greetings from orpington, england!

this has to be quick, but i just have to say,

HOLY COW!!

i've had the most amazing two days in london that i could have never dreamed up for myself! i've rode the underground tube (subway), british railway, city bus and a city sightseeing tour bus up top in the open-air section...all very, very surreal! i've been to the houses of parliament, buckingham palace to see the changing of the guards (the queen was home!), big ben, tower london, over the tower bridge, cathedrals, houses of justice, river boat cruise, hamley's toy store (seriously, one of my favorites!)...the list goes on. my gran'ma is quite lovely!

like i said, making it short...will update soon!

living to tell about it.

hello friends. it is so good to be back. as i sit here in our new home, looking out of the twelve pane window at a landscape filled with snowy pines and hillsides with grazing deer, i am reminded of His ever present blessings. it has been a hard week. i was telling myself that i had no idea what moving was until this big move. and this is only the half of it. i have five months to breath until we're at it again. but for now, i will soak in the peace that this environment brings. the serenity out here is quiet. still. wide open. it is truly gorgeous.

sunday and monday were the hardest days. in my little hopeful mind, i figured we'd have everything moved on sunday in about two trips and have the rest of the late afternoon and evening to {start to} unpack and clean our new place. we already had monday planned to clean the old house. i am completely laughing at myself and my outlandish high hopes. everything was way more than i expected. my ideals were a wee bit off, to say the least. don't you get so disappointed when that happens? as you sit that night barely able to breath because you're so exhausted and mad at the fact that you didn't accomplish nearly what you thought? yeeeah, that was me. so monday's sun came up and we were back at the old house with still more to move (because remember? sunday wasn't completely accomplished). we cleaned for twelve hours. TWELVE. and probably still didn't get to every detail that i would have liked. on a positive outlook, the girls did amazingly well with hardly anything to play with in a cold and empty house, with parents on the fritz of squeezing cleaning life out of every minute. and the hubby was a masterful sanitizer. he rocks at cleaning. and to think, we lived pretty clean lives. i had no idea what lurks behind things. and way up high. and way down below.

on the way home super late monday night, i was having a conversation with myself (it was late. don't judge.). it went something like this:

me: "i locked the doors for one last time. i'm feeling a bit emotional, but okay with it."

me: "yeah, but you just spent twelve hours cleaning that joint. don't you think you're a little tired of looking at it?"

me: "ah ha. light bulb moment. that's why you detail clean before leaving...so that you're completely annoyed with the place and it's not as hard to leave. i completely get it now."

okay, so this conversation wasn't audible, just floating around in my overly tired brain. but isn't that true? not that i despise that adorable little house, but i seriously needed to step away after those exhausting two days. and it was good to take those giant steps. funny story: on monday when we left the new house to go to the old house, i had the girls with me in the subi and as we turned on our old street, jessa says, "no mama, not this way. we have a new house now." and that totally sums up her attitude with this move. another amazing blessing has been her excitement to be here. she loves it out here. both the girl's transition has been smooth. both have been sleeping very well at night. and both have been enjoying the new environment. out of the blue jessa will shout out, "we have a new house! yessss!" i am also happy to be here, trying to capture the same excitement my little one has. isn't it great when they are role models for us?

i still have some cleaning to do out here because after all, no one has lived here in quite awhile. {side note: there is a deer staring at me through the window right now. and five more meandering through the lawn. and about fifty running through the trees at the top of the hill. wow. very cool.} most of the unpacking, for now, is done. mostly some clothes and my scrapbook stuff still lay in piles, but for the most part, i'm feeling good at what has been accomplished in two days. i had to put some weekly activities on hold or else i would have gone mentally insane. "town" is now thirty minutes away (the "town" that i'm familiar with) and i've had to go there three times already this week to tie up loose ends. this blogging break is like a nice big deep breath.

pictures are coming soon. i have to upload them to my computer which doesn't have internet yet. we had to go through at&t's communication manager for internet out here. it's the only coverage we could get and even then, we have to sit by the window to make it work. it's just a blessing to have access. could you imagine? me? without internet? scary thought as shivers run down my spine. and movies have been a life saver. we don't get cable (which is great with me) and the local channels are hard to pick up. so jess has been watching her movies while i stay busy. yay for mindless entertainment.

well, i think that is enough for now. i think this could very well be my longest post to date. i can't wait to catch up with the rest of my blogging people. you are still out there, right?

blessings on your week!

the drama continues.

so i may have been a wee bit melodramatic when i labeled my last post. 'our collapsing city' may have been reaching, but here are a few more matter of facts that are happening around our little caved in burrow we like to call home.

i find people just walking down the street (main busy streets or arterials) because the sidewalks have upped and disappeared.

three lane roads have been turned into two. two lane roads have been turned into one. making everywhere twice as long to get to. it redefines 'errand'.

buildings are having to be roof-inspected by constructional engineers before reopening.

the hiring rate might have just quadrupled with the hiring of 'shovelers'.

there are no signs of frosty. if you can believe it, there is too much snow to create this adorable winter icon.

i think the city government is looking for people to name the new rivers and lakes that are forming?

school day? what's that?

on our collapsing city.

while checking out at home depot:

husband: "have you guys been having issues with your roof?"

check-out girl: "yeah. i think so."

me: "oh, really? pretty bad?" (kind of afraid to ask as i am standing under the looming mass of metal with two small children and dear husband)

check-out girl: "oh i'm not sure. i don't ask questions. i just show up to work when they tell me."

peeeerfect.

husband: "have they sent crews up there to shovel?"

check-out girl: clearly not knowing much and losing my confidence quickly, "i think so. i'm not really sure. i think they send some up a couple of times a day."

after our bag is handed to us, i sheepishly smile, turn to the hubby and say, "i think this is our cue to quickly get out of here." the place was obnoxiously quiet, mind you. to top it off, as we were leaving out the door, two employees were discussing the bowing of a large metal pipe that was running from floor to ceiling. as i approach the vicinity of their conversation, i receive an abrupt, "oh, hi. have a great day!" in the happiest-nothing-is-wrong-what-do-you-mean-we're-talking-about-the-roof-collapsing tone of voice. i just laughed. and sure enough, their piping was curving like a 'c'.

this morning, we started with our list of places to go. half of our destinations were closed. the place we were going to make a drop off of baby items was imploded upon by their own roof. windows were shattered and the building was inside of itself. we quickly guesstimated that they were closed. the gym was closed because the roof fell into the pool. super-walmart was closed because they had crews shoveling their ginormous roof. everywhere we turned, there were collapsed roofs or small armies clearing snow on rooftops. i've never seen anything like it.

it makes me think twice about walking into a flat-roof building just to get a few things.

I'M GOING TO IT-LY!

as a matter of fact, yes, i felt the need to use ALL CAPS in my title. it is just that important!

I AM GOING TO LONDON! I AM GOING TO FRANCE! I AM GOING TO ITALY! I AM GOING TO PARIS! AHHH...!

ok. i think i got it all out. AHHH! oops. that one just eeked out.

my grandma called me this evening:

gma: "hello mini-me (this is what she calls me). are you sitting down?"

me: "yes, i am. uh-oh." (seriously thinking she was going to tell me we weren't going after all)

gma: "how do you feel about being away from the girls for three whole weeks?"

me: gulp. "umm...i think i might be able to handle it. only because i know where we are going."

she continues to tell me the schedule of our divinely wonderful trip. three weeks? really? wow. i don't think i can even put into words how excited i am. we leave monday, april 27 and arrive home monday, may 18. eek!

it-ly has always been my dream. ever since i watched 'only you' with my bestest friend in high school (yes, i blame you, you know. for my obsession. *wink). not to mention that's also when robert downey jr. became my dream. that quickly passed. but it-ly has always remained. faithful and true. pitter patter. i plan on cherishing that stamp in my passport forever and always. amen.

AHHH...!