1.11.11 (<-- Don't see that every day!)
Everything is NEW it feels like! It's a NEW year. I have a NEW job. I got a NEW (ish) car for Christmas and a NEW iPhone 4 from Darren. I'm such a lucky ducky!
Mine until Darren sells it! Mercedes KOMPRESSOR! (turbo) CLK230
and Darren's Range Rover-Carmella
Over break Kelcey was here and we saw some NEW places. Darren had to work so the two of us took a drive down to Stonehenge and although we didn't pay, we still got a decent view of some rocks in a corn field! Seriously, it was out in the middle of nowhere! Not even Rita, our GPS, could find it for us! Stonehenge was worth the drive and the rocks were pretty neat. It was winter solstice and a lot of tourists in vans were parked nearby snapping photos and just camping out.
We then stayed in Bristol (not much happening there) for a night and drove to Cardiff, Wales where we stayed two nights. It took us about four hours total to get to Wales, which was the highlight of the road trip! They had more snow there than what was forecasted for us in England, so luckily we had just bypassed it all. I had to use 4-wheel drive one time and that was to get out of my parking space. haha! In Cardiff we stayed at a quaint little B&B and went to see "Mama Mia", which we loved!! "Dancing Queen" is my all time favorite karaoke song to sing. I will definitely have to take Darren back to Cardiff so we can experience the harbor in the summer and if he's lucky, maybe I will take him to Hooter's and a giant casino we passed! :D
We went to Cardiff Castle and played war time dress up!
From Cardiff we drove back into England and to Birmingham. I had this bright idea to find the NEW Forever21, big mistake! Christmas Eve shopping in one of the biggest malls in England, no bueno! We were done after 2 stores and made a quick getaway to the car and back to Thetford. Oh, and we also made a quick stop at ASDA to pick up groceries for our Christmas/Super Bowl Party for the single guys Darren works with. It felt good to spread some holiday cheer and be a mother hen for a day, but I don't think I am going to make it a tradition at my house for reasons I will not list.
Kelcey and I spent a day in Cambridge and took time for tea and watching little old ladies push shopping carts while others rode their goods around in their bicycle baskets.
Her last week Darren had off so we went to London for New Years with a small group of friends and
stayed by the airport so she could catch her flight on time.
We went to a Medievel Times Banquet near the Tower of London. I think we were a little more fun than the actual show with our costumes and foolishness because people were taking pictures of us all night! So much fun. One of the best times I've had here.
I didn't want to see Kelcey leave. She was to fly out Friday, New Year's Day, but her flight got cancelled. Some nice lady bumped someone from their flight and put her in their place so she could spend New Year's with us! OOPS! What are the chances of that happening!? So we were all one big happy family and rang in the new year under Big Ben!
Not the killer fireworks display happening on the opposite side of us at the London Eye. If we had known, we would have been on that side of the bridge. They closed down several streets and the bridge so no one would fall in the water I guess. lol! I have to say they did an excellent job of keeping 250,000 plus people in line, at least in the big mob we were in! Loads of security on horses with their tall black hats and matching neon jackets. Here we are waiting for the fireworks.
We were all nice and spiffy until some guy decided to spray champagne when Big Ben struck 12! We found a small pub to end the night that was American Air Force friendly. They let us in when no one else would, so that was a plus!
Our last night in London, Kelcey, Mikey (pictured right) and I went to see "Wicked" and really enjoyed it.
I know I am forgetting a lot of things Kelcey and I did while she was here, so the end of this blog will be a little out of order.
We set up my NEW classroom so I wouldn't have so much to do when I went back, thank goodness! Had a good start last week and my kids are amazing.
We found a NEW tree, not the Charlie Brown one we wanted, but a fakey and decorated it all cute.
Thanks for all the gifts, family!
We braved every mode of transportation once again, but definitely agreed driving is a little less stressful and time consuming. This is us on the tube.
Took a tour of the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta Stone and experienced the next best thing to being in Rome and Greece.
Spent many days in H&M finding "going out clothes" when we should have found some warm fur coats and boots because we were freezing!
We found a little Americana in Wales-a Ruby Tuesday and a delicious Blue Moon to quench the thirst.
Here we are cozying up to the fireplace sipping some cider. YUM!!
