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

Denzel Washington

I love this man. Not only is he the national spokes person for the orginization that i work for, he makes kick ass movies and last week he randomly visited the BACM Hospital in Texas (for injured soldiers) and wrote a check on the spot for the full amout of what it would cost to build an additional facility to house the families of the soldiers. How awesome is that! This man't heart is huge and I can not explain how much respect I have for him. If you have not see American Gangster, GO SEE IT! It will be worth the ten bucks and two and a half hours I promise!

WHO'S GOING TO SEE DANE COOK!?!?!

I AM!!!! AND I'M SO FRICKEN EXCITED!!!!!

A while back my roomie went to go see Mr. Cook for some HBO special and the network treated his fans like absolute crud. I wasn't able to go with her but she went and said it was a dissapointment but Dane promised to make it up to them. The man kept his promise! And that is why we LOVE him! So on December 9th 2007 my roomie and I will be at the Honda Center with $100 Premium Tickets to see Dane Cook!! The last time I saw him it was fricken awesome and I can't wait to see his new show!!

I'm so excited I can't contain myself!!!