A Revival & October Horror Challange

So here we are again. I'm staring at my laptop wondering how it has been nearly two years since I last visited this blog. However it came to be, it did, so let's just move on. Let's pick up where we left off.

So much has happened in the past two years, I don't really know where to start. The last time I wrote, Christmas 2013 was nearly upon us. We had a brief but very enjoyable visit from my mom, and I told you all about our new kitten, Hugo. About a month later, Hugo sadly disappeared. It was very sad timing, because just a week before, we adopted this mug.

This is Alfie, better known as Fred, Alfredo, Pickle, or my little Pickle-Biscuit. He's the worst, most lovable dog there ever was. He's disobedient and sneaky, greedy and stubborn. He's gorgeous, sweet, hilarious and very snuggly. He's my little best buddy, even despite the fact that he arrived in our home a week before the cat disappeared and I think this is rather suspicious, considering the cat didn't seem particularly fond of this stocky little barking nugget. Basically, I think the cat thought "what the hell have you brought into MY house? See you'se guys later" and found another, pug free home. It took me ages to get over the loss of little Hugo, but Alfie kept me company and now we are inseparable. Unless someone else is holding the food. He is loyal to she/he who holds the food.

Since I last wrote, Mick also took a new job. He still dabbles in freelance writing and has various projects going on with his interests, but he's also got a pretty sweet gig working in PR for a local budding organisation. Work is the same for me - good and busy, still in the same place.

About 10 months after Hugo decided to disappear and break my heart, I felt ready to get another kitten. Enter our gorgeous Isla.

She wasn't the most pleasant kitten, not like Hugo was. But she's beautiful and grew up to be lovely and fluffy with amazing markings and the bushiest tail you ever did see. She puts up with a lot from her Puggy brother, and loves to bring moths in the house from the garden and massacre them in the lounge while we watch TV. I know, gross right? But you've got to support their interests, I suppose.

The end of 2014 had wonderful cause for celebration - Mick and I returned to America to celebrate Christmas and New Years with my family. It had been two years since I had seen anyone, apart from my mom, and it was long overdue. We had a fantastic time enjoying the beautiful weather, seeing my favourite people and places, and just soaking up California goodness.

The biggest event of 2015 by far though, and the biggest step so far for myself and Mick, was becoming homeowners! After returning from America we decided it was time to start looking, even though at the time I was horribly homesick, falling from the high of being home and enjoying the many splendors that California has to offer - and as such, had absolutely no interest in setting any further roots in this grey and damp country that put so many miles between me and my loved ones.  We viewed a house or two, but my heart was not in it. And then we found it - a beautiful little three bedroom semi-detached on a quiet street, close to all our favourite stores and in the area we wanted to live. The owners showed us around on the evening we went to view, and when the lady went to turn on the light in the cupboard under the stairs and ducked out of sight, I glanced at Mick with that look on my face that he knows so well - the look that clearly states "I want it."
We fell in love with the house. It's a 1930's build so it has all kinds of character and charm, but it's also open and airy and bright, which satisfies my American tastes.
Everything went smoothly, and in April, we got our keys and spent a week getting ourselves moved in and all settled.

Home sweet home! We love it here and even though I was hesitant to buy, it's done wonders for me. I finally feel HOME. This is the sixth place I have lived since I moved to England 5 years ago, and it's such a wonderful feeling to finally know that this is it - we will be here for a long time and its OURS. Since this photo was taken, Mick really freshened things up by giving the garage a fresh coat of white glossy paint, my little trees decided to die (they've been disposed of) and I tucked the curtain back in the window upstairs (it was only that way for an hour or so!)

The summer of 2015 was a rainy one, but did bring with it a brief heat wave with temperatures that made me very happy my office is air conditioned and that our house seems to stay quite cool. In August, Mick surprised me massively with a weekend in Paris for my birthday. He got me all the way to the train station where you hop on the EuroStar before he gave me the tickets and clued me in on things. I of course got all teary and touched. We spent three and a half days in the City of Love seeing all the sights. I for one enjoyed the coffee and pastry far too much.

Yeah, he got some epic bonus points for this trip. It was so exciting to finally get to see a little slice of Europe, and Paris was lovely. It has a similar feel to London but it's not nearly as big and their underground is so much easier to manage. I have some really happy and unforgettable memories here - including wandering around the Louvre, everything feeling so surreal. The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and so many others.

A few weeks later it was Micks birthday, and I had arranged a night away in Hertfordshire where we ate an amazing Italian dinner at a funky little restaurant and stayed in a little lodge in the country. The next morning was the real event though - a day as zookeepers. We got to feed otters, pick up alpaca poo, hang out with raccoons and a skunk, as well as the cutest lizard EVER.

So that brings us pretty much all the way through to the end of September. All I remember about October is that we watched lots and lots of horror movies. 30, to be exact. For some reason I thought it would be a great idea to give ourselves an October Horror Challenge, where we watched a Horror or Halloween themed film every night for the month. We did very well, only missing one night because of a cooking competition that Mick was taking part in for his department at work. As a result, we were up cooking until midnight, so didn't have a chance to do any movie-watchin'.

If you're interested in which films we watched - check out the list below. I've included a very very brief review of each, should you ever decide you want to commit to anything like this in the future.

Night 1: "Saw II" - unimpressive. I'm a fan of the first but this doesn't tempt me to finish the rest.
Night 2: "28 Days Later" - there's not much to say about this one, very solid zombie film.
Night 3:  "28 Weeks Later" - sequel to the above. I prefer this one to the original.
Nights 4-7: "Scream 1-4". Classic slasher films and you can't go wrong.
Night 8: "Dawn of the Dead" - another solid zombie movie that doesn't let down.
Night 9: "An American Haunting" - meh. It's hard to deliver with ghosty ones - this didn't.
Night 10: "American Mary"- twisted. Very interesting and unlike anything I've ever seen.
Night 11: "The Blair Witch Project" - just as bad as I remembered. Worse, actually.
Night 12: "Mirrors" - very different, I liked this one.
Night 13: "What Lies Beneath" - one of my all time favourites. Ever. Of all genres.
Night 14: "Friday the 13th" - the original. Couldn't get into this one. Also, ketchup blood.
Night 15: "Friday the 13th Part II" - slightly better than the first one.
Night 16: "Nightmare on Elm Street" - 2010 remake, one I really like, though I seem to be alone.
Night 17: "The Omen" - oh man, such a good movie. One of the gems of the 70s.
Night 18: "The Omen II" - also good, but not nearly as good as the first.
Night 19: "White Noise" - good but I fell asleep. Starting movies at 9 on a school night is hard.
Night 20: "Wrong Turn 2" - sick. Sick, sick, sick. But I liked it.
Night 21: "Pernicious" - could have been good... but don't even bother.
Night 22: "Insidious 3" we both nearly wet ourselves. So scary! Best movie of the month.
Night 23: "Eden Lake" - it's good but for some reason I don't really like it. 
Nights 24-26: "Hostels 1,2&3" - not at all what I expected and very, very good. Third one is meh.
Night 27: "The Devil's Rejects" - ugh. Waste of my night. Didn't even pay attention.
Night 28: missed due to cooking
Night 29: "Would You Rather?" - Not really a horror, but very interesting premise.
Night 30: "Hocus Pocus" for me (have to watch it every year with a girlfriend!) and "The Human Centipede" for Mick. I refuse to watch this one. Blech!

And for our final night, the original "Nightmare on Elm Street!" Which we didn't actually finish because it was very late and we were rather sleepy.

We are discussing perhaps taking part in a similar challenge for December, but with Christmas movies! A movie a night for a whole month is a bigger commitment than you might think, so I'm not sure if we will do it!

Well, that brings you up to speed on what we've been up to. You're going to be seeing a lot more of me. I've really missed writing in general, as well as working on this blog, so I've made a conscience decision to be more present here, as well as with other, personal writing projects. Writing has been a passion of mine since the tender age of 8, when my 4th grade teacher held Writing Workshop every morning to encourage our creativity. I have been hooked since then, until the past few years when I allowed life to get in the way. No more. No more.

I'll also be taking part in 30 Days of Thanks over on my Instagram account by expressing thanks all throughout the month of November, and not just on Thanksgiving Day! Join me! Or simply just follow along as I rack my brains before bed each night, trying to find a photo I took throughout the day and reminding myself that really, life is wonderful and full of so many blessings

It's good to be back. xo

Wedding bits!

We've had a very productive weekend here in England! Friday, Mick's mom and I ran around Kent making wedding arrangements. We went and saw a florist about bouquets, centerpieces, corsages and various other arrangements. We showed them the following picture as inspiration:

I did find this online, ages ago, but I don't remember where from!

Unfortunately, the big fluffy pink and white flowers (peonies) are not going to be available in September, so they are going to find me some roses that look similar. The centerpieces and pedestal arrangements will be made up of the same flowers, but the corsages for the Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom will be cream colored orchids with pink edges.

We also booked a venue for the reception! It will be at The Village Maidstone Hotel.

Image from maidstonehotels.co.uk

 

 

 

 We also met with a cake decorator who is going to be making the cake. Mick and I picked out these cakes for the inspiration:

We like the shape of the cake itself, as well as the color of the blossoms.

But we like the more delicate branch and the pearl accents on this one.

So the lady said she could kind of go in the middle with the branch and give us edible pearls on the bottom of each tier. Our tiers will all be different flavors- vanilla, chocolate, and lemon!



All in all, things are coming along nicely for the White Wedding. We even picked out invitation and announcement materials yesterday, which will continue the pink and green color scheme. Just need to work out some more details, like our wedding car and suits for Mick and his two groomsmen. And party favors, too.




It was so good to see Mick after spending the weekend apart. Kind of adds a new spark to things, sometimes.

Yesterday we went out and got some stuff for the bunnies. We get to bring them home this weekend. We picked up water bottles and food dishes and a few treats and some litter. Need to get shavings and food, then we're ready to have them! Looking forward to having a snuggly little pet :)

That's all for now, I have lots of stuff to do. Hope everything is well with you guys!

Laughing at this post is prohibited

So much news in just a couple of days! Since the wedding was booked, my mom and dad went ahead and purchased their tickets to fly out here. I'm very excited that they are coming! So now wedding plans are in swing and today Mick's mum is taking me to look at wedding dresses. I'd like to get flowers and a cake sorted when we are in Kent next weekend. We're looking for a venue to hold the dinner/mini reception thing.

Yesterday was a very odd day. During the night my upper lip swelled up to enormous and comical proportions. I could feel how huge it was and Mick said I didn't even look like myself. I gathered the courage to get up out of bed and look at it. It was no longer all that comical, because I was freaking out. We aren't sure what caused it, but considering the fact that I've had some hives and swelling in the recent past, I'm not shocked. Bemused, but not shocked. It is against my better judgement that I share the following picture. I know I can't control it either way, but please. Please don't laugh. It was actually painful from being so swollen. It felt like my skin was being stretched and could tear. I'm sure it wouldn't have, but it felt like it.
We went to the doctor and he basically was no help. At all. It went down throughout the day and when I woke up this morning it was pretty much normal.

A sweet little girl.

Yesterday evening we drove to the charming village of Ditchling near Brighton to look at the bunny rabbits. We've decided to get two so that one won't get lonely. We decided on the little snuggles to the left.

A cute little boy.

We're going to have the boy fixed once they are old enough to, ahem. Be like rabbits, if you catch my drift. That way we won't have billions. We looked into getting two boys or two girls but apparently they fight. The best match is a brother and sister with one fixed. So that's what we're doing. They will be ready to come home with us in a couple weeks. We're thinking of Harley for the boy and Truffle for the girl.

After the rabbits we had dinner in a restaurant on the waterfront. It made me want seafood. So I had a whole sea bass with the head and eyes and everything. Never done that before.

Today we're going into Chichester, a town I really love to get some things done and check out dresses as I mentioned. We're also going to play snooker (learn more here). Tonight we are meeting some friends of Karen and Andy's (Mick's mum and step-dad) and having dinner with them.

Okay, time to hop in the shower and get this day rolling. Have a great weekend everybody.

Dead fish on a plate. Clearly.

Out of the Mouths of Brits, Volume II

 Alright, a lot of people really liked my English Slang post from last week, so I spent a few days compiling more sayings and phrases and words to share with you! Here goes.

Knob- a slang word for male genitalia, often used for an insult. "Don't be such a knob!" It's not as offensive as it seems. 

Stroppy- this is used when someone is being very moody. Sometimes when I'm being bratty and throw a sassy line at Mick he looks at me all exasperated and says in a high-pitched voice, "Alright, stroppy!"


Got a cob on- A way of saying you're in a bad mood or sulking. Again, Mick has asked me "why have you got a cob on?" I'm not entirely sure where it comes from. And for the record, I'm not always in a bad mood!


Thick- Stupid, unintelligent.

Innit- A chavy way of saying "isn't it." Example, "that car is well fast, innit?!"

Trolly- grocery cart

Lorry- Large truck, like an eighteen wheeler.

Pikey- common, low class, trailer trash. Can describe a thing, area or a person. "This place is full of pikeys." or "This neighborhood is so pikey!" It's kind of how they describe gypsies and pikey comes from the term "turnpike" which is the side of the road and where lots of gypsies would camp out.

Chav- This one took me ages to understand. I still find it difficult to explain, so read here.

Holiday- what they call vacation. "Oh, I'd love a holiday on the beach!"

Cheers- Thanks.

Plonker- comes from Only Fools and Horses. Stupid, idiot. Del Boy always told his brother Rodney "don' be a plonka awl ya life!"

Tart- promiscuous woman or slutty dressers

Biscuit/Cookie- Okay, this is a huge debate between Americans and Brits. In America, we have cookies. It's a pretty broad range of tasty snacks. In England, it's broken down into two categories- cookies and biscuits. In England, this is a cookie, just like it is in America:

image from cookiedelivery.com

And in England these would be considered biscuits, even though in America they'd just be more cookies:

image from buchnknight.blogspot.com

Bobby- from kaboodle.com

So, all very cookie type things. The best way I can think to describe the difference is that fluffy more home-made type things are considered to be cookies, while harder, more compressed baked goods are considered biscuits.

Copper- A police officer. Not to be mistaken for a bobby.

Bobby- A certain type of police officer that wears a helmet.

Ickle- small, tiny. On at least one occasion Mick has called me "ickle sleepy head."

Petal- An affectionate nickname, generally for a woman. If I'm lucky I get called this.

Plank- a stupid person.

Ponce- Someone who dresses and acts fancier than they probably are.

Posh-  Classy and sophisticated

Sod- Meaning sodomite, but that is in the old fashioned context. More commonly used as a gentle form of fool, bastard, or idiot. "You cheeky sod!"

Blow off- To break wind

Bog roll- Toilet paper. The restroom here is sometimes called the bog.

Chuffed- Pleased, stoked, proud. "I was really chuffed that everyone liked the cookies I made!"

Toilet- The restroom. You don't really ever hear someone say "I need to use the restroom" over here. It's generally "I need the toilet," which kind of grosses me out, because it makes me think of the actual bowl and it's just yucky.

Fit- sexy, attractive

Fiver/tenner- Five or ten pound note (money).

Frog- What the English people call the French. The French and the English don't like each other much, but then again, who really likes the french?

Gogglebox- This one I haven't heard too often, but it means television. "Turn on the old gogglebox, will you?"

Kip- Sleep. "I'm going to try to catch some kip."

Taking the piss- Messing with someone, joking around. A less offensive way of saying it is "taking the mickey." I got Mick his favorite television series on DVD for Christmas and he looked up at me shocked and said "are you taking the piss?!" In this case he pretty much meant "are you serious?!"

Skint- broke, no money. "I'd love to go, but I'm skint."


That's probably all I'll do for a while, because for now that's all I know! But if I learn more I will post them.

Mick and I have been talking and we (I) really want to get a rabbit. We both want a pet- I haven't had one since my childhood dog, Bailey, passed away a few years ago and Mick misses his rats. Where we live we can't really have a dog or a cat and they're a bit more of a financial obligation than we're looking for, so we decided a rabbit would be nice. It seems to be alright with Mick's mum and step-dad. I've fallen in love with a little guy an hour away who looks something like this:

image from petrabbitworld.com

He's a Dwarf Lop baby and I have to have him so I can schnoz all over his little face.We're going to go see him later in the week and put down a deposit.

Other than that, I've been just doing odds and ends. I had my first adventure in drying clothes on the line

 

And bonding with the dog 

Last week was nice. Mick and I were able have a belated anniversary celebration. I took him out for an English Fry Up, his favorite thing about being English.

My first English fry up at the Hobgoblin Pub in Canterbury last summer. I've had a few more since then...

And he made a really nice pasta dinner and we exchanged cards. Nothing big this year because we've spent a lot of money on flights and rings for the wedding and stuff.
And oh yeah, news on the wedding. I've gone back and forth a bit but we've decided to just do one wedding rather than a legal one and then a big fancy one. I really want all my family to be able to be there, but I kind of feel like having the two weddings, they end up stealing thunder from each other. The first isn't fancy, but it's the real deal. And the second one would be pretty and formal and a big party, but we'd already be married. So we're just going to do a small but elegant wedding in September. I'm waiting to hear back from the place, but I think it will be September 2nd. Which will make a very busy three weeks for me and Mick! My birthday is August 23, our anniversary will be September 2, and his birthday is September 12!
We spent the weekend in Kent and got to go to a friend's housewarming party. It was a very cute older house and made me really look forward to a time when Mick and I will be able to do the same thing. Now we are back in Bognor for a couple of weeks. I have to say I'm glad to not be back and forth for a bit. I keep forgetting things at one house or the other, this week I forgot my razor!

A very Happy 4th of July to all my friends and family back in America. I always feel like such a traitor when I'm here on this particular holiday. Inside I'm waving a little flag. I'm going to miss the hotdogs and fireworks, though. Perhaps I can stream a live firework display or something.

That's all for now. Hope everyone had a great weekend and a not too miserable Monday. :)