Day 101: dalmatians?

Okay - let's start back in May. I had to fight, beg and plead with work to get Monday and Tuesday off to spend our last days together. I had to go into work on Wednesday morning but left shortly after to drive to him to airport. For some reason, people at work didn't think I should be taking him to the airport but I knew that is what I wanted to do. This was also when I knew I needed to quit working at the CDC... a place that demands we take of military families yet they do nothing to left us take of our own families. Also, key advice for all the other military spouses out there...do not tell people how they are going to feel during the deployment (as several people were telling me).  Everyone is different, it's probably best not to say anything about how the other person is going to feel. It was super hard to see him go...

last kiss for a while

My birthday definitely wasn't the same without him, but I did go out to eat with several friends: Nani, Karl, Michael, Laura, Celeste and Shirley. I made myself birthday cupcakes and right after that Nani and Karl brought over a cake...I had enough sweets to last a few weeks. Laura and I went and got a pedicure, which was one of the best presents ever!

I also went to see Legally Blonde the Musical and it was so much fun!!!! I like it is my new favorite show.

Day 100: whoop whoop double digits!

Okay…I know I know I haven’t updated in a long time. I’ve been super busy and yet not busy at all but I’m going to get back on this and update again! Currently, Benjamin has been gone for about 3 months now and that means we only have 3 more months to go! I’ve been trying to keep myself busy so last weekend, Celeste, Ryan and I met up in London to see Sister Act the musical and Whoopi Goldberg starred as Mother Superior…or Mother Theresa as I told someone at work!

We had a great time and it was fun to hang out in London for the day. After the show, we went to an Indian Tapas restaurant with the best Nan bread I’ve ever tasted. I will definitely be going back and will have to take Benjamin because Indian food is his ultimate favorite!

Here is a quick recap of what I haven’t been blogging about and what you haven’t been reading, because I pretty much stopped blogging when Ben left:

May happenings:

Ben left

Birthday - Legally Blonde the Musical

June happenings:

Baby shower for Laura

Welcoming baby Tristen!!!

July happenings:

Got a new job – and it’s awesome!!

Saw Anne Boleyn at The Globe in London with Celeste

August happenings:

Went to Holkham Hall with Laura and her friend

Benjamin moved to a safer location

Never fear, I will blog all about these happenings, current and old.

London in December

On Friday, I saw Regina Spektor live in concert!! She was amazing!

I also went to see Grease! It was good, not the best show I've seen but good. It just didn't live up to the movie, and they changed a lot of the iconic dances (hand jive was changed, greased lightening hand moves also changed). I didn't really like the Danny character either. Other than that though it was another great West End show!

London weekend

We went to London again! We are really starting to enjoy the city. We decided we would go to the British Museum, London Aquarium, and try to see a West End show. On Saturday, we got up early and headed to the The Cornish Bakehouse, Benjamin's favorite place to eat in London. They have delicious pasties (not pastries).

We then headed off to the British Museum, which was free by the way. This is the oldest public museum in the world, established in 1753!

Some of the highlights of the museum were:
Rosetta Stone

Easter Island statue:

Sutton Hoo Treasure, preserved 7th century ship burial:

We also got to see the Parthenon Sculptures, Egyptain mummies (of both humans, Cleopatra included, and animals!), Lindow man, whose skin is 2,000 years old! This was the best museum I've seen in a while.

The West End show that we decided on was Blood Brothers. It was about a mother who had two twins, but couldn't afford to keep both of them. Her boss wants a baby and convinces the mother to give one of her twins to her. One boy is raised in poverty and the other in the upper class. The boys become friends and eventually fall in love with the same girl.

On Sunday, we went to the London Aquarium! We saw everything from sea horses to upside down jelly fish to sharks! It was fun but quite pricey, for two hours of entertainment!

Here I am at the entrance to the "Shark Walk"

You have to walk over a glass insert, with sharks beneath you. Here's Ben checking it out:

Disclaimer for anyone who wants to visit England: October, you would think, is considered to be off season for tourists, right? NO! Here is a picture of just how crowded it was:

This is right beside the Thames, to the right, and Westminster Bridge, straight ahead. It's packed!!!!! We aren't quite sure when the tourist season dies down, but it's NOT in October!

London

Update time!

We had a three day weekend, for the third week in a row! Benjamin and I decided to go to London. This was our second time going to London since we've been in the UK. Our friend Jordan who we met at tech school in Texas was always going to be in London so it just made since to go! This time we did not take the train. We drove to Epping, which is about 1.5 hours away. Epping is one of the first stops for the Underground. A short ride to the right stop and we were on our way to the hotel.

Benjamin wanted to go to the Imperial War Museum. It was very interesting and I learned a lot of things, especially about WWI and II. Benjamin was very happy in his element. We spent most of the day at the museum. We ate at the cafe inside the museum and had scones! Scones are perfectly amazing. Fruity type biscuits with clotted cream in the middle with jam :) Lovely!

We checked out the cheap(er) tickets for West End shows. They have ticket offices which sell West End tickets for less on the day of the show. With a little coaxing from myself and Jordan, Benjamin gave in and bought us tickets for Wicked! The tickets were 37 pounds a piece, so about 60 dollars. Not too bad, considering the cheap tickets in New York were closer to 150 dollars. Wicked was amazing!!!!!!!!

Playing around before the show begins!

Getting ready to go inside!

While waiting for the show to start, Benjamin and I went into a book store. We found some books to help you study to become a British citizen. This picture is my favorite from the whole trip. Benjamin is looking at the British Citizenship Test and Obama is looking on thinking, "NOOO...Don't do it......"

The next day we visited the Queen's Gallery, the Royal Mews, State rooms, and Buckingham Palace. The Queen's Gallery is a permanent space dedicated to changing exhibitions of items from the Royal Collection, the wide-ranging collection of art and treasures held in trust by The Queen for the Nation. We saw french porcelain, famous works of art, armor, furniture, and jewelry. We could not take pictures in the Queen's Gallery. The Royal Mews is the stable of the British royal family. It houses the State vehicles, both horse drawn carriages and motor cars, used for coronations, State Visits, royal weddings, the State opening of Parliament and official engagements. We also saw some royal horses!

The State Rooms had an exhibition of dresses, jewels, photographs and gifts presented to the Queen by people of the Commonwealth. The exhibition represents six regions of the Commonwealth: Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, The Caribbean and Central America, Asia (including India), Island Peoples and Pacific Realms. The dresses she wore were absolutely stunning! . The exhibit I mentioned above was my favorite part. The rest of the State Rooms were breathtakingly beautiful and lavishly furnished. It was definitely fit for a queen :) We couldn't take pictures in the State Rooms. We also got to see the changing the guard. It was a pretty awesome experience. There were people everywhere so it was hard to see at times. We are going to go back in the winter, when there won't be as many visitors!

Here is Benjamin in front of Buckingham Palace.

Beautiful isn't it? This is Buckingham Palace!

We met Jordan for some Lebanese food and a cute little place. After dinner and dessert, we headed back to Epping and then drove home! What a great weekend.

In other news, Benjamin started gradate school on Monday at Norwich University. How exciting! I should be starting in January as long as they get the Miller's Analogy Test up and running on RAF Mildenhall!