Younique 3D Lashes

I've been playing with the idea of selling Younique. I am not the best sales person. I do not like pressuring people into buying things. I do however, love to tell people about products that I think are great. A friend sent me a full sized 3D mascara in the mail from the US. She spent $15 just to ship it to me here in the UK. That was pretty cool considering the mascara sells for $29. I do want to share this great product with the ladies in the UK. It goes on sell here October 1. I plan to be one of the first presenters to sign up. I want my presenter kit ASAP!

It nice if I get to make money from it but really, I just want a way to get out, meet people, and introduce a cool product.

The blog will be encompassing of all things life.
Food
Parenting
Travel
Wine
Dogs
Love
Health & Fitness
Fashion
Music

And anything else I feel like writing about. I do not plan on talking about religion or politics. I know those are close to many people but personally they bring too much drama and tension. I want a space in the virtual world that is sunshine and rainbows.

So, here's to the launch of something great!!

Mobile Blogging

So, I'm trying to keep up with the tech world but failing miserably! I love my iPhone and iPad but wasn't putting the MacBook Air to good use. I sold it so now I'm going to attempt to blog from my devices. Maybe I'll even be a better blogger. 

Anyway, I've often wondered in the digital age how will our children be able to know stories since we don't typically wrote things down to pass on anyone. Will we just give them the link to the blog, have them take our Facebook passwords, share our Instagram photos? I don't really know the answer. I wanted to do like the cool mom that set up an email address for her kids and emailed them photos while they were young so when they are older they would babe those handy. 

I'm going to attempt today today to upload numerous photos in order to have them printed. I like holding pictures, laughing at the memory, and having my kids yell "lemme see!" 

I want to preserve these moments. (There's 4 kids somewhere in that photo!)

The adventure my family and I are on is one that I want my children and their children to be a part of. I feel like having tangible photos and documents is the best way to pass it on. I really wanted to make a scrap book of our journeys but damn it's a lot of paper! I tried keeping a journal but that hasn't worked well either. I think I'll ask Mark Zuckerburg, FB founder, if he can create a book from my page with all the status updates and photos. That would be perfect! 

~wife

You, yes you sir are the reason Brits hate Americans.

As I sit in one of my most favorite local pubs, doing my thing on the computer, playing Farm Heroes Saga between applying for jobs and sipping a Peroni, I'm eavesdropping on the table next to me. Five men talking about computers and programming, exhilarating I know. However one lone man is American. Don't ask me how I know, I just know. I mean besides the accent, I know. What gave it away was his arrogant attitude! He has complained about everything even saying "unfortunately the food here is really good". WTH does that even mean?!

I will never understand people who go thru life looking for the wrong/bad things rate than embracing the wonderful things. That has to SUCK! Not only suck for them but everyone else around them.I actively try not to associate with that type of people, sometimes it is hard. I don't aim to control people but if people would stop the pity party and learn to live a little as well as laugh a lot, the world would be amazing!

But as I finish my soup, I realize how people view Americans and it hurts. It hurts that just a few bad apples really do ruin the whole bunch. We are not all like that! At all. Most of us embrace the differences and learn to adjust and overcome.

Stay tuned for my anniversary update. I've been thinking about this one for a while.. SEVER years! SEVEN!

~Wife

Beaches, Glasses, Haircuts

Random topic I know but there are just a few of the things on my mind. It's May 16, 2014. Normally, I'd be wearing shorts, tank-tops with flip-flops or some other sandal. Here, I've had to unpack my coats. I was wearing Uggs with leggings and coat last week. One of the hardest things has been learning to cope with the differences in weather. Winter was fine because it was winter. I expected it to be cold and rainy, now though, it is SUMMER! I want summer dresses and summer shoes. I want SUN! We've had a few good days of weather here and I was able to wear some summer-ish type clothes but nothing like I would have been wearing back home. I don't particularly like clothes especially winter clothes. So, I look forward to my summer wardrobe, which isn't anything special but I feel alive in summer. And on that note, I'm taking the family to the beach tomorrow! The water will likely be way too cold to get in but we are going anyway! I want some sun and fun. I'm packing a picnic and we are going do for fun. I can't wait.

Glasses.. there's been a revolution in glasses. The big, square, oversized frames. I think it's kind of cool that glasses are now so "in". I succumbed to the trend. I haven't had new glasses in 7 years! Yes, SEVEN! I still have my others and love them but rarely wear them, I'm a contact kind of girl until I can get LASIK. Anyway, I was able to pick out a new pair of glass for FREE with my contact order. That's pretty awesome. They aren't a brand name or anything, but who cares?! Now I just have to get used to wearing them.

Hair, every woman's most hated and loved topic. My hair has been giving me fits since I moved here. The water is hard, which in most cases would make it do what I want, but it makes mine feel like straw. I text my husband this morning saying I wanted to cut my hair. See, I've dyed it 3 times since we've been here! Tried to keep the blonde, that didn't work, went brunette and it was OK, then did something different and went red which is great now but only been a week. I love hair but I love when hair works right. So, this morning after my shower I decided to try something new. Nothing outstanding but I dried it differently than normal and low and behold if it didn't look fantastic! I laughed at myself. The hair gods were with me saying "DO NOT CUT!" So I listened and will live another day with long hair.

Wake-up Calls

Sometimes life hits you hard, when you aren't looking. These are the moments that leave me wanting to blog, feeling numb or just plain confused. I don't always like these moments but I think they are necessary to keep us human and in the now. My younger daughter said some things to me other the weekend that made me question my every being, if I was a good mom, what I was doing with my life.. Yes profound that a 5 year old can bring me to my knees. She has no idea the power of her words.

Here I am 3 days later still pondering life. How does anyone know what they are doing, if they are doing it right, if they are truly happy being themselves. Some days I feel like I have no identity. My identity is a compliation of many other peoples ideas, thoughts, requests, likes to the point that I have no idea what I like. I see something someone else is doing and think oh, that's cool or ah, I like that maybe I should try it. It's as silly as hair color. I cannot decide on my own the hair color I like or want. I thought I liked myself as a blonde then I allowed other peoples opinions sway me to go brunette now here I am red wanting even more of a change. I don't know what it is about changes. Some of them I love, even create just to have a change. Other changes I run from, like moving 14 times in 7 years. Yes, 14 now. Pretty soon I'll stop counting. 

Soul searching isn't easy. You face yourself the good and bad which isn't any easy thing for me to do. I feel like I need to spend more time with myself and just myself thinking about what life really is about. 

For now.. 

~wife 

Around the World in 11 Days

Or so it seemed anyway. We landed in Houston on April 16th at 7:00pm CST after a 9 hour flight. I admit, I was a little out of it when we landed. It was a mix of emotions from exhaustion, excitement, anticipation all combined into one big blah. Our good friends picked us up and took us to a local place to eat some crawfish and have our first Bud Light in 6 months. It was great, it really was.

However, it wasn't log that I started to feel the full force of American food. I instantly looked and felt 6 months pregnant after all the sodium and "light" beer. The next day we got out LandCruiser out of storage which needed a new battery then went to Buffalo Wild Wings for more sodium infused food. Friday morning we took off for Mississippi. There we arrived to have a wonderful night with family by my parents pool just hanging out. It was great food for the soul. Saturday my husband and I spent with my dad going to Southern Miss spring football game then to a baseball game against LA Tech, which happens to be my husband's alma mater. My mom took the kids to dye Easter eggs and visit with other family members. We got back to my parents home around 6:30 to have three of my best girls friends show up last minute. It was so fun! We were really able to catch up and just be for a little while. Sunday morning was church followed by an egg hunt then more food, a lot of food. I kept telling myself not to feel to badly about eating so much. I wasn't going to have these foods again for at least another year.

Monday we took off to Louisiana to see my husband's family. There we spent time with his twin brother, sister-in-law and their 3 kids. Our kids really enjoyed getting to see them.

Thursday we headed back to Houston. Friday night we had a rehearsal dinner and didn't stay up too late in preparation for the wedding on Saturday. The wedding was at 1:00 on Saturday. It was a beautiful event and the weather was perfect. Saturday night I was able to spend more time with some other friends and didn't go to bed until 2:00. It was more catching up and chatting.

Our flight back was uneventful which is good. We were all stressed and tired. The border control line was SO long then MK's finger prints wouldn't go thru correctly. It all turned out fine but was stressful in the mean time.

We are home now and trying to get back into the swing of things. It's now 12:45 am and we are wide awake. I think it may be hard on the girls in a day or two. We shall see.

Now on to more adventures.

-k

LaterBlog

Written April 16, 2014 @ 7:32 PM somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.

Airplane blog

My faux blog as I fly.. I’m not a good blogger, obviously. but when I feel the need to have an outlet I capitalize on it. I’m at this very moment on British Airways flight 197 en route to Houston. This has been the most amazing and pleasant international flight of my 34 years thus far. We have 4 paid seats yet the other three around us are not taken. This is like a lotto for a mom! My kids can come and go and I’m not feeling all awkward asking people to excuse me when they need to potty. Even better is that the seats directly in front are unoccupied. I don’t have to be bitchy mom and keep saying “stop kicking”!  My kids are having fun on this flight back to the USA. The movies BA has on tap are pretty awesome. I’ve already watched Wolf on Wallstreet.

I admit, I’m scared of jet lag. The body is a crazy, amazing creation. But…. trying to convince yourself that’s it’s instantly 6 hours behind or ahead of schedule SUCKS! I understand the science behind it but I’m not sure my kids will. The best thing is just letting them be, which is SO hard. Not just in regard to jet lag but in life. How to do you let go and let you kids choose to be themselves? As parents we always want to provide and protect our children but that’s not always easy when you want them to experience life. It’s seriously a catch 22, or rock and hard place or any of the other 100 cliches.. 

I’ve never given flying on a plane much thought until the Malaysian flight disappeared. No, I’m lying.. I gave flying a lot of thought after 9/11 but that was 13 years ago and the rawness is gone. I love to fly. I love airports. I love people watching. The anticipation of getting on the plane. I LOVE takeoff.. Landing and I are stilling becoming friends, but I like to fly, just as much as I like to drive. Flying is FUN, especially when you are on a flight that servers lovely red wine, amazing meal, and my kids treats the entire 10 hours and 5 mins!! 

My kids love the movies even if they’ve seen most of what’s showing. I love the movies and music! Flying is fun!! :P 

Funny Things

There have been so many simple things that are lost in translation even in the English language. The older, A, went to school and asked for an eraser. The rest of the class said "A whaaaa???" The teacher knew what she needed. Here it's called a rubber! So A comes home and says Mummy, what's a rubber?!??! Well....... that depends on where you are dear child. If you go back to The States and say teacher I need a rubber, I'll get a call from the principal..  These are the difference we are learning.. There are no "restrooms" here only toilets. Fries are chips, chips are crisps, cookies are biscuits are biscuits just don't exists here. I think if I could create a true, really bonafide biscuit and gravy here in the UK, I'd be a bizillionaire. Biscuits are are so savory and delicious with warm butter and jam. Anywho! yes, it's a toilet and no it's not a rubber,.

Pub Problems

Rest assured if I'm blogging it's from one of two places; a pub or my couch. The pubs in the UK are beautiful. I do however miss the good 'ole American sports bar. Being a mother doesn't allow me a lot of down time except for the fact they are both in school here! It's been an odd mix of emotions. I've never been a stay-at-home mom without having a kid at home to tend to. I have also worked the vast majority of my married life. My experience is varied greatly from child care to telecommunications. My degrees are in marketing and education so you can see how it all comes together.

Moving to England has allowed me to slow down a bit. The girls go to school year 'round which means every six weeks they are out of school for a week for half term break. That poses a problem when wanting to work. Often child care costs negate any income I would have made. I do realize there are other benefits to working besides money but that also comes with additional stress. That stress is often taken out on my kids or husband. Being able to slow down and really see someplace for its value is amazing. I don't think I was able to appreciate The US for everything it offers because we were so busy. Here we make sure that we are exploring the land and meeting people. Of course we arrived in December which made it a challenge to get out. It does rain a good bit here and the weather is cold. The biggest challenge was all the wind. It hasn't been anything totally unbearable though. Now that it is warming up I expect us to get out even more.

Wales is on my to-do list soon. Then we will make our way up to Scotland. Eventually we will get to Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and all the other wonderful places in Europe. It would be such a disservice NOT to see them since we are so close.

Sometimes I still have "pinch me, this can't be real" moments about living here. I mean, really this is my life. I never in a million years dreamed of living in the UK. When this journey is over I want to look back and know without a doubt that I lived it to the fullest.

Long Hiatus

I'm not great at consistency unless it comes to food, alcohol or sex. Those three things I seem to do really well and very consistently! I always have thoughts in my head but always at the wrong moment like in the shower or driving. I can't imagine being a writer and having the most amazing idea come to you while you are on the toilet. I've heard that "those people" carry a little notebook all the time to jot down those thoughts. Now, if I was an octopus with a few extra arms I may be able to add that to the list of things I already carry around.

Nevertheless, I love to write. I have journals that I would write in from age 12 until about 20. Books upon books of funny memories, boys I loved, boys I planned on marrying, cheerleading mishaps, friend quarrels, you name it.. it was written down in the life of a teenager. So, one would think that as I got older and my memory started to fail by adding children, husband, moving 13 times I would write that shit down. Nope. I haven't. I hate the excuse I do not have time.  In reality, we all have the time for anything we choose to make the time for. It just isn't as important as it should be. I always wanted to write a journal for my daughters and give it to them later in life. I have 4 brand new beautiful notebooks that all have a beginning with a page or two written then are blank.

So, here I am again starting a blog, journal, timeline. In all sincerity, I'm 34 and having trouble recalling events from just a year ago. I wasn't kidding when I said we've moved 13 times in 7 years. It may be more but I've stopped counting because I like the number 13 and where we are living now.

We do live in England, just outside London about an hour. It's the great experience thus far of my little life. We adore London because there is so much to see and do.  It is really hard to see everything to its fullest. As routine and bills start to settle in our exploration has slowed a little, not much but some. Anytime you take a family of 4 out in one of the most expensive places on the planet, you should be prepared to spend a bit. Our first obstacle to overcome was converting money. The US Dollar goes a lot further than Americans think, well in America. Bring that dollar to the UK and it goes no where! So, we'd go out for pizza and a couple of beers. Our "bill" not tab would be around £50 (or 50 quid as the locals call it). That's not a bad bill for a family of 4 however when you pay with your American debit card and see $83.13 on your bank statement you kind of have a mini stroke. I mean it was PIZZA, good pizza but still pizza. So, we HAD to stop converting everything in our head as well as get UK accounts.

This country has some many wonderful and amazing things to offer. The quality of food is amazing even at McDonald's. However you will spend more and get less. This could have something to do with any Americans are fat. In the US you get a 32 oz soda for $1 in the UK you get a 16oz soda for £1.30. That's a massive difference. I'm not complaining, just observing.

The experiences of how the American culture is very much that of instant gratification. When Americans want something they want it now and they want it right. We like to be able to walk into a store pick something out and have it delivered the same day. That just does't happen in in the UK. I wanted to buy dining chairs for this amazing 1930's antique table I was given here. It was going to take at least 6 weeks before any chairs could be delivered.

I'm learning as much about the American culture as I am about the English. The education system is very different as well. Today was my first day volunteering in the classroom. I sat for 3 hours listening to year 1 students read. As someone with an education degree, I never get tired of seeing and hearing kids learn. It's such a beautiful process.

My challenge now is to stay focused and keep up with this blog. We shall see! I'm not making promises. Hopefully I will surprise myself.

Until next time..
~Wife