One Year On

The Friday before Thanksgiving our family celebrated one year in London.  Acknowledgment of the milestone occurred only after friends asked when it was that we moved to London.  Matt and I looked at each other and made the realization that it was that very day we left The 407 for The Manor.  We attributed almost forgetting the anniversary to having made a comfortable and settled life in our little London borough.  

That's not to say a lot did not happen in the previous 365 days:

First off, we left our life in America - family, friends, jobs and locations that are very special to us.  Sadly, we experienced the passing of family members on both sides of our family, and we are still not over the pain of the losses.  The upcoming holidays will be another opportunity for the family to heal together.  

Our kids love, love, love school.  The kids have an impressive menu of extra curricular opportunities during and after the school day.  Oldest Kiddo had chess, French, and clarinet lessons during the day.  Both kids had the choice of football (British for soccer), basketball, martial arts, street dance, net ball, French & Spanish lessons, and gymnastics to name just a few.  We've put in Oldest Kiddo's application for secondary school <sniff, sniff>.  We will find out in March if she got a place in our first choice school.  

Youngest Kiddo can't get enough football.  He turns every gosh darn thing he can into a football.  Pillows, stuffed animals, and clothes for the laundry bin are all fair game for a fast dribbling drill.  

Both kids have an accent!  Oldest Kiddo speaks with a full British accent at school and with her friends.  She switches back to 'Merican when she gets home.  We laughed when an adult at school learned that she had not lived in England her whole life as her accent is spot on.  Someone even called it a posh accent.  Youngest Kiddo comes by it unknowingly.  He is around kids that speak with it all day so it's no surprise that I'm sometimes referred to as Mummy.  

We  actually spend more time together as a family and a couple.  Matt and I usually have lunch once a week, and his travel has decreased significantly.  In the last year he's been away from home overnight for about 10 nights.  Back in America it felt like he was only home ten days a month!

The family in Lisbon & Amsterdam

Speaking of family togetherness, our expat family traveled quite a bit as well!  Matt and I had the chance to go to Munich and Stockholm during my mom's visits.  The four of us spent time in Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Barcelona.  I've been to Paris twice in the last two months - once with my mom and a second time with two friends from school.  

Of course, we learned more and more about the great city in which we live.  I swear that the kids could actually navigate the Underground on their own.  Don't worry family, that's not going to happen.  However, if you ask them how to get somewhere like Trafalgar Square or The London Eye, I am sure they could tell you the best route to take.  

Same location, different year.  Both kids look older and Matt and I look younger :)

Stay tuned for more expat adventures in 2015!

Mates

I recently read this blog article on To The Days Like This, and she summed up how my feelings perfectly.  

I miss my work friends....
We were in the trenches together every day.  We celebrated successes we achieved with students.  Some days, we banged our heads into the wall when the educational bureaucracy seeped its way into our jobs.  I was a part of a great team.  I had a certain hole in my days at the end of August when I was not setting up a classroom and catching up with my colleagues.  In April I had the distinct pleasure of flying home to attend the wedding of a former colleague.  I am so happy that an ocean did not keep me from celebrating this occasion with her.  

I miss my neighborhood friends....
Obviously life goes on near The 407.  They shoveled a lot of snow last winter.  The neighborhood kids played during the summer.  They had their first day of school pictures on the porch.  Recently, we saw the photos from this year's JDRF charity walk.  We loving joined each year to support our neighbor and thought about them as we walked the city on that day.
  

My neighbor (hi!) sent me this photo the other night with the caption, "come home."  

I'm happy to think that seeing these annual treats at the market reminds our friends of us.  Especially since, I was obsessed and posted many of these in the last two years.  

I miss my college friends....
Our group of college friends have been together for almost 20 years.  In that time we have experienced most of our adult milestones together.  There were weddings, babies born, deaths of loved ones, health struggles, job frustrations, and job successes.  Heck, I was in the delivery room when one of their kiddos was born.

Geographically we did not live close, but when we got together it was magical.  Our talks spanned from kids, to jobs, to family drama (no one ever has that), and many many laughs.  

Yes we text regularly, and the messages bring me the biggest joy.  I especially love to wake up to a text (or stream of texts) in the morning.  I hope they feel the same way when they wake up six hours later to the my responses.

   

They stop by The 407 to make sure she is doing OK.  I sure hope it spurs conversation among the neighbors as to who the heck is taking pictures out front.  

Finally, when we've taken trips back to the US, we find a way to be together.  When Matt was back in the states a few weeks ago a group event was not possible.  However, he got to have apple cider donuts at the apple orchard with one family and dinner with the other.    

We so look forward to our next trip home to see as many friends as we can.  I know it will feel like no time has passed when we see them.  We will easily pick up on conversations that started months ago, and make new memories to last us until we see them again.  I hope!

Good Bye 407

The 407

Homestead

La casa

Our cottage

Matt and I moved into our home in May 2001.  It was our first house, and it was the perfect house for us.  A traditional 1950's ranch with some value-added benefits.  It came with a finished basement, a 3-season room, and an updated kitchen.  Many events, happy and sad, happened here.  Thankfully many more happy than sad.  Check out these photos circa 2001

We were just babies when we bought this place.  Married barely a year and ready to start life as adults.  It had way more room than we needed but over the years that changed.

We brought our two kids home here; they know no other house or neighborhood or neighbors.  We have the unofficial neighborhood watch neighbor; he knows what's going on and keeps an eye on everything for us.  We are surrounded by families with young children.  Everyone is close in age and easily play together.

We learned a lot about life.  Life's successes and frustrations, budgeting for the big things, summer nights on the patio with friends, and quiet nights at home with a movie taught us the pros and cons of being an adult.

We painted rooms together and soon determined that was not a good idea.  It's a miracle we are both still alive and will never do that together again.  In fact, it was a beautiful thing to call Pete the Painter and have him take care of it.  We learned a lot along the way.

We embarked upon many projects at The 407

- extending the patio for more livable space

- returned the house back to its original 3 bedroom glory from the 2 bedroom it was at the time of purchase

- refinished the existing and added additional hardwood floors in the living room & bedrooms

- raised two great kids

- made life-long memories with family & friends

I'd totally buy my house again.  Especially with pictures like this.



We cried when the house was empty and every noise echoed.

Going through all of the hoops for an international move reminded us that home is really where you are with the ones you love, whether or not they are related to you.  We are so excited to make a new home in England with our current loved ones and the ones we are yet to meet.  

The Last ......

....trip to Target.  I am not sure of one place where I can shop in England to get shampoo, a patio set, some socks, and 75 other things I didn't know I needed.  Maybe that's a blessing for the pocketbook.  On our last trip we bought Mint M&Ms, socks for Youngest Kiddo, hair elastics, and a few loofahs.

I used to work at this Target :)

....lunch at Beef-a-Roo.  This is a Big Bad Rockford thing but completely worth the drive for cheddar fries.  The Andes mint at the end isn't half bad either.

....trip in our cars.  The dealer bought our cars from us, and we drove a rental for the last few days.  We even took a spin through the dealer's lot a mid-week to see if they were still there.  We think my car was in the service bay being checked out.  The next owners will love them just as much as us.  

....day at school for the kids.  They love school (despite the look on Youngest Kiddo's face), and we hope their love for learning crosses the ocean with them.  Their teachers shared touching and emotional stories about how much they enjoy working with our kids.  Hearing those things assured us that we have two great kids.

....dinner party with friends.  We had the sleep over of all sleepovers with six kids and six adults.  I never thought I could fit twelve people in The 407, but it was a piece of cake.  Lots of laughs and a lot of tears.  

....visits with family.  There were a lot of tears and never enough hugs.  It feels like we've been leaving for a long time as we said good bye to some of our family members and friends over a week ago.  We were blessed to say good byes to neighbors over the last few days.

....load of laundry - oh never mind, that will never happen, but I had to do one more load before the washer & dryer situation gets dicey.  

....hot dogs at Portillo's.  Youngest Kiddo requested this last stop.  We are not sure if anything in England will match their Vienna Beef hot dogs.  We'll just add Portillo's to the must do list when we visit home.

....trip to Goodwill.  The move has made us realize what we really need in life.  We sure accumulated some unnecessary things over the years.  At least those things will go to someone who can use them.

....photo of us at The 407.  We have a photo somewhere of Matt and I in this spot on the day we moved in taken by my college roommate.  Of course that was before digital cameras so it's an actual photo.  Good bye house, be good to the new owners.  

Heading Out

Our bags are packed, the house is packed, and we're just waiting for our flight.

Can you find Oldest Kiddo's chair?

We'll see you when we get settled into some sort of accommodations.  As of tonight, we are still not sure if we got the house we want.  Lots of meditation breathing to come!

Stay tuned!

Selling the House Part 2

The last time we talked, I had just shared with the neighbors that we were moving.

Now it was time to blow the doors off this and share the news with work and social media.

I started with my team and then the staff.  It was a relief to share, but the sharing made this move real.  Their reactions were the same as we've observed from others.  However, the logistical questions started flying my way.  When am I leaving?  Who will take my position?  Do the students know?  I could not answer many of the questions because I have no idea.  We are selling the house to get in before the traditional slump around the holidays.  Who knows how long it will really take to sell.  We might be doing things out of order, but at this time we think we're doing the right thing.

The realtor did not waste any time putting the sign in the yard.  It was there when I came home at lunch on Friday, but it was not online because interior pictures had not been taken.  The realtor felt having the sign would start to create some interest.

The appliance delivery men arrived right on time, and we spent a few hours together on a lovely Friday.  I asked my in-laws to come in on this day for some support.  I knew the old almond refrigerator fit in the space with not a millimeter to spare.  While we measured the new fridge at the store and checked the measurements online, I wanted my father-in-law there just in case some emergency modifications of cabinetry was necessary.  Thankfully, we were able to spend the afternoon chatting and observing instead of hacking up the cabinets.

Sure hope the new owners love the appliances.  The boy isn't included.

Apparently if you have an eat-in kitchen your house sells better.  Both realtors told us that we had one.  Now, I'm not sure what kitchen they were looking at, but my kitchen is not an eat in kitchen.  The professional opinion was to put a small bistro-style table in the kitchen.  OK boss.

Youngest Kiddo helped

I guess there's an eat-in space

Fresh flowers make a house sell faster

Stay tuned for Part 3 when it gets really interesting.