This is the most random post, sorry it's all over the place. Our next travel post will be coming soon as we are headed to Rome for 4 days!
This week marked 3 months since we left the USA. Time has flown. I realized I was definitely adapting to being in the UK when we were watching a movie the other night. I can't remember what we were watching, but for the first time I found it odd that they were driving on the right side of the road. Now, I'm wondering if anyone is going to let me drive when we go back to the states to visit later this year. Life has changed so much. There is so much that I miss, but so much that I love about being here. I would give a pinky finger for some Taco Cabana right now.
Convenience: Completely different here. It's so nice to be able to walk to the village store and get pretty much anything from milk to postage stamps. But, they are only open a few hours a day. You don't realize in the US that everything is pretty much available 24/7 until you don't have that. That said, (I know I have written about this before) it's so nice to have your groceries delivered to your front door. That's something I hope the US implements before I get back!
Some things are the same: I went to get my nails done for the first time since we've been here. If you know me, I usually can't go more than 3 weeks, so 3 months was like an eternity. If you've ever seen an Anjelah Johnson, you will get this post. If you haven't, here you go...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWrY77o77o
I thought that this was something only in the US. Wrong. I googled around for a nail salon that day. Found one, and headed over. It was called USA Nails or something like that. Yesssss. I walked in to what felt like every single nail salon I have been to back home. Vietnamese nail techs and all. The funniest part was that when they weren't speaking Vietnamese yelling at each other or talking about me (I assume) their English had a British accent. I don't know why, but it sounds hilarious. Some people just don't sound right with a British accent. I'm not trying to be a jerk, it's just funny.
Food: I feel like people always complain about British food. I haven't found that to be true at all. We love it. Russell is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so he's loving it. There is a little less spice than I'm used to, but that's an easy fix. I would do anything for some good Mexican food right now. I have tried cooking some, but you can't get the right ingredients here, not even at the commissary. Mom, send more salsa. Russell and I were talking about the food we miss, and the list was mostly El Paso foods. Riviera, Chico's, Taco Cabana to name a few. Also, I miss having a Waffle House on every corner in GA. I have a feeling that when we go back home to visit, we will bring back about 10lbs each. Also, I haven't had a really good cheeseburger since we left. (Not a fast food cheeseburger, a REAL cheeseburger.)
Weather: I don't mind the cold, if you know me you know I'm a cold weather person. The rain is a little much some days when the kids want to go outside and play and it's non-stop. It's just so pretty and green, so it's ok. I'm definitely looking forward to the summer just for the sake of daylight. The days are definitely getting longer, so that's nice. Only having light from 9am to 330pm was a little hard. When it's light until 11pm this summer, that will be so awesome. Plus, not having to be in the 99 degree with 99% humidity of the south this summer is a bonus. I hate hot weather. You want to see grumpy, put me in a sauna.
Prices: "It's going to be so expensive to live there.." I felt like I kept hearing from people before we moved. I've been quite surprised, actually. Yes, some things are more, but others are way cheaper than the US. Example 1: We had 2 cell phones with AT&T back stateside. We paid $180 a month. It was some minutes, a load of texts, and maybe 2g of data each. Here, we have the same 2 iPhones. We have minutes, a load of texts, and UNLIMITED data. We pay £30 a month. That's $50. For the same stuff. Soooo much better. Example 2: TV. We have a satellite dish. With literally 500 channels. Plus the sports package. Plus the movie package. Plus a DVR that will record like 500 hours. Plus a ridiculous amount of On Demand. How much??? £31. (About $53.) NOT kidding. The lady thought I was crazy on the phone. I kept waiting for her to tell me the catch. There wasn't one. I tried explaining to her that the same kind of service back home can run upwards of $200. Obviously, things here like gasoline (petrol) are more, but we get to buy on base at US prices. Groceries aren't bad, you just have to pick and choose what to buy from where. I've got that on lockdown.
Russell's Work: He used to be gone 12+ hours a day when we lived in GA. The schedule here is so much more normal. He leaves at 7am and is home by 5. We get much more time as a family, it's great.
Medical Care: With two toddlers, you never know what is going to happen. It's a little hard when the ER is over an hour away. We experienced this last week. Scout had been sick, and got worse within an hour. We packed us in the car and headed out. It took an hour and twenty minutes to get there. (Yes, we can go to the ER on the economy, but if you require further care, it's not covered.) The hospital is on another base. If it had been life-threatening, we would obviously go to the UK hospital 20 minutes from here. (She's fine, she had a bad respiratory infection. They did chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia. Her breathing sounded like she had bad emphysema.)
Distance: Of course, this is the hardest part. We miss family terribly. It's crazy not being able to get home in a few hours. Even in GA, we could get home in about 4 hours of flying. It was also cheaper. We aren't sure when we will get back home, hopefully for the holidays. It's extremely expensive, and now that Scout will be 2, it's 4 plane tickets. Yikes. I am so grateful that my mom and brother came to visit, and that my dad and stepmother will be visiting soon, we are so lucky they are able to do that.
We miss home, but we love it here. This experience is so amazing, and something we never thought we would get to do. Thanks to all who read and share our story! Have a great day!
xo
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