Jeff's in Norway!

Like the British Open post, I won't be commentating this post although I wish I would because *SPOILER ALERT* these pictures are gorgeous.  Jeff had an amazing time in Norway.  He did many new things that we had never experienced before...so lots of jealousy rolling in!

Jeff flew from Edinburgh, right after The Open to head to Oslo, Norway.  He got in late, and then caught a really early train to head to the Fjords.  This is an absolutely stunning area with mountains and lakes (about 6 hours away from Oslo by train). Jeff rode a few trains to get to this magical area.  He was able to get off the train a few times to snap a few photos. You can tell a difference in the beginning of his trip, and later as there was snow on the mountains later on in his trip.  I asked him about the weather, as he wore a warm jacket but was wearing shorts---you do the math on the temperature.

He said the boat ride was amazing, and the pictures did not do the scenery justice.  After his time in the Fjords, he took a night train back to Oslo.  Jeff said this was a really cool experience, as he had his own little room with bunk beds.  He slept great in the area and arrived in Oslo really early the next morning.  He explored the city and headed to the airport.

This country was especially important to him to visit, as his grandfather is Norwegian.  His grandfather & grandmother are so special to him, so I know he is so happy to be able to share this experience with him.  For those that remember, we also visited Denmark, as his grandmother is Danish.

Enjoy these gorgeous pictures. I know I did!

If you'd like more information or commentary on these pictures...feel free to ask Jeff. Muahahahaha!

On to the next adventure...

Jeff Goes to the British Open

Unfortunately, there will not be many words to this post (minus the ones I am writing as an intro).  Since Jeff isn't going to write about his experience at the British Open.  The Open took place at St. Andrew's (one of the oldest golf courses in the world)...I thought I would at least share a few of his pictures and a little of the back story for you all.

Jeff drove up to Edinburgh, Scotland (about 5 hours from Nottingham) on July 18-19th to meet up with some of our other American friends (Julie and Andrew) living in England.  The three of them enjoyed the experience, although I am not sure how much golf they were able to see because it was so windy that they postponed play until the weather cooperated.  He was able to see Tiger Woods play and a few other people, which would have been awesome. I am definitely jealous I missed out on this trip. 

On to the next adventure...

Unexpected Adjustments

I wasn't really planning on discussing this type of stuff on the blog, but many people have been asking me if we are having any unexpected adjustments moving back from the states.  Now, I have been home over 2 months, things are seeming pretty "normal" to me.  But there were some differences that I have noticed and it did take me longer than expected to be reacquainted with life in America.  I know it sounds odd, since I was born and raised in America...but living abroad for a year and a half really does mess with you when coming back.

1)  I had a sense that I didn't belong.  We went into a restaurant on Day 2 of being back and waited for our food...I just got this weird feeling that I didn't belong. I actually almost started crying---it was really weird.  I felt like I didn't belong in America, and I didn't belong in England.  I can't really explain the feeling.  It has since passed, and I feel like an American again. haha

2)  I have been extremely excited to go to the grocery in America again.  People are so friendly.  I love having conversations with the cashiers or other customers in line.  There is just something inviting and comforting to talk to a stranger about random things.  You never know when you could make a person's day by being nice to them!  I never was really able to do that in England, mostly because the minute they heard my accent they started asking questions about America.  Now, this was fine in the beginning...but when you live somewhere for 1.5 years, you're hoping to fit in at that point.  That's where my fake British accent came into place.  Yep, many of you didn't know this.  I would often say "Thank you" , "Cheers",  "Have a good day", etc. to people in stores so they wouldn't know I was American.  Hints, they stopped asking me those questions...

My first outing at the grocery in America.  It was the small one downtown, so it wasn't as intimidating. But loved getting some of our favorite foods!

3)  Laundry. AHHHHH! If you are a loyal follower, you know how excited I was to be able to do ALL my laundry in one day (wash, dry, fold, & put away).  I do not need to go on as this was a happy EXPECTED adjustment.

Small but mighty. Still bigger than our UK one, and does SO much better.  In two weeks...I'll have an even bigger one. AHH!

4)  Interesting enough, the food in America bothered our stomachs at first.  I had a really difficult time eating out, and not coming home with an achy belly.  I think food in England is just so much cleaner and lacking the extra hormones/chemicals/whatever you call it---was just better for you.  Who knows the logic here, or if I am all wrong in my thinking? It is the only thing the other American wives and I can come up with!

5)  Being available all the time.  This one was definitely unexpected, but the feeling of being overwhelmed with the amount of texts, calls, etc. In England, my phone conversations were done via Skype and done once a week with a friend/family member. I have absolutely LOVED talking with friends over text and phone conversations, but at times it can become overwhelming given I was not used to that for our time abroad.  I'm not sure I can explain myself on this one, as it is a GREAT thing to have my American phone back to communicate easier...it was just a bit much at times. I'm still getting used to it!

6*) This is a bonus one, as it was just a funny unusual experience.  We were at church, and a new [British] pastor was speaking, sharing the announcements for the congregation.  I didn't immediately recognize that he was British, and just was listening to the announcements.  He said "Indianapolis", and I immediately freaked out thinking, "Oh my goodness, he is speaking about Indianapolis...I live there! No one ever knows where that is over here!"  Then I felt completely dumb, realizing HE was British in America...and not ME being American in England.  I then realized that I was not recognizing he had an accent at all, which was an odd feeling.  Hope you followed that---it is past 11:00 a night, and I'm getting a little loopy in my storytelling. I promised to finish the blog, and by golly that's what I'm going to do!

Overall, Jeff and I are so extremely happy to be back in the states.  We have appreciated our time abroad, but there is no place like home. 

On to the next adventures...

So Many Updates from America

So many of you want a bit of an update on our adventure over the last few weeks months in the United States.  I have started writing this post a few times, but then was distracted and never finished...  Most of you know that Jeff, Mackey, and I all headed back on the same flight.  Unfortunately, Jeff had to go back for the month of July.  But we sure did accomplish a lot in the 3 weeks he was home.

Our home for the first two weeks was the Omni Hotel.  We enjoyed our stay here, and it definitely started feeling like "home".  Although, we absolutely were over the whole eating out thing.  It is difficult to eat out and still stay healthy.  I think we did pretty well with our food choices, given what we had.  But I'm not going to lie, we had Mexican food three times (2x was Taco Bell alone).  Haha!  We enjoyed seeing family and friends.  We also enjoyed picking out an apartment the first day we were back.  I had planned on living with my parents and couch surfing while Jeff was back in England, but we found a great deal on an apartment downtown...so we went for it.

Every few days we were moving things from our storage unit into the apartment.  We didn't take too many loads, and we only have the bare essentials in the apartment.  It still looks nice, and will be a great home until our renters move out of our house.  We get possession back September 1st  August 29th (things change when you start and don't finish posts).  We had a great location for the fireworks on July 4th! It is fun being a resident of another part of downtown.  We also just picked up all of our UK belongings.  They arrived at my parents house 2 weeks after Jeff returned from England.  Lots of boxes to move into our apartment, and move back out in a few weeks. Moving. Moving. Moving.

Moving Day in our apartment

 Our lazy spot to watch fireworks.  Still pretty good view, but it would have been even better on the parking garage to the right in our community. 

Our boxes from the UK. They are still just sitting there. Other than finding a few pieces of clothing, those boxes are staying there until Move #3 of the year! 

I also was able to move things from my old elementary school and storage into my new classroom.  I love my new classroom, as it has so much storage!  I hate when clutter sits out, so it allows me to hide all of my teaching materials.  I have also been able to meet a few members of the staff, which has been great. Update: I have been in school now since July 30th, and I am loving every minute of being a first grade teacher.  The kids came in so small and clueless on Day 1, but we are already seeing some improvements and growths..which is awesome!  I'll try to add some classroom pictures before ending the blog. 

We also bought a VEHICLE! We test drove quite a few small SUVs, and ended up purchasing a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, which I am in love with! It is the perfect size for us, and has all the new features we were looking for in a vehicle.  No pictures to post, as Jeff and I don't want to jinx it! ;)

Jeff has a rental property he owns with a few buddies. We also spent a late night cleaning that place from top to bottom.  We put in a new microwave, did some painting, heavy duty cleaning, and made sure it was all ready for the new tenants to move in the next day.  This was one of the reasons Jeff had to come back for those 3 weeks. 

We even had time to go on a mini vacation to Cincinnati, Ohio for a wedding. We were able to catch up with close friends and have quality time to catch up on things we may have missed.  The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time.  Jeff and I were also lucky to be able to fit in a small vacation with Jeff's family to French Lick, Indiana.  His family go almost every year, and we missed out last year---so we were looking forward to that quality time with his family.  We had a great time hitting up the casino (and winning a little money!), golfing, tennis, and some pool time (although the sun was not being our friend that week).

French Lick, golfing (I won!)

Jeff headed back to England for the month of July and even did some traveling (a few posts to come on that...and no he is not writing them).  Are you surprised!?  During the month of July, I was in my classroom almost daily setting things up and preparing for my new adventure in a new school/grade.  My mom was a huge help, as always.  She spent a couple days downtown with me to help with my classroom and spend some time together!   I spent lots of time with my nephews, niece, and sister...making up for lost time.  I also had the pleasure of going on a small vacation to my family to St. Joseph, Michigan to get a little beach time in! We had a great time and beautiful weather.  I enjoyed the quality time with them all.

 Indianapolis Zoo day with my sister, nephews, and niece. 

 Spending time with my wonderful parents

 The construction site. This kid was literally rolling in the dirt at one point. I think there was even some snow sand angels....

 Covering Daddy with sand!

 And Miss. C. had the best place in the house with her own personal tent!

 My sister, Mom, and I

Sweet baby, Corina

Let's see...what else. Well, Jeff is now home from England, as of July 29th.  It is great to have him home and be on the same page.  We have been really busy getting back into the swing of things at work, packing for our next move, and continuing to see family/friends.

A few more posts to catch up. I am trying to finish all of these posts that have been sitting in my Drafts section of my blog now for, well 2 months.  Whoops! I guess people were right when they say Americans are always go-go-go. No time for anything! I know you are all patiently awaiting closure to our amazing experience abroad.

On to the next adventure...