England with my H-U-S-B-A-N-D!!

Hello!!

I'm so behind! But I have taken some pictures!  I've been here now for about 10 days, and I still have so much to do!

 

Let me begin by saying, if you didn't know, that yes le Rey and I are married! We got married at the courthouse in Arizona at the end of August, and our wedding will be here in London in mid-April. All very backwards, last minute and unconventional but hey.

 

SO. le Rey took off about 6 days when I first arrived, and so that was nice to catch up together, run errands, celebrate Valentine's Day, etc.  : ) We stayed at his friend's flat and then moved into our own flat in Wimbledon on Wednesday. It is a sweet little flat (apartment) that our church has generously let us rent until September. I cannot imagine looking for a place to live right now. Very happy we could move in already. Have seen several friends from church and had a great time with them on Saturday, as well as a great time with my friend who looked at a wedding venue with me. Thank you girls : )

 

 le Rey has a lot of disorganized stuff. It makes sense, as he has lived in the UK for many years, in several barracks without much room, and was away for much of the time. So we have a lot of things to go through (you would have to see it to believe it). He has been working since we moved in, and on his time off we've done some mopping, scrubbing,etc and a little bit of shopping. It's challenging to move into a new place because you just want to be settled in right away, don't you think?! I am trying to be patient and remember it all takes time (and extra time when you don't drive! and mark my words, I will never drive overseas! I would be so confused!)........but really I want everything to look like the IKEA catalog I'm currently browsing : (

this is only some of it

What else? I wrote down a bunch of things to write in here, but I can't find that paper. And now here it is, almost midnight-why do I pick this time to write?!

It's really cold, although it could be colder so I shouldn't complain...........but come on, I'm from the desert! I can't wait till it gets warmer!! I have now learned not to leave the house without gloves, yuck. I think I really really hate the cold. But don't we all hate it when it's cold, and then in the summer we hate it when it's so hot. eh.

 

I have not started teaching again yet. The schools were all off last week, and I think my teaching agency probably was too, as I called them twice and there was no answer. I will call a couple agencies tomorrow so I can get back to work! I'm not in that big of a rush at this point since I really want to get a few more things settled in the flat first (like a bed! there is a single, but that is obviously too small)............anyway, that's where I'm at. Trying to get settled, trying to enjoy le Rey...... it's such a shame that at the moment it's all towels, vaccums, and food talk. Hoping to get some sort of routine going soon (although he's starting a couple weeks of night shifts, so that will be difficult).

 

favorite-sticky toffee pudding

So we shall see how things go! I already said to le Rey the first week "So how long do you want to live here?".......I must seriously have a  problem. Maybe I need to face the fact that

a) Sun and heat make me really happy

b) I forgot what it's like to drink tea and coffee 5 times a day

c) perhaps I will only feel settled/at home in Arizona?

d) I need to get back to the gym/yoga

d) I am a lost and confused individual

I cannot believe le Rey is happy to go on this crazy life journey with me! Bless him : )  Here's to hoping I win this battle with my mind and try to get settled into being a wife and living in England again. 

Anyone out there feel settled and content? Please let me know your secret.

Love you and miss you all,

Kelli

Can you believe I'm finally leaving???!!

Well, I am moving to England tomorrow.to join le Rey. to really try this husband and wife thing.for reals. I will not believe it until he picks me up from the airport!!!! I really can't believe it!

I am feeling a mix of many emotions. I am having a very hard time leaving friends, family and sunshine......more than I thought I would be. Maybe because it's a bit more permanent this time.

le Rey has always said he would live here if I want, so I will remember that when I go to the airport tomorrow.

I like to trick myself any way I can so I that I don't do the ugly cry and get super emotional.

So far, my goodbyes have not been too bad. I told le Rey that I think the secret to this is to never say goodbye at the AIRPORT! This makes it all very real and final and not great.

So my advice: avoid the airport goodbyes if you can.

I had a great blog post in my head yesterday, all ready and witty....but now it's so late and I must get to bed...........but I had to do a goodbye post because then my next post will be something like "I'm in England with my husband!" so gotta do this now.

I have learned so much in the past 13 months of living back in Arizona again: finished the Masters degree, got deeper into my business, went to yoga with my sister a lot, enjoyed hiking, got valuable time with friends and family, had interesting teaching jobs and most of all.......learned how to gain (a little bit) more patience in many aspects of my life.

If I didn't know it before, I know now to strive to LIVE IN THE MOMENT. I am trying not to worry about the future, although living in Sun City with retired people has made me look that direction way too much!  The older I get, the more I realize the power of being truly happy yourself, and then you can navigate nearly everything.

So here's to living in the moment and enjoying life! I am humbled by all of you-your kindness, friendship, thoughts, prayers, time, I could go on and on! I truly cherish your part in my journey of life.....and I look forward to you coming along with me on this next chapter!

I will miss you all so much.....

Love you!!

Kelli

Just a word of warning: I'm in a lot of these photos......or maybe all of them. Seemed sortof vain. Whatevs. It's a goodbye post.

the freakin' visa!!!