Great Yarmouth

No, your eyes are not deceiving you.  This is a new blog entry.  Don't be too shocked – take a deep breath, and lets begin.
So much (and yet, nothing) has happened since I last updated, so I will be starting from recently (to avoid becoming too overwhelmed).
This last weekend Chris and I decided to avoid Mothers Day at all costs – and spend a weekend in Great Yarmouth for his birthday (on the same day as Mothers Day). 
It turned out to be quite rainy, cold, and a bit boring.  It wasn't good weather at all (except about 30 minutes on Saturday). 
The B&B left little to be desired and when the TV broke in our first room, we got moved to another smaller room.  The toilet and shower were in a space that was no bigger than an American closet.  We were supposed to stay for 3 nights but yesterday we could hear out own bed calling us from 90 miles away and we packed up a day early and came home. 
It was nice to get away, and I am always keen to see new parts of the country.  It was nice to focus on Chris’ birthday and just spend some time together away from “real life”.
But, oh was it nice to be home…
Here are some pictures from the weekend – if you want to see the whole set (including videos) make sure you visit theflattleys.co.uk.  Chris does a great job updating the site with all the pictures and videos we take over here.
Anyway, enjoy!

The view of the windfarm from the beach that would could walk to.  If you look closely, you can see that some of the turbines are covered with the clouds.

The view looking toward the pier.

Looking towards the North Sea, with a typical English sky.

Looking off the pier.  I have always said the clouds in England look different than they do in Utah, and here you can see why – they are very low.

The old pier (I think) and the dirty North Sea waves.

The view of the town from the top of the multi-story car park. The death trap (a.k.a. stairs).  We were on the top floor of the B&B and the stairs were soooo steep.  I clung onto the rails for dear life every time I walked up or down those stairs (and if you know my luck with stairs – you’ll understand why).

What I’ll Miss – English Summer

Although I am still quite far from actually coming home to America, I have noticed a change in my thinking since we got the first paperwork back.

There are a lot of things I am going to miss. Shocking, I know!

I have found myself saying, “This is the last time ____________.”

So, I think I will start writing about them, just so I can remember them and then, when I am really homesick, I can read back and remember what I loved – and there really are a lot of things.

Today though, I will miss the English Summer – something I NEVER thought I’d say. I wont miss the heat or humidity – but I will miss the seaside, the long hours of daylight, and the “holiday mentality”.

I love the seaside, if you’ve read my blog at all the last few years – you’ll know that. I love that it is like a time warp once you hit the seaside. You have the old fashioned beach chairs, .99 ice cream, kids running around – soaking wet in clothes, swimming costumes, undies, and sometimes nothing – and you know what, no one cares! They are at the beach!! On nice days (which are few and far between most summers) the beaches are packed – even if the beach is dirty or rocky – no one cares they just congregate to the beach.

The children here in England only have a summer vacation of 6 weeks and they use all that time enjoying the sun. The sun rises around 4:30 AM and it is still light around 10:30 PM. It leaves LOTS of time for people to get out and enjoy themselves – the English are great at BBQing.

The English love their holidays. They save up for them through the year and often go to hotter places like Greece or Spain. I love that this country takes time to relax an enjoy each others company. I think America should defiantly follow England's lead – I think it makes for a happier people.

I will miss the English Summer.

I’m Baaaacccckkk…..

Well last time I saw this blog I was on day 23 of Tiny Moments, it is now a new month and I missed out on the last few pictures.  Sorry…. 
Things here have been a little off here at the house.  Chris and I both got ill for about a week and a half and thought we had the Swine Flu.  I don't think we actually did because we never got full blown temps.  We had a fertility appointment that took away my attention from the blog – but I’m back now!
Chris and I did get a chance to go to the seaside with Georgia on Friday.  We wanted to make a whole day of it and started at the Sea Life Centre which is like a ghetto version of Sea World.

Georgia wasn't too impressed by the whole thing, and to tell the truth – we weren't either.  I did touch a star fish for the first time – strange.
We decided to head out to the beach.  It was a lovely day but we were bombarded by wasps.  We finally got a bucket and spade and a mat and headed to the water.  The beach at Huntstation is a lot more “pebbly” than some of the others we’ve been too but we tried to make the best of it.  We spent some time in the sea, which was freezing, and Georgia only relaxed and started to enjoy the water once Chris was in the water with her.  The tide started to come in quite quick so we decided it was time to have some lunch.

We had a nice lunch of fish and chips and then we went to the arcades.  This is one of Chris’ favourite things to do – to play on the 2p machines.  He took it upon himself so share the fun with Georgia – which she loved!  She especially loved when she won something, but didn't seem to understand why we were putting the 2p’s in the machine instead of putting them in our wallets.

Georgia decided to take a ride on Brum “to America” she told us.

By this point I think Georgia was a little tired, and so were we.  We decided to head home.

We thought she was tired and would fall asleep on the way home but she didn't and kept us entertained saying things out of the blue like, “ *GASP* Look at that?!?!?!?!?” Chris says look at what?  “That, the… SKY!” or my personal favourite, “Jamie, I love you….. Jamie I love your bum!”
We love spending time with her!
Last night to end a very, very hard day I got to see this out of the window:

It was beautiful and maybe with the great day with Georgia and the lovely sunset it is a sign that this week will be better than the last few.  Fingers Crossed.

The Weekend

Hello Internet.  Chris and I are home, unpacked (mostly), and back to real life.  We got back from our mini-break Sunday night and were quite glad to be home.
The weekend was… how should I say it… ummm…. not what I had planned (to say the least).
We ended up leaving Friday around 10AM.  We were quite happy to finally get on our way.  About an hour into the drive the car started making really strange noises.  The steering wheel had been shaking a little (I figured it needed to be re-aligned).  We pulled off the motorway at a petrol station and checked the pressure in the tyres – but they were fine.  We decided to keep going and hopefully the car issues would work themselves out… no luck.  The shaking was getting worse and the noise louder but, by then, we were more than halfway and also would have been charged for the room so we carried on.
We made it to our first stop – North Allerton.  We stopped at the council offices and they directed us to the records office – where I could find some more information about my ancestors.  We went there and the woman was really nice and let us look through the records even though we hadn't made an appointment.
Once in among all the books we were very overwhelmed at where to start and where to look.  We finally decided on the books we needed and low and behold they were missing.  We tried looking through the micro films but couldn't read the writing and didn't know exactly where to look so we decided to leave and visit the church.
Once we got to the church I was confident I would find some headstones from my ancestors buried there but – the church yard was so poorly looked after we couldn't read the names on any of them.  We then went to have a look in the church which was locked (most of the churches here in England are either unlocked or have a key holder living nearby – not North Allerton).  We got some lovely pictures of the church though (the outside anyway):

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The weather was still agreeing with us as we made our way to South Shields.  I was getting more and more stressed with the car and very pleased to arrive at the B & B.
  
The room was so nice and the people who owned it were very friendly.  That night we decided to go and find some dinner and we found a great Italian restaurant with the best pasta I’ve had since I’ve been here in England.  As we were eating I remembered that I had not gotten any ear plugs (I had left my pair at home) and we needed to find some or else the weekend would be filled with a sleep deprived wife – no fun for anyone.  We walked quite far to ASDA and found some.  We went home (it was quite a walk) and relaxed and fell asleep early.
The next day was quite disappointing.  It rained and rained and rained.  We didn't want to venture to the beach but went to see Chris’ old school, get some mince pies, and visited with Chris’ Grandma and Aunties.  It was good to catch up with them and as we were headed back to the hotel the overheating light in the car and the oil light in the car both came on.  We stopped at the nearest petrol station and found, when I checked the oil, that there was none.  2 bottles of oil (£10.00 a piece – half of one I spilled all over the engine) later we drove back - on the way looking forward to visiting a Roman Fort – turns out it was just a pile of old stones so we didn't stop to look at that but took advantage of the short break in the rain to enjoy the view:

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It was started raining again so we decided to watch a movie.  We decided on The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas.  It was a good movie but probably not the best one to watch on a holiday – quite depressing.  After it was over Chris and I looked at each other and both agreed that we should probably get out of the hotel and do something.  Chris wanted to go to the Amusements (or arcades).  This seemed to cheer him up – as it always does, it is one of his favourite things!  By then the rain had become a drizzle and so we headed to the beach and sat on a bench and just enjoyed the view and chatted. 

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The next day we had to check out around 10AM so we decided to try the beach again and I am so glad I did.  I was looking forward to sun and the beach the whole trip and was disappointed that I wasn't going to see it – but, Sunday it was sunny (a little cold – but I didn't care)!  We spent several hours on the beach.  It was great because the sand was soft, the tide was coming in, and there weren't many people!

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We headed back home after spending some more time at the Amusements.  We decided at the last minute to drive again through North Allerton, thinking that it was a Sunday for sure the church would be open.  Plus I was getting more and more nervous/anxious about the car breaking down so I was glad for the break.  We got to the church and it was locked.  Chris called the Vicar and he said he’d be there around 5:30 to open it for the Evensong that evening.  We decided since it was almost 4:00 we would stay and in the meantime, look through another cemetery for headstones.  We didn't have any luck there either.
We finally got in to see the church and while it was very beautiful and the Vicar even got out some old plans for the grounds of the church to see if we could find names of the people buried there – we didn't have any luck.  It was getting later and we were supposed to be at a BBQ so we headed back out.
Within 5 minutes the car was really acting up and shaking so we decided to miss the BBQ and just get home as quick as possible.  I must say it was the MOST stressful drive I’ve ever done and I don't look forward to finding out what is wrong, thus finding out how much more we have to put into it.
All in all the trip was alright.  Not what I had planned but it was nice to get away and that last day at the beach was worth it.  I guess because I am not English I don't plan on bad weather – but I should.  Even with the rain we had a good time.  We look forward to going up again armed with more info about my ancestors (and maybe and umbrella)!

She Sells Sea Shells on the Seashore

Chris is a HARD worker.  He works 6 days a week 5 hours a day, sitting in the bedroom and answering phone calls from around the country from people who are having problems with their internet.  What this means for us is that every afternoon/evening from about 2:30-11:00 Chris is tied up with work and it leaves us little time to get out of the house and go on “dates”. 
To make the best of the situation Chris and I have decided to  spend every Friday “exploring”.  This is great for us because it involves our two biggest loves:  each other and travelling.  We have been without a car for nearly 6 months and now that we have it back and working the freedom is intoxicating!
Last Friday we decided that it would be a nice day to visit the seaside.  I don't know if it is because I was born in a state without a seaside but I LOVE spending time there.  I had been itching to visit again since it was last autumn that we visited there.  It only takes about 1 hour to the beach from where we live but since we’ve been to that particular beach so much we thought we’d visit a recommended on called Wells-next-the-sea.  The beaches in England aren't known for their crystal clear waters or sandy beaches – but looking at the pictures online there was more sand than pebbles – and we were sold!
We contacted our brother and sister in law to see if we could take our trusty travelling companion (our lovely niece Georgia).  Luckily they said we could take her along.  Taking her with us always makes exploring so much more fun and entertaining.  We don't take her when we are looking at old churches (I am sure that would be boring for her) – but we figured that she’d love the seaside.
We drove for about 1 1/2 hours to get to Wells.  It was overcast but not rainy (thank goodness).  We drove past the pier and it was disappointing to say the least.  Chris went in and spoke to someone about where the beach was and they said about 1 mile down the road.  We drove down there, parked, and started walking.  We eventually did find the beach but because the tide was out we were nowhere near the water.  We figured we’d make the best of the situation (water or not), sat down in the sand, took our shoes off, and ate biscuits!  Chris and Georgia had a nice time playing in the sand and I am sure Georgia at more sand than biscuits (see picture below!).
After a while we decided to walk along the beach.  Georgia took her shoes off and we enjoyed a stroll (still nowhere near the water).  Georgia and Chris found a crab crawling along the sand and at first Georgia was afraid of it, then looked at it up close, and then kicked it.  Then we continued to walk and started collecting shells for Georgia.  We decided to go and get lunch and walked back to the car.
On the way back Chris stubbed his toe and it started bleeding.  He was limping along and then Georgia started complaining about  her toe.  I thought she just was copying Chris until I took off her shoes and piles of sand fell out – all over the car floor.
We then treated ourselves to some nice fish and chips – they are always best at the sea side!  Then we bought our magnet (we collect them from everywhere we visit) and got some sweets and ice cream (no wonder Georgia loves hanging out with us!!!). 
The tide finally started to come in and Georgia and Chris looked at the boats – then it started to get quite cold and rain and we decided to go home.  Georgia is an angel in the car and is content to chat away, sing, or just look out of the window. 
It was a great day!  We love spending time with each other and with Georgia.  We love exploring and the beach (although next time hopefully we can go when the tide it coming in!)…. it all works out for a good day out.
This week we’ll be staying a little closer to home to save money for our weekend away up north.  I am so excited for it! 
Here are some pictures from the day:

A Series of Unfortunate (typical Jamie) Events

Hello Faithful Blog Readers...
I am a slacker, I know, but to my defense I have had a string of unfortunate accidents that has caused me to be a slacker - kind of...
First - Chris and I went blackberry picking and as I was getting into the car, the door shut on my neck (I know you are thinking, only me) well anyway it gave really tight muscles and damaged something so I had MAJOR migraines.  One week off....
Second - I got a throat infection, knocked me out cold.  Felt a little rough on a Wednesday night and by Thursday morning I was completely overcome.  By Sunday I was feeling a little better after A LOT of pain relief and some antibiotics.
Third - Thursday at work I stood up and got a little bit of a pain in my back.  By Thursday night I couldn't walk.  We called the NHS help line and the nurse transferred my call to a doctor who said, "It is a back spasm, keep really hot heat on it and don't lay down, sleep sitting up."  One problem, I have a hard time sleeping laying down, yet alone sitting up.  After a LONG sleepless night of watching the Discovery Health channel, I broke down and had Chris call the doctor for a home visit (yes, they do that here).  The doctor came over and said I had sprained my back and gave me FOUR prescriptions and said I had to rest and be off work for 10 days.  In the mean time I walk like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, when I can actually suffer the pain and walk. 
So here I sit, in PAIN, but feeling quite guilty at my lack of writing, and for you Internet, I'll suffer. 
So it seems as if my string of bad luck - is quite a long string...  But it all ends November 19th when - I COME TO UTAH!!!!!  Whoooo Hoooooo!!!!
Would some pictures make up for my neglect???
I don't know if you even care about random pictures... how about you leave a message and let me know... should I keep adding pictures or stop?!?!?  YES or NO!??!?
      
Chris "gambling" at the sea side - yes we only live 45 minutes away from a beach, crazy for this Utah girl.
       
Dead Crab at the Sea Side               The Beach                                    The Sea Side

     
The Fish and Chips Restaurant                       The BEST fish and chips I've EVER had!

     
England had HUGE Spiders          Halloween Decorations                   More Decorations - not much...
Awwww Internet, I love that you read my blog... don't give up on me... I'll try to do better!!!