5 years today

Today is our 5 year anniversary. I can't believe. The last 5 years have absolutely flown by. Every day I am struck by what an amazing man I am married to. To share my life with someone who loves the Lord, loves me and loves life...nothing better! We have so much fun. When your are married to your best friend every day is an adventure. There is no one else I would rather walk the journey of life with. So with this short but sweet post I want to tell everyone how thankful I am that God brought the two of us together as husband and wife 5 short years ago. I look forward to the next five, I know they will be amazing!

Presents already???

I actually opened one of my Christmas presents yesterday! I know, super early right? We have had a ton of snow these days and Micah and I wanted to get out and enjoy it yesterday. Since he had been gone for a few days he had missed it all until yesterday. Anyways, we wanted to go for a walk but I told him I couldn't go for very long because I didn't have the right kind of shoes....you know boots of some sort. I have been wanting a pair of wellies (rubber boots) for a while now but have not bought them because I know that it was a possible Christmas present. So as I was telling Micah I couldn't go for a walk with him he decided it was time for me to open a present. So lucky me, I did! And guess what?? Wellies!! Super cute white and black wellies. In the states rubber boots are not that popular, but here they are super popular. I have been wanting them for soooo long. Bless Micah's heart:). So I opened a present early and now I can enjoy it in the snow. I will not be opening ANY more until Christmas day.

Christmas is in the air

I don't know about you guys but this holiday season has been busy! I am off to my second cookie exchange this week tonight. Fortunately this is a cookie exchange that includes husbands so Micah is coming. Micah has been gone the last few days and wasn't able to come home because of a winter storm that came in. It is nice to have him back home with me. I am making peanut butter balls today for the exchange because I can't make cookies to save my life and Micah really likes them. Who doesn't? It's chocolate and peanut butter. Two of the greatest things on earth.

With that, how are you all doing? Are you enjoying the holiday season? We are. My number one goal this December is to take it day by day. Every December comes and goes and I end up thinking, "where did it go?" This year will not be that way. I am determined to take every day and enjoy it for whatever it brings. Hopefully all of you will also take time to enjoy this wonderful time of year.

Goodbye November, I will miss you!

Can you believe November is almost over?? I feel like it just got here!! November is by far my favorite month because it marks the start of the holidays. In these parts no one celebrates Thanksgiving so we go right from Halloween to Christmas. So November really feels like the holidays around here.

This has been a fairly busy week for us. One amazing thing that happened is that I finally started working again!! I substitute taught 2 days this week. I thought that was pretty good considering kids only went to school 3 days. I taught a 3rd grade class and a kindergarten class. A lot of you know how I feel about kindergarten....it's not my favorite. In fact, it scares me a bit. But it went really well. They were the best group of kindergartners I have ever seen. Another reason it has been a busy week is that Micah had Thursday and Friday off. I love it when he has weekdays off of work. We had such a nice time together. I was reminded so many times on Thanksgiving of how thankful I am for him. He is so amazing and we just get along so well. We had a great couple of days. They were filled with Christmas movies, Christmas music and Christmas decorating! We did manage to find a Christmas tree. Who knew it would be so expensive!! But oh well, it was worth every penny. We went with a red and silver theme for the tree this year which is kind of new. I normally do a green and gold theme for our Christmas tree. I think this could be my most favorite tree that Micah and I have ever had together. Last year Micah was deployed over Christmas so I went to Washington and we never put a tree up in this house.

Other than that I don't have all that much to blog about actually. I just didn't want November to end with me just blogging once the entire month! I really need to go, we are off to church for the evening. I just wanted to do this before November said goodbye!

As I sit and blog this morning I am so reminded of the wonderful Washington weather that I love. One great thing about living in the UK is that the weather is so similar to that of the Pacific Northwest. No matter where the Air Force takes us my heart with always be in Northwest Washington. Where we live in the UK is actually the driest part of the region. I was a bit disappointed when I found that out. Everyone said that it rains in England every day. Well that is just a fat lie. Even in the fall we can go a good strong week and never see a drop of rain. It is just wrong. Most of you know that I am a fall fanatic. But what I love most about the fall is the rain! I am such a rain junky and whenever I hear the sound of rain and wind beating on my windows it just fills my heart with happiness. I don't necessarily mind the sun, but only when it is appropriate. Like in June and July. I don't know why it bothers to come out in November!! November is for leaves falling and wind blowing and bundling up because it is so super cold. Yesterday it was so sunny and bright it just kind of put me in a bad mood. But this morning is a totally different day. I totally have a smile on my face this morning. The wind is blowing and the rain is coming down. It is still kind of dark out and it will most likely stay dark all day. I know most of you think I am crazy because I would rather have the dark wet weather than silly old sun....but I know a few of you that are kindred spirits and today is a day for us. I wish I could bottle today and keep it with me all year so I could console myself through the summer months. Today is a day for cleaning house, baking and split pea soup! So that is on my agenda today, and most likely in that order. Micah isn't a huge fan of soup for dinner but you can't deny it when you have an amazing day like this one.

A Little Homesick

Well, as you can see from the title of this blog today I am feeling a bit homesick. But not in the usual way. I was just in Washington a couple months ago, I don't miss it that much yet. What has brought on my homesickness today is that fact that my hair is growing like crazy and it is time for me to get a haircut! I have yet to get my haircut in England. In fact, in the almost 5 years we have been married I have had my hair cut one time by someone other than a Lynden person. I am quite frugal and don't like to spend the money on haircuts so I usually just get it cut like once maybe twice a year. But my latest hair style is such that I need to keep up on it or else it just goes frumpy. Unfortunately, I have found the most amazing stylist in the entire world and she is in Lynden. I know right? I live right outside of London but I wish I could be in podunk L-town to get a haircut. But you don't understand how wonderful Mandi is...she cuts my hair perfectly. And by the way, if any of you are between stylists, I would strongly recommend her, she is at Northwest hair in Lynden. But anyways, it is hard finding a new girl to cut your hair. You never know what you are going to get. Especially when you have a mix of fine and thick hair like mine, it can go frumpy VERY fast. So I am sitting here trying to figure out who to have cut my hair in the next few weeks but really just wishing I could be back in Lynden for just a day to have Mandi cut my hair.

So that is my blog for today. Not the the norm, right? But I am discouraged and thought I would share with you all because Micah doesn't really want to listen to me complain about my hair and I had to get it out.

Haunted Punting

So last night we went haunted punting. We had such a good time! Unfortunately it was very dark out so we didn't really get too many pictures. I wish I could have though because we went all through Cambridge by boat and to see all the colleges lit up at night, it was so pretty. So here are the pictures that we did get. We punted with our good friends the Harrisons. So the other guy in these pictures is our friend Michael. One super awesome highlight of the night was when we went to the pub called the Anchor. While we were on our Cambridge tour the guide told us about this pub and how they have a special pilot room in the back. It is a part of the bar with a ton of squadron stickers all over it. This is where the RAF and American pilots hung out during the war. While we were there last night we saw a Red Falcon sticker, which the squadron we were in while in Kansas. This will always be a special place for us because it was our first squadron and we met some amazing people there. So we had to take a picture of the Red Falcon at the bar. For those of you in Lynden, if you ever look at the back of my dad's (Steve) truck you will see this sticker also, just a side note. Anyways, these are the pictures from last night. We had a blast.

Oh, we are so very, very boring!! I'm so sorry for you all that check this blog only to be disappointed. But Micah and I have just been up to a whole lot of nothing. I am now taking my second class in pursuit of my masters. It seems to be going pretty well. It does take up a bit of time though. I still am not subbing but I sure would like to be. I am hoping to start working come November. Micah has been getting back into the swing of things at work. It seems like even though he isn't flying very much they still manage to keep him very busy.

I'm trying to think of some fun stuff we have been up to lately but it has been kind of bland around here. We are going punting tonight in Cambridge. Punting is kind of like taking a gondola ride through Cambridge on the river. We are going with a bunch of people and in the spirit of Halloween it will be "haunted"...scary! I think since Cambridge has so much history we will probably just tour the place famous people have lived and died at but we will have to see.

We are still enjoying the motorcycle. I think it is about time to put it away for the year. We don't want to ride it in the rain and these days you just never know if you will see rain. So that is that. Punting tonight and hopefully trick-or-treaters tomorrow night!! Do you know that this will be the first Halloween since we have been married that we will be in our home, both of us in the same place, for Halloween!! Now don't get me wrong. I could care less about the day, but I do love to see all those cute kids dressed up!! So I think that will be the highlight of our weekend for me. Micah is on call this weekend anyways so we can't do all that much. Maybe if we have some super cute trick-or-treaters I will post some pics!

We're Back Folks!!

Well, we are finally back in England. It has been a long time, 5 weeks to be exact. But it is so good to be back together. I know that five weeks may seem like a long time, but we are just thankfull it wasn't 8 weeks:). Anyways, I left the house at 4:30 this morning to go pick Micah up from the airport. He was pretty tired and slept most of the day. When he finally decided to get up we had a lot of fun! We spent the evening carving pumpkins, making chili and watching football. Really, I don't think it could have been any more fun! Here are a few pictures of the pumpkins we carved.

This is the pumpkin I carved with our friends Danell and Michael earlier this week. It is looking a little sorry.

This is the pumpkin I carved tonight. The cat was supposed to have a longer tail, but let's just say there was an accident.

And here is Micah's awesome carving! Doesn't it look good?? I think it is great.

Now don't think we are super creative and crafty. We used some stencils from the store to do these. But we are super okay with that becuase even though we cheated a bit was had a great time!

We finally got the bike this weekend. I have been asking Micah to post some pictures but he doesn't like any of the pictures we take. He is always in a reflective vest because the AF requires to him to wear one while he rides. But I don't have to so here is a picture of me on the bike:).

Micah had the day off Monday so we made our way over to Dover. Micah had never seen the White Cliffs before or the castle so it was about time. We also have not seen much of England yet so a day trip of exploring was just what we needed. The weather cooperated and the sun shone on us. It was such a nice day.

Well it's been almost a week since my last blog entry. Not much new going on around here. Micah has been busy with work and I have been busy with lunches and shopping and other things that fill the life of an unemployed wife:).

As you may have read we are in the market for a motorcycle. Well, we have purchased one, a Triumph to be exact, and we will pick it up on Saturday. They had to order a special one for us since we are just silly Americans. We are both super excited to get it home and have some fun with it. Since it is mostly Micah's thing I am going to have him tell you more about it after we get it. But stay tuned because I am pretty sure pictures are to follow.

Something else new around this camp is that I am once again a student. Well, not for about 2 more weeks, but as good as. I have decided to get my masters. I figure why not. My hope it to get a masters in education and curriculum with an emphasis on technology in the classroom. I am so excited! It will be so nice to be back in school and writing papers and what not. I always so that the perfect occupation for me is "student". I love to study and learn so the next 2 years will hopefully be quite enjoyable for me.

So those are the two big things for us. I have a dinner on the stove calling my name so I should get scooting. But stay tuned this weekend, you will hopefully see our new addition.

Off to Germany

We are off to Germany tomorrow morning, for a short overnight trip. I am really looking forward this outing for two reasons.

Reason 1, I have never been to Germany. We have lived here almost a year and I still haven't been there. Kind of strange. We will only be there for a night and most likely will never leave the base, but I can still check it off the list. Micah has some work to do there so I will most likely be on my own, but it will still be fun. I hear Ramstien, the base we are going to, just finished a new shopping mall of sorts so I am looking forward to seeing that. Depending on how adventurous I feel I may venture off the base for a few hours to take in some sights.

Reason 2 that I am looking forward to this trip is that Micah is going to be the pilot!! Yup, that's right, I will finally get to go on a flight with him while he flying. In all our years I have never flown with him, not even in a little Sessna. So if all goes as planned (which it rarely does in the Air Force) Micah and I will be off to Germany tomorrow morning. How crazy is it that we will go in the morning and be back Saturday evening? So as they say in German, Bis gleich!

Good Things

Wow, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have been doing pretty good with the blogging these days, don't you think? But I need to warn you, don't count on it continuing, I hope it will last but I have my doubts:).

Something that has been running through my head today is "good things". I think it has a lot to do with the whisper of fall I hear in the leaves. Whenever I start to feel fall coming it just does something to me. When the nights begin to get darker and the mornings crisper it just puts me at peace. So about good things...

For starters I finally finished my substitute application and plus I have turned it in! I got that application in April I think and I have just finally finished it. I can be the worlds biggest procrastinator when I put my mind to it:). I was told this morning that I may have all my clearances done by the time school starts so I can be subbing before I know it! I am excited at the thought of being back in the classroom, even if it's not my own class.

We found out last week that Micah will be going back to the States again for about a month or so for another class. I feel like that boy just never stops. It seems like every time I think things might slow down he is on the move again. So with Micah going to this school in the States I have the opportunity to come back for a little visit myself. I would like to do this, but after all the traveling I have done lately, I just don't know if I can handle another trip the Washington. Time will tell I guess. I have a couple of weeks till I have to decide.

The last good thing I have been thinking about may sound a bit silly to you, but absolutely HUGE to me! There is now a American radio station in the area!!! It is sooo nice to turn on the radio and not hear a British accent! Plus, I have been terribly missing a bit of country music in my life and they play country at night now! So life is good, right?

I hope you all may have a few "good things" that you are thinking about today too, and hopefully they will bring a smile to your face!

U2!!

Micah and I just got back from the U2 concert this morning. We drove to Cardiff yesterday, which is the capitol city of Wales. What should have taken 3 1/2 hours ended up taking almost 6!! It was a long car ride. Cardiff was PACKED with concert goers. We couldn't even get a hotel room. We ended up staying at the Cardiff University dorm rooms. We all got our own rooms with a single bed. It was just like being in college again. When we got to Cardiff we met up with some friends and headed to a pre-concert dinner. We had some amazing Thai food which always puts a smile on my face. We then headed to Millennium Stadium which holds 72 thousand people! And yes, it was pretty much a packed house. We skipped the opening acts on purpose because they were kind of lame. We were hoping that the Black eyed Peas would open because there were rumors...but no:(. When U2 did come on it was incredible! They played for at least a full 2 hours. They hit all the classics and rocked out some news ones too. Even though Micah and I aren't huge U2 fans that follow them every tour, we still really enjoy their music. It was their last concert in Europe for quite a while as they are headed to the States for a bit, so it was nice to see them off. All in all a great experience. Micah and I have not been to a concert together for quite some time and this was just what we needed!

Someone emailed my this picture today. It perfectly captures what I have been saying all along, Micah does not think I am funny. This bothers me a bit because I tend to think I am a little funny. I get a few laughs once in a while. I know I have made a few of you smile. But Micah is a much tougher crowd. I feel like I am always laughing at the hilarious things my husband says and does!! Once in a while I do get a laugh out of him and it feels so good. Although it rarely happens so I doubt a picture will ever be produced. That is all I have to say about this, I just thought I would show all of you my husbands displeasure with my attempts to be funny.

Back in Ely

Micah and I arrived back in Ely yesterday. After 24 hours of traveling we made it back. Although it was nice to be back in the Pacific Northwest, it is awfully good to be back in our home. We had a lot of fun while back in Washington. We were got to see a lot of friends and do a lot of fun stuff. Micah did some crabbing and he even climbed a mountain. His ultimate goal was Mt. Baker but since the weather didn't cooperate while we were home he didn't have a chance to do that. I think he will post some pictures and blog about his climb this weekend.

Our first day back went pretty well. I finished my subbing application today so now all I have to do is go to school and put the info into the computer. I am really excited to start subbing again. It will be nice to have something to do again. And Micah had a pleasant surprise when he got to work today. It ends up that he has tomorrow off. I think in the last 6 weeks Micah has been at work a total of 4 days!! I can't believe it. When he has to start working a full work week again it is going to be tough:). Since Micah has the day off tomorrow we are going to go motorcycle shopping!! We did a bit of shopping for a bike while we were home and now we are ready to get serious about it. Hopefully we will have some pictures to show you all tomorrow!

For those of you who are wondering if we have fallen off the face of the earth...we are still here!! We have had a crazy three weeks. The first two weeks we spent in in Oklahoma City because Micah was there for a class. I was so happy to have a chance to go with him. I was only planning on staying there for the first week and then coming home but my plane was canceled so I was able to spend another week in the States!! I was so happy to live among Americans once again!!! It was such a nice vacation for me. Micah had class everyday but I had nothing so I just soaked up some sun and did a bit of shopping:). I felt like a serious "lady of leisure". So in addition to Oklahoma City we also had a chance to go to Wichita and see some old friends. All in all we had a great time. I never knew I could enjoy the Midwest that much!

The greatest thing we did in OKC was visit the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. I remember when all that happened but I didn't expect it to be so moving. Both Micah and I were blown away but the solemness of the place. They have a beautiful memorial site and they also have a museum. When we left the museum I was emotionally exhausted. I had to fight back tears the entire time we were there. If any of you ever have the opportunity to see that I would strongly suggest it. It shows a different side of terrorism, that's for sure.

When we got back to Ely we immediately started a motorcycle class. Now for those of you who know Micah you much know that he has wanted a motorcycle for sooooooo long. After studying the Harley-Davidson company for his master's class he has been very excited to go out and buy one. In order to ride a motorcycle on any military base you are required to take a 3 day course. I was so happy that Micah wanted me to do this with him. He had three straight days off work and we had a blast! We both passed with flying colors and are very much looking forward to buying a bike. When we get back from our trip to Washington I think we will look into it.

And that brings us up to the next two weeks. We are heading back to the wonderful United State's of America to enjoy the great Pacific Northwest with our friends and family. As you can imagine we can't wait!! This is a very exciting trip for Micah especially because we will finally be able to meet his niece Mariah. So we take off on Tuesday and we get a full 2 weeks. Hopefully we will be able to get together with some of you!

I would like to start this post with a HUGE apology to all those who check in with our blog on a regular basis. What it comes down to is that I am just not a good blogger:). When life gets busy I push the blog to the end of the to-do list. So I will try to catch you all up on what is new in our lives.

I never thought this summer would end up keeping us so busy. To begin with we have had a TON of visitors. I can't believe it! From people staying for a week or two to guests just staying a night or two. But either way a lot of people coming through. This has been nice because it gives us a chance to go see places and do things we maybe would not have done otherwise. Yesterday our friend Kaity from Kansas left us and I think that is the end to guests, at least for a while. While Kaity was here she and I had a short trip to Amsterdam. I was reminded again of how much I love that city. It is just amazing. So beautiful! Kaity's father was born in Friesland so we went and spent a day in the country with her family. It was so fun! Everywhere we went we met a VanderLaan or Terpstra or Feenstra... I felt like I was back in Lynden. It was so nice to see where many people from our home town originally came from. While we were there we toured a few farms and went to a street fair. We had a difficult time communicating with some of the people but we learned that gestures go a long way:).

Micah has been so very busy. After he finished his masters program in May he started preparing for a big inspection at work. All the hard work and long hours paid off because his squadron passed with flying colors. Even though it was a squadron inspection most of the work fell on the shoulders of his office. But fortunately he really enjoys the guys in his office so the long hours weren't so bad. Now that the inspection is over he will be heading to the States for a few weeks to go to a school. It feels like it will never end.

So that is a short update on us. We look forward to our trip back to Washington next month for a chance to relax and hopefully catch up with a few of you!

A Glimpse at Royalty

Hey guys, Micah here.

I just thought I'd tell you about last Saturday, when we went to London with some friends to watch the play "Wicked." By the way, it was a great play, and forget everything you ever learned from the film Wizard of Oz, because it's all just subterfuge and a cover story for what really happened.

Okay, back to the rest of the day in London. As we were walking to the theater (and quite lost,) we saw a big crowd of people gathered near the palace, so we wandered over to see what was going on. We learned that it was the queen's official birthday celebration, and about 2 minutes later prince Harry and William scampered by in a horse-drawn carriage:



Jennie says the woman in blue is Camille. I'm not sure who that is, which probably exposes my ignorance of the Royal Family. However, a few minutes later another woman in blue rode by:




And even an ignoramus like me knows that that's the queen, so needless to say we were glad we stopped by to see what the crowd was all about. After all, the queen is almost as difficult to catch on film as this other camera-shy personality:

Okay, well I'm off to bed, have a happy Tuesday everyone!

Home from the Mediterranean

We came back from our cruise through the Mediterranean yesterday. We had such an amazing time. I wish we could share all the beautiful pictures with you all but we took well over 100 and I don't want to bore you:). But I will share a few of my favorites.

Here are a few pictures we took from the boat as we left Venice. It was beautiful there. We both agreed we will have to go back to Italy soon and spend some time in Venice. Unfortunately this is the most we saw of Italy.



Croatia was our first stop on the cruise. We went to a small town called Split and it could very well have been the dumpiest place I have ever seen. But that was the day we did an excursion and we went out to Krka National Park. It was so green and lush and full of waterfalls. Micah and I hiked around for about an hour and then we toured the mills they had there. They actually used the water to power big stone wheels to grind corn meal. Now being from the Pacific Northwest it will be easy to see why this place amazed us so.

Our second stop was Corfu Greece. Micah and I rented a scooter here and we buzzed all around. The most magnificent find we came across was an old Greek monastery. It had the most amazing view. We also saw the cutest dog EVER fast asleep by a boat because he had just played too hard.


Our third day brought us to Athens. Believe it or not this was probably my least favorite day. It was the nicest day we had had so far on the cruise and all I wanted was a beach and some sunscreen. Instead I got a bunch of ruins and a lot of walking. But I was happy we went because it was amazing. When we first got to Athens and I looked up and saw the hill we had to climb to get to the the Parthenon, I thought there was no way we would make it...but we did and it was totally worth it.


After Athens we went to Mykynos, my absolute favorite stop! Mykonos is the classic Greek island with all the white houses and blue and red roofs. It was breathtaking. We rented scooters this day too and had a BLAST!! On this day we both got our own scooter and scooted all over the island. It was nice to be on our own so we could go wherever we wanted. We went high into the hills and looked at all the houses. I would love to go back at least one more time and spend just a weekend there. So pretty!!

The last stop we made was Katakalon. On the island of Katakalon you can find Olympia. So we went up there and saw the Temple of Zeus and the place where they held the very first Olympics. It was quite something. This first picture is Micah running through the tunnel that the very first Olympians ran through to compete in the first games.

So I don't want to bore you with too much more. I think I may have overdone it already with this post. But if you want to see all of our pictures I will have them on my facebook page so feel free to check that out and look at the rest of our pictures.

I would like to take a moment to brag about my wonderful husband. For my birthday this year he took me into London, made reservations for dinner and took me to the theater to see Les Miserables. How amazing is that? He always tries to make my birthday extra special for me and he always succeeds. I am so thankful to have such a thoughtful husband. I think he lost interest in the musical way before intermission but he sat through it like a champ and never once complain. Then on my birthday he had the day off and he spent the whole day with me. Granted I think he would have much rather done anything else but write papers so it wasn't that hard for him:).

So, on to other news. At the end of the week we are going to have some more visitors. A friend of ours from Kansas is going on a European vacation with her aunt and uncle and they will be staying with us for quite a bit of it. All together they will be here for 6 weeks I believe and coming and going from our house throughout the trip. I think by the end of the summer I am going to feel like we are running a B&B around here:)

Currently Micah's boss is on a cruise for 2 weeks and while they are gone they have asked us to watch their dog! Now most of you know that Micah and I have wanted a dog for quite some time but we just have never felt right about it being gone so much. So this is perfect! We get a dog for 2 weeks and then she goes back home. I am personally LOVING it. She is such a sweet dog and she is so good. It is also very nice to have her around during the day to keep me company. She is really old, I think 14, so she doesn't get around too well. In fact she can't climb our stairs so she just stays on the main floor. Here is a picture of Lucca.

Not much new going on around here. Things have gotten back to normal since our guests have left. It is funny, I never really thought I was a "routine" person but after having three extra people in the house I see how addicted I am to my routine:).

Our weekends have been quite boring lately. Micah is in the last class of his masters program so every Saturday and Sunday is dedicated to paper writing. Both he and I will be very happy when it is all said and done. I feel so bad for him. After working all week he comes home and does school work. Oh well, it's making him a better person, right? :)

We are getting VERY excited about the cruise, I think it is only about 2 1/2 weeks away. We are really hoping for good weather. But how can it not be nice in Greece in May? Right? This will be the first real vacation Micah and I have ever taken together. Yes we do go back to Washington together a few times a year but really, visiting family is not a vacation. And most other places we go are work related. After being married 4 1/2 years I think we have earned a vacation together:).

Our Washington trip is just around the corner too. Needless to say, we are also looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family back home. The sad part is that tickets are about 900 dollars a piece. Yes, I said 900. If anyone knows of some good airfare deals, let me know!

Things I miss

Being in England I have found that I miss quite a few conveniences that life in the States offers. The biggest place I usually miss is Target. I mean it is just so nice to be able to go to Target any time I feel like it. Whether I need some cheap clothes or just bored at night Target was always there for me. But tonight Target is not on my mind. The biggest thing I miss tonight is Dairy Queen. Yep, DQ and the good old American blizzard. I would really like a blizzard. But no, jolly old England does not know the pleasure of a blizzard. They do have McDonald's and McFlurrys but you know they aren't the same. So until August I will just have to settle for this:

Home from London!

Caleb and I just got home from London. We had such an amazing day. It started out a little rocky but we got there none the less. The first thing we saw was the London Museum and the Rosetta Stone. It was really cool. I had never been there before so it was a first for both of us. One GREAT thing about London is that pretty much every single museum is FREE! They ask for a donation when you come in but that is it. They have more museums than I have ever seen before. We started the journey with the Rosetta Stone and saw mummies and Greek sculpture and a ton of other stuff. It really makes you feel insignificant. We go through every day stressed out about this and that thinking our lives are so important. Then you see a bunch of sculptures from like 1300 BC and you realize our lives are so small. This world is so old. Civilizations all through time have been leaving their mark on this world. It also makes you think about what legacy we will leave. It was be interesting to fast forward 500 years and see how we influenced the world. So that is my deep thought for the month. Do what you will with it:)

Tomorrow Caleb and I are going on base to see Micah and his airplane. Even though I have done this more times than I can count I always get excited to see him show people his plane. I get so proud of him. Caleb will hopefully get to go to a simulation of flying the plane with Micah. Once when my dad and uncles came to visit us in Kansas Micah took them in a sim but that has been the only time so I think it will be a lot of fun. If I get some good pictures of Caleb and me flying we will post them.

Off to London!

We just spent the weekend in Liverpool. It was fun but it is good to be home. We went there because our friends Brian and Sara who are visiting wanted to go watch a soccer game. Micah and Caleb and I tagged along and had a great time. Our team ended up loosing but that didn't matter much to us, it was just neat to be in a soccer stadium. Everywhere we went on Saturday we saw people all over town dressed in Everton blue. It was cool to see the pride the city took in their team. Brian and Sara wanted to stick around a bit longer so we left them there for a few days to do some sightseeing on their own. It is nice to live somewhere where public transportation is so easy to use. Liverpool ended up being a really nice city. Even though we were still in the UK I felt like we were in another country because in Liverpool they speak a different English than anywhere I have ever been.

Today is just me and Caleb. Poor Micah has to work. Caleb and I are headed to London in just a bit to do some sightseeing. This will only be my third time there so I am actually kind of excited. It has been so nice to have Caleb around. He and Micah have been friends for sooo long and they get along so well. We sure have a lot of fun with him. He is leaving us on Wednesday to see the rest of Europe. We will be sad to see him leave but very excited for all he is going to see and do.

Well, we are off to London, if we see the queen or anything we will take a picture for you all:)

It is another beautiful spring day here in Ely. This whole weekend has actually been very sunny. Even though the sun is out there is still a chill in the air. Micah and I have had a very enjoyable weekend. We walked into town yesterday for a pint and some dinner. There is a nice river that flows through town so we sat outside and and watched the boats on the water. There were so many people out and about. As soon as the sun peeks it's way through the clouds it seems like the entire town comes out to play. I am hoping that the sun stays around for a bit because our guests arrive tomorrow! We are both looking forward to a little change of pace.

Currently Micah is writing a paper. He is taking his last class and then he will be done with his masters program. But these last few papers are going to be hard to get done. I feel really bad for him. But when it is all said and done he will have his masters and I think he will be happy about that. It has to be extra hard today for him because of the sun and all. So I am quietly sitting here trying not to distract him but I feel the boredom coming on. I should really go find something to do.

The Dentist...

I am very frustrated with my dentist right now. I absolutely hate going to the dentist but I go every 6 months like I should and endure the pain. I get so tense that I think I make the dentist uncomfortable because he/she always thinks I am in pain, even for a cleaning. Anyways, a few weeks ago I went to the dentist and she informed me I had 5 cavities!!! Can you believe that??? Well, apparently my other dentist couldn't believe it either because he completely disagreed with her and only gave me one filling. So after that I wasn't frustrated with him, I was actually quite happy with him....until now. I was eating a wonderful peanut mix today and quite enjoying it when, pop, I lost part of my filling. And since I was eating crunchy peanuts I think I thought my filling was just another peanut and swallowed it along with the mix. So now my mouth is in pain and it is Friday so I have no chance of getting this dealt with until Monday! Oh the frustration!!

New Table

Micah and I have recently bought a new dining room table. We are both very excited about this because for the 4 1/2 years we have been married we have been using the same table I had in college. It has been a good table to us through the years but it was just to small. In light of us having some house guests in the coming weeks we thought we should look into getting a nice table. Well we have finally found one. We love it. So here are a few pictures of our new piece of furniture.

Well here are a few pictures of our walls not that stuff is on them! This house is feeling more and more like "home" all the time. Our landlords were great about hanging everything I wanted on the walls. And they even told us that if things are too heavy Micah can hang stuff on his own so we are set.