Nothing like moving to a new country and being hit with a curve ball on the first day.
We waited several days before actually being able to do things on base *given the weekend and the holidays*.. But we woke up Wednesday morning bright and early ready to begin the in-processing process. We were greeted at our hotel by one of the guys from Jery's work.. and later decided that I had strong feelings of dislike for this man, but more on that later. As we walk down the stairs he informs us that they have been trying to get Jery out of this squadrant - gee thanks. We spent the next four hours with this guy accomplishing NOTHING. One because he didn't know what he was doing, and two because he was a jerk. He informed us while driving on base that he hates the British people and makes it a goal every day to piss one of them off - what a GREAT goal.
I could go on and on about the unproductive events of that day, but I have decided I need to remain positive - for myself and my husband.
TODAY has been a great day! Jery had to spend some frustrating hours at "work" *the place they are trying to get rid of him*.. but he came home and we were able to check lots of things off the list! We looked at the base housing and decided to decline it. The base housing they are offering us is actually off base and is in what seems like a sketchy location. We also concluded that we would have to get rid of half of our furniture because it was so small.
We have found a house *three doors down from our amazing friends* and we are going tomorrow to start the processing of letting *what they call renting* that house! It is a three bedroom house in a BEAUTIFUL country side town. We are pretty excited!
Jery has been wonderful at handling everything they have thrown our way and I am very proud of him! We are sticking together and giving this place a chance, and actually starting driving yesterday!!! A British car in fact!
At this point my heart still yearns to feel like we belong somewhere and hopefully working to create our first home together. Living out of a suitcase and feeling very displaced has been difficult, but His blessings are new every morning.
We are blessed and excited about what tomorrow holds.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
good day.
Today has been a good day in England. Yesterday was overwheleming and I felt like this place would never feel like home. A good nights sleep can do wonders for a person.
We spent the day outside in the sun! It was completely beautiful and the perfect tempature all day! Miss Ashley *the two year old in the house!* got a trampoline for her birthday!! Her and her Uncle Jery spent the entire day bouncing.. it was too cute! We also had a picnic dinner in the back yard! The town our friends live in is incredibly peaceful and today has been very relaxing *a much needed break from the stress*!
We are so incredibly blessed to have our friends here, and are thankful to be able to spend time with them!
I promise to get pictures on here soon! Until then enjoy your afternoon our stateside friends.
We spent the day outside in the sun! It was completely beautiful and the perfect tempature all day! Miss Ashley *the two year old in the house!* got a trampoline for her birthday!! Her and her Uncle Jery spent the entire day bouncing.. it was too cute! We also had a picnic dinner in the back yard! The town our friends live in is incredibly peaceful and today has been very relaxing *a much needed break from the stress*!
We are so incredibly blessed to have our friends here, and are thankful to be able to spend time with them!
I promise to get pictures on here soon! Until then enjoy your afternoon our stateside friends.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
landed.
We made it! Actually we have been here all day, but I'm just now getting around to posting.
We flew into London and landed at 7:15 London time *1:15 Texas time*! After standing on the plane while they fixed the connecting bridge thingy they finally let us off. Only to our disappointment we still had a while before making it to Tank and Mindy. Customs was INSANE! We stood in the most insane line *neither of us have any idea how long we were actually in line.. having no cell phones means having no clock.. we're gonna have to get used to watches*! Somewhat like waiting in line at a theme park, only the end product was rather different. They asked us some questions and stamped our passports! We quickly found all of our bags and headed out! Tank and Mindy were standing among all the other crazy people waiting for arrivals!
The flight was fairly uneventful.. they constantly were offering us food and drinks, so sleeping was next to impossible. I can't complain though.. we were well fed and hydrated when we got off the plane!! The most incredible part of the entire airplane experience was the diversity of the passengers. I was amazed.
We have spent the day hanging out at attempting to start the adjustment process.. Things are incredibly different. Far more than I expected. It's difficult to imagine our lives here at this point, but I am certain things will feel normal soon.
Please pray for us as we have several stressful days ahead.. and some hard decisions to make about the pups. I miss them more than I ever imagined.
We are thankful to be safe and somewhat sound.. hopefully we will sleep tonight and get on some kind of eating schedule tomorrow.
Blessings friends, we miss you terribly.
We flew into London and landed at 7:15 London time *1:15 Texas time*! After standing on the plane while they fixed the connecting bridge thingy they finally let us off. Only to our disappointment we still had a while before making it to Tank and Mindy. Customs was INSANE! We stood in the most insane line *neither of us have any idea how long we were actually in line.. having no cell phones means having no clock.. we're gonna have to get used to watches*! Somewhat like waiting in line at a theme park, only the end product was rather different. They asked us some questions and stamped our passports! We quickly found all of our bags and headed out! Tank and Mindy were standing among all the other crazy people waiting for arrivals!
The flight was fairly uneventful.. they constantly were offering us food and drinks, so sleeping was next to impossible. I can't complain though.. we were well fed and hydrated when we got off the plane!! The most incredible part of the entire airplane experience was the diversity of the passengers. I was amazed.
We have spent the day hanging out at attempting to start the adjustment process.. Things are incredibly different. Far more than I expected. It's difficult to imagine our lives here at this point, but I am certain things will feel normal soon.
Please pray for us as we have several stressful days ahead.. and some hard decisions to make about the pups. I miss them more than I ever imagined.
We are thankful to be safe and somewhat sound.. hopefully we will sleep tonight and get on some kind of eating schedule tomorrow.
Blessings friends, we miss you terribly.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
relax.
Everything we own.. well minus what fits into four suitcases.. is packed. Boxed, placed in a crate, nailed shut, and hauled off... We are suppose to have it all by the 15th of July *my sweet cousin's birthday!* but we are both praying it shows up early!
There isn't much more to do than to relax and enjoy the time we have left. This morning when we were loading our packed belongings into crates Jery stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at me and said "holy crap, we only have two days left!!" It was a revelation moment for him. I'm sure mine will come soon.
Please pray for a safe, un-eventful trip over there. The only part of the trip that makes me nervous is finding our friends. We will arrive in a completely foreign airport with no way of contacting anyone. They have both assured me that they will be there waiting for us, so I'm gonna trust they know what they're talking about! *After all, they are the ones living over there.....*
Farewell friends.. It'll probably be a while before I'm back on here.
There isn't much more to do than to relax and enjoy the time we have left. This morning when we were loading our packed belongings into crates Jery stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at me and said "holy crap, we only have two days left!!" It was a revelation moment for him. I'm sure mine will come soon.
Please pray for a safe, un-eventful trip over there. The only part of the trip that makes me nervous is finding our friends. We will arrive in a completely foreign airport with no way of contacting anyone. They have both assured me that they will be there waiting for us, so I'm gonna trust they know what they're talking about! *After all, they are the ones living over there.....*
Farewell friends.. It'll probably be a while before I'm back on here.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
quick update.
Life here is rather calm considering.
We spent all day yesterday watching/helping the packers pack up all of our belongings. I continue to be amazed at the amount of things the two of us have!! Slightly ridiculous! I am sure that we be taking several loads to the airman's attic once we can actually go through everything!
Today we are taking the car to Dallas. The military ships one car for us, but we have to drop it off in Dallas! Jery is busy on base this morning finishing up some out-processing details, and then we will be on our way! Thankfully my brother has given us his "spare" car to drive back in!
Tomorrow we will again spend the day at the storage unit watching/helping the packers load all of our now packed belongings into crates. I was promised that it wouldn't near as long as it did yesterday, and I'm praying that is true! After we are all finished my brother should be here!!
Thursday will be our final day in Abilene, and the United States for that matter. We will hopefully have a fun-filled relaxing day enjoying Abilene and our family! It is also Jery's "final-out" day so he will have some duties to attend to, but it shouldn't take him long!
Friday we will finish packing our suitcases, empty out my apartment, and say our final good-byes. It will be such a bittersweet day, and at this point all I can do is pray for God's peace. Peace that surpasses all understanding.
As far as the canine companions. Harlii will spend a couple weeks with my mom while we get somewhat settled, and the rest of her quarantine days are fulfilled. Then she will board a plane for an eight hour direct flight where we will be waiting for her! Samson will be staying with my mom as well, for now. Just as soon as we began looking for him a new home, we find new hope. My cousin, Michael, found a website that specializes in shipping military family's dogs. We have looked into them, but no decisions have been made. Paying this company to fly Samson gives us great peace of mind, but comes with a somewhat heafty price tag. They would greet my cousin/bother *whoever would take him to the airport* and they would take him through the airport paper work, get him on the plane, get him off the plane, take him through customs, and bring him to us. We would not be responsible for dealing with the airlines at all. They would handle any problems that came up, and ensure me that he would be able to fly.
Several people have asked why Samson is a problem and Harlii isn't. It is somewhat of a complicated answer that can be answered in a simple way. He is huge. Now for the complicated part. The airlines require that animals have AT LEAST 3 inches above their heads when they are standing in the crate. For those of you who know Samson you understand part of the problem. For those of you who don't - he is 41 inches tall from the ground to the top of his head, and he's only 10 months old *meaning that he WILL grow*. So in order for Samson to ride on the plane he has to have a crate that is AT LEAST 44 inches tall, given that he doesn't grow between now and then. They do not make crates this big, well they do not make airline approved crates this big. The biggest airline approved crate they sell is 35 inches tall. But you do have the option to build a crate. To make this more complicated I spoke with the airlines over the weekend and discussed with the the details of building this crate. Only to find out that the door they load the animals through is 40 inches tall. Basically saying he won't fit, much less his crate. The gentleman did give me the option to load him through the actual cargo door, but explained that they would probably charge me triple to do so. The underlying problem here is that if we were to ship Samson in a crate that wasn't at least 3 inches taller than him, there is a chance we could be taxed $10,000 by the British airport system. They are very serious about their pets, and would consider that a form of animal cruelty. And lastly, every way that we have found to fly him is expensive. Double, triple, quadruple the price of a actual seat on the airplane. We both love Samson and can't imagine giving him away, but we at some point have to decided whether this doable financially.
All that to say we aren't sure what we are doing with Samson yet. For the time being he is going to hang out at my mom's.
So much for a quick update.
We spent all day yesterday watching/helping the packers pack up all of our belongings. I continue to be amazed at the amount of things the two of us have!! Slightly ridiculous! I am sure that we be taking several loads to the airman's attic once we can actually go through everything!
Today we are taking the car to Dallas. The military ships one car for us, but we have to drop it off in Dallas! Jery is busy on base this morning finishing up some out-processing details, and then we will be on our way! Thankfully my brother has given us his "spare" car to drive back in!
Tomorrow we will again spend the day at the storage unit watching/helping the packers load all of our now packed belongings into crates. I was promised that it wouldn't near as long as it did yesterday, and I'm praying that is true! After we are all finished my brother should be here!!
Thursday will be our final day in Abilene, and the United States for that matter. We will hopefully have a fun-filled relaxing day enjoying Abilene and our family! It is also Jery's "final-out" day so he will have some duties to attend to, but it shouldn't take him long!
Friday we will finish packing our suitcases, empty out my apartment, and say our final good-byes. It will be such a bittersweet day, and at this point all I can do is pray for God's peace. Peace that surpasses all understanding.
As far as the canine companions. Harlii will spend a couple weeks with my mom while we get somewhat settled, and the rest of her quarantine days are fulfilled. Then she will board a plane for an eight hour direct flight where we will be waiting for her! Samson will be staying with my mom as well, for now. Just as soon as we began looking for him a new home, we find new hope. My cousin, Michael, found a website that specializes in shipping military family's dogs. We have looked into them, but no decisions have been made. Paying this company to fly Samson gives us great peace of mind, but comes with a somewhat heafty price tag. They would greet my cousin/bother *whoever would take him to the airport* and they would take him through the airport paper work, get him on the plane, get him off the plane, take him through customs, and bring him to us. We would not be responsible for dealing with the airlines at all. They would handle any problems that came up, and ensure me that he would be able to fly.
Several people have asked why Samson is a problem and Harlii isn't. It is somewhat of a complicated answer that can be answered in a simple way. He is huge. Now for the complicated part. The airlines require that animals have AT LEAST 3 inches above their heads when they are standing in the crate. For those of you who know Samson you understand part of the problem. For those of you who don't - he is 41 inches tall from the ground to the top of his head, and he's only 10 months old *meaning that he WILL grow*. So in order for Samson to ride on the plane he has to have a crate that is AT LEAST 44 inches tall, given that he doesn't grow between now and then. They do not make crates this big, well they do not make airline approved crates this big. The biggest airline approved crate they sell is 35 inches tall. But you do have the option to build a crate. To make this more complicated I spoke with the airlines over the weekend and discussed with the the details of building this crate. Only to find out that the door they load the animals through is 40 inches tall. Basically saying he won't fit, much less his crate. The gentleman did give me the option to load him through the actual cargo door, but explained that they would probably charge me triple to do so. The underlying problem here is that if we were to ship Samson in a crate that wasn't at least 3 inches taller than him, there is a chance we could be taxed $10,000 by the British airport system. They are very serious about their pets, and would consider that a form of animal cruelty. And lastly, every way that we have found to fly him is expensive. Double, triple, quadruple the price of a actual seat on the airplane. We both love Samson and can't imagine giving him away, but we at some point have to decided whether this doable financially.
All that to say we aren't sure what we are doing with Samson yet. For the time being he is going to hang out at my mom's.
So much for a quick update.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
new home.
As we finish packing up our belongings, board a plane, land in a foreign country, and search for a new home for ourselves.. we are searching for Samson a new home.
My heart is broken, and quite frankly all I want to do is cry. My husband comes along side and attempts to remind me that everything is going to be ok. In the mean time we are looking to find our 10 month old Great Dane a new home. He is an AMAZING dog, well trained, and has such a sweet spirit. I can not believe our time with his has been so short.
I love him so, but it is proving impossible to take him with us. If anyone reading this knows someone who truly wants a Great Dane, please let me know.
My heart is broken, and quite frankly all I want to do is cry. My husband comes along side and attempts to remind me that everything is going to be ok. In the mean time we are looking to find our 10 month old Great Dane a new home. He is an AMAZING dog, well trained, and has such a sweet spirit. I can not believe our time with his has been so short.
I love him so, but it is proving impossible to take him with us. If anyone reading this knows someone who truly wants a Great Dane, please let me know.
Monday, May 11, 2009
graduation.
This weekend we celebrated Joslyn and I's graduation! It was wonderful to have family in town to celebrate with us!
Joslyn completed her Master's this year and I completed my Bachelor's. We are both excited to have reached this point in our lives! We have basically been inseparable our entire lives and this is yet another milestone we have achieved together! I can't believe that after 22 years of living so close we will soon be across the pond from each other. I'm gonna miss her!
Could possibly be the first major event that Jery was not deployed or TDY!!
family.
We did it!
With the wildcat..
We walked all the way across campus only to find out this was not the sign Joslyn wanted to take a picture with.. we took pictures anyway.
WE ARE NOW ALUMNI!!!
Joslyn completed her Master's this year and I completed my Bachelor's. We are both excited to have reached this point in our lives! We have basically been inseparable our entire lives and this is yet another milestone we have achieved together! I can't believe that after 22 years of living so close we will soon be across the pond from each other. I'm gonna miss her!
Could possibly be the first major event that Jery was not deployed or TDY!!
family.
We did it!
With the wildcat..
We walked all the way across campus only to find out this was not the sign Joslyn wanted to take a picture with.. we took pictures anyway.
WE ARE NOW ALUMNI!!!
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