Settling in...

We are getting settled in.  We all slept in today and were awaken by the knock on the door at 9 AM from the grocery delivery and the cable guy!  Still trying to get over the jet lag!    

I can definitely get used to the grocery delivery, the ordering took awhile, but how wonderful for it all to just show up!  And without a car, it's really the only way to go. And we now have cable TV, the Internet and a home phone number.  We are official now.

The girls decided they wanted to have a sleepover in Drew's room last night, so they slept on the floor....Drew ended up back in his bed early this morning but the girls were on the floor all night.

We walked down to the park this afternoon, it's so convenient!  About a 5 minute walk, and every time I have walked by, there have been lots of families and kids there.  The kids had fun exploring.  Lauren is very proficient with the scooter Father Christmas left here for her.  Alison was pretty good with the scooter but I think she will do better now that Brad put the second wheel on the back.  Drew is starting to learn how to do the balance bike.

I did my first load of laundry this week, and I am pretty happy with the washer/ dryer.  The placement is a little odd, in the kitchen, of to the side.  But several houses we looked at had them right in the middle of the kitchen right next to the dishwasher!!!  I am going to wish I put a laundry basket in the air shipment.

Another first today was making a cup of coffee with a French press.  I miss my keurig!! But they are super pricey over here.  Brad is happy with the kettle using instant coffee, but to me there's nothing like a brewed cup of coffee.  I think the French press will be a good compromise but a little messy with the coffee grounds.  Thankfully, there's several coffee places a short walk away....  :)

Right now the only other thing I am missing is my garbage disposal!  But it's back to the days of my house where I grew up.

School application

Today, our main task was to get the girls applications for school to the Merton Council office.  For the specific township where we live, they have to physically see the kids before the application can be processed.  I think because the schools are so over subscribed.

So, we all bundled up and walked to the train station, which is about a 12 minute walk,  it was pretty cold but we made it without too much complaining!  We had to wait for about 20 minutes in the "waiting room," which was pretty warm thank goodness!  The kids started getting pretty crazy towards the end.  The train ride was pretty short, and they were not too happy about having to walk more to get to the council office.  But we made it and didn't have to wait too long!  Then we realized we didn't have the passports. Oops!!!  But they saw the kids, so I made the trip back with the passports by myself later.  ( and they told me it takes 10-12 days to process, so looks like no school for the girls next week.....)

We ended up taking the bus back because it was not as long to walk, but we had to purchase Oyster cards first.  I tried at the train station yesterday, but they don't sell them there for some reason.  But you have to have one to ride the bus because its pre-paid.  The bus was pretty fun and we got to sit on the top deck of the bus.

My other task for today was to get a local cell phone; however, they will not give me a contract until I have lived here for 6 months......so I am going to attempt to get a pay as you go SIM card until then.  But I really want to keep my cell # since its the only one I have ever had, so I am trying to figure out how to swing that.

Tomorrow, we get Internet and TV and groceries!!!  Big day!!!  I should be able to post some photos tomorrow.

We made it!

We survived the trip!!  Woo hoo, and tonight is out first night sleeping in our house.  Our 20 (!!!!) bags that we brought are mostly unpacked.  The kids were excellent on the trip, although no one got much sleep.  Drew had a crying fit for about 25 minutes about an hour and a half before we landed in London. I was so proud of Lauren for taking such great care of Alison.

When we got all of out bags, it took 2 full trolleys to hold them all, but everything arrived intact.  We all slept for several hours this afternoon and all kids were asleep by 10 PM; Drew is in a big boy bed for the first time.

I ventured out for some groceries and a screwdriver so we could stop the beeping of the smoke alarm, and it was so great to walk!!!!  I am sure it will be different with the kiddos with me, but it's character building for them.

Tonight, I spent over an hour placing my first grocery delivery order so we shall see how I did.  As with everything, I am sure I will become more proficient with time.

Good night!  More adventures tomorrow.... Off to register the girls for school.

We have no assets!

Brad and I are officially without assets.  We have sold our house and our car and most of our possessions are either in a storage vault or on a truck en route to London via air or sea.  What a crazy feeling!!!

It has been quite a feat to get to this point, and I am sad to be leaving the comforts of family and friends, but I am even more excited to see what is in store for our family of 5 as we start this next chapter of our lives.  I am thankful for all the prayers and support and encouragement throughout this process. 

What a whirlwind this week has been.  Monday at 3 AM, Brad took Drew to the ER because he was complaining of stomach pains, but they said all is normal.  (This visit is after 2 weeks of serious GI issues.)  Our pediatrician recommends a gluten-free diet (for the kid who was thankful for 5 things, 4 of which were his family and the 5th chicken nuggets), so we are attempting that.  He has eaten a lot of French toast sticks in the past few weeks.  Brad and I went to Trader Joes and Whole Foods tonight and looked at 6 different types of gluten free oreos and EVERY SINGLE ONE has eggs in it.

Monday, the movers came and packed up all the items to go in storage while we are in London.  We were planning to come to my mom's house to spend the night, but she was diagnosed with the flu on Saturday, so we opted to wait another night.  But we did get have dinner with the Mauzys and the Deans and Mum Mum, so that was fun.  Tuesday, the movers came and packed all the items for storage on the truck and made some good headway on the stuff for the "sea shipment."

We got Wednesday and Thursday off for the holidays and we had a great Christmas, with some good family time.  Of course, never a dull moment, Alison and Drew were unintentionally egg allergy challenged with a gluten free pizza that we discovered had eggs in it after Alison started complaining of stomach pains.  The good news is that Drew was not at all affected.

Today, the movers came and packed up the remaining goods for shipment.  All the stuff we wanted on the air shipment was within the weight and size limits.  Thankfully, Drew will get his train table in 2 weeks rather than 6 weeks!  Shoo!  They were finished around 5:30, and then we sold the van and we were officially without assets.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day...we have 10 bags (the maximum allowed) to check, as well as 8-9 carry-on bags (including one cooler of food for our food allergy kids), not to mention 5 coats and a stroller.  It should be an exhausting day, but hopefully everyone will sleep at least a little (or maybe a lot) on the plane, and we will all be super excited to check out our new house in London!!!

cheers....until London (Unless Lauren the guest blogger decides to put in her two cents again!)

I am going to post new things every once and a while.

I am. Today I'm going to talk about my elf. don't know why! our elf's name is Lucky. Lucky is a little bit mischief. One time he was in the fridge! Crazy! Now I'm going to talk about what's going on. Well today Ali and Mommy went down to Nashville. Drew, Me, and Daddy stayed at home. I had a bad cough, and Drew has bronchitis. :( But we still get presents!:) Haha. So today we went to Target. I had a tiny fit (don't tease me (;) Drew got a car. Of corse it was a car. I got a mini OG doll. well, I am still a little worried abut moving just so you know! last night Nana and Papa came for christmas. we had a great day. Friday was my last day at goshen and my winter party. My class gave me a poster that said "we will miss you Lauren!" and everybody in my class signed their names. That day, Daddy came to lunch with me. well gotta go now. Bye! see y'all next time!

Visas...and not the credit card

The next stop of this process is applying for and receiving our visas.  We had all sorts of documentation to complete, including all international trips for the past 10 years!  It took Brad at least 45 minutes to do that with all the trips he has made this year to Dubai and South Africa, plus all the traveling he did for Campbell's.

Then, we had to wait to get my passport back because I had sent it off for renewal since it was going to expire in 2016 (my thought process was that I needed to renew now since it would expire while we were over there.  oops!)  But, it all worked out and I got my passport and then we had to go to the immigration office to get our fingerprints captured.  In Britain, they require fingerprints for everyone age 5 and up, so even Alison had to get her fingerprints.

We had printed out all this documentation to take to the immigration office; however, we had NOT printed out the ONE piece of paper required.  So, Lauren and I got to see the downtown Louisville library so we we could print out 4 pieces of paper.  Thank goodness they were able to do all of us in one day, rather than the two days they had scheduled for us.

After fingerprinting, we mailed all documents including birth certificates, marriage liscense, passports off to the British consulate in NY to be approved for our visas.  Here's hoping we are approved!

One way ticket

Brad sent me the e-mail tonight that has the details for our one-way ticket.  Now it's becoming more real, it's really truly happening.  We have five one way tickets to London Heathrow. Hi guys! It's me, Lauren. I can't wait to go on an adventure across the ocean. I'm so exited, but I'm going to miss my friends and school, teacher and related art teachers, and so much more!!! I am also pretty sneaky about these couple sentences I'm posting! Bye!

Amazon fail

Brad got in a full week of work last week, so over the weekend he decided to devote his time to measuring all the space in the house, as well as wait for our Amazon delivery to come to ensure we have all the necessities (cough TV) when we arrive in less than three weeks (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).  He ordered several different things at different times to plan for the delivery on Saturday.

Thursday, I received an e-mail that a couple things had arrived early and were delivered to our neighbor, Jess.  (Brad met her and I am so thankful she was willing to accept delivery for a neighbor she had never even met.)  Then, Saturday as Brad is sitting in the house waiting for delivery, I receive an e-mail from Amazon that due to unexpected delays, our items will not be delivered for 1-2 business days.  Brad was not too happy since he was sitting on the floor of our house with his laptop for hours!  So, he arranged with Amazon to have things delievered to his office; however, we then get an e-mail that says it is "out of the post code," so hopefully our things will be delivered to his co-worker's house before he heads back on Thursday.

He also went to Ikea on Sunday, and he discovered that it is only at 15 minute tram ride!  SCORE!!

When we were talking to Brad last night, it because apparent that in three weeks from yesterday, we will be sleeping in our London house for the first time.  That is so hard to wrap my head around still, even though we have been preparing for this moment for almost three months.  wow, just wow!

It's getting more real

Brad is over in London for two weeks, and he went to our new house yesterday for the walk thru!  Crazy to think that in 25 days we will be there.

Lauren has finally realized that she is leaving her friends and her school and her house that are familiar and she is struggling with it a bit.  Tonight at dinner, Alison was asking about what if she doesn't like her teacher and what if she doesn't make friends.  I know she will be fine, as will Lauren! But at the same time, I am starting to get sad to leave MY friends and my comfort zone as well.

Moving around the holidays poses other challenges as well, such as decorating and buying Christmas presents!  We out up a very small tree tonight, with about 20 ornaments.  It was quick and easy, but it just doesn't really feel the same without the big tree and all the other decorations, but we have Lucky the elf, which the kids have been SO excited about this week.

That's all for now, just didn't want to forget about the walk-thru, and I promise to have photos next time!

Cheers!

We are off to London

I am starting this blog so that I can keep a record of our adventures in London, as well as to give family and friends a way to keep up with our family while we are "across the pond."

What an adventure it has been so far!

Brad officially received the news about the job in London in late August/early September and we quickly began planning our initial trip to research areas.  We are so fortunate that our moms were able to hold down the fort with the kiddos so we could narrow down the place we wanted to be our home away from home.

We looked at schools and houses in Richmond, Twickenham, Wimbledon, Woking, and Windsor.  We decided on Wimbledon, primarily because of the schools but also because of the commute by train for Brad.  While we were there, we were also able to run by the Thames a couple of times, eat at a pub, explore Chelsea, have a wonderful dinner with Brad's new boss at the shard, and see the poppies at the tower of London.  All in all, it was a succesful trip!


Brad officially started his new position on November 3, 2014.  And Lauren and I joined him a couple of days later for a second house hunting trip with the goal of finding a house to rent to start Dec 1.  We saw three schools and about 10 houses.  WE made an offer on a house that was not accepted, and got somewhat discouraged, but made another offer on a house even closer to the schools that we loved and it was accepted, so we are in, as soon as we pay the holding deposit.  Woo hoo!!!  One major stress off the shoulders.

Now to sell our house, get the house packed, get the stuff sorted between storage, short-term ship, long-term ship and take with us.  Move the family to London, enroll the kids in school, place a massive order on Amazon to replace the electronics that will not work in London, buy uniforms, figure out how to get to school, etc......

What an adventure this move will be!!!