Today is moving day!! We had to meet with a lady from housing at ten to get the keys to our first house ;) Well it was about 9:30am and I was struggling to straighten my hair (my hair does not like this weather!) when Keri came in with some news!! Some glorious news!! He had gotten a call and OUR SECOND SHIPMENT HAD ARRIVED!!! In our second shipment is our bed, our couches, our tvs ..our EVERYTHING!! Not only that, they were going to deliver everything to our house tomorrow!! SUCH LUCK! I was seriously so excited that I called my mom right away to tell her. Mind you it was 2am her time, but I was too excited I couldn't help myself! Naturally she understood! I think....
So Keri and I got to the house at 10am and went through everything with the lady and she left and... the house is OURS!!! Our house is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath. It is two stories too. It has quite a lot of space. More than I inititally thought it would. It comes with washers and dryers and a fridge and microwave. Ahh we are living high on the hog after living in that lodge for a month with just a microwave!!
Keri's first order of business was to get the british phone up and working. We have vonage that has a kaysville phone number assigned to it so we can call home but we got a british phone number set up too. Our phone is already up and working so that is a relief! Well Keri had to go back to work and I was left sitting on one of my suitcases feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of starting all over again in England. It is exciting to be able to start all over but overwhelming that you have to put your house all together again! We are so blessed that all of our stuff arrived so fast though. I had visions of the boat sinking that our furniture was on! Can you even imagine?!
Well this whole process makes me appreciate my own mom who spent 20 years as an Army wife. She already had baby Shannon when she started her military life in Germany. I've heard her tell the stories countless times but you can't appreciate them until you are sitting in that empty house yourself looking at the bare walls feeling a little lost and completely in over your head! Thank goodness I have an awesome husband who is there to take charge and take over when I am too exhausted to carry on.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The British doctor...
Before I left for the states I had a 3D ultrasound done at MacKay Dee Hospital. Well I had it done about 4 weeks earlier than normal because I was leaving for England. Well when I had my first OB check up here in the UK the doctor said a few key things were missing from the ultrasound (namely the heart and the 4 chambers) so she referred me off base to a British Hospital to get another one done!! YAY!
Well the hospital was on the south side of Cambridge which was about a 40 minute drive. We pulled up and were overwhelmed at the size of this hospital! It was HUGE! So we briskly walk in (we were running a bit late) and ask where to go. Now lets stop here to talk about the hospital itself. Some parts of the hospital are old and some parts are new. Well the new parts were like walking into a mall. There was a clothing store, a bath and body works type of store, a HAIR SALON, a supermarket, a burger king.. I mean it had it all! I was half tempted to do a little christmas shopping whilst I was there ;) Now... the older parts... they were downright spooky!! I mean I bet those cooridoors are haunted at night by ghosts! I don't want to be around that place around halloween that is for sure!
Well after walking the 5K (it took FOREVER to get to the maternity ward) we arrived. I said to Keri.. they do realize we are pregnant right? I mean where are the wheelchairs! I almost needed to be hooked up to some oxygen! AIR! Anyway we check in and about 5 minutes later a nurse dressed in a civil war era type of outfit comes to get us. We go into the room and meet the nicest doctor ever!!
So he has me lay down and starts the ultrasound and the baby is not cooperating. The baby is laying facedown and the doctor can't see the heart chamber which what he needed to focus on. So he has me get up, and says do you mind jumping up and down a few times. So naturally I jumped a few times. He continues to look for the heart chamber and he says to me... do you mind going and drinking a coke and walking around for a minute? So I go out and guzzle a fully leaded coke and come back.... he takes another look and says "oh dear"..... my baby seriously was being lazy and taking a snooze!!! Well after about 40 minutes he finally is able to get the looks at the heart that he needed. It was actually quite amazing to see the 4 chambers of the heart! The baby looked big too. Her face was full and her tummy was pretty darn round.
The doctor said everything looked perfect. He said that due to everything he saw and stuff that I was at low risk for pre-clampsia and high blood pressure and he didn't seen any indications of down syndrom!! YAY! It was a smashing sucess til I got halfway home and that coke hit my bladder and I needed to go ;)
Well the hospital was on the south side of Cambridge which was about a 40 minute drive. We pulled up and were overwhelmed at the size of this hospital! It was HUGE! So we briskly walk in (we were running a bit late) and ask where to go. Now lets stop here to talk about the hospital itself. Some parts of the hospital are old and some parts are new. Well the new parts were like walking into a mall. There was a clothing store, a bath and body works type of store, a HAIR SALON, a supermarket, a burger king.. I mean it had it all! I was half tempted to do a little christmas shopping whilst I was there ;) Now... the older parts... they were downright spooky!! I mean I bet those cooridoors are haunted at night by ghosts! I don't want to be around that place around halloween that is for sure!
Well after walking the 5K (it took FOREVER to get to the maternity ward) we arrived. I said to Keri.. they do realize we are pregnant right? I mean where are the wheelchairs! I almost needed to be hooked up to some oxygen! AIR! Anyway we check in and about 5 minutes later a nurse dressed in a civil war era type of outfit comes to get us. We go into the room and meet the nicest doctor ever!!
So he has me lay down and starts the ultrasound and the baby is not cooperating. The baby is laying facedown and the doctor can't see the heart chamber which what he needed to focus on. So he has me get up, and says do you mind jumping up and down a few times. So naturally I jumped a few times. He continues to look for the heart chamber and he says to me... do you mind going and drinking a coke and walking around for a minute? So I go out and guzzle a fully leaded coke and come back.... he takes another look and says "oh dear"..... my baby seriously was being lazy and taking a snooze!!! Well after about 40 minutes he finally is able to get the looks at the heart that he needed. It was actually quite amazing to see the 4 chambers of the heart! The baby looked big too. Her face was full and her tummy was pretty darn round.
The doctor said everything looked perfect. He said that due to everything he saw and stuff that I was at low risk for pre-clampsia and high blood pressure and he didn't seen any indications of down syndrom!! YAY! It was a smashing sucess til I got halfway home and that coke hit my bladder and I needed to go ;)
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Amazing Race..
Well my routine in England has gotten quite predictable. I get up later than I should. Watch tv. Check my emails. Go shopping at the commisary for food. Keri comes home. AND REPEAT. Well sometimes I like to mix it up. I have met some VERY awesome lds girls. In particular I've met two red heads who I really like. In the states I didn't have any red headed friends and yet The UK seems to be crawling with them I tell you! I'm hoping we can trick people into thinking we are Irish sisters! I do think it will work ;) Well anyway one of the patterns I've repeated every day is I get up and precisely at noon I turn on..... THE AMAZING RACE!!
Okay I've never seen this show in my life. I never really even knew what it was about ...and now my friends I'm an addict. I watch that show religiously and it helps that they show is every day at noon. Now granted it is a few seasons behind and my sister already knew who won, it was still something new for me!! Well tragically today the show came to its finale and let me admit there were actual tears in my eyes as my favorite couple ("the hippies") sprinted to the million dollars. Some of the tears were of happiness for my new friends who just won a million and half were because the one thing that brightened my day every day was over :( Now I might actually have to get up and do different activites. It was a comfort to know that at noon everyday I could count on seeing my new favorite show on with my new best friends ;) This might sound very corny to everyone but even something as dumb as The Amazing Race coming on everyday at noon was very comforting.
In other news I am scheduled for my next ultrasound on the 14th!!!! I get to go out into Cambridge which is about 20 minutes away to an actual British hospital to have this done! How new and exciting is this? Then on the 15th we are FINALLY moving into our house!!! YAY!! Things are finally starting to come together! Well that is about all I have to report today :)
Okay I've never seen this show in my life. I never really even knew what it was about ...and now my friends I'm an addict. I watch that show religiously and it helps that they show is every day at noon. Now granted it is a few seasons behind and my sister already knew who won, it was still something new for me!! Well tragically today the show came to its finale and let me admit there were actual tears in my eyes as my favorite couple ("the hippies") sprinted to the million dollars. Some of the tears were of happiness for my new friends who just won a million and half were because the one thing that brightened my day every day was over :( Now I might actually have to get up and do different activites. It was a comfort to know that at noon everyday I could count on seeing my new favorite show on with my new best friends ;) This might sound very corny to everyone but even something as dumb as The Amazing Race coming on everyday at noon was very comforting.
In other news I am scheduled for my next ultrasound on the 14th!!!! I get to go out into Cambridge which is about 20 minutes away to an actual British hospital to have this done! How new and exciting is this? Then on the 15th we are FINALLY moving into our house!!! YAY!! Things are finally starting to come together! Well that is about all I have to report today :)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The story of calling home with a 7 hour time difference!
So there I was in my ever so comfy bed at the worlds best lodge ever.... it was 6:38am and Keri had just left for PT. (Physical Training) Yes I did feel bad for half a second thinking he had to go exercise at the butt crack of morning while I casually lay in bed watching tv and snacking on my Mary Jane halloween candy.. (i keep them by the bed incase I have a late night hunkering!) Anyway so I was there eating and watching british tv (the have a british version of the american show "The View" which is ever so fascinating) when I thought I could call Mom really quick. I did the simple math and figured out it wouldn't be quite midnight Utah time and surely she would still be up. Typically she'd be up watching Fraisure, or that Jon and Kate plus 108.. oops I mean 8.... or something... so I dialed! Yes folks I dialed.. and waited....it is quite the process to dial american from england! Dialing all those numbers alone could give you a finger crap... and forget about it if you mess up and dial a wrong digit!! ;)
So Mom answered but it was a rather sleepy hello . This isn't good I thought!! I thought she'd be awake and perky not sleepy!! So we are taking for precisely a minute when she asks me a question... i answer..... and.... i HEAR HER SNORING! Yes folks there I am on the phone from England and mom falls asleep on me!!!!!!! So I'm yelling her name on the phone ...and nothing... *snore snore snore*.... so I don't dare hang up incase she never hangs up and it costs me like a bizzillion dollars (it costs me 25 cents a minute to use the lodge phone)... so luckily I hear Shaun say "mom are you talking?" to which she wakes up! Shew! *wiping off forehead* Soo I inform her that she fell asleep to which she doesn't really address. For fear she will do it again I say can I talk to Shaun? (who is clearly awake and watching The Golden Girls turns out)
Well mom keeps talking and asking questions when.... *snore snore* SHE FALLS ASLEEP A SECOND TIME!! No I'm not kidding!!!!! I was like... dying! So then I hear Shaun again (thank heavens he was there) say something to mom and finally she passes the phone!!!! I was seriously dying!!
Moral of the story: don't call utah at midnight unless you want to hear mom snoring and you're willing to pay 25 cents a minute to hear it!!;)
So Mom answered but it was a rather sleepy hello . This isn't good I thought!! I thought she'd be awake and perky not sleepy!! So we are taking for precisely a minute when she asks me a question... i answer..... and.... i HEAR HER SNORING! Yes folks there I am on the phone from England and mom falls asleep on me!!!!!!! So I'm yelling her name on the phone ...and nothing... *snore snore snore*.... so I don't dare hang up incase she never hangs up and it costs me like a bizzillion dollars (it costs me 25 cents a minute to use the lodge phone)... so luckily I hear Shaun say "mom are you talking?" to which she wakes up! Shew! *wiping off forehead* Soo I inform her that she fell asleep to which she doesn't really address. For fear she will do it again I say can I talk to Shaun? (who is clearly awake and watching The Golden Girls turns out)
Well mom keeps talking and asking questions when.... *snore snore* SHE FALLS ASLEEP A SECOND TIME!! No I'm not kidding!!!!! I was like... dying! So then I hear Shaun again (thank heavens he was there) say something to mom and finally she passes the phone!!!! I was seriously dying!!
Moral of the story: don't call utah at midnight unless you want to hear mom snoring and you're willing to pay 25 cents a minute to hear it!!;)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The story of Norfolk...
So there we were on a Saturday afternoon wondering what we could do on another rainy and COLD day in England when Keri suggests we travel to a city called Norfolk. It sounded better than sitting in our lodge so we headed out. The TomTom (our friend GPS unit and new best friend) told us it would take us about 40 minutes. So Keri set off as the driver and I set off as the snoozer!! Naturally I woke up right as we entered the city of Norfolk. So we go through the massive roundabout and get onto this crowded street and are waiting to go up the street. That is when I noticed the smoke.....
So I'm like... Keri is that OUR car smoking? Then the smell set in... and there was no way it couldn't be our car. So Keri says "shoot".. (a direct quote by the way) and pulls out of the line of cars and turns around. So now we are going the opposite direction and really starting to smoke when ... our car shuts down completely and it says Engine overheated. So there we are smoking up the road and that of course is when I realize I really need to use the restroom. Of course the pregnant lady would have to use the restroom right then.
So lets recap.. we are in a strange city we've never been to before, we don't have anyones number in our cell phones besides each others number... our car is dead and I have to use the restroom! YAY! So.... I start walking to find a bathroom with no idea where I'm actually going. It only took about 10 minutes before I found some sort of market thing. So I went in, did my business... looked around a bit (c'mon it was a market, I had to) and then proceeded to head back. Luckily my husband is a genuis and poured some water from our water bottles onto the engine and it cooled down enough for us to drive home!! The main positive from this story was... it wasn't raining for once. That is all I would have needed to be stranded and completely drenched from my walk!!
What can I say... just another fabulous day in England :)
So I'm like... Keri is that OUR car smoking? Then the smell set in... and there was no way it couldn't be our car. So Keri says "shoot".. (a direct quote by the way) and pulls out of the line of cars and turns around. So now we are going the opposite direction and really starting to smoke when ... our car shuts down completely and it says Engine overheated. So there we are smoking up the road and that of course is when I realize I really need to use the restroom. Of course the pregnant lady would have to use the restroom right then.
So lets recap.. we are in a strange city we've never been to before, we don't have anyones number in our cell phones besides each others number... our car is dead and I have to use the restroom! YAY! So.... I start walking to find a bathroom with no idea where I'm actually going. It only took about 10 minutes before I found some sort of market thing. So I went in, did my business... looked around a bit (c'mon it was a market, I had to) and then proceeded to head back. Luckily my husband is a genuis and poured some water from our water bottles onto the engine and it cooled down enough for us to drive home!! The main positive from this story was... it wasn't raining for once. That is all I would have needed to be stranded and completely drenched from my walk!!
What can I say... just another fabulous day in England :)
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