8 Photos of Happiness

I have been nominated for the ‘8 Photos of Happiness Tag’ by Angie Americana over at The Stereotypical American. She's a fellow American Expat living in Copenhagen & she's got an awesome blog!

Here are the guidelines for the tag:
1.Thank your nominator/s and link them in your post.
2. Link the creator Ariel's Little Corner of the Internet
3. Post your 8 photos of happiness
4. Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it, or let the photos do the talking!
5. Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers!

When we moved I sold my big desktop that had years & years worth of photos on it. Steve backed them up on a hard drive but its probably still in a box so these photos are all recent photos.

This is a photo of my mom, me & Steve in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn hotel. My parents have a home in Asheville and it's one of my favorite places in the world. The weather is excellent, they get all 4 seasons unlike Atlanta. The beer is out of this world - there are so many different breweries and they're all great, I've yet to have a bad one. Tubing up the river is super fun, lay in a tub, drink good local beer & just chat with your fellow floaters aka my ideal summer day.

This is a photo from Steve & my first anniversary photo shoot. To say Steve went kicking and screaming would be the understatement of the year. He is not a fan of getting his picture taken but I really wanted some good photos of us so he agreed. We went to a lovely park near our house in Buford on a super hot day - why we both chose to wear long sleeves and pants I couldn't tell you. We didn't pack the ampersand but now I wish we had it to hang on our wall. 

This is a photo we took at Christmas 2014 of my whole family. From left to right its my brother Peter, Mom, sister Hannah, Dad, me & Steve. The dog being held by Hannah is Steve's old dog Gwen who we gave to friends when we moved to the UK. It was really nice to spend the holidays with everyone in Asheville even though Steve got the flu and spent most of the trip in bed. 

This is one of my favorite photos of my parents & I. We are at the Georgia Dome watching Steve & my alma mater Georgia Southern play Georgia State. We won by a landslide of course! Everyone had a great time.

This is Steve & I at the game. I just noticed we're wearing the same thing we wore for our anniversary pictures... I guess we really like these outfits? Haha. 

This was the way we announced our engagement back in February. Steve proposed at my family's country club when we were having pre flight drinks before we left to come to Reading to look for a place to live. We couldn't get a hold of my sister to tell her the good news so we decided to hold off making the big announcement on Facebook. We knew we were going to get bombarded with notifications when we did so we didn't post the picture until we were flying back to the US. When we landed we have over 500 likes, comments and shares between the two of us. 

My first Shake Shack meal! Steve had promised to take me after he went without me in Boston. There is one in Atlanta but we didn't get a chance to go before we left so we went to the one in Covent Garden. If you haven't been to SS I highly recommend it! We still haven't had the custard or milkshakes but I hear they're amazing!

Unfortunately I can't find the photo we took right after we got engaged so this is as close as I can get for today. This is the picture I took to tell my close friends. Mind you, they all knew so they weren't surprised. I was so thankful I had gotten a nice manicure so this picture looks nice, but if you could see what I was wearing you'd laugh. I looked terrible. 

Now it's my turn to nominate some bloggers to take on this challenge. I'm still getting into the swing of blogging again so I don't have 10 bloggers to tag, but if you read this post and would like to join in  please do!

1. Cole over at Weiner Tales - she was my first follower and her blog is adorable!
2. Jamie at lifeSTYLEsmith - she's my cousin and her style is impeccable!
3. MRM the author of Preppy Girl Meets World - one of the first blogs I ever followed
4. Julie from Across the Ponderings  - an ex-expat in Oxford who's just returned to the US
5. Megan at Megan in the Middle - she's an expat living in France, lucky girl!
6. Sarah & Eddie from Wicked Brilliant - fellow expats living in London

Travel Tuesday

In spite of the aforementioned tummy bug I had this weekend I sucked it up so Steve & I went to Oxford for the day. It's only about 20 minutes by train from Reading and it was like a whole new world.

Reading is a very modern town. Its got 2 malls, a big John Lewis & M&S. There are old buildings everywhere but there are also six Starbucks! Yes - six! Why we need that many I will never know, but it's besides the point. The most exciting historical thing, the Abbey, has been closed to visitors since 2009 because the society for historical preservation isn't convinced its worthy enough of a grant (it was build in 1121AD). -_- that's my not impressed face. The city is far more focused on being a big hub for the train to Heathrow airport and an IT center then a quaint British town. Needless to say Oxford is the exact opposite. It's steeped in tradition, has only one Starbucks & lots of gorgeous architecture.

We started off the day with the bus tour - yes they seem lame and annoy the locals but since it provides hop on hop off access for the full day its pretty useful way of getting around. It covers the big sites and tells you stuff you wouldn't have known about.

Alice's Sweet Shop (Alice In Wonderland)

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to go in, so we are adding it to our next time list.

Downtown Oxford - 99 steps for the best view in the city

Another site we are adding to our next time list!

Covered Market

Oxford University Graduate

It just happened to be graduation weekend so all these happy kids were walking around in their full Oxford dress.

Theater

One of the 38 colleges that make up Oxford University. The entire city looks a little like Hogwarts. Some of the buildings were used for scenes for the movies but they were closed (likely due to graduation)

Bridge & the alley to Turf Tavern

The sign to Turf Tavern (where we had lunch).

I read about it on LonelyPlanet.com - a site I highly recommend. You simply type in the city you are going to and it gives you top attractions, restaurants and a basic overview. Perfect when you don't have time to buy the guidebook. 

Down an alley we went

Signs of life? 

The famous Turf Tavern!

History of the oldest pub in Oxford

Our "favorite" president used to hang out here

Punting on the River Thames

After lunch we wondered down to the river to see about renting a boat. Unfortunately the line for punt boats was well over an hour (it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon) so Steve and I took the next best thing. 

Row row row my boat Steve!

Steve rowed me up and down the Thames for the better part of an hour. I just enjoyed the weather!

The post box for the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. It was put in place just for him as he received so much mail!

The pub J RR Tolklien & C S Lewis used to frequent 

If you liked this post check out Across The Ponderings! It's an adorable blog written by Julie about her life living abroad in Oxford for a year. She gave me some great ideas of things to do while we were in Oxford.

One Month In

Today marks 1 month since we arrived in the UK & what a month it's been. Here is a list of things we have done since we've arrived:

1) settled into our apartment... sort of. Still waiting on our stuff to arrive.
2) figured out the oven - a real winning moment since chicken back is one of my favorite meals to make.
3) using the washing machine, mind you I still hold my breath when I "turn it on" because sometimes it doesn't work.
4) Visited London - one day for museums & one sightseeing
5) Hosted overnight guests - Jessica & Seneca
6) Had friends over for tea & games (yes - I played a board game!)
7) Made friends - Michelle & Kluen
8) Found "our pub"- The Back of Beyond
9) Got Internet... kind of, it only works sometimes but its Internet
10) learned UK phone numbers... well Steve has. I still have no idea what mine is.

In the spirit of moving to the UK, and everywhere else booking up and flights doubling in price before we could book our trip, we are headed to Plymouth. It's the city where the Mayflower departed from all those years ago. We figured it would be a good place to visit considering we just moved here from the US. Essentially we are going to give the finger to all those brave souls who left British to go to the new land and live out their religious freedoms. Fortunately neither Steve or my families went over on the Mayflower or one of the early boats. My family came over from Ireland because of the potato famine. Steve is Native American so he's always been from the US.

Tea on a Boat

Its starting to look like summer... well that's what I hear. Its still in the 60s here & this Atlanta girl is not cool with it. I'm ready for shorts & flip flops and mid 80s - but unless we get a heat wave we won't get weather like that until we head south - France, Spain, Italy etc.

I know its Travel Tuesday but I did that yesterday & its my blog so I make the rules.

Since it's still chilly outside, a cup of tea is always my cup of tea (yes I went there). So why not enjoy that cup of tea on a boat? Here in Reading there is a Tea Barge - Whittington's. Its an actual barge, like a house boat which has been turned into a restaurant with a kitchen in the back and 8 tables inside. They also have 4-5 tables out on shore which will be nice if it ever warms up here!

We ordered the cream tea, which consisted of a large pot of tea & a scone with clotted cream and jam. Unfortunately the scones were so yummy I didn't get a photo of them. They had plain & fruit scones. 

Clotted cream & jam on the scone tray

They also have a full menu of delicious British food - bangers n mash, English breakfast & sandwiches. I'm sure they have more but that's all I saw when we were there. 

I love how they mix and match their cups and saucers. 

I would highly recommend this restaurant for a ladies lunch or a different venue for a cup of tea. 

Wordless Wednesday

This past Sunday Steve and I went to the 21st annual Reading Beer & Cider Festival! We met up with some friends (yes, we have friends here!) and met another really nice couple at our table. We had a blast, tried some yummy beers, a few not so yummy. 

The tent (and Steve)

All smiles after a few pints

Belgian beer

Bubbles!

Check out the sky!

More Belgian Beer

Steve's favorite stout of the day

There was even a bagpipe group!

Reading Abbey

The House Hunt

Yesterday Steve and I went and saw some potential flats (apartments) here in Reading. It was a bit of an eyeopener to say the least. Remember we currently live in a 4 bedroom 2.5bath house in Buford GA. Needless to say any apartment would be a big change for us, but nothing truly prepared us for what we saw.

Small. Tiny, Minuscule. I didn't know families could live in apartments as small as the ones we saw. But they do. Not organized, they could do with a few trips to the container store in my opinion - but who couldn't (my mother - she owns the whole thing as it is).

We're looking for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath furnished place here within walking distance to the Reading train station - its close to Steve''s office and town center (aka mall/shopping/drugstores and such). A property in a similar area/size city as close to major transport in the US probably would cost us about $100-$1300 depending on how nice it is. The places we looked at yesterday started at 1200GBP or the equivalent to $1800 & that's starting! We saw a place that was 1495GBP / month, which is $2300 a month! Can you imagine what that would get you in the US?! A small mansion in some cities. Maybe in NYC it would just be a run of the mill apartment, but that's NYC.

Reading isn't even a city - though they've petitioned a few times, so they just a town. With a population of 160,000 people it is growing everyday. The closest city size comparison would be Columbus, GA / Aurora, CO / Syracuse, NY / Winston - Salem, NC. They're all around the same size as Reading (I cited a variety of cities based on potential locations of readers of the blog - aka friends and family).

Our favorite place is 1295GBP which equates to $2000/month. Now that does include furnishings, aka beds, dressers, tables, chairs, things like that. But it doesn't cover council tax ($230/month) or utilities. Its available in mid march so we are hoping we can get the go ahead and speak to the landlord to try and work something out (fingers crossed!). We saw a few others for about the same amount, also really close to town but they weren't as nice.

Unfortunately if we don't get one of the ones we saw we may have to fly over again to look at places before we go or stay in a hotel when we move till we find something we like. Judging by our current hotel room we would last maybe 3 days. We would have all of our luggage (5-8 suitcases a piece) with  the things we brought over with us.

All Things UK

Its been a long time since the US split from the UK to become its own country. You would think we would have more in common with our friends across the pond then just language. This expat is here to tell you that's not really the case.

Starting with something super basic- Doors! In the US we pull open 90% of the doors we go into. Shops, super markets, salons, most of them have pull doors. Here they're all push! I stand out as is being an American but when I can't even get a door open... the looks of pity are astounding!

Starbucks is different and not in a yummy, the coffee is all fair trade (maybe it is, I haven't been to one) but here in the UK they don't pay taxes!!! What?! That's crazy! So aside from a mug or 6 we will be going elsewhere for our coffee fix - which might be hard considering in Reading alone there are 6!!!! That's more per square mile then a lot of bigger cities!

Smoking! Everyone does it, outside, on the streets. Its weird! Ive not seen this many people smoking at once since I was at the bars in college!

Walking! Everyone here walks, which is nice. Its a super walkable town center - very hard to get used to for a girl who LIVES in her car - driving everywhere. My legs are so sore from just yesterday - tho I did walk 6.3 miles! But those walkers are rude! They just bump into you, they never apologize for hitting you with their bag, nothing. That's defiantly something to get used to.

I'm headed off to explore more of the city today. Wish me luck!

So Much Travel

It's 9.30am here in the UK. That means in GA its 4.30am.... It's also 10.30 in Belgium and 1.30am in AZ. Hello jet lag! It actually wasn't that bad now that we survived it. So from being up at 8am Saturday, our 8 hour flight here and staying awake all of yesterday we were going for 31 hours with no real rest and only 1 cup of coffee. Just call me super woman! Just don't tell my dentist or my optometrist - yuck!

Now that we've had a walk around town, Steve has found his office & 4 Starbucks within a 5 minute walk from the hotel we're starting to feel normal. Mind you we did go to bed last night at 8.30 our time, 3.30 GA time!

Can I just tell y'all how small our hotel room is! Its MAYBE 30 sq ft! The toilet is separate from the shower/bath and the closet is maybe 2 ft wide! The bed is like a rock and the two measly pillows they gave us are awful. I typically don't complain about hotels but I am kicking myself because it has terrible YELP reviews & now I know why. Hopefully my back won't kill me after a week of staying here.

Last night Steve wanted a beet so we popped into a local pub. Now I don't mean like the Americanized "British pub". I'm talking low ceilings, mismatched chairs, 5 beers on tap and no menu. As soon as we walked in everyone was sating at us & not in a friendly way. In a "who the hell...?" kinda way. Well Steve sauntered up to the bar and ordered himself a cider and myself a beer. Then he handed the guy an American Express. Que face palm! D'oh! The guy had no idea what it even was! And of course we didn't have cash. So we trudged to a nearby ATM and got cash. Not sure Ive ever drank a pint that fast! Plus we paid $17 for 2 beers!