So I needed a project...

365/365

2009-04-12T01:13:00.000-07:00

Bye bye America and single life!

My new 365 project is here

364/365

2009-04-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

Next to last post!!! How fitting that we spent part our last full day in the US at Bass Pro Shop. It was...interesting. Lots of camouflage!

363/365

2009-04-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Arlington National Cemetery

362/365

2009-04-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

We took Wes's family to the National Zoo in DC.

361/365

2009-04-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

Watching Liverpool at James Joyce Pub in Baltimore.

360/365

2009-04-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

Still eating our delicious cake! It was raspberry cream and there were chocolate bits in the cake. The design for the flowers were taken off of our invitations. Each guest had a cupcake with one of the flowers on it.

359/365

2009-04-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Wes and I got a telegram from some friends in Exeter. We didn't know you could even send a telegram anymore!

358/365

2009-04-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

The morning after.

357/365

2009-04-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

My incredibly handsome nephew was the ringbearer!

356/365

2009-04-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

Eek! It's official now!

355/365

2009-04-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

Rehearsal dinner! I wore a blue dress in honor of my grandparents. My grandma wore a dress this color when she and Pappy were married 72 years ago. Pappy came and picked her up in the pickup truck and took her to get married!

*I tried to take a picture using the timer, but my battery was about to die and wouldn't let the LCD screen to be open. I had to ask my mom to take the picture instead. Sorry!

354/365

2009-04-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

My beloved Obie died during the night. He was my best friend for 14 years. :(

353/365

2009-03-31T06:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry...I had such a crap day today that I never took a picture.

352/365

2009-03-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

Wes had never tried birch beer before, so we picked some up for him! He liked it!

351/365

2009-03-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, Panera is the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!

350/365

2009-03-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Wes is here!

349/365

2009-03-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

I hung out with Evan today. He's polishing off my ice cream cone after eating his donuts!

348/365

2009-03-26T17:40:00.001-07:00

I was invited to hear my cousin record a duet with her teacher tonight. She's using it for a school project. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so here she is after the fact posing with the CD and the piece they recorded. It was awesome!

347/365

2009-03-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

So, I went to get my eyebrows waxed today and since my usual girl is in Baltimore, I had to go to someone else. The wax was a teensy bit hot and it burned my eyelids. Ouch. I'm just glad I did it this week and not next week!

346/365

2009-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Dress Vault.

We needed a place to hang my dress outside of the garment bag so that some of the wrinkles will, hopefully, fall out. Since Wes is coming on Saturday it had to be some place he wouldn't see it. Bingo!

345/365

2009-03-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Red, white, and sparkling!

344/365

2009-03-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Back up plan. I have a useless cookie stamp that's free to a good home!

343/365

2009-03-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

C'mon trees!!!

342/365

2009-03-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Jana is modeling one of the cookies that Kristen made for the pre-wedding girliness.

341/365

2009-03-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

My parents have been having problems with birds doing their business on their back deck. I said, 'Too bad you can't get a scarecrow or something'. The lightbulb goes off in my mom's head as she remembers they have a plastic owl in the garage. Lord knows why! Anyway, so far it's doing the trick!

340/365

2009-03-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, huh. If anyone needs directions to the 'House of Foam', just let me know.

339/365

2009-03-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Nothing says 'Happy St. Patrick's Day' like shamrock-shaped finger jello!

338/365

2009-03-16T14:37:00.001-07:00

My sister's cat, Max. He's really cute, has beautiful teal eyes, and likes to have his picture taken! This is a huge change from my two divas!

337/365

2009-03-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Lancaster County, PA.

336/365

2009-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dad is making trees for his train layout. Once he has more of it finished, I'll post a picture of it.

335/365

2009-03-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

Thank God for crafty people! (The background paper is actually navy blue, not black,)

334/365

2009-03-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

This is my cousin's new puppy, Buddy. He's so cute!!!

333/365

2009-03-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

My plate idea is looking good! Thank goodness I have a crafty sister! Although, I should point out the dots are all me!

332/365

2009-03-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

We went to the florist today who is located just outside of Boiling Springs. It's even prettier when it's green!

331/365

2009-03-09T16:33:00.001-07:00

Wes and I are going to use the cake knife my parents used at their wedding 40 years ago. It's not as yellow as this picture looks. The handle is actually white.

330/365

2009-03-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

The daffodils are literally erupting through the tan bark!

329/365

2009-03-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

Evan trying on the kicky glasses my aunt brought to my wedding shower!

328/365

2009-03-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

Everything is so brown.

327/365

2009-03-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

Mom's spaghetti and meatballs! YUM!!!

326/365

2009-03-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

My mom was intrigued that I could look at the LCD screen by flipping it around when taking a picture of myself.

325/365

2009-03-03T05:31:00.000-08:00

As soon as I move out of the house, my parents get central air conditioning. Growing up I never had a TV in my room. I come back and there's a TV in my room...with a VCR no less! Huh.

324/365

2009-03-02T05:28:00.000-08:00

Wes's work colleagues gave us a really nice bottle of champagne the week I arrived in Dublin. We decided to save it until my last evening in Dublin before leaving for the US.

323/365

2009-03-01T10:33:00.001-08:00

We picked up our wedding bands this weekend!

322/365

2009-02-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry, Wes took this picture of me so this one is a cheat. He was laughing at my short legs and my big slippers. I guess I could have at least combed my hair before he took the picture!

321/365

2009-02-27T04:47:00.000-08:00

We went out for dinner and took this crap picture of ourselves on the way home. It was too cold to stand there and perfect the shot!

320/365

2009-02-26T05:47:00.000-08:00

Today was boring.

319/365

2009-02-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

I have mad stacking skilz. Wes is incredibly inferior to me in this bit o' talent.

318/365

2009-02-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the poor quality of the picture. Both cats were sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Wes. Obie started to get frisky (as he frequently will) and Little Kitty turned around, took a swipe at him, and jumped off. The grey stuff by his mouth is a huge tuft of Little Kitty's hair! Seems he deserved the swipe!

317/365

2009-02-23T06:00:00.001-08:00

I walked down to the Docklands today.

316/365

2009-02-22T13:31:00.001-08:00

Wes was cutting the roast chicken and Obie was very interested!

315/365

2009-02-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

Finally hung the Baltimore pictures! This wasn't the original location, but after two bent nails we finally came to the conclusion that the preferred wall is concrete.

314/365

2009-02-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

This is the front of our flat. The door opens into a communal hallway of about 5 flats. The two windows on the ground floor are ours. The one set back from the road is the bedroom. Our building is a bit strange because it's actually a modern apartment building except for our portion which is an original Georgian building. This means we have really high ceilings, which is nice.

313/365

2009-02-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

I got Wes the first season of The Wire for his birthday last year so that he could learn about the lovely Baltimore. I had never seen the show, but I used to drive through areas where they were filming and such. I'm am totally addicted and just finished the first season today. To put this in perspective, that's 13 one hour episodes and I finished it in three days. Yeah, I have a problem. Fortunately, Wes bought himself season 2 so I can continue to feed the addiction! Watching this show makes me simultaneously homesick and terrified of my hometown. I will never look at someone on a payphone in the same way.

312/365

2009-02-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

This is the view out our front window. It's not great, but at least I'm kept current on the various shows in Dublin!

311/365

2009-02-17T08:29:00.001-08:00

The weather was gorgeous today so I went for a walk which included Phoenix Park.

310/365

2009-02-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Little Kitty is finally using the Schnug! Sorry....it was a boring day. My shipment of stuff from the UK was supposed to arrive and it didn't. Now they're saying it will be here tomorrow.

309/365

2009-02-15T01:15:00.000-08:00

We finally hung the curtains!!! Yay!!! It became necessary when a woman saw me sitting on my couch and knocked on the window to let her in. I did let her in and she explained to me in Polish how she was somehow affiliated with the flat upstairs. Sure. Whatever. Just don't knock on my window anymore!

308/365

2009-02-14T01:09:00.000-08:00

My Valentine's Day started with a 3 mile walk to the starting line in Phoenix Park for Wes' 10k. I was lured by the promise of a nice coffee shop just outside the park. Well, it turned out that the coffee shop was further than expected and since it would only take him about 40 minutes to run, it wasn't worth me going. So I stood in the cold for an hour waiting for him to finish this run. This picture was taken early on. He's the only one in the picture with running tights. He passed me again around the 9k mark and I almost yelled to him, 'Hurry up! I'm cold!', but I thought that might seem insensitive. He did get a new personal best, so he was happy with the result!

307/365

2009-02-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

This is the building where Wes works. Stupid truck with its stupid ladder was in front of the door. I was over on that side of the river, so I decided to stop in with the hopes of getting him out the door early on a Friday. Didn't work!

306/365

2009-02-12T10:46:00.000-08:00

I figured I should take a picture outside so people think I actually leave the flat. This is the tower at the Old Jameson Distillery. It's in my new 'hood! Oh, and behind me?? The shop that sells the provolone! Today was spent wandering aimlessly for a dodgy phone unlocking shop. I thought I had success, but no luck. I think I have it figured out and tomorrow is going to be the day! You watch! Note to all who read this...don't buy a Motorola phone.

305/365

2009-02-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

You can take the girl out of England, but you can't take England out of the girl! These are actually the best ever because that's my mom's homemade strawberry jelly on there!

304/365

2009-02-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

These curtains in our new flat are hideous. I've bought a lovely new pair (they're in the package to the right of the coffee table), but well, the window is a little high! I hope Wes will be able to reach!

303/365

2009-02-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

Obie is in the Shnug! Obie is in the Shnug!

PS - Little Kitty still hasn't given it a go.

302/365

2009-02-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

The new cat bed we bought today. I think we just really liked the name!

301/365

2009-02-07T09:16:00.000-08:00

Not sure which Dublin discovery made me happier - actually it was probably the cheese - but I took a picture of both. In my excitement I seem to have cut off the 'Pepperidge Farm' part of the cookie bag! My ham sandwich with melted provolone was super tasty!

300/365

2009-02-06T09:12:00.001-08:00

Today was supposed to be my last day at work, but the stupid snow stopped all buses going to Bristol. I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to my friends. :-(

299/365

2009-02-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me! My lovely coworkers gave me gifts and a card. Sam made me one of his sock puppets. She's a super hero and I've named her Jane.

298/300

2009-02-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Waiting at the bus stop at about 10:30pm. It looked so pretty coming down!

297/365

2009-02-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

Met Anna and Myrto for drinks!

296/365

2009-02-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

It finally snowed in Bath!

295/365

2009-02-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

Brilliant!!! Here we go Steelers!!!

294/365

2009-01-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

This is my last weekend in Bath. I probably won't see it at all after this Sunday because I'll be working all week and leaving early Saturday morning. After my last pilates class, I had lunch at one of my favorite places, then just wandered around a bit. This is my favorite spot in Bath - standing on the Parade Bridge looking towards the Pultney Bridge - and I couldn't leave without visiting it again. It's best at night when it is lit up. The view has actually taken my breath away. This is a picture I took back in the fall and I plan on printing and framing it when I get to Dublin. Fortunately we have friends here and will be back to visit!

293/365

2009-01-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

My housemates are off on a ski trip early tomorrow morning, so today was my last chance to see them before I move next weekend!

292/365

2009-01-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Why are the belts that come with jeans/pants always so ugly?? This one looks like a whip and is actually a bronze color. Hideous.

291/365

2009-01-28T13:40:00.000-08:00

The pictures of Baltimore are packed and gone. I hope they make it okay! My blanket is gone too, so sleeping will be a bit difficult until we're reunited!

290/365

2009-01-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here is Obie sleeping in his favorite spot - under the bed. I can often hear him snoring below me. Our bed in Dublin doesn't have this storage space and the cats are going to be very disappointed!

289/365

2009-01-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

I just realized today that I need to pack these boxes soon because they'll need picked up. Oops!!!

288/365

2009-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

I bought Wes some secret message cuff links as an engagement/wedding present and surprised him with them this weekend. I was so pleased with how they turned out!

287/365

2009-01-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

Wes and I had some very good friends over for dinner on Saturday. Stef is a long time family friend who I hadn't seen for oh, 12 years or so before I moved to England. Then one day my mom was talking to her mom about my moving to England and we found out that Stef was living about 5 miles from me. It's been awesome having her here because it does feel like I have family close by. Unfortunately her husband wasn't able to make it. Becky was my first American friend in Bath. We met on UK-Yankee before we both moved and when I got here we met at Starbucks for a coffee and well, the rest is history! And her husband, Sean? Well, he's Scottish, loves American football, and makes beer-butt chicken on the grill. Pete was Wes's housemate when he lived in Sheffield. Pete and his lovely girlfriend, Jen, moved to Bath this year as Pete was starting a PhD at the uni. They kept my cats for 2 weeks this summer. I am forever indebted to them for that one!

The worst thing about moving is leaving your friends. :(

I had to cheat on this one so everyone would be in the pictures! I also didn't take them. So it's an ubercheat!

286/365

2009-01-23T13:27:00.000-08:00

Little Kitty was very excited about her new bed.

285/365

2009-01-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

I found out today that my Pappy Furry died yesterday evening. He was 92. Here is a picture of my immediate family, with my Grandma and Pappy Furry, back in 2005.

284/365

2009-01-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

Kitty nose!

283/365

2009-01-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

I painted my nails today while waiting for the stupid UPS man. I never paint my nails anymore because they get ruined when I wash the dishes. Yes, I know I can wear gloves, but I don't like to. Hence my wrinkly, old hands. Hey, there's my engagement ring again! How did that pesky thing end up in the picture?? ;-)

282/365

2009-01-19T15:08:00.001-08:00

I guess watching it the next day is better than not seeing it at all! The game wasn't on until 11:30pm, so there was no way I was staying awake. At least I wasn't so stressed watching it because I knew the outcome. :-)

281/365

2009-01-18T12:49:00.001-08:00

I have a lot of oatmeal that I want to use up before I move. Rather than eat it the healthy way, I've decided to make baked goods with it. I'm taking them into work so I don't eat them all myself. Today I made 'Old Fashioned Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake'. It's from Cooking Light, so I'll probably lose weight while eating it!

280/365

2009-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

New shoes! I got them for 15 pounds! I'm all about buying non-brown and non-black shoes these days.

279/365

2009-01-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

Finally confirmed the shipping company.

278/365

2009-01-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

Finally called the harpist! This is a picture from their website. They also make harps which I think is pretty cool.

277/365

2009-01-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

Me and my Raynaud's. My poor toes are ice blocks these days and I had two pairs of socks on!

276/365

2009-01-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've decided I want to try to incorporate more beets in my diet. They're much more common here than in the US. People keep telling me they're nice, so I wanted to give them a go. I already know I don't like them pickled or Harvard-style (right, Grandma, that's Stephie!). This was a salad recipe from a woman on UK-Yankee. It was spicy and yummy! I think I'll try roasting them next.

275/365

2009-01-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

I did a double take when I saw this picture. This is 'January' on my housemate's calendar. The dark gray and white kitty looks just like our cat we had growing up named Twinkles. He was way more manly than his name lets on! I'll never forget the time we turned onto our street only to see Twinkles sitting quite regally on one of our neighbor's decorative stones in their front yard, as if he was guarding the entrance to the street. It was like something out of the Lion King! Ha!

274/365

2009-01-11T09:59:00.001-08:00

My housemate bought these rubber duckies. They change color in the water, but these aren't in the water, haven't been for hours, and they're still changing. It's a little freaky.

273/365

2009-01-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

It snowed again! Pull out the sled!

272/365

2009-01-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

Because it was impossible to get a picture of the swirling icy fog that surrounded me when I was at the bus stop, I'm bringing to you a picture I took in Ireland at Christmas. Seriously, if you only move to Ireland for the quality of the signs you won't be disappointed! They make me laugh out loud! I could do a whole blog on these alone!

271/365

2009-01-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

I think my mother may be surprised that after 2 years these are still part of my repertoire! I wear them every day!

270/365

2009-01-07T14:07:00.001-08:00

The charity shop pile is getting larger!

269/365

2009-01-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Hold up! What is that I see?? But natural light in the sky at 7:30am! It is no longer pitch black when I'm at the bus stop. The days are getting longer! Yippee!!

268/365

2009-01-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

It snowed! It snowed! Bath is pathetic when it comes to snowfall. Bristol is worse. My coworker said a gypsy put a curse on the city and now it won't get any snow. I suggested that perhaps it's because the city is warm and it's not a curse. My theory seems to be hogwash.

267/365

2009-01-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

Another Sunday dinner with Myrto and Anna. No, Anna doesn't have Lycra cycling trousers (aka Spandex pants) on!

266/365

2009-01-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

Walking by the canal. It's not the nicest backdrop, but it was a good place to set up the camera! Oh, and the background is washed out because the sun was actually out!!!