Tiny Moment ... Day 24

This is the study material for the test I have to take in order to get a new visa - I don't have to take the test until June, but, there is so much information I have already started studying.

Tiny Moments ... Day 23

This is the closest ward house to us and we took at trip there today for a meeting.  It is in Peterborough, and although it is still quite small - by Utah standards - we enjoy it every time we come here, considering what we have to meet at here in March.

Tiny Moments ... Day 22

When I go to work, I usually leave Chris a "to do" list.  This was today's - and they aren't just crossed off - they are done too!  I figure if I have to work -- so does he!  **Note the "Englishness" of the list**

Tiny Moments ... Day 21

Bowling with the Elders. (Sorry for the lateness the computer was acting up)

Tiny Moments ... Day 20

I got this great "Bubble Bath Ball" from a shop called, "Lush".  It sells all homemade bath stuff.  It is great.   The ball was pink and glittery and smelled heavenly - you add it to the bath water and relax.  I bought it on Valentines Day, for myself... and today after a long morning of cleaning -- I relaxed...

My Apartment

I am sure a lot (okay maybe not A LOT) of you want to see what my "English" home looks like.  I have already posted picture of the bedroom and bathroom (look in the archives if you're interested) but here are the pictures of the sitting room and kitchen.  Chris and I cleaned all morning so I took advantage of that, to get some pictures in the few moments it was actually VERY tidy.

The Sitting Room              Once again... the Sitting Room      Above our couch - wedding vows.

Our itty bitty couch, that is quite           That thing in the middle?         The piano and violin and
difficult to get off of.                            our heater.  OLD.                     guitar (out of picture).

The shelf - and the nice sign my mom    The messiest spot in the     Bookcase - and general mess
made for us.                                       apartment -- the desk          colection point.
                                                           and yes, that is Sophie
                                                           as my screen saver.

Kitchen fidge (itty bitty) -           One menu system - magnets.           The sink - where we have to do
Please ignore the colors!                                                                  all the dishes by hand - I HATE it!

Recipe holder/other menu system --   The cooker and no,          Cookbooks.
and the sign that says, "My idea         the mop is not
of housework is sweeping the            usually there.
room with a glance."
AMEN!
 
When people come to our home they always comment on how "American" the place looks -- I take that as a compliment thank you.
Hope you enjoyed...

Tiny Moments ... Day 19

This is the "typical" English weather.  I was thinking just the other day how nice it was with the lack of rain - and guess what?  It started tonight - of course. 

Tiny Moments ... Day 18

Chris' attempt (a very good one at that) at making Snickerdoodles.  He made them all on his own, while I was gone and with only one "cooking emergency" phone call.  Although, when I got home there was little bits of cookie dough all over the kitchen.

Tiny Moments ... Day 17

When I first hurt my back my sweet friend, and Relief Society President brought me these lovely lilies that have begun to bloom.  They are full of fragrance and some of the most beautiful flowers I have ever received.

Tiny Moments ... Day 16

The view (looking down) from the top of our stairs in our apartment.  We live on the 3rd floor and sometimes that climb up those stairs (especially with groceries) is very L-O-N-G.

Out for a Drive... a Tour in Pictures

Today Chris and I had to go get a book from a lady in our Branch who lives in Coates.  This is about a 15-20 minute drive away from where we are.  I brought a camera and the following pictures are a result.  Come along with us wont you?
This is Chris, putting some petrol in the car.  One of the best advantages of having a husband is the fact that I rarely have to put petrol in the car myself.  We had a 5p off voucher from a supermarket so we ended up getting around 20 litres for £20.00 - that is good compared to what we have been paying - but still not good enough, anyway I digress...
Here we are in Coates, I made Chris go to the door and while I was waiting I noticed this house next door.  The village of Coates is very small and most of the houses around the village green are like this - notice the thatched roof.  Chris says they are a pain and small animals like to live in the roof, I say so what!  They look quite quaint and charming.
Here is the little church in the middle of the village green.  The village green is literally the middle of the town and the road goes around it.  It is a lot of green grass, some playground toys and this little building.  On the sign, incase you cant read it (congrats if you could!) it says: Wesley Church 1866.
Here is the view from the church to *gasp* another church. 
Lets just take a moment to appreciate how incredibly green everything is... it isn't dull it is quite a vivid green and this green was all the way up the tree.
Now we leave the village and decide to drive through the winding roads in the village, and I don't even think its a village, just a blip maybe, in a place called Turves.  We quite enjoy calling it "Turds"... sorry to those who live in Turves who read my blog which, I think, is no-one, but just in case!  As you enter Turves you see this sign:
Yes that is a frog, and after living in England for almost 2 years I can say honestly that I have never once seen a frog in Turves.
In Turves there are 3 separate railroad crossings (or as we like to call them "level crossings" ;)) The place is so small that they all go down at the same time.  Its one of those places where if you blink you'll miss it - especially on the train.  Notice the lovely English sky... blah.  It is interesting to note that Chris loves trains so much that the smile on his face when he saw the crossing lights go on was priceless AND yes, he did get out of the car while we were stopped to get this pictures. 
What the?!?!?!  I was about to pull away from the level crossing and noticed, in the yard next to us there was this palm tree.  Hmmmm....
Turves has NARROW streets, definitely a change from America and, I think, not wide enough to get 2 cars past each other.  Every time a car drives past me I tend to pull off to the side as far as possible (without falling down a ditch) and, without fail, hold my breath - as if that helps, and we just barely fit...still don't believe how narrow the roads are: 
  This is our car (compact car) on the road, in the middle of the road.  I came to a stop and Chris jumped out and took the picture.  The road is narrow, I promise!
And then we got home.  It was nice to get out and take a little drive and I hope this didn't bore you... but this is my life - and I thought you might be interested in little things like this.  Are you?

Tiny Moments ... Day 15

Yes, that is a green sweater, yes, those are Utah Jazz bottoms - No, I didn't marry him for his fashion sense - and believe it or not the sweater is unusual -- usually it is a red striped shirt (equally mismatched) and yes, he does wear it when company comes over.

Tiny Moments ... Day 14

When it is foggy the frost usually goes hand-in-hand with it.  It is that lovely look of light snow but the frost attaches to everything... This is a spider web on the bushes in the front of our apartment complex it is quite neat to look around and see all those little things you wouldn't usually notice.

Tiny Moments ... Day 13

The first picture was taken this morning around 10:00 am, and the second around 7:30 pm... the fog here in England is nothing like I've ever seen before - EVER - I wish I could get a picture that would do it justice.  Just know that at this point (9:00 pm) I cant see the steeple from the window... and it is only going to get worse. 

Tiny Moments ... 12

Sometimes life just piles up on top of you... like these dishes.  If they dont get done soon we'll be eating our of our hands... and believe it or not, these are just from the weekend - we just dont have many dishes.

Tiny Moments ... Day 11

Sunset out the window of our apartment.  One thing March does have going for it -its amazing sunsets!

Tiny Moments ... Day 10

Tea and Crumpets?  Nah, Hot Chocolate and crumpets.... Heavenly.

Tiny Moments ... Day 9

Happy Valentines Day! 

Tiny Moments ... Day 8

These are what I like to call my "ear canal accessories", my ear plugs.  I wear them every night without fail, beginning the very first night of my marriage.  They are my sanity and my reason for actually sleeping at night instead of laying in bed, getting more angry because of my husbands snoring.  The worst thing about them is once I put them in, Chris has to repeat everything he says to me from that point on, so needless to say a conversation that would usually take 10 minutes, takes at least 20 from all the repeated sentences.  They are magic though, I can hear most everything else, alarms, crying kids, and even sometimes music, but, amazingly enough in the mornings I cant hear anything.  Chris can vacuum, make phone calls, and do dishes and I sleep right through it.  Wearing them every night is a pain, especially with a cold, but that is the price I'll pay.  So, until they come up with a cure for snoring, I'll be sporting these lovely, purple accessories.

A Few Changes...

As you can see I've changed just a few things on my blog - some you wont even notice.  But you might notice:
* The counter -- spread the word about my blog please, I love to see that number and I love to know that people are actually reading what I am writing.  Comments are VERY welcome.
* New blog list -- I have made a complete list of the blogs I read regularly - and by regularly I mean on a daily basis -- I love them all and feel like I know every one of the women who write them.  They are worth reading.  Plus it helps you get into the "inner workings and circle of the blog world" which I love, and relish watching from the side - like at a dance, when all the popular, pretty girls are dancing with the hot guys and I just stand and watch, living through them... anyway I am rambling but , read those blogs they are lovely!

Tiny Moments... Day 7

Tuesday P-day with the missionaries. 

Tagged by Abbie

I usually dont do stuff like this on my blog.... but since Abbie asked and she is one of my favourite people - I'll do it!
A-Attached or single? Attached happily to Chris for almost 2 years!
B-Best friend? Honestly... I could say Chris but that is what everyone says...  I am lucky I have Chris and Amy and Abbie AND I think my mom and me are quite close.
C-Cake or pie? Yummy pie, oh wait, unless cheesecake counts.
D-Day of choice?  ummmm... I like Wednesday and Sunday.
E-Essential item?  a good book and chapstick
F-Favourite colour? Pink :)
G-Gummy bears or worms? Well they dont have either in England - but I like cinnamon gummy bears or frozen gummy worms.
H-Hometown? West Valley - never, NEVER Magna (no offence Magna people).
I-Favourite indulgence? Cheesecake and bubble baths
J-January or July? January - July is WAY too hot!
K-Kids? Nope and today I am quite content with that.
L-Life isn't complete without? Family and Friends oh, and music!
M-Marriage date? May 5th, 2006
N-Number of brothers and sisters? 1 brother and 2 sisters - all very cute and all amazing!
O-Oranges or apples? Well here we go, Clemintines (orange-like)
P-Phobia and fears? bridges and deep water
Q- Quote? With celestial sight, trials impossible to change become possible to endure.
R-Reason to smile? kind words from Chris, contact with friends and family (email or phone) and good weather and music!
S-Season of choice? Autumn - I love the cooler weather, but I must say, here in England in the spring we are bombarded with blooming tulips, daffodils and poppies and many many other vibrant flowers - growing EVERYWHERE, especially on the middle of the round abouts so I do LOVE spring here.
T-Tag three people. I tag, Rachel and Chris - dont know many others that read this.
U-Unknown fact about me? unknown by who?  Did you know while I was in college I was speeding and a cop saw me speeding and so I weaved in and out of the neighbourhoods and eventually lost him?  Or how about that time I crashed my friends dad's truck?? I think everyone knows about that -- well except him!
V-Vegetable? Ewwww I dont like veggies too much, but am trying I even eat salad quite often, but my fav. has to be sweet corn on the cob or garden peas.
W-Worst habit? Popping my knuckles...
X-X-ray or ultrasound? I guess ultrasound, less harmful and all that.
Y-Your favourite food? Mexican --- oh how I miss a good enchilada.
Z-Zodiac sign? Scorpio

Tiny Moments... Day 6

A familiar view as of late, my nightstand, with AMERICAN baby lotion (its way better than the stuff here), a glass of water to take my pain meds :) and several books... all of which I have read all or some of.  I finished The Giver in one day (this afternoon to be exact) and absolutely LOVED it - read it, its worth it.  Now I just need to get through the rest of them.

Tiny Moments... Day 5

Yes, those are my feet, yes, I am still in bed most of the day because of my back and, YES! I am going out of my mind with boredom and frustration!

Tiny Moments... Day 4

The wind turbines that dot the landscape here in the Fenlands...  They are HUGE but quite mesmerizing to watch. (notice how FLAT the land is)  This was taken on our way to Huntingdon.

Tiny Moments... Day 3

Chris - my star piano student.  Several lessons, and no arguments.... now if he'd just curve his fingers more...