#30daysofappreciation {Round 3}

The final round of my 30 days of appreciation is here! I hope you have had fun following the random and silly things I have appreciated over our time here. Obviously the list could go on, and I am appreciative of more than 30 things! I have lots to be thankful and appreciate in the next few days and weeks as we will be reunited with family and friends (most of who we have not seen in a year and a half).  We have some exciting things happening for us in the upcoming weeks, thinking about housing, cars, new jobs, etc. For rounds 1 and 2, click here!

Here goes my final tribute to my #30daysof appreciation instagram challenge...

#Day21:Pigeons
I got some "heat" on this one for posting it on instagram.  Many not understanding why I will miss them.  One of my best friends commented, "Luckily we have them in the US."  I never see them in Indy, and to most people (like Jeff) they are just an annoyance.  Jeff calls them "winged rats".  I just like watching kids chase after them, their unpredictable nature, and just the fact that they live such simple lives.  I think we could all learn a thing or two.  Pigeons just worry about eating and being their the rest of their crew.  If you think about it, getting things we need to survive and being around people we love is all that really matters.

#Day22: Bus (Public Transportation)

I have mentioned how appreciative I have been of the cheap airlines, but the bus, tram, and train systems around here are amazing.  I wish the United States had a more reliable method of getting places other than our own vehicles.  I take the bus to/from Derby-Nottingham pretty frequently.  I meet up with friends, go to the gym with Jeff, and use it as a change of scenery.  It is a really easy bus ride, and fairly enjoyable as long as it is not stuck in stop/go traffic.  Jeff has looked into how long it would take me to get to my new job via the bus (over an hour) and it would only be a 13 minute drive.  There is a perfect example of how they do not function as well as they do over here.                 

 

#Day23:  Education Courses

I was so lucky to find out that Rolls will pay for spousal education.  It has been fun, kept me up to date in the field of education, and occupied at times throughout the last year.  I am only a few weeks away from having my Certificate for Literacy Instruction (15 credit hours) through Ball State University.  This was an area I was passionate about, and I am hoping to take it back to the classroom with me in the fall.

#Day24: No Job
This one is definitely bittersweet, because I definitely missed teaching over the last year and a half.  But I really tried to reflect every single day, enjoying the freedom.  I could make plans during the day, have lunch with friends, go to the gym on non-busy hours, and complete many personal projects because I had the time to do it.  My favorite was grabbing a blanket, book, and sitting in the sun enjoying the afternoon.  Although, I will miss the freedom, I am so excited for my new adventure as a first grade (ages 6-7) teacher starting next month!

#Day25: Better Halves Club
About twice a month, a group called the Better Halves Club meets up for lunch (normally in Derby).  I had my final luncheon with the group, and they all came to Nottingham for a Mexican Fiesta at our flat.  It is so nice to have other Americans here to ask for advice whether it be general living questions or traveling tips.  We are able to comfort one another on those "bad days" that no one really understands but each other. I think we will all hold a special bond for the rest of our lives. 

#Day26: Skype
What an amazing invention!! It has been so wonderful to see family and friends on a regular basis. A few of my friends go out of their way to chat every so often (and it is always fun to meet their new additions through Skype since I can't be there in person), and my family is so sweet to dedicate an hour+ a week to chat and catch up.  It has also been amazing to watch my niece and nephews over the course of the last year and a half.  I have been able to be in the picture, chat about their lives, and have tickle fights though the tablet...which is always hilarious.

#Day27: Historic Spots
Many times we head to a place because it is a beautiful or I fall in love with the pictures online.  It is an added bonus when we visit these incredible spots that we find so much history embedded within.  Of course, we have our outings that are all about the history.  It is so neat to experience and see so many old places around just England or around all of Europe.  

#Day28: Fresh Flowers 
People over in here in England are always carrying around fresh flowers they pick up from the market.  When you go to friends' houses they will always have a vase filled with fresh flowers.  It is a nice touch! Jeff brought me home some "just because" lilies the other day...and they are just gorgeous!

#Day29: Unique [and Delicious] Cafes:
One of my good American friends comes to Nottingham quite frequently so we can try new restaurants around the city.  The quaint little cafes seem to be our favorites.  We tried one final cafe before my "deportation".  The cafe was called the Kitty Cafe, and you guessed it...it has real cats inside! You have to book in advance, but you can enjoy a cup of tea/coffee and/or lunch all while enjoying the sweet (to be adopted) cats.  What a cool idea! We had a blast, and loved continuing our destinies by being crazy cat ladies! Thanks, Emily for a great afternoon!

#Day30: Jeff
Okay, okay, I know I already posted an appreciation for him.  But the both of us have been reflecting on our journey over the last week and we truly will miss life just being about the two of us. Before you think I am a mean person or take that the wrong way---OF COURSE we are excited to see our family and friends!  Life is just so simple over here.  We don't have very many belongings, we travel on the weekends, and we eat in almost every week night.  We enjoy our nights filled with dinner, chatting, and Netflix marathons.  We will miss this quality time together, and hope the hustle and bustle of the US lifestyle doesn't take our quality time away.

Hope you all enjoyed my #30daysofappreciation through instagram and the blog.  It was a great way for me to reflect and get some closure on our whole experience.  I could have continued for another 70 days and did a #100daysofappreciation, but obviously I didn't think that far in advance.  Thank you for letting me share all my trips, the items I'll miss, and all of the items/people I have appreciated while being abroad.  I could have put each and every one of your faces on an instagram post, as you all have been so supportive...even if you are 4,000 miles away!

On to the next adventure...

Final Dinners/Lunches with Friends

After a few people could not make our Leaving Do, we met up in smaller groups so we could have our proper goodbyes with one another.  One night, I rode the bus into Derby to meet up with 2 other couples (and obviously Jeff) to have a fantastic steak dinner.  This is the first time I have had steak over here, and in the last 3 years... It was really good and I left completely stuffed! It was fun hanging out one last time as a group.  I am extremely appreciative of these people, as they took Jeff and I in and treated us as if we had been friends for a long time.  That was such a great feeling so early on in our journey living over here.

We will miss them all dearly, and hope to meet up with them regularly with trips in the United States or over here in Europe.

Also, I had a Mexican Fiesta at our flat for my American friends in the Better Halves Club.  If you do not remember, we get together 1-2x a month for lunch.  We are able to share stories, give travel tips, and be a person to talk to get advice about living abroad.  Being a part of this group was wonderful, as I came out with a few really close friends.  It also gave me a lot of information, so I could go back and share with Jeff.  I'm not sure we would have known the procedure for getting his driver's license without these wonderful women.  Anyway, I wanted to see the group one last time before flying out.  We normally meet in Derby, but they all graciously came the long hull to see me for a change.  We were able to munch on tacos and other Mexican dishes.  It makes me even more excited to eat about 500 Taco Bell tacos within the week!!

I was also able to give them some of my "extras" or things we were not taking back with us to the states.  It was nice to give them to people who could use them instead of trashing things like cleaning products.  The rest of the stuff they didn't want will make its way to the charity shops  or some other local friends in the next couple of days.  

 

Jo and I

Luela and I 

  The Better Halves Club (minus the photographer, Luela)

On to the next adventure...

New City, New Christmas Market...

On Thursday, I went with my fellow Better Halves Club (BHC) to the Birmingham Christmas Market, or as it is truly called, Frankfurt Christmas Market and Craft Market.  It was a "win-win" as I could visit another Christmas market without dragging Jeff around like a puppy dog.  I think Jeff appreciated I went with other people as well!


I rode in with Jeff to work, went to a cafe to have a cup of coffee, muffin, and catch up on some articles for my online coursework. It was a lot cheaper to ride from Derby than Nottingham.  I waited to meet up with some friends to head on the train to go to Birmingham, which is less than an hour away.  We enjoyed some quality time on the train, catching up, and swapping stories.

This area in Birmingham is known as the Bullring

The Christmas Market filled multiple streets in Birmingham! It reminded me a lot of Oktoberfest because there were many German individuals running the stands, all the structures looked similar, and of course all of the yummy German food! We made our way around the entire market, taking one side at a time.  Most of the structures had Christmas decor, hand-carved items, ornaments, beer/wine, and other souvenirs.

 Lots of homemade, hand-carved toys. You can see the stand to the right

I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, although I found a couple cute wallets. But then, after opening them up, I realized they were not going to be able to fit American money into this wallet. So unfortunately, no purchase there. Sidenote: If you are intrigued about the money differences, I found a blog post written by an American about the money difference & his experience in the UK as well. 

So no wallet, but then I started realizing how many wonderful cakes, candies, nuts, etc. that were available.  I stopped at a homemade candy shop, and got Jeff about 6-7 pieces to enjoy later that night.  Anywhere from a vanilla donut inspired chocolate to amaretto or even chili flavored. I think we picked some good ones. Only one left...

We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch sitting outside (non-rainy, might I add).  We all got sausages, and a few of us got some mulled wine.  It was first of all...amazing! Second, I loved it so much that I think I am going to start serving it for Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations next year. Such a warm and holiday-type drink! Look for that, Christmas 2015! Plus, we got to keep the little souvenir cups! #score

The area at the top is where all the food vendors were located.

We continued around the market-filled streets. I was disappointed about the lack of samples at this market. I'm sure it has to do with the amount of people walking the streets.  I was able to sample a few different warm almond flavors. I was deciding between the Amaretto or Bailey's flavored. I went away with with Amaretto one, as it wasn't as sweet as the Bailey's. I was hoping to enjoy it on the train ride home, although the train was so packed I kept it in my purse.

Birmingham has a great shopping centre.  Many different stores, and I especially enjoyed Selfridges, a high-end department store.  They had all designer brands, but I really enjoyed the lowest level which was Christmas decor, LOTS of different foods, gifts, and American food products.  Although the American products were EXPENSIVE! I mean, would you pay six pounds (roughly $9.60) for a small container of Hershey's cocoa? I was laughing as there was a whole section dedicated to Hershey's kisses and Reese cups. Yum! I resisted.

 Reeses. Reeses. Kisses. Kisses.

Another bull, only this one is made out of JellyBellies!

Jeff met up with me, we played some squash, and enjoyed a few of the treats I purchased earlier in the day on our way home.  All-in-all, a great experience at the Birmingham Christmas Market.

*This post has been done for a while, but I was waiting on a few pictures a friend took during the day. Hoping to update the post soon with some of those pictures, as I know she has some great ones.  Check back in a week or two if you'd like to see some more pictures of our Birmingham trip.

Onto the next adventure...

Cancer, We're Coming to Get You!

A few friends, from the Better Halves Club, I hang out with on a regular basis invited me to run the Race for Life 5k (3.1 miles) with them this past Sunday for cancer research. We were told there were over 3,500 women signed up.  There were two different races, so we're assuming that number was for both races.  Either way...there was a lot of women out running and walking in support to cancer research.  I ran the race in memory of my Papaw Hedges, who lost the fight to cancer a little over a year ago.

We got there pretty early, and just chatted until the race started. It sprinkled a little before the race, but cleared up and became muggy.  At that point, we felt we were in Indiana with the sticky summer conditions.  Immediately after the race, the crazy England weather graced us with a few sprinkles, but quickly went away.  It was a great event, and the entire park was filled with pink in support.  They had a few pieces of entertainment before the race started.

Sarah, me, & Jo. 

So sad to see Sarah leave the UK in a few weeks and head back to the US for good. She will be missed! 

Jeff and another Rolls-Royce husband stood on the sidelines (women only race) to cheer us on and snap photos.  Not much to say about the race, other than it was more hilly than we anticipated.  We chatted and enjoyed one another's company, rather than racing to beat a personal best. We finished the race, and went to enjoy a pint together at a local pub.  All-in-all it was a fun experience, and hopefully more are in my future.

Celebratory pint after our run!

A big THANKS to Jeff Hansen and Sarah Henkle for snapping most of these photos and sharing them with me!

Meeting New People

I'm slacking in the picture department this week. Sorry! I think things are becoming more "normal" and because of that I think I don't think about taking pictures of my daily life. 

We have been really blessed in meeting new people over here. On Tuesday, we had about 7 other friends from Jeff's work over for fajita night. It was fun to cook "American" fajitas, and to have great company to share them. I made some homemade guacamole and peanut butter cookies as well. I think they enjoyed trying something different.

Yesterday, I was asked to meet up with other wives from the US that are here because their husband was transferred, like Jeff. They call themselves the Better Halves Club. I had such a great time! I really enjoyed swapping stories, hearing about funny mishaps, and their traveling adventures. Most of them have been here for quite some time, so they had some great advice to share. They made me so excited for some of our bigger trips coming up.  The food was great. It has been really nice experiencing a new way of lunch dining: glass of wine, salad, entree, YUMMY dessert, and ending with a coffee. This may be setting me up for failure when we return... After the lunch, another one of the wives drove me to the mall. She gave me the 4-1-1 on all the shops. She may have unleashed the shopping monster in me.

All in all, we have been really blessed with the people so early on in our adventure. #newfriends