couple of weeks...Eric is now driving a black two door Ford Focus and I have a blue 2007, 4 door Peugeot 407. They are not the most glamorous vehicles but they will serve their purpose over the next 2 years. I actually love the little car! Its a diesel that gets about 44 miles per gallon!! Which makes me wonder...How come the U.S. doesn't have any 4 cylinder diesel cars yet?!?!?!

With all of the craziness that we have been through since we have arrived to the UK we have not yet ventured much farther than the small towns around us and we make a trip back to the states at the beginning of October so I feel like it is going to be a while before we make our first Europe trip but I have a list of places I want to see so we will have to start soon!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Today we are visiting AL's school to get her all signed up, I am hoping that she has to wear a uniform! I LOVE that the little kids around here all look like they have popped right out of the Harry Potter movies!

Write to you all soon!

Abbey

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

On the Move Again...warning, bit of a rant ahead...

Yep! That's right! After No hot water the first week, then only hot water the second week and the invasion of the flying ants, we are moving...Not because we want to...nope, because the home we are living in is being repossessed from the owner by the bank! The only thing I have to say at this point is, "Why not?" Everything else that could have possibly went wrong on this entire move has so why not throw in one more thing?! Oh yeah, did I mention that TODAY we got the call that our stuff from the U.S. is FINALLY in England and they want to deliver it on Tuesday?!

So we are on the hunt for yet another house in the UK, but this time there is nothing that is furnished available so it looks like we have to hit up Ikea for the 5 hundredth time since we have been here, I mean I love Ikea, I don't think I have met anyone who wouldn't like to play an awesome game of "hide-and-seek" in there (yep, you just added that to your bucket list didn't you!) but spending money on furniture that we are only going to use for 2 years, well that is not something that excites me!
However, we did find this AMAZING house less than 10 minutes away from where we are at, the kitchen is HUGE and the layout is perfect for what we need, its even more in the "country" so to speak, but the guy that owns it not only wants a bit more than we want to spend on rent and he may be selling the place to a couple from Canada. We will find out by the end of tonight if it is ours or not. So, the waiting game continues.

In the meantime, we are exploring the area a bit more, Sunday we went to the Chester Racecourse and watched some horse races. Something I never thought I would enjoy but it was quite nice! We did bet on a few horses and AL won the most out of the day! She was so proud that her horse, Party Ruler, won the race she wouldn't stop talking about it all night! I do want to go back there sometime without the kids, get all dressed up and sit in the expensive seats, fascinator and all! Until then we will be looking for a new place to live and furniture to fill that place up with.

Rant over,
Abbey