A little piece of heaven...

Do you remember yesterday when I was talking like crazy about the bland food they have here? Well I found a little piece of heaven in downtown Mildenhall. Its called the Dragon House ( Phone # 01638 712 087) and its wonderful! If you live anywhere around Mildenhall you probably know its amazing. Its a Chinese restaurant and probably the best one I have ever eaten at. It was so good that I called the restaurant and told them how pleased I was. I told Gregg that this will be the only place we ever eat when we go out. I got the sweet and sour chicken and it was amazing! It had onions, pineapple, green onions and peas in it, all smothered in the amazing sauce it comes in. It was about 19 pounds for us both to eat. We wont be able to eat here every day but we have enough left overs to have it for at least another meal. I really have not mentioned before that I am pregnant because I am sure most of you already know but the food was so good that I literally felt the baby leap in my womb. I am not joking. I use that example to tell you that if you are anywhere near Mildenhall, go to this wonderful place. We went out to eat with a couple from church to the BX on base which has a food court in it. We had burger king which is really funny because they don't have that off base here at all. Its kind of nice to have somewhere that is kind of like a mini America when you get home sick. Gregg and I were talking the other day and our mouths were salivating at the thought of Ted's Mexican Restaurant in Edmond, OK. Also, we are going to take the first chance we can to eat at Earl's Barbecue when we make a trip back to Oklahoma. I had the thought of asking if it was possible to get chips and queso from Ted's by mail but I don't think that's possible. If anyone has any ideas on how I could execute that plan, let me know. I think that I will just eat candy and Chinese food while I am here. Anyways, enough about food. We were talking with the couple we ate with earlier and are thinking of starting a weekly Bible study at our house. We would use this as a way to invite people from each of our work places to study the Bible. We are wanting to study with our neighbors and hoping to invite them to the study as well. We want to be tools for God while we are here because this is definitely a mission field. The church here is small but it is doing well and is remaining faithful. Gregg said he thinks of this as our government paid mission trip. Well I am going to head out for now but I will be back tomorrow. I meant to do a blog post on the wonderful candy today but for some reason the picture I took got lost or was not saved. I will have to take another one and post tomorrow. Cheers!
P.S. Cheers is used to say goodbye and I think hello sometimes. I think its a basic greeting. I am just soaking up the English culture. Cant you tell?!

A couple pics of my new house...

I love the kitchen but I think its so funny that the washer/dryer is in the kitchen!

This is the view from the living room looking towards the entry area.

This is a picture of the partial bath downstairs (and those tiles look blue but they are brown)

These are just a few pics so you can see the inside of our house! Hope you like it!

Our day in Mildenhall and Bury St. Edmunds

Hi there! We had a busy day today starting first with the meeting with our landlord. We are moving in Wednesday and I cant wait! After our meeting, we went and ate at a cute little place called Emily's Tea Room in downtown Mildenhall. Here are a couple of pictures of the place as well as our food. I would come back here again because it was really nice and elegant but I would tell them to make the eggs a little more well done (they were runny). Also, we heard before we came that we should order a soft drink called Dandelion and Burdock, so of course Gregg had to try it. Well, after trying it myself I would say that if you like the taste of NyQuil, order it. I almost spit it across the table and Gregg looked like he was drinking medicine the whole time. Apparently its a popular drink, but I am warning you not to drink it. This tea house was reasonably priced for England, letting us get out of there for around 20 pounds. I would recommend it. After we left here, we went to Bury St. Edmunds which is about thirty minutes away. Its a really nice town and is definitely worth traveling to. We got there and immediately saw the market where they sell fresh fruits and vegetables as well as clothing and random things. The downtown area is really nice and big. There is so much to do downtown Bury. They also have a really big new shopping center in downtown Bury. I liked it and we will definitely be making a trip back. Here are some pictures we took in downtown Bury. Oh and the picture of the green, red and yellow peppers in the market was taken because that has been my craving lately. I love anything with peppers and I love them plain. It might be weird but they are so good!

So after we left Bury, we went back to Mildenhall and decided to try this place called Crumb's Cafe in downtown Mildenhall. I would tell you where to find it but I don't think you want to find it. I am starting to figure out that people here don't like things that taste good. There is absolutely no flavor in the food here. Also, I got a salad with my meal and asked the waiter for salad dressing. He looked at me confused and brought be mayo. I said, "oh no no, I would like SALAD DRESSING LIKE ranch". After another confused look, he brought me a bottle that said salad dressing but it tasted like mayo. SOOO...MY POINT IS you need to carry a bottle of ranch in your purse. We left there with a feeling of being full but not being content or satisfied. I had a really bland taste on my tongue and I almost threw up. I cant wait to start cooking in my new house. I love American food. I guess you don't realize what you have until its millions of miles away. I love England and the people here and the scenery but no offense, I hate the food. I am pretty sure you get my point. If you want to lose weight, come here. The other day someone was freaking out about a Chili's in Cambridge and how it was so good. I didn't get it until now. I am craving American food so enjoy what you have if you are in the U.S and if not, I am sorry and I am feeling you pain. BUT there is a really good thing about England I must share with you. THE CANDY IS AMAZING!!!!! NOT EVEN JOKING. I am planning a blog post just about the candy. I love it. I think I will only eat candy and see how that works out for me...lol. But I must go. Look for a candy post tomorrow and get excited because there is some really CUTE candy too! I will talk to you later! Thanks for reading. It makes me feel connected and heard. Bye!

Beware of squatters...

Squatting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential,[1] that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use.


I thought I would share with you some interesting news I heard today from the landlord. She said that they always make sure their properties are locked and secure because if not, and a squatter happens to get in, they cannot be kicked out without court orders. She said that she would have to go to court and get court orders to get the people kicked out, because and I quote, "They have rights". She of course thought it was ridiculous but she has to follow procedure. The squatter cannot forcefully enter the house but if it is unlocked or if they find a way in, they can stay. I just thought I would share this funny story with you. Talk to you later. Bye!

Loads of new things going on...

Well hello there! GUESS WHAT?! We found our house today:) Its absolutely adorable and its ours now! We are signing the agreement on Monday and moving in Tuesday I think. It is very close to base and within walking distance from the market square in downtown Mildenhall. While I love the closeness to town, it is also a nice drive to the house, with pretty trees on each side of the road. The house is pictured above but I don't have pictures of the inside. Its only a year or two old and its got an absolutely adorable kitchen. We will have three bedrooms, two baths and a living room. Also, notice the skinny windows beside the door because I figured those would be the perfect place for a nice plant to sit. The bathrooms have pedestal sinks, which are adorable and all of the trim in the house and the doors are painted white. Its a two story house with a really cute white staircase leading upstairs. I really liked the white trim everywhere because we had to paint our rental house before we left the U.S. and we never got to enjoy the beautiful trim. Also, there is a mail slot in the door where the mail man will drop my mail and I will send my imaginary dog to get it (like in the movies). OH and the real seller for the house is the tiny little doorknob! I kid you not the doorknob on the inside is the size of a quarter and its shaped like a flower. I laughed hysterically when I saw it and said to the landlord that I would take the house. Well I think that Gregg and I are going to go and see a movie for his birthday tonight so I will go now but I will tell you about our trip to Bury St. Edmunds tomorrow. Bye!

My eventful day

Hi there! I survived another day so I figured I would blog and tell you all about it. This is day two of our driving here and so far we are learning our way around the Lakenheath and Mildenhall areas. We had to take a driving test this morning and we passed!! I was happy about that at first and then I got to thinking that maybe it would be better if we couldn't drive. I think my plan will be to tell Gregg that it was all a mistake and we really did not pass. If I did this, I would never have to fear for my life again! I will have to let you know how that goes over. Anyways, we also went house hunting today. I am not being even A LITTLE bit funny when I say that the house we were offered on base was atrocious! It had pink carpet and pink walls (I am all for pink, just keep it off the floors and the walls). Gregg said it was disgusting and I said I could live with it. Now bear in mind, a woman needs to nest and my nesting needs to begin really soon or I am going to go crazy! BUT...GOOD NEWS! We found one we love love love:) We called the man who is renting it out and we have an appointment to look at it tomorrow. We went and took a sneak peak today and its absolutely adorable. Its a three bedroom, cute little brick house with a red door. I think it will be most perfect and I am ready to move in...like now. I think its funny because Gregg looked for hours and hours online for a house and printed off about thirty he wanted to go see while I looked for ten minutes, found the one I wanted and printed it off. I showed it to him and said that this was our new house (women just know these things) and he didn't believe me until he saw it. I will have to let you know how that goes tomorrow. Oh and there is one more amazing, beautiful and quite honestly wonderful thing about England...the currency! ITS ADORABLE:) This is a picture of ten pounds here and if you cant see clearly there is a silver, metallic strip down the side and there are some more decorations on the back. I think everyone should have money that looks like this. Well, that's all from me for tonight but I will be back tomorrow. We are supposed to take a trip to a nearby town called Bury St. Edmunds this weekend so that should be fun. Talk to you soon!

I ALMOST DIED!!!!!!!!

(You can tell I am not a dramatic person)

Well I just got back from the scariest and most dangerous drive of my entire life! We went and rented a car, and in doing so we signed a death certificate (not being dramatic at all). Gregg did okay for the most part until he decided to take the road that said we were going to London instead of to Mildenhall. I was crying and in a panic because I absolutely hate the road to London! Its the scariest road of my life. Anyways, he also forgot a couple of times that we should be on the left side of the road. I am glad that he gets to practice on a rental before my car comes over. I think that I will never drive over here. This was the freakiest day of my life and I am so glad to be alive after our scary and confusing drive. Pray for us both because we have a rental now! I have to go now! Bye! Talk to you later...maybe.

Boring Rubbish

Hello! The last couple of days have been pretty non eventful so I have not had anything to write about...and really I still don't have anything to write but I wanted to say hello anyway. Yesterday we were in a briefing ALL DAY long and then last night we had Bible study at church. They do Bible study on Tuesday nights here and we studied the book of Revelation. I have studied Revelation before in one of my Bible classes at church back home but I am pretty sure I left there more confused than when I came. Gregg and I decided that we are going to study Revelation on our own before next week so we know whats going on. Also, yesterday was Gregg's birthday and we had to be in a stupid briefing so we couldn't do anything for his birthday. He was really good about it though and we decided we would go to Bury St. Edmunds this weekend and look around the town as well as get something to eat (and get some new blog material to write about). OH AND GOOD NEWS...we get a rental car because the government is going to pay for it! YAY! I really didn't want to get one because I heard that they will try and charge you for every little nick and scratch...even if it was there before. It will be nice to have a car finally. We walk everywhere now and I think I have lost weight since we got here because I do nothing but walk.
Today Gregg had to go to work for a little while and I am going to go and get a job! I never thought a job would be so exciting but when you are bored out of your mind, anything is fun. Also, I cant really complain because I want to get a job at the Child Development Center which is exactly the kind of place I like to work at. Anyways, I know this is all boring rubbish (I am already picking up on their English words) but I thought you might like to know what we have been up to. I will have something more interesting to write about later this week. TA TA!

Fun day!

Today we visited the Mildenhall Church of Christ for the first time and absolutely loved it. We knew the church was sound before we came but the people were so kind and friendly. I met a girl my age whose husband is also in the air force and I foresee us being good friends. After church, the preacher took us to Ely, which is a city about 15 minutes from Mildenhall. This was a great little city to visit and definitely not a bad place to look around if you are ever in the area. Apparently the rule here is that the deciding factor of whether or not an area is a town or a city all depends on if there is a cathedral in the town. Since there is a cathedral in Ely it is considered a city...I thought that was funny because Ely is pretty small. So we looked around here for a while and I saw several Adorable coffee shops and tea houses! I will not post anything about them yet until I get a chance to make it back and try each of them. I loved walking down the brick streets in Ely and also in New Market which is another town we visited nearby. England is definitely growing on me since I saw all of the adorable things they have here...not to mention the really cool cathedral! Also, we are going to rent a car sometime this week and the preacher is going to give us driving lessons. We were told to rent from a place called Reliable Rentals. Apparently they are really cheap and easy to rent from so if you are a tourist coming to the area, look for cars that say "Reliable Rentals" on the front windshield. Oh and we went and looked at the housing on the Lakenheath AFB which is near the Mildenhall base and we found adorable housing there that I have fallen in love with. I must live there. I don't have much else to say for today but once I get pictures of the housing on Lakenheath I will post them. Also, we have heard that you can take day trips by bus to London (without the hassle of driving yourself) so we will be visiting London soon. We also heard that Wales is a good close place to visit on a weekend so we are thinking we might go there within the next month or so. Keep watching for updates and I will talk to ya'll soon:)

My getaway car...

I have found my getaway car! I love it! I think that if I am going to try and escape this place, I might as well do it in style. I haven't quite figured out how I am going to ask the nice lady if I can borrow her car but I know I will think of something. I also decided that this is the quintessential car to own in England. If I am going to like it here, I must have it. I felt a little more calm and serene when I saw this car. England is actually my favorite place on earth. I just decided that. We were in the parking lot to the on base grocery store when I first laid eyes on this beauty and in about 2 seconds I had Gregg running wildly back to the room to get our camera. I told him I had to wait there so that no one would take it. I did not take my eyes off of it until after I had snapped the pictures. I also heard a guy behind us laughing at me taking the pictures but I didn't care...after all, this is the first thing I have found in England that I actually like. Well that is all that I have to say for today but I plan on trying out a coffee shop that I found in Bury St. Edmunds tomorrow after church so I will have to let you know how it is! Bye for now!

Your world frightens and confuses me...

Okay...SO we arrived in London yesterday morning. I sort of despise this new strange land but let me start from the beginning. First, let me just say that the airport was extremely boring looking. Its white everywhere...no bright walls, no nice colors or pictures of any sort...just WHITE and dirty looking. So as you can see, I didn't have a great first impression. After getting our luggage, we proceeded to wander around for 15 minutes trying to find a phone to call the base and get transportation to our new home. We were informed that the next bus to Mildenhall would not be there for another 3 hours, and if you were me in that white, boring airport, would you have waited? Nope. So we went to get a taxi thinking it couldn't cost much...and we were wrong. After wandering around outside wondering if we should wave our hands in the air like they do in movies yelling "taxi", we decided to go up to one and knock on the window. After being assured that he was the cheapest taxi ride around, we got in and asked how much he charged to go to Mildenhall AFB. Can you believe that I was not even really shocked when he said 274 pounds which is close to 600 dollars?! I was so relieved that someone finally knew where we were going that I didn't even question the money. After we made it to the base, we had to take another taxi to an on base hotel and check in. Apparently no one knew we were coming because they didn't have any rooms ready when we got there so we ended up waiting for a while in the lobby. The lady who was the manager of the hotel looked at me as if she felt pity for me and asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. I thought that she was just being nice and since they are tea and coffee people here I figured there was no particular reason for the offer. Once back in our room, I looked in the mirror and realized that she offered me the coffee out of pure concern for my health. I looked awful. I felt like I hadn't slept in eight years. Now from the very beginning of our journey, starting at the airport, I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown. I just wanted to cry really hard and tap my feet together and go back home. Once we made it to the room, I fell apart crying and asked him if there was any way we could ask to go home. He told me no and I continued to cry until he told me to go and get a phone card to call home. I sniffled some more, wiped my tears and hurried to get the phone card. Once I called my mom I felt better because she told me once she moved to Denver, CO and freaked out also. I felt better. Now I knew that my freaking out was completely normal. I feel a little differently today but yesterday as you have heard, I absolutely hated it here. I wanted my old surroundings where everything was normal. I want normal still but I am coming to grips with the fact that I can't leave. I tried to escape last night but Gregg (my husband and the reason I had to come to this dreadful place) caught me...jk. I also found out today that he is on days and he is in a certain work field now where he shouldn't deploy. Well I will post again tomorrow and let you know how our house hunting goes.
P.S. I think a major reason why I feel better is because my mom suggested that I buy some shoes to make myself feel more at home. I agree. I should.

Patience my friends...

OKAY SO DONT FREAK OUT! I am still here and I am anxiously awaiting my new blogging career but I don't have anything to blog about as of yet. I could tell you all about my vacation in Minnesota but I won't. My mission is to tell you about England and my adventures. Keep checking for blog posts but they most likely won't start until I am in England on the 20th of May. BE Patient. I will have many interesting and wonderful wonderfuls to tell you about soon:)

Preparing to Move

My husband and I are leaving for England the 20th of May. We are visiting family before we leave and are relaxing a bit from all the craziness of the past month. There is a lot of work that goes into moving to a different country! We had all of our things moved out a few weeks ago and I saw all of my things packed up and shipped away, only being given a tentative date of when I will see my belongings again. We have no place set up to live yet and when we get there my car will not be over there yet. We went to Dallas the other day and shipped it. It wont be there until mid June...which means we will be doing a lot of walking and using the public transportation. Once there, I will bring my camera with me wherever I go so I will have plenty to blog and tell ya'll about! I cant wait to start experiencing my new life in England. Watch for new posts:)