Christmas makes me sleepy!

I am sooooo sleepy! And after not getting to bed till after 1am on both christmas day and boxing day (bank holiday on the day after xmas in the UK) one can see why I'm so tired! Christmas Day was lots of fun, we did the present exchange and had a christmas lunch, then later had a group of Matt's relatives come over. We ate some more and played party games till about midnight, one of which contained a cereal box, scissors and each person to be as flexible as they could be. The object of the game was to pick up the box from the floor with just your mouth, and you could not touch the floor with your hands or knees. So as the box got shorter and shorter people began to drop out, until it was matt's 54 year old aunt, his brother and myself. Matt's aunt lasted until the box was 2 inches in height and brad and I lasted with the last inch where he was unable to get to the box and I was. And just to make my victory even better, I had them cut off the last half an inch and proceeded to pick up what remained of the box. Needless to say we were all soar the next day! Boxing day was spent watching the local rugby team lose and visiting Matt's Dad side of the family. Matt's Dad is one of 6 and each brother has their own family with multiple children, so get-to-gethers are always a fun party (same goes for matt's mom's side, she's one of 7). So more food and games were had and the clock read 1:43 am when we got to bed!

I just want to sleep or rest and watch a movie for the rest of the day! I think a showing of the Dark Knight is in my immediate future!

City girl on a farm... e-i-e-i-o

Today at 5:00 A.M. Matt and I were up and getting ready to meet his dad at work. The reason we had to get up SO early is because his dad works on a Dairy Farm! He was already there when we arrived and had been so for a good hour. I've never been on a Dairy Farm before and at the moment this farm has about 200 cows only used for milking and 45 calves, two of which had been born just the night before! When we arrived Matt's Dad was mixing the milk for the calves to drink and about 6 cats came out looking for whatever was spilt on the floor. We spent 2 hours with his dad "feeding up" the calves with their milk, water and feed cake which looked like Oat Bran with rasins. The older ones drink their milk out of the bucket and they all Moo like crazy until they are fed, after which they go really quiet and it's time for a nap. The younger ones who have just been born have to drink their milk from a bucket which has a single udder on it to act like a mommy cow. Some of them don't really get what's going on and you have to stick your hand around their mouth and then guide them to it and show them what to do. So you end up with a really sloppy, drooly hand. And if you leave your hand in there they'll just continue sucking cause they thing your a mommy. It's one of the weirdest sensations I've ever come across. You're generally told NOT to stick your hands in animals mouths but since cows only have bottom teeth and cover the bottom ones with their tongues (which are like cat's tongues but more rough and hella long!) it obviously won't hurt, especially since they are only sucking on it, but I don't thing I ever would put my hand in the mouth of a grown cow, which are massive when you are standing right next to one.

Here are a couple of pictures from my morning at the farm.

Favorite calve #1



Favorite calve #1 and #2



Me in my farm regalia!

Here we come a caroling..

I've spent Christmas over here many a time before but really didn't notice the differences in celebration between the us and the the UK until now. Everyone celebrates the day of Christmas differently so I'm not really talking about that, I'm talking about the way society celebrates the season.

Holiday Movies: Right about now in the US I would be on Christmas movie overload. I'm sure that on TBS "A Christmas Story" is playing everyday and on Christmas day, the traditional 24 hour marathon of the same movie will be playing over and over. Christmas movies start the day after Thanksgiving in the states and don't stop till Christmas day. I love it! I love Christmas movies!! But in the UK the only christmas movie I've seen on tv so far is "Elf" and that was last Sunday. So far this holiday season "Elf" is the only Christmas film I've watched, and that's only cause I bought it 2 weeks ago. Apparently the movies I love so much will be on tv starting this weekend, cause all the kiddies get out of school for the holiday break on Friday. I feel gypped! Christmas makes me feel like a big kid and I want to sit around in my pj's and watch christmas films through out all of December! AND they don't even have "A Christmas Story" for sale in any of the shops and no one over here has EVER heard of it! Shameful!

Carolers: Twice this week there has been a knock at our door and upon opening the door we've had children singing Christmas Carols! They usually get into the first verse of whatever song they are singing and stop and then we are expected to give them change, which we do. Nothing really significant but if they go around to a good number of houses on multiple nights they'll be making some serious cash for a 10 year old. Usually in the states you might get carolers roaming around the streets but it's in a group and usually for some charitable cause like change for kids or canned goods for the homeless, not for personal gain. It is a bit weird.

Of job seeking and other stories

So I've been avoiding writing in my blog for well over a month. Why?? you ask... Well I would have hoped by now that I would have found a spot for myself in the job market! But no, this lovely recession is making it very hard for someone in the marketing/advertising sector to find a job. And all those economists who harp on businesses and tell them to cut their marketing budgets as a means to "cut costs" are really beginning to get on my last nerve! YOUR PUTTING ME OUT OF A JOB, and regardless any sound business person will tell you that cutting your marketing budget at a time like this is the last thing you should do! Sorry, rant over! Back to my update.

Since I last updated I've been doing my best to find a job and went on an interview with a recruiter about a month ago. She's been of little help and I think I've heard from her twice since then. I also had a meeting with an advertising firm a month ago and three weeks ago I had a 2nd interview... and have been waiting and waiting to hear back ever since. When I left the interview, i felt really good about it and was pleased with what I had accomplished. I had to literally claw my way into that company even for them to take a look at my portfolio, which they were impressed with, and I thought that SOMETHING would happen after that 2nd interview. But nothing. I sent an email last week and made a phone call yesterday to see what the status was, no answer. At this point it's really annoying. I got a degree in advertising because it was what I wanted to do and because it was something I was good at, even without my classes to make me enjoy it that little bit more. And now I'm left wondering if any of that will be put to use. Now I'm sure your wondering why I don't go to another firm, and the answer is, all the other Ad firms are in London and with a 4,000 pound train ticket (for the year) and 3.5 hours on a train commuting everyday, it just isn't an option. So I've been considering the option of working in the communications or fundraising sector of the local University or Hospital. Youth organizations don't exist in Southampton.

I just want to work! I've worked since I was 14 and since the age of 18 i worked 2 jobs and wend to school full time. It's in my nature to be busy and be a productive individual! And then there's the financial side of it. Ah money! something everyone is having an issue with at this time. I'm ok for the moment but that's now, not two months from now. And I don't want to claim off the government cause I just think it's the easy way out and the lazy way for people who don't want to work at all.

I do have to say that I am very lucky however to have Matt. He has been unbelievably supportive. I can't imagine being without someone like him at a time like this!

Life is good other than that! I'm really liking Southampton. Matt and I have taken day trips on the weekends to other cities, usually shopping in the high street (like an outdoor mall) and taking in any local sights we might find. I've also had the chance to meet a good majority of Matt's family. His cousin James and his Fiance Rachel, live 45 minutes away from us so we've gone to visit them a few times as well. In fact, last weekend we went to visit them and went to London on the train for the Frost Fair and another fair in Hyde Park. We had crapes and walked along the Themes River enjoying all the little booths. We then wondered around the SOHO district of London and I decided that even though I have been to London 3 or 4 times that I need to venture into more of the non touresty parts of London. AND we went to IKEA!! Those who know me know I love Ikea so when we went last Friday I was so excited. They were open till midnight and even better, Matt had never been, and he liked what he saw. So we're going to plan on moving into our own place when the one in Southampton opens this spring, silly but efficient!

I've finished all of my Christmas shopping and can't wait to spend the holidays in Devon with Matt and his family! We'll be there this Sunday through the 5th of Jan!

Hope everyone has a great holiday!!

Obama for the Win!

At 2:30 this morning I was awake and couldn't sleep! I needed to know what was going on at home. I turned on my computer and found that CNN had the electoral votes at 175 for Obama and 68 for McCain and Obama winning the popular vote, but with 270 electoral votes needed I wasn't about to stay up and nervously watch the numbers come in.

At 4:30 this morning I woke up again, sure that some preliminary results would be up. I waited for my computer to find a wireless signal so I could search the internet and hopefully see the result I has been waiting for. I was a little scared that McCain would be the winner and in the process of 2 hours he would have taken over in a come back... But he didn't! The results were 338 OBAMA and 160 for McCain. OBAMA WON?!?!?!?! I saw what was in front of me but needed more confirmation. Aim, Facebook, anything to get me a connection to anyone I knew in the states. Thankfully there were tons of people online, watching the history that was happening around us. With confirmation that Obama was indeed the President Elect, I felt so excited and SO glad that I voted before I left for the UK. To miss being a part of something so huge would have been shameful. Imagine telling my children or grandchildren that I didn't vote in the biggest election in US history! Yikes!

At 5:00 this morning I watched President Elect Barack Obama deliver his speech to the US and it was chilling. He just has a way about him that makes you want to stand up and do something, believe that there is good out there and that the president of the United States CAN be a good, stable and SMART person. He's so aware of what's going on, so real about the situation and not afraid to tell you exactly what's going on. That's why I voted for him and that's why he'll be good for our country. Change is GOOD you just have to embrace it!

"This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

- Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

In the Trees!

This past weekend was really fun! Matt and I went to Farnahm to spend the weekend with his cousin James, his girlfriend Rachel as well as his cousin Chris, his girlfriend Jo and a couple of James's friends. The reason for the trip up to Farnham was for James's birthday and to celebrate we went to one of the local outdoor activity centers and did this (http://www.goape.co.uk/). They have them all over the country and each one is different. So we spent the majority of the morning climbing through trees on high ropes courses and zip lines that were pretty high up. It was a lot of fun and I'd like to go to the one near Southampton in the New Forest. Saturday night was out for James's Birthday Dinner at a really nice and pretty authentic Italian restaurant. I've found that the Italian restaurants are very different than the American ones and what I'm used to. The sauces are sweeter, the meets are different and the fillings that go with the pastas are all very (what i would guess) authentic Italian. They even have Penne Arrabiata which I always thought was something Eddie Izzard made up for his Darth Vader joke, but it does actually exist haha!

Today we all slept in which was really nice and after getting over my little bit of a headache (too much wine me thinks!) we headed back to Southampton where Matt and I went to the Home Goods store that we have right next to our house to buy yet more stuff for our room. When my shoes arrived on Thursday they sat in their box because I had no where to put them, tragic! So today we bought a shelf unit to put all of my shoes and Matt's shoes on along with some other bits that we needed. Still can't wait to get our own place and fill the kitchen with everything we need!!

Random: I'm listening to BBC1 Radio and Kings of Leo's "Sex on Fire" is playing and I really enjoy the song :)

Update on my boxes! 2 have arrived and 2 should be on their way tomorrow. I didn't have to end up paying for anything because I filled out the forms and they realized that everything I was shipping was personal belongings. The other two boxes which i filled out the customs forms for on Wednesday were still floating around the airport on Friday. So I called and informed them of the problem and they said the other 2 boxes should be here tomorrow and I shouldn't have problems with paying or anything cause they have been cleared through customs.

Other than that things are good. I'll start looking for jobs this week and applying for them as well. Starting work over here is going to be really interesting.

:)

I stole this from Jackie!! Katology

*FOODOLOGY*

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Italian or Caesar from Panera!

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Bella Itallia in Southampton City Center (Have yet to find another fave)

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Pasta!!

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pepperoni and Italian Sausage

What do you like to put on your toast?
Strawberry jam


*TECHNOLOGY*

What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A picture of Greyback (one of the cats emi and I had in Cali)

How many televisions are in your house?
No idea... there are 6 bedrooms but not everyone has a TV in their room.

What color cell phone do you have?
Black... and it slides. I love it!


*BIOLOGY*

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Teeth

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Boxes of my stuff that arrived yesterday

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Yep. Jumped when coming down a set of stairs at my Mom's old house and hit my head on the landing of the stairs... knocked me out for a minute or so and hurt really bad!!


*BULLCRAPOLOGY*

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No I'm good on not knowing

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Something a little less common

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
Blah.. no thanks


*DUMBOLOGY*

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
2, one black and one brown

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
ummmmm. NEVER!

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Awesome! and an Account Executive for a major Advertising Firm

Last person you talked to?
The lady at the Post Office

Last person you hugged?
Matt, before he left for work this morning


FAVORITOLOGY*

Season?
Autumn

Holiday?
Christmas & New Years

Day of the week?
Saturday

Month?
September & December

*CURRENTOLOGY*

Missing someone?
All my friends from back home!!

Mood?
content

Listening to?
the TV

Watching?
"Should I Worry About..." hosted by Richard Hammond from Top Gear

Worrying about?
When my other boxes will arrive


*RANDOMOLOGY*

First place you went this morning?
Shirley High Street to go to the bank

What can you not wait to do?
The "Going Ape" high ropes and zip line Tomorrow with Matt's cousins!

What's the last movie you saw?
"Burn After Reading" an hour and a half of my life I won't get back!

Do you smile often?
yeah most of the time

I've been sitting at home today waiting for my boxes from the US to come via UPS. Around noon Matt calls me and says that the UPS office had contacted him asking that I fill out customs forms for my shipment. They email me the forms and I send them back. At this point I check the shipment of my boxes to see where they are. Two are at the Airport and 2 are in Southampton on route to being delivered... odd. At 3:00 the UPS man arrives with 2 of my boxes YEAH!!! Or so I thought! He tells me that he needs 125 pound (or $350) right then and there in order for him to physically give me my boxes. Having only a small amount of cash and no check on me he gives me the invoices and I call the office to sort it all out. He leaves with my boxes and says that he will be back tomorrow with my boxes after I sort everything else out with the UPS customs office.

The charges are for IMPORT TAX and DUTIES to be paid!!! ON MY OWN PERSONAL BELONGINGS!!!!! Something I shouldn't be paying for because non of what I sent is for resale. So now I'm wanting to know a)why I'm being charged and b) why two of my boxes were cleared without charges and why 2 were sent to my house with charges. I make the call and after speaking to about 5 different people who were Irish, English, and Italian I got someone who knew what to do. I explained to him that everything shipped were personal items and each box should have been treated the same and if someone would have told me I needed to fill out the form before I shipped them I would have.I understand paying for imports on items you wish to sell but shouldn't be charged for shipping photo albums and shoes which I'm keeping. So long story short I filled out all the forms for all of my boxes and they should come back tomorrow (hopefully).

I'm Here

Well, I'm here and so far so good!

I got in Friday afternoon about 12:30 and was greeted by Matt at the airport. From there we headed home where I unpacked ALL of my stuff in an hour and a half!! Thankfully Matt is awesome and cleared out some of his drawers and closet space for me :). Once unpacked we headed out to the City Center for dinner at an Italian restaurant which was good but not as good as the one that we went to before that was just on the other side of the city.

Saturday was spent grocery shopping and shopping for house stuff, how adult of us! Grocery shopping was interesting. Everyone must have been there and not only was it full of people shopping, it was also full of the store clerks restocking the shelves. So everyone is going every-which-way and there's me in the middle not knowing where anything is and what I'm exactly looking for... fun times! "House stuff" shopping was more fun. We just bought random things we needed but it was fun to look at everything else that we might by when we get out own place! Really excited for that. I always enjoy picking out furniture and things to decorate a room with, but now I have someone else to do that with which makes it even better.

Sunday, Matt and I went to one of the local pubs for drinks with Matt's cousin Abby and her boyfriend and some of their friends. It was Quiz Night, meaning that we all pay a pound and get to participate in a quiz with other teams at the pub. I've heard of them but never done one, so it was fun to actually participate in something that is very unique to English Culture.

Monday and today I've been finding my way around town since Matt is back to work. Yesterday I ventured on foot to the local High Street (shops and what not) where I set up my bank account and had a general look around. Then today I took the bus to the City Center (where we went for dinner the first night), went to the mall, people watched, bought a scarf thing... and then came home. Oh, also went to the job center and got some info about getting a job!

So things are going well and Matt and I are cooking dinner, well Matt is. I was helping but felt in the way and annoyed buy the lack of cooking supplies!! I miss my kitchen back home!! Between Emily, Jackie and I we had everything you could need to make anything you wanted. It will make getting all that stuff for our own place that much better!

4 days till take off!

With four days to go I've been saying my goodbyes to everyone and finishing up a what is left to do. I had my last day at work on friday and it was pretty much a regular work day, but when I left at the end of the day I made my rounds, said goodbye and turned in my keys. My bosses took me out for lunch and drinks (drinks after work!) which was pretty much a really good way to wrap things up with them. Both of them are two of the best bosses that you could ask for and I really enjoyed working with them and everyone else. Leaving work was bitter sweet and I think everything is going to be that way. It is sad that I'm leaving a place and people who I have grown to love but I don' really feel like I'm saying goodbye to everyone FOREVER... just until I come to visit again! And I'm so excited and happy for the new path I'm taking in life and to share it with everyone.

After leaving work on Friday I headed out for my "Going Away Party" with people from work and friends. Even though it was a party for saying goodbye to people I had such a great time! Everyone was chatting to one another and I made my rounds getting the chance to talk to everyone and say my goodbyes. We started at Heroes in Fullerton (the place where I met Matt and my favorite place for a casual night out) followed by Durty Nelly's (Irish Pub in Costa Mesa with Karaoke). It was an awesome night out and a really good way for me to see everyone as a group before I set off on Thursday.

Speaking of, I've started packing and think I have all my stuff packed. NOT looking forward to shipping all that stuff but it has to be done. The suitcases shouldn't be too much of a hassle (hopefully).

Well 4 more days to go!

a quick one

BIG SIGH!!!!!

I haven't updated in a while cause things have been major busy!! Work is busy because we have a big event on Saturday and Life is busy because.... well I'm moving 5,000 miles. My passport still isn't here so now I have a back up plan and have applied for a UK work visa just in case.

This is a really short update cause i've just been doing busy STUFF.

2 and a half weeks to go!

Long days that move quickly

This week marks 3 and a half weeks till I'll be on my way to the UK and it also begins the big final push at work for the big event we have in a week and half. So I'm at work more than normal this week and the days are long but I'm doing 5 things at once and following up on 8 different tasks so it makes the day go fast. They had 2nd interviews today for whoever is going to replace me. I wasn't part of round 2 but I was part of the first round of interviews and all the candidates were good, just some better than obviously. Whoever it is, I just hope they're trainable.

In more exciting news: I GET TO KEEP MY MACBOOK PRO! I have to pay my work for it but it's better than having to buy a new one and i like this one, even though it was my "work" computer I used it for everything.

My suitcases came today but I wasn't home so I'll hopefully get them tomorrow.

Other than that just feeling really tired from the long work days!!!

3 more weeks!!!!!

My Birthday and the Cops

So the 17th was my 25th Birthday and it was a pretty good one. I had to work but, eh, you can't win 'em all. While I was at work I got FLOWERS... more flowers. One from my work and one from Matt. Nothing brings more attention to someone than flowers and a big pink balloon. After work I headed out to BJ's with friends to celebrate. It was so much fun and I had a really great time with all of them. Emily even made me a banner! All in all it was a good birthday :)

Last night I went out on a ride along with our local PD. My sister is an LAPD cop and I've always wanted to do one just so you can understand a bit better the job that they do. And I got to do exactly that. With every stop we made from 6pm till 2am the officer I was with did his best to explain to me why they stopped someone, what the situation was, and what the next step would be. Here are some of the highlights:

Drunk Hobo:

Our first call is to a liquor store were we have a report of a homeless man drunk in public. Only wearing his 76ers basketball shorts and a wooden cross around his neck, the officers ask the man questions and we take him to the station because he has a warrant out for unpaid tickets. So the officer puts the drunk man in our car and we head back to the station. Along the way the man repeatedly tells the officer "I hate cops" and tells me "Your pretty" only to change his opinion 5 seconds later and tell me that I wasn't pretty at all. Nice guy!

The Man Who Whore Women's Panties:

We stop a man on a bike who said he was on his way home, or rather that's where he said he was going. He spoke very little english and the officers spoke very little spanish. So the officer pats him down and finds that the man had the top button of his pants undone and he's WEARING WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR!!!! We try and get his name and the reason as to why he's wearing women's panties but he doesn't understand. We log him in the system and the area in which he was in case he might be a "peeper" and it's good to have those people on file.

Meth Van

The next call later that night was for back up that one of the other officers had called us for. None of the cops have partners in the shift I was on, so they call another officer for backup once they feel it's needed. We pull up and the other officer already had two men in the back seat, they're gang members. Gang tattoos, shaved head and wearing gang attire (and in the dust on the window of their ghetto van was their gang letters... Classy). Every time we go to a call the officer told me I could come and stand next to them and listen to what was going on, unless he didn't feel it was safe, then I would stay next to the car and observe until he called me over. So on this one since the guys were already cuffed and in the car it was ok for me to come and look with them as they searched the van. The officer tells me to hold out my hand and he places what looks like a Chinese popper in my hand... But it's METH and he tells me "Just hang onto that for a sec". So now I'm holding METH in my hand and really trying not to drop it. They search the rest of the van (which was a wreck!) and find the meth pipe they had been smoking the drugs with and now we have our evidence. I give the officer back the meth and he takes them into be booked.


Pretty interesting night. The officers were really nice and the officer that I rode around with all night was really awesome. Just an average guy, who could be your worst enemy or the nicest guy depending on the call and the people who where involved. I didn't think they would let me be so involved with the calls, but obviously they were and I never thought that the night would have me holding meth in my hand for 20 minutes. I'm tired now but it was totally worth it.

One month and counting

Today is September 16th, a month from today I will be on a plain bound for London. And weirdly enough one day from tomorrow, September 17th (MY BIRTHDAY), I'll be in Southampton starting a new life that I am so excited for! But with all this excitement comes stress and I haven't been doing anything about it! Bad I know!!!! So after having a headache (ok maybe a small migraine) for the past two days and no relief from any medication; I went home from work early, had a really good chat with Matt and tried to relax for the rest of the evening. While doing so I read up on how to deal with some of my stress (yeah for the internet). I took a nice long shower (baths aren't my thing), had some fruit, watched one of my favorite shows with Emily, and wrote out what i needed to do for work and for moving to get it out of my brain and onto paper where I can see it. If i write it down, see that it's something that needs to get done I'll worry about it less and do it sooner, instead of thinking about it and letting those thoughts keeping me up at night. I also need to remember as each day that goes by I can only do so much and to take everything and everyday one at a time.

Speaking of, time for some sleep!!

(TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!)

Sorted...

My stuff that is. In my room sits 3 different piles of "stuff". Clothes to be donated to the Salvation Army, random stuff that I no longer want that is to be donated to the Salvation Army and lastly the 3 (soon to be 4, and one of which is shoes haha) boxes that will ship my personal belongings to the UK in the upcoming weeks. I'm trying not to make them so heavy and I think the 4th box will help with that. My room looks very empty but it feels really good to get that ALL sorted out. Only thing left to sort out is where to store my 3 boxes of stuff that I want to keep but don't want to take with me. Shipping is expensive and I'd like to avoid shipping unwanted boxes for the time being.

Glad to get that out of the way!

Time for sleep!

Running out of Time!!! My Schedule for the Next 5 Weeks!

Spent tonight out with some friends from school and realized I'm really running out if time to see people before I leave, and as far as tonight goes, I may not see some of those people before I leave because of how busy I will be and I may not get the opportunity. So I thought that I would post my schedule for all to see so that if you are free and I am free and we can get together just hit me up and we can get lunch, dinner, drinks, coffee, whatever!!! And there are lots of people to say goodbye to so hopefully I can make time for everyone :)

Weekdays: All pretty much the same, I work 9 till 6 and get an hour for lunch and then I'm free after work most nights. Osnly weekdays at the moment that are off the table at the 18th and 19th of Sept.

Wednesdays is girls night at the house and we watch Bones & Project Runway and have a little wine as well, so if that sounds good to you than you can come on over (girls only obviously lol)

This weekend I'm pretty open, I do have more sorting out of my "stuff" to do but no big plans.

Sept 19th & 20th I will be going up to the Camarillo area to say my goodbyes to the people up there. I'm leaving noonish on Saturday and coming home Sunday evening

Sept 26th-28th Spending the weekend with TERRI in Fullerton. We will probably be taking a trip to DTF Friday or Saturday night with the roomies so if you want to come along let me know :)

Oct 3rd & 4th: This is the day before and the day of our big event at work that I'm in charge of.... so needless to say no fun for me those days :(

OCTOBER 10TH!!!!! This is a FRIDAY NIGHT and I will be having my "Going Away" party that night. Don't know what all the plans are but it will involve a awesome night of karaoke at Dirty Nellies in Costa Mesa around 9:30 pm. We'll be reserving a group of tables so their will be room for lots of people. The place is really awesome even if you don't like karaoke. It's an Irish pub and it will be a fun night I PROMISE you that!! If you can make it let me know.

Oct 11th & 12th. Pretty open and my last "free" weekend.

After that I'll be free to hang out until the 14th. I'll need all day on the 15th to pack and get organizes cause I will be leaving the next day!

So there you have it, my busy and ever growing schedule. If you want to get together before I leave let me know. If I don't call you to hang out PLEASE don't be offended there are just lots of people to see and it's best if you tell me when you are free and we can get together :) Email me if you do: carter.kat@gmail.com

my little silver car!

Just posted my car for sale on craigslist (search 2004 scion and you should find it). I'm so sad to have to sell my car. I know it's for something better, but I love my car! It was my first, and only, car. It took me to the beach on hot summer days when I still lived in Camarillo and it took me off to College (and back) 3 TIMES, each time with more and more stuff in it. It even left me with a nice little scar on the top of my head from the first time I moved into the dorms at CSUF. Talk about an excellent way to make a first impression!

Anyways, It's a good little car and I will miss it!

I've already had someone call me and I'm sure I'll get more calls in the upcoming days once I put the "For Sale" signs in the windows of the car. The person who called first was really weird though... don't want some weird/strange person to have my car... We'll see what happens!

runnin around

So this weekends been errand running and clearing out stuff in my room. I got my international driving license, which wasn't as hard to get as I thought. Just filling out paper work and taking a photo, and then it was done and I already have it, no waiting for it in the mail... unlike other documents I need. LIKE MY PASSPORT! Never go to CVS to get your passport photos done. They don't know what the requirements are and just take pictures without anything that tells them what they should look like to be accepted by the passport office. On Saturday my paper work got sent back to me and now I have to send it again. I have 5 and a half weeks left and it takes 4 weeks to get my passport... that makes me worry just a bit. Time is on my side though, hopefully it will all be okay!!!

In the clearing out department of my journey, I've taken lots of old clothes out of my drawers and closet tonight. Anything that i haven't worn in the past 6 months, and clothes that aren't "seasonal" got tossed in the donations bag, same went for shoes... that made me a little sad. But now that I feel like I have no clothes I really have to resist the urge to buy more clothes (or shoes), and If I do they HAVE to be; proper shoes for everyday wearing and walking (that means no Vans or Chucks), warm clothes cause it will be coming up on winter when I arrive in the UK, and a suit for interviews.

I apologize to matt now for the amount of clothes and shoes that will be coming with me BUT it could have been much worse!

I'm realizing that I have little to no time now and things have to get done NOW. No more time to put things off or "wait till later" just looking at a calendar make me SO nervous! I think I'll post my car for sale tomorrow.

Up, Up and Away!

Well soon anyways!!! I bought my plane ticket today, and now I can check that off of my "to-do" list! I'll be taking a non-stop flight from LAX at 6 pm on the 16th of October and arriving at LHR (London Heathrow) at 12:25 pm the next day. So that put an exciting start to my day... but so did these!



Today is Matt and mine's 1st anniversary! I got these while I was at work today and it put a very big smile on my face!! I can't believe it's been a year! Who would have thought, a year ago today, I would be buying a plane ticket and getting ready to make the move to the UK?? Life's very unpredictable sometimes, but when it works in your favor there's nothing wrong with that!

Listing the room for rent

Just listed the room for rent on Craigslist. If you or anyone you know might be interested than let me know :)

Here is the link!!!

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/roo/826389748.html

Ta!

Impatient!

UGH! I just want it to be Friday so I can buy stuff that I need!!! I'm a really impulsive person so when i think of something that needs to be done or want to do, I usually want to do it right then and there... but all the things I want or need to do cost money, which i won't have till Friday. There are other things that I could do like cleaning out my closet, getting rid of "stuff" and cleaning out my room... But none of that is fun so I'll put that off till later HAHA, like this weekend.

And all of my things on my "to-do" list are keeping up at night so it will be beneficial to my sleep pattern to get some of it done!

The word is pretty much out now and more and more people are hearing my news and giving me lots of support.

So far so GOOD!

Time is already flying!

With a month and 16 days to go I'm realizing even more just how much stuff I have to do!! But... having the personality that I do a "To-Do" list is now firmly posted on my wall. It's pretty long at the moment and I'm sure I'll add more too it as I get more and more ready to leave but it will feel VERY good to cross things off as they get done! Hopefully next weekend I can get started on some of those things...

One month and 16 days to go...

Kat

So here we go...

About a year ago I wrote about a boy that I had met... and a year later I'm still writing about him! A year has gone by and we've managed to keep our (amazing) relationship going. A little background for those of you who may be scratching your head at the moment...

We met... While he was backpacking in the US and had been backpacking around other places in the world for the past 9 or so months. He went on a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon with my roommates friends and when he was done there, came to stay in the OC with the friends he had met on the river. We all went out one night and he seemed like just another guy, but he looked at me, smiled and we began to talk. Looks can be deceiving, he wasn't another Southern Cali surfer, he was English! Instantly we had a connection and we talked most of that night. We had the obligatory "we should swap information" conversation, but didn't and the night ended. He was from England, how could that work?? But it did. The following weekend he got my number, invited me to a friends BBQ and we talked even more, that time I made sure to give him my information. This all happened around September 1, 2007 and he didn't leave the OC till the end of that month. I know I sound like a Nicholas Sparks book but it was amazing how we clicked. We went to the movies, dinner, celebrated my birthday and became more than just a "fling". It worked, we liked it and we wanted to keep it that way, so we did.

Since then... we've been doing the long distance relationship thing, but it just works and yes it's been hard at times but... it just works! We communicate and understand each other so well it's odd but SO good! He makes me a better person and I think it's safe to say I do the same. We match, simple as that.

Now this whole time hasn't been spent apart, when he left the OC at the end of September of 2007 we kept in contact through phone and email ALL THE TIME. We talked on the phone and emailed about everything and anything, asking each other the typical "get to know you" questions and more serious questions like "where do you see yourself in 5 years?". My gmail is ful of our email conversations! When Christmas and New Years rolled around we took a trip to New York and this was the true test. Would it be the same? And as we had thought, NOTHING in our relationship changed! And that was a good thing! We were still ourselves around each other and nothing was awkward, it felt the way it should when you want to be with someone, no matter what obstacles stand in your way. From there we never left one place with out a plan for the future. In April of 2008 he came back to Southern Cali for two weeks which included a trip to Hawaii for a friend's wedding, in June I went to England and spent 10 days where i was introduced to his family, who I grew to love very quickly, and earlier this month he was here for 10 days were we went to another wedding, Disneyland, and rafting on the Kern River.

So who's going where next?? I'm going back to England... But it will be different this time, I won't be returning to Southern California, I'm moving there!!! Big step? Yes. Am I sure? Yes. But when you know what you need to do, you know and both my head and my heart tell me that THAT'S the right decision for us. We're both excited as the other and even more so now as everyone knows, and if they don't than they will soon. I had decided not to tell work till TODAY, so things were a bit on the low key side but now they know and we can be as excited as we want to be. I won't be leaving till the 16th of October because of obligations i have with work and my two wonderful roomies! I've had an overwhelming amount of support for my decision and I'm very thankful for that, and know that when it comes time to leave it will be sad, but I'm doing what's right for me and for Matt :)

So that's my news. I'm going to keep writing in here so that if you read this and we are friends or family you'll have an update on what I'm doing and you can leave me a comment or a note if you feel the need to! Please do, just cause I'm moving doesn't mean things end, they just begin somewhere new.

Kat

Me and Matt at Disneyland in August of 2008