Spring is coming!!!!

Spring is almost here after a long, depressing winter..it has been cold and dreary..but for about 2 weeks we had the most beautiful spring like weather..the sun sets later in the evening it gets lighter earlier and it is amazing how much better you feel when the sun is out. The change in peoples moods is amazing as well. But the one thing that I love about spring here is it just makes this beautiful little town more beautiful...the green hills are greener with all the baby lambs on the side of hill...walking down by the harbor is the best in the warm sun...and the water is so blue..and it makes me happy to live here and shows me just how lucky I am to be here...

Jason and I are getting excited about all the things we will go and do and see in the spring and the summer. It is just like getting a chance to start over...Spring is my fav time of the year..Spring and Fall are my most fav times...

It is kind of like the start of a new chapter in our lives...There is so much going on..my mom and sister are coming to visit in April...Jamie and Alan are expecting their first baby...Patty and Ian are having their 2nd wedding over here in July..In August I get to go visit my family and go to Disneyworld...It will be my parents 40th anniversary, our 1st anniversary, and Jason's 40th Bday ...and then December we will be home again to the States for Christmas...so it is a good year coming up with some exciting things..alot of things to look forward to...my life is going great and I am very lucky and try not to take anything for granted...

Valentine's Day!!!

I must be the luckiest woman ever because I have a very thoughtful, romantic, and loving husband...He had to work on Valentine's day..so he turned Valentine's day into a whole weekend...He took me out for a very romantic dinner at our favorite Italian restaraunt "Bianco's"...and then on Saturday even though he worked all day when he came home we cuddled on the couch and watched a romantic movie..And then I got up at 5:30am on Sunday to get ready for work and he told me to look in his closet..there was a card there for me...when I read it I cried...he wrote the most beautiful things on the inside of that card. I still tear up when I see read it..it also had a lotto scratchcard in it and I won five pounds ($10.00 for my american friends) ..it was the most romantic weekend ever...and I am soo very happy and totally in love :o)

Being Bi Lingual

You really wouldn't think that living in England would require you to learn a whole new language, but it does. Someone once said that "England and America were two countries separated by a common language"..and they were right. There are so many different words for normal everyday stuff.
Here are some examples:
Parking Lot (USA)=Car Park (UK)
Sidewalk (USA)=Pavement (UK)
Sneakers (USA)=Trainers (UK)
Underwear (USA)= Knickers or Pants (UK)
Trunk of a car (USA)=Boot (UK)
Hood of car (USA)=Bonnet (UK)
Lunch (USA)=dinner (UK)
Dinner(USA)=Tea (UK)

It took me awhile to get used to these changes in vocabulary...and it took my brain a little longer to process. I still say pants and mean the jeans I am wearing..but when their faces go pail I realize that I just said the wrong thing...Never ever say the word Fanny over here. It doesn't mean behind it means Vagina...So now I find myself after living here for awhile I am finally starting to become bi lingual in both languages...and it shows how close our two countries are but at the same time how different they both seem to be at the same time...I have a lot more to learn and I look forward to it. But I sometimes get confused trying to figure out what the right words are.

Loneliness

The one thing that I can't get used to here is the loneliness. I am not saying I am lonely all the time. But I have just moved from the United States where all my family and friends are. All the friends I have had my whole life. My best friends. People who know me inside and out. And now I am here and I don't have a full time job so I am home alot more. And alone a lot more. This is something I am not used to. I know alot of people but I only have made a few close friends here. I am lucky for those friends. Kate imparticular. She has made my Sundays fun. We hang out every Sunday and just have fun.
I find that when Jason is at work and I have so much free time I am home alone most of that time. I find myself watching tv and talking to the tv. I guess if you spend enough time alone you will find a way to entertain yourself.
The other thing is immediately after I moved some of my friends just stopped talking to me. I guess out of sight out of mind applies. Maybe they think I have moved so far away that we can't be friends anymore. And that hurts alot. I feel like I am in between both places. Like I don't belong anywhere yet. I feel like I don't belong here yet and I feel like I don't belong in the states either. It is a weird feeling and hard to describe. I am starting to feel like this is starting to be my home. But it is just taking awhile to adjust.
I am sure that this loneliness will pass. But for right now it is hard and I am not used to it. I not used to not having my family around. I miss hugging my mom..or just going out and hanging out with my friends.
If it wasn't for Kate especially...and Jamie, Patty, and David and Tracy I don't know what I would do. But for right now at this moment as I write this I am feeling a little lonely..sorry to be such a downer in this blog..the next one will be better I promise

Being a Housewife

I have always said that when I got married that I wouldn't be one of those women who cooks and cleans and does the laundry and all the housework. I said that we would share the responsibilities. And honestly I have always hated housework until now. My tune has completley changed. I love taking care of my husband. I love making dinner and doing the laundry and hanging it out. ( our house is too small for a tumble dryer)...I don't even mind the housework and find myself trying to keep the house looking nice and clean. I guess part of it is that I don't currently have a full time job and my husband does so I feel it is my job to take care of the house. And I always want to take care of him..I never thought in a million years I would turn into a woman like this..Now I do have one little secret. I keep the whole house as clean as possible. But old habits die hard and I have a guest room where my wardrobe is that has my clothes in it..and I will say that room is a complete mess..because I like it that way...it is a bit of the old Josy coming through..This being a wife thing isn't too terrible...we also have to remember I have only been married for 5 months so in a few months or so ask me again and I bet my answer might change lol

Finding Work

Since I have moved over here in September 2009 I have been putting my CV (aka resume) out absolutely every where. I can't tell you how many jobs I have applied for. Over here in the UK most places you fill out an application online they have a test for you to take as well. I applied for a cell phone company for a customer service job and had to take a test equivalent to the SATs (for my British friends it is the equivalent of the GCSE's to get you into college). It was ridiculous. I spent an hour online applying and taking this test and was turned down. This rejection can have an affect on you after awhile. But most places don't even let you know anything after you apply.
Then I start to worry. I think are they looking at my CV seeing I am American and then putting it off to the side and saying No...will I ever find a job? I look at my CV and I am qualified to do office work and being a technical analyst. And I want a job where I get to use my brain. But right now there are so many people going for the same job..and I have a mark against me because I am an immigrant. And I am a bit disheartened by it. But I keep trying.

I am lucky in the respect that I have a little part time job 2 days a week and I sell avon. But hopefully sometime soon I will find a job and finally have something to keep me busy and let me feel like I am contributing.

I am not going to let it depress me.. I am going to make it all work out..if I can't find anything maybe I will become a stripper or 1-900 operator hehehe

Getting Used to the Food

One of the things that has been a little hard to get used to is the food over here. The vegetables are a little different. Oh they still have carrotts, broccoli, and cauliflower, and potatoes. (I have never eaten so many potatoes as I have over here. But there are new vegetables. Swede, Parsnips, and Turnips. And of course there are brussell sprouts which seem to be the countries favorite vegetable....These vegetables aren't bad except brussell sprouts. But the problem is everytime you get them they have had the hell boiled out of them. They are very unflavorful. I have been trying to learn new ways to prepare these so they have some taste.
There are pies which are usually steak and ale, or steak and kidney (real kidneys not kidney beans) these pies are called Pasties. They are big into roast dinners and most British families have a full roast dinner on Sundays. There are other things I haven't tried and it is merely for the fact of what is in it. Black Pudding is a sausage full of blood and other bits...there are some other foods but I don't want to put you off your meal if you are eating...Most of the food you get in Restaraunts here is very bland with no seasoning. I find that American food is very rich and it is probably all the preservatives that make it taste so good. But the one good side of the way they cook the food and don't fill them with preservatives is that it is healthier and when you go out to eat the food you get is often homecooked. It will take getting use to. But I don't think I will ever stop craving cheesesteaks, decent pizza, and chicken nachos from champps...I have to stop talking about the food I miss now because I am making myself hungry :o)