Best Thanksgiving ever!

This was the best Thanksgiving I can remember, what a wonderful week!

Will and I had been keeping an eye on flights back to Seattle for our next visit and on a whim checked flights for Thanksgiving.  They were actually a great deal!! £395 roundtrip!  So... we booked them.  We thought it would be fun to keep it a surprise, but we did need transportation from the airport home hence telling my sister, Sarah.

Less than a month after booking our flights we were on them, ready to see Seattle again.  One word of advice about Air Canada: they like to wait for people.  Come on people!! Everyone else was able to make it on the plane in time, so why are we sitting at the gate for 45 minutes for a couple people to make their connection? Oh well, we ended up making it right on time in Seattle, so all's well that ends well.

We walked through the door around 9/10ish, up the stairs, and my Mom did a double take (maybe a quadruple take).  Our surprise was a success!  Nobody expected us!  There were lots of hugs and then lots of drinks.

It was amazing to be back at home with the family and we had a fantastic week.  Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and it was great to see my family again.  The next day we went out to cut down a Christmas Tree in North Bend and ended up cutting down nearly a 15 foot tree (thanks Will and Dad for dragging it to the car).  The Cascade foothills really are so beautiful, and we lucked out with great weather.  We spent the night decorating, munching, and drinking, and continued that through the weekend.

Then, on Sunday, Seahawk Tailgate time!! It was Redskins Redmeat day, complete with redskins potato salad.  It was great seeing the tailgate gang, I only wish we could go to more this season.

It really was a fantastic vacation, thanks to everyone who made it so special :)

Me, Grandma, and Will

Ready for the Thanksgiving feast, thanks Mom and Dad!!

We found our tree!

It was pretty heavy, thanks Will and Dad

Doing a great job Sarah

Autumn in England

Let me start by saying I have been thoroughly enjoying my first full Autumn in England, it's beautiful!!  All the leaves are rich golds and crimsons, love it! And we've been blessed with quite nice weather as well; just a few weeks ago in London it was 22 C.  Speaking about a few weeks ago...

Anthony (Will's brother) and his girlfriend Kyla came to visit us a few weeks ago up in Basingstoke.  It was a jam-packed weekend starting off with a trip to London on the Saturday.  The weather was absolutely perfect and we spent the day walking by the Thames, through the parks, enjoying some drinks, and having a fabulous Italian dinner.  Following day we went up to Thorpe Park which is actually a really decent amusement park.  All the amusement parks I've been to outside the Disney franchise have always left something to be desired, but this park is nice with an attention to detail.  They have lots of fast coasters and thrill rides with a sort of jungle theme throughout.  Such a fun weekend!

The following weekend it was another sunny day and we went for a drive and ended up in Winchester.  We spent the whole day just wandering around and admiring all the historic cathedrals and homes.  Oh, and how could I almost forget, we saw King Arthur's legendary round table!! The thing is massive! (and amazing, of course)  We also shared our last ice-cream cone of the season; Will figured it would be the last ice-cream appropriate day of the year so we couldn't resist.

Last weekend was Halloween weekend and I somehow convinced Will to carve a pumpkin with me (he's a bit of a Halloween scrooge as he freely admits.  He did an English rose and I attempted to stick with an English theme by doing Peter Pan.  The tools I had were a bit primitive though so I don't think it turned out all that well...

It was Will's first ever Halloween pumpkin and I was very impressed :) He's full of hidden talents.  And because I went a bit overboard at the pumpkin patch and bought 5 pumpkins, we have a few left for eating! Will made the most delicious roasted pumpkin soup on Monday, it was fantastic!!

This weekend we're down in Exmouth for the first time since the wedding for Harry's, Will's youngest brother, 18th birthday.  Happy birthday Harry!  They boys all went out to a comedy club in Exeter last night so the Tribble ladies had a nice evening in with some Indian takeaway, it was great!  Today, November 5th, is the day Will and I met two years ago in Belfast so we're going out to celebrate with a nice dinner this evening. For now though, I'm off to enjoy this sunshine with a walk on the beach :)

Wedding Festivities

 

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

Okay, I know it's been a while since writing, but I got married!! And had the most amazing couple of weeks surrounding it :)

My family and friends flew in from America for a whole week of fun.  We started in London for a few days of sightseeing, catching up, pub crawls, and having an amazing reunion.  Then it was time to head down to the coast to continue the festivities.  We had some great times down on the beach and Will's parents threw an amazing homemade buffet after the wedding rehearsal.  They had every English finger food you could think of!  Everything I've come to know and love; quiches, yorkshire pudding, sausage rolls, pasties, cream teas, flapjacks, chutneys, English Cheddar, and so much more.  My family was very impressed and the stereotype that the English have bad food was completely dispelled.

The big day arrived, the sun was shining, and it was absolutely perfect!  We were blessed with such amazing weather.  The ceremony was beautiful and I loved every minute of it; I couldn't take my eyes off Will and my cheeks started to hurt from smiling so wide.  We were announced husband and wife, we signed the certificate, and walking down the aisle.  After the church bells rang and rose petal confetti was thrown, we had lots of family photos and then Will and I climbed into our vintage 1930's touring car for a quick photo-shoot at the beach.  It was so much fun taking my shoes off and trudging through the sand dunes in my wedding dress!! And we got some amazing photos, thanks Martin :)

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

We got back in the car and headed up to the bluff overlooking Exmouth beach where our hotel and reception venue was.  We enjoyed some peach bellinis out on the terrace overlooking the sea and then we were announced into the reception, greeted by all our friends and family.  Dinner was excellent, the ballroom looked gorgeous, and the speeches were so much fun.  We all got our dance on and Will surprised us all by actually being a good dancer!! We never practiced our first dance to "Fly Me To The Moon" by Frank Sinatra, and it was actually our first dance together EVER! SO much fun.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

© Martin Saks of Wedding Photography Southwest.

Then everyone danced the night away with drinks, good music, and good company.  After the DJ left a bunch of us after-partied in the vintage hotel bar and drank and chatted until the wee hours of the morning.  What an amazing day!!!

The next morning we all headed back up to London and after two final evenings with my family it was time to say good-bye.  I wish I could do it all over again exactly the same!!  Will and I drove north for our honeymoon.  We took some great hikes in the Peak and Lake Districts and then spent a day and night exploring the historic city of York.

What a truly amazing couple of weeks.

Word of the week

Back to a word of the week.  This week's word: GOBSMACKED

"You're most likely to come across this mainly British slang term as the adjective gobsmacked; your gobsmack and another form, gobstruck, are less common.

Gobsmacked combines the northern English and Scottish slang term gob, mouth, with the verb smack. It suggests the speaker is utterly astonished or astounded.  It's much stronger than just being surprised; it's used for something that leave you speechless, or otherwise stops you dead in your tracks.  It suggests that something is surprising as being suddenly hit in the face." - www.worldwidewords.com

Basically, like the above bit says, the word "gobsmacked" basically means that you find something really incredible and are left speechless by it; it can be positive or negative (when I first heard the word I thought it was "God-smacked", haha).

Example:  "He was gobsmacked when he found out he won the lottery."

Less than a month to go!

Wow, I can't believe the big day is just a few weeks away.  Will and I have nearly everything sorted for the wedding and I'm just finishing up some last minute details in the weeks to come.  I always thought women made too big of a deal about how much planning goes into a wedding, but it is more than I anticipated!  Last weekend we went to Exeter to buy Will's wedding ring, pay for the cake, turn paperwork and fees into the church, pay the reception florists, pay the church florist, and finally pay the reception fee and confirm the menu.  I'm having fun designing the wedding program and dinner menus at the moment :)

I can't wait to see everything come together on the day!!

Words of the month

I've been a bit neglectful with my word of the week, so here's a list of common British words with the equivalent in American English.
Example: Bin (Trash can) ->  a trash can in England is called a "bin"

Let's start with a category:

Things Around the Home:
hob (stove top)
cooker (oven)
toilet (bathroom) -> also the W.C. (water closet) or the loo (though I've rarely heard it used)
bath (bathtub)
tele (television)
mobile (cellphone)
loo roll or toilet roll (toilet paper)
kitchen roll (paper towels)
rubbish (trash)
plasters (band-aids)
cling film (Syran wrap)

Food:
aubergine (eggplant)
courgette (zucchini)
casserole (stew)
coriander (cilantro)
mince (ground beef)
beef burger (hamburger)
chips (thick fries)
crisps (potato chips)
treacle (molasses)
fizzy drink (soda pop)
sweeties (candy)

Cars and roads:
motorway (more than 4-lane highway)
dual-carriage way (4-lane highway)
car park (parking lot)
multi-storey car park (parking garage)
bonnet (car hood)
boot (car trunk)

More categories to come!

Moving in

Wow, finally moved in!! What an ordeal though.  I don’t think there’s any difference between the process of buying a house and renting an apartment; it’s that intense.  They do references, credit checks, employment status checks, etc. and because I’m not legally allowed to work yet it’s been a huge hassle.  And then, the estate agency charges you for all this unnecessary work, just over £300 for the rental ($500 for checking that we’re decent people?!).  Craigslist anyone?? Ever heard of it?? Makes life so much easier.  Will and I are finally moved in, but the overly-complicated British way of doing things doesn’t end there.

Because we’ve moved into a brand-new terraced house (aka town house for the folks back home) some things weren’t taken into consideration by the landlord to actually rent it out.  Say, for example, a television aerial?  It was in the 40-page contract we signed, which yes, I read every page of, that the landlord provides a T.V. aerial.  Alas, there isn’t one, so we’re sorting that out today.  Not the biggest deal in the world for me since I don’t watch a lot of television.  The real problem for me is getting internet.

A month and half wait for internet connection? Are these people nuts? What is this, the 90’s??  Luckily (and I say luckily in relation to the other quotes) we found an internet company that could do it in two weeks, so now the long wait for connection has begun.  I’m currently at Starbucks, which I’m sure will be my favourite place for a little while.  We also have to get the council to drop off trash and recycling cans.

Besides the hassle of getting things sorted out, the house is lovely.  We have two nice bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a full kitchen with dishwasher, washer/dryer, gas stove, and floor to ceiling refrigerator/freezer.  The living room/lounge is spacious and the garden is small but nice.  Everything except the kitchen is furnished which is saving us a ton of money for the moment.  The inconveniences are worth it; as we really do like the house.

We're moving!

Time for a BIG update!

In short: Will got a new job, it's amazing, and we're moving to a beautiful town house in Basingstoke, 45 minutes from London.

Will just started applying for jobs about a week and a half ago and was asked in for an interview the Thursday before last.  A few days later, he was offered an incredible new job for an international company with full benefits in Basingstoke!  Start date: a week later (which is now tomorrow!).  No problem, except we currently live in Exmouth, about 2.5 hours away.

So this week we had to frantically find a place to live.  I never thought I'd miss craigslist so much; finding an apartment is such a hassle and huge expense because you have to go through estate agencies.  They have fees for EVERYTHING!  And their websites are never updated with apartments that are actually currently available.  Will and I tried phoning these agencies inquiring about the properties on their website, and they were all already taken.  The only thing we could do was drive up and start inquiring in person.

Wednesday we drove the 2.5 hours up and it was absolutely horrendous outside; rain drops seemingly the size of gumballs drenched us in a matter of 2 minutes.  We ran from estate agent to estate agent, all of them giving us the same answer "Well, there's really not much out there at the moment, we might have one property that may be okay." So we saw about one property from each of the dozen and a half estate agencies throughout Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

We walked into one agency on the Wednesday and they initially gave us the typical response of only maybe one or two properties, but then one of the agents said they had just received a new property that they thought would be perfect for us.  It was an ex-showroom at a brand new housing development.  2 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms, full kitchen with dishwasher and combination washing/drying machine (they always have it in the kitchen, weird) and fully furnished by a professional designer.  We booked the first viewing possible for it.

Thursday morning at 11am we went to view the property and fell in love with it.  It has a private garden, covered parking, beautiful furnishings, and best of all it only a five minute walk from Will's new work and the town center.  We of course said we'd take it (and at £825/month, it wasn't too expensive either).  Only problem was that because these estate agents have all these rules about leasing out properties, our combined yearly income had to be 2.5 times the amount of the yearly rent.  It would have been no problem if the government would actually let me work.  We could only go off of Will's salary, which was just shy of the formula to automatically approve us, even though I have tons of money in savings.  The agents were really actually quite understanding, they just had to see if they could convince the landlord.  With a lot of persuasion (and offering to pay the first three months up front in advance) they agreed, so we now have a place to live!

So that's our new place.  I love everything except the pink and orange, but that can be (except for the wallpaper) fixed :)  We can't wait to move in, hopefully by next weekend, as it takes the agencies a while to do all the reference checks and credit checks.  I'm so excited to finally have our own place together!!

Tonight it's back to the bed and breakfast for the week while Will starts his new job.

Happy Birthday Will!

Just wanted to announce that it is Will's 25th birthday.  Happy birthday Will! xxx

Word of the Week

This week's word is actually a phrase: "cheesed off"

Basically sounds like "cheese-d off" and it's kind of a nicer version of "pissed off".  I hear it all the time on the radio and television.

Definition: angry or irritated

Examples: "I was really cheesed off they made me go to the back of the queue."
                 "The system for London Olympic Ticket distribution has a lot of people cheesed off."


Cultural awareness of the week: going along with the word of the week, most people already know this but sometimes I keep forgetting, Cheddar cheese is white (not orange) in every country but America.

The only orange cheese that is really popular here is called Red Leicester (which I have yet to try).  I had macaroni and cheese the other day and it was white, weird.  Though the colour has taken a bit of getting used to, the taste has not; English Cheddar (the original cheddar, from Cheddar, England) is so good!

Longleat Safari Park

Will and I have been busy the past couple of weeks going on some traveling trips and continuing with wedding preparations.  Last week we drove up to Bristol for the day, had some great sushi and a round of crazy golf, and camped in Bradford on Avon (just outside of Bath) before heading to the world-famous Longleat Safari Park, the biggest Safari Park in Britain.

I'd never been to a safari park before, but this place was amazing.  Cars are allowed to drive through herds of giraffes, rhinos, camels, etc., you get to feed animals through your car window, hope the monkeys don't rip off your antenna or mirrors, and at the end you finish up with lions, tigers, and wolves just a stone's throw away.  Pretty cool, I must admit. The fun didn't end there though, oh no.

The safari park was actually only about half of the Longleat experience.  We headed back towards the Longleat mansion (which Will says has been featured on many British television shows) and were able to view even more animals in their Jungle Kingdom (I saw an anteater, they have amazing tails!)  I got attacked by a swarm of tropical birds after purchasing a food cup for them.  Maybe mine tasted better than Will's??  I couldn't get them off when I tried to leave and ended up gently shoving them off my arms.

After walking through the Secret Garden we took a boat cruise around a lake where we fed seals, watched hippos, and saw one of the oldest gorillas in captivity; he had his own private island and cable TV, not a bad way to retire.

Will witnessed first hand how bad my sense of direction is when we made a friendly competition going into a huge maze and I ended up at the final destination 15 minutes after he did.  We toured the mansion with all its beautiful rooms, furniture, and decorations, and finally headed back home to Exmouth.  It was a great trip, would definitely recommend visiting the park and I'm sure we'll be back again some time.

Word of the Week

This week's word of the week: grockle

GROCKLE
noun
British informal, slightly derogatory

a holiday maker, especially one visiting a resort in Devon or Cornwall.

Grockle is, as stated, a term for a summer "holiday maker" (or tourist, basically).  Will and I were driving home the other day and in a one-lane part of the road, people were all mushed up into one and a half/two lanes and Will referred to them as likely being grockles.

This week's cultural awareness topic: holiday parks

Apparently loads of people from the UK come down here to Devon and the rest of Southwest England for the summer vacation months, or "summer holiday", more than doubling the population density for a few months.  Where do all these "holiday makers" go?  To holiday parks, of course!  These holiday parks are usually a little seaside enclosed area where people come, either rent a trailer or park an RV in huge massive rows, and just vacation for a week.  They usually have a few convenience stores, bars, a pool, maybe an arcade or entertainment center, but that's about it.  And apparently it's the greatest thing in the world.  Exmouth is next to one called Sandy Bay which I briefly walked through the other day on a hike along the cliffs and I thought it was a trailer park, but people actually spend loads of money to rent one for a week.  To each their own I suppose!  The one redeemer: the beach was actually quite nice, but Will says you can barely move on it in the summer months because it is so crowded.  I think I'll stick with camping.

Branscombe Beach

Will and I went on a gorgeous hike yesterday along Branscombe Beach and the white cliffs.  Honestly, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  The cliffs and exotic vegetation looked like they were a set from Jurassic Park or something, simply breathtaking.

I had fun collecting a wild-flower bouquet and we both enjoyed climbing a couple trees.  There are so many beautiful places to see here; Will and I just picked up a few hiking guides for Devon and there are hundreds of walks and hikes, I want to go on all of them!!