Cutest Dogs Ever!

This month Pippin and Pulsar are featured as Dog(s) of the Month at their play care. Check them out at the A Dog Gone Good Place website - or maybe these pictures will be big enough to read...who knows?

On other fronts - I got a new calling. Now I am the Enrichment Leader in a singles ward. Somehow I am not sure if that is going to be terribly different from being the Activities Chair in a family ward in England. I still need LOTS of ideas. To break me in - we are having a progressive dinner with an international theme the week of Thanksgiving. We'll have the finale at my house - puddings from England. I need to work on my Sticky Toffee Pudding. All of my English mates out there - send me good and easy recipes. I'll definitely be pulling out the cake recipes that Jo gave me as a send off. Then in December in the grand homemaking tradition - we'll have a super Saturday with Christmas crafts. So if you've had one already in your ward please let me know what you did that was a hit and not to complex to set up. I am such a slacker. I just want the biggest bang for my buck.

I'm driving to grandma's for Thanksgiving and just as excited as is possible (when I am still facing 2 weeks of work in the interim). By the end of the week my car should be decked out with quality snow tires to take me and the pup safely over the mountains. I have distant memories of driving to California with Shogun in the van with us - and stopping many many times trying to get him to poop. Pippin is just like Shogs is so many ways. I imagine he'll hold it the entire trip. Christy has told me about the good rest stops for quick dog walks. I am hoping that we'll also get to make a stop around Sacramento or a bit northward to see Dana again (I went to Folsom for election day for work and got to see Dana for a few hours - it rocked!).

I can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa and Sharon and Suz. To eat Thanksgiving in America - not have to search for months for tinned pumpkin or figure out how to make a pecan pie without corn syrup. I'm still going to make the fantastico cranberry orange relish that we all know and love. It is my mission to spread the goodness of cranberry orange relish all through the land. :)

catching up on week 3

I suppose there will be a time when I stop counting how long I've been back in the US in weeks - and I suppose it will be soon. In some ways I am back into the swing of things and in some ways I just keep being surprised by things I am having a hard time leaving behind. For instance, my instinct is still to walk to the wrong side of the car - mostly just when I am leaving work to drive home. But I feel silly. Also - the grocery stores don't feel right. As much as I whined about supermarket layout in England - it has stuck with me. Also, as ridiculous as it sounds, everything seems really expensive. I guess I am not converting anything into pounds - because then it would feel cheap. But I'm not.

I love my new car. I'll have to repeat that as a mantra later in the month when the first bill comes. I love my new car. I really do. Very comfortable, easy (if not fun) to drive and just so darn cute.

I love my new haircut. I need to post a picture (but after 18 months of constantly snapping photos, I have become lazy). If you haven't seen it on facebook, it is about chin length and no longer streaked with blond - just basically my "real" color. I keep it super straight and think that it is super cute. Only once have I wished for a little more length - at spinning class on Tuesday. The hair won't make it into a pony tail - and barely makes tiny pig tails - which still result in hair touching my neck. Not my favorite feeling when I am dripping with sweat.

I love my iPhone. Oh my gosh. I love it! It is everything I need right at my finger tips. Fantastic.

And of course - I LOVE my dog. It is so nice having someone so happy when I get home. Pippin is kind of getting used to the backseat of the CRV. When I tried to introduce him to the cargo area he looked at me like we were not friends. He is at playcare today (http://www.doggonegoodplace.com). A very spoiled pup. I think that Rebecca's cat is handling the return of a dog into her domain rather well. She hardly even hisses at him anymore.

Rebecca (my roommate) and I have started going to the local rec center (Shute Park Aquatic & Recreation Center - the SHARC - if you had a place with that cool a name you'd go too). We've done water aerobics, spinning and used the gym and tonight we are trying out the stability ball class. Rebecca has reported 2 pounds of weight loss in each of the last 2 weeks. Fantastic. I haven't set foot on a scale - as mine is somewhere on the Atlantic (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it).

That brings up my stuff. Most specifically my clothes. I flew home with 2 bags and 2 big tupperware tubs - all weighing very close to the 50lbs limit. I couldn't ship any liquid or food, so anything that I wanted to bring home had to fit in my bags along with all the clothes and shoes I could fit. The rest of my stuff was packed up on Sept 5 - about 5 days before I flew home. On Sept 25 I got an email saying that my things were scheduled to set sail on the 29th. They are expected to arrive at the destination port on October 11th and then to clear customs on October 15th. I actually am not sure when that means they'll arrive at my door. No one has told me which port they are coming to. All I know is that I don't have nearly enough clothes. I don't know what I was thinking.

Honestly (and this is embarrassing) I haven't unpacked all the way yet - so I should say that I don't have nearly enough clothes that I actually want to wear. The weather is just changing in Portland - and getting wet and cold (which is what the weather was when I left Swindon) so hopefully the things that I liked to wear in Swindon 3 weeks ago will turn into clothes that I want to wear here. In the meantime there is Kohl's and Old Navy (at least so far).

I am going to endeavor to get all of my suitcases empty and put away this weekend (I usually get really productive on Conference Weekend) and get my things organized. I guess it is about time.

It will actually be a busy weekend. Tonight I have the aforementioned stability ball class, then a quick dinner and off to see Flash of Genius. Tomorrow morning will be kicked off with water aerobics, then a session of general conference and then lunch and some catch up with a friend in the afternoon followed by a 31st birthday party with bowling and pizza that night. Sunday will be 3 sessions of conference (the DVR is saving me from feeling too sad about missing Saturday afternoon) and I guess some house tidying. Plus a whole lot of rain for the weekend. The joys of autumn.

I still don't know who I am going to vote for. I need to sort out what I think from what lies I believe. I hate the media. I think both candidates bring some needed characteristics to the table, but I just can't get a solid idea on which I think will do a better job. I watched the VP debate last night - and thought that it was pretty even...mostly I was distracted by the lack of movement in Joe Biden's forehead. Major Botox. You could see his temples trying to squish up a completely unresponsive set of muscles. Plus - the man needs a haircut. But neither of those things would make him less of a VP (not that VPs do much).

If you have a strong opinion, bring it!! Try to convince me. Please.

pictures from the iPhone - magically delicious

I've had the iPhone for a week - and mostly it is great!! I am trying to use as many of the features as I can - and get the bonus of not having to carry around other things like a datebook, camera, mp3 player, etc. So last Friday night when I was test driving the CRV I took my first picture. This is the car that I ended up buying on Saturday morning - well nearly. I had them swap the tires to a slightly better set that were also listed as original equipment and on some of their other stocked CRVs.
I love it!! Not to big, not to small, just right!
And Rebecca is happy because her Focus will still fit in the garage.

Since I have a car - you'd think that I'd be all caught up on my errands - but I am really going pretty slow working through all of my lists. In fact, I haven't even made it to a normal grocery store yet. I bought some food at costco, some odds and ends at Target and then a little more food at Trader Joes - but I just can't bring myself to go to Albertson's or something similar yet - that would mean making a lot of decisions about what I want to eat.

Well - at Costco I found this super yummy Chicken Pad Thai - that is remarkably low in calories - only 230 per serving. Really tasty and easy to microwave together. I separated the 6 servings into small Tupperwares and have enjoyed it for a couple lunch and dinners. :)

At Trader Joe's I bought Cinnamon Puffins (a good cereal) and then my eye got caught by this:

Vanilla Meringues. YUM! TJs used to have lemon meringues - which I would have quickly chosen first. But Laurie bought some vanilla meringues in Paris and they were good - so I decided that I wanted them. Over the last couple of days I have eaten several. I kept having this taste memory - but I couldn't put my finger on it. Today it finally came to me.

Vanilla Meringues from Trader Joe's taste like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. And since we all know that they are the best bits of that cereal - what a find. A low fat, low calorie magically delicious treat. :)

nearly a week in

I left Swindon about a week ago. I was just talking to April today and she mentioned that she was cleaning her house because the cleaners are coming tomorrow (my mom does the same thing - to make sure that a) she is not embarrassed about the messiness and b) to ensure that the cleaning that she is paying for is deep cleaning). April reminded me that I was there helping her last week - and that we left for the airport just as the cleaners arrived last Wednesday morning.

So I guess it has been a week. I've done a lot. Got moved back into my house on Saturday. After 3 nights Pip seems to be settling in much better. On Saturday morning before heading out to my house I bought a car - a new Honda CRV. It is white. I love it. It is not quite what I thought I'd end up with - but I think that it is better. I'll post a picture soon.

I also am completely in love with my iPhone. Having the internet so handy is phenomenal! I actually purchased auto insurance while sitting waiting for my new car to get detailed - amazing. My land line (yes - I still opt to have a land line and a mobile) gets installed on Friday.

Tonight my roomate and I joined the local park & recreation center in Hillsboro - it is quite a nice facility that was re-opened just before I moved away. It has 3 pools, a nice gym and several rooms for classes. We bought a pass for 3-months - just to make sure that we go regularly before committing to more. Tonight we did a spinning class - my first. I haven't been on a bicycle in a long time (they are not my favorite). It was a good workout though. I think that we'll probably try to do it once a week and do water aerobics twice a week. I might do some training in the gym as well. Adding regular walks for Pip and I should be back to "normal" size in no time.

I am adjusting - but I am still referring to Swindon as home. I just need to be patient with myself. I am so happy to be back - I just have to get used to it.

4/5 home - or more

It is 6:30pm in San Francisco - I woke up this morning in April's guest bedroom at 6:30am. Right now it is 2:30am in Swindon. My flight to Portland doesn't leave for 4 more hours - so I'll land in PDX at like 12:15am. Which will be a more than 32 hour day. I'll make it.

I am really excited to get home - maybe just to be finished with the traveling. This whole move is still so surreal. I am not sure that I can get my head around this being more than a visit home. My # of bags in customs should have been a trigger to my brain. I'm not sure when it will hit me though. Tonight when I see Pippin and mom and dad? This weekend when I move back into my house? When I buy a car (hopefully soon). After I do some shopping? Once the US feels expensive to me? It will all happen - it is just a matter of when.

Last Weekend in Swindon - check

On Friday I worked in the morning and had movers scheduled to arrive between 12-2pm. April and I were planning to head into London (where we had booked a hotel) in the evening - maybe by 5 or 6 depending on when my moving was done. I sat at my house from 11:45 until 2 - no movers. They rang at about 2:05 saying they were running late and would be another 40 minutes and asked if that was ok (like I had another choice and could say - just don't bother coming...whatever). They actually didn't arrive until 3:30. So plans were a changin'. I called April to discuss the possibility of canceling the hotel and just doing a drive into London in the morning. It was our plan B until I found out that it was too late to cancel and get a refund...even though we bought cancellation insurance. This country is just not customer oriented AT ALL! I was Annoyed.

The movers made good progress. Here are a couple snaps of what it was like before, during and after.

They left just after 6 and I quickly threw some things into an overnight bag and drove to April's. We drove through torrential downpours all the way - and we were staying in Southwerk (pronounced Sotherk - who know why they even have a w in the alphabet - they never pronounce it - certainly not mid-word) so I got to drive through London in the dark and the rain. Thank Heaven for TomToms - without one we'd never have made it.

We were SO tired by 9:50 when we arrived that we basically just went to sleep. We had plans of playing Scrabble and talking - but no - sleep won. :)

In the morning we looked out the window and appreciated where we were. You can see the tube lines right next to us (which didn't disturb at all) and in the distance you can see St Paul's dome. :)

The plan for the day was to shop, eat and shop. We were quite successful. We started off at Covent Garden. Split a raisin scone for breakfast and started on the shopping. I bought two posters from the Transit Museum that I am excited to frame and hang in my house. After Covent Garden we walked to Trafalgar Square and St Martin's in the Field so I could show April the cool Cafe in the Crypt there - we nearly decided to do a brass rubbing, but didn't. After a short tube ride - we were in Bayswater - one of my favorite bits of London - right at the top of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It isn't the nicest part of the city - but I love this place called Taza with the best kebabs and baklava. Plus, there are cheap pashminas and really cheap touristy souvenirs (that I don't buy) and even a mall that just gets nicer by the day. We started with Kebabs.
April wasn't feeling great - but she still enjoyed her kebab with lamb and chicken.

I opted just for chicken - and it was a fantastic as always!! Unfortunately - it was still raining - so we enjoyed them inside, instead of on a bench in Kensington Gardens - my usual Taza venue.
Ginger was meeting up with us - to return my copy of Princess Bride that she just had introduced Nabeel to. April and I had some time to kill before Ginger would be able to tube to us - so we first went to the pashmina store and then onto the mall - which has a big W on it and is down Queensway road from the Bayswater station if you ever want to find it. (To Kathy and mom who have seen this mall before - it is SO MUCH better now than it was 2 years ago.)

The public toilets are free (and nice) and the mall is packed with great stores. But I think the highlight of the mall for April and I were the chair massages from the Reflexology Clinic. Oh - it was so great! We felt much better - me after 10 minutes and April after 20.

Then we met up with Ginger - enjoyed a fresh squeezed juice (that wasn't cold at all - how odd) and chatted for a long time. Then we tried to go find the Paul (a french bakery) on the Strand - but it wasn't there. It was approaching 6 - so April and I split from Ginger and headed back to the hotel to get the car. On the way out of London - the TomTom must have known that it was my last trip. It directed us straight through the heart of London, giving me one final tour of the highlights. With it though came a lot of traffic - so much that I was able to take a couple of pictures from behind the wheel (while stopped). Here is Trafalgar Square.
And that lit up building on the left up ahead is Harrod's.

We made it back to Swindon by just after 8 - and we were SO tired - again. It was a fun day. I'm glad I got to see London one more time and spend some time with April - even though she didn't feel good. What a trooper.

Today was my last Sunday in the Swindon Ward. At the beginning of the Sharing of Testimonies (since it is Fast Sunday) - Stayson (who was conducting) invited me to come up and bear mine. It was okay - I probably would have anyway. It was a little surreal. Still is.

Since church ended - I sold my car. The couple (from Oxford) got a freaking steal - but had cash and would take the car today - so I went with it. It is good to have it done - I was getting stressed out. So now I am without Car. I'm picking up a rental from Enterprise in the morning to get me through the last couple of days.

It's nearly done. Unbelievable. As Megan (April's daughter) would say - Just 2 more sleeps until I'm home. Well 3 sleeps I hope. I hope that between Heathrow and San Fran I am asleep most of the time. :)

Now I have to decide what to rename my blog to - since I won't be Brit-Ish Bex anymore. Any ideas?

Leaving 'Do' to Die For!

April was kind enough to set up a going away party for me last night. It was a blast!! I had April invite a couple of girls from work: Bethan, Jo and Laurie.
A couple of couples from the ward: Jake & Gresha Carmichael (on the outside) and Stayson and Sarah Taylor (on the inside):
And also invited were Cheri and Jared Whitehouse. Cheri is a fellow American, but has mastered not only the English accent, but also the cuisine. She volunteered to make a smashing dinner of bangers and mash, yummy white onion gravy and green beans. So so so good!
She also made a treacle pudding - so so so yummy with a little bit of custard.
While enjoying the fabulous food - April had planned a couple of games. The first was a pass the parcel type game - but each person unwrapped an excerpt from my blog and read it and then passed the parcel along. So we got to relive some of my most memorable moments. I can't believe that April read (even just skimmed) my whole blog yesterday in preparation! The second game was a quiz about my time here. It was fun - and just a little embarrassing.

Everyone brought me gifts (which was a huge surprise). They were all things that were to help me remember my time here. I got quite a nice stash and feel better prepared to return home. Here we are at the end of the night (sans Sarah and Stayson who had to get home to relieve a babysitter - and Jared who is taking the picture).
I feel SO lucky to have made such great friends while I've been here! They are all such a blessing in my life and I hope that we will stay in touch - or better yet - that they'll come visit me in the US!!

Thanks everyone!! I'll miss you so much!