Church Sign Sunday

Is it really Sunday already?

What a weekend! Starting off the weekend with a beautiful Royal Wedding. Then Saturday I spend a lovely day with the Englishman and our little lady. My son stayed home because he's 14 and too cool to be hanging with us common folk on a Saturday. Then today, went to church then skyped with the in-laws in England. Now everyone is napping so I have a moment of quiet.

This week's church sign is brought to you by the Englishman. They don't really have church signs where he's from and to be here, in the South, in the middle of the Bible Belt, it's like he's died and gone to comedy heaven! So, Good lookin out and fist pumps to the Englishman.

Don't worry

Even Moses was a basketcase

I'm a Versatile Blogger

Wow! What an honor! I want to give a big thank you to Renee from Renee's Chirpings who has given my blog the Versatile Blogger Award.

The rules of this award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell us seven things about yourself.
3. Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers.

So, here are seven (more) things about myself:

1. I love sweets. I don't just like sweets. I have a really unhealthy (pun intended) love affair with anything chocolate and sweet. Just talking about it makes me want to go grab a fudge round (or two).

2. I love Mountain Dew.

3. I need to add more water and take away some sweets from my diet..... :/

4. I met my husband online and imported him from England; awesome accent and all.

5. I have been watching the Royal Wedding since I woke up at 6:30. As I type this I am watching the re-run of the wedding on BBC America.

6. I love weddings! I DVR almost every wedding show out there.

7. OK - I just love reality tv period! If its a reality show, I probably watch it. Bravo is probably my favorite channel. Who doesn't know Andy Cohen has the 4-1-1????

Congratulations to all of the great blogs I have passed the award on to! Leave a comment here with your link so that everyone else can come check out your blog.

Happy Anniversary with His Part 1

6 years ago today I married my love.

I have posted my version of our love story and would highly encourage you to read it!

In honor of our anniversary I will post "his version" of our story. To make sure no tales are told (and because some things may need a little translating) I will be giving you my commentary in red. I hope you enjoy!

And before I forget - Happy Anniversary Jason! May the next 6 years be only somewhat like the last 6 years. (I'm not going to lie - moving countries, blending families, speaking the same yet different languages - the first couple of years has been really tough and I hope not to repeat some of our mistakes!!)

They say there are two sides to every story, her version and the right one. (already starting off bad! I'm gonna get him!) With this in mind I felt I had to tell the other side of “our story”.

I was a very happy bloke living the single life with not a care in the world. I had my own house, was driving a Porsche and had my Ducati living in the kitchen so it would stay warm and dry in the winter months. (He has always been a bit of a bragger - but I'm not editing him so just bear with it!) I was a successful area manager for a decent sized mortgage broker and loved every part of the life I had, well who wouldn’t. My weeks consisted of working hard and my week-ends (or weekend for us Americans) were spent being a bachelor, hanging out with my friends and family. I played bass in a band so some weekends were spent rockin’ out. (Is this where I should tell you I asked him to get a pedicure with me and as we were sitting in the chairs he told me I was ruining his rock-n-roll image?) Basically life was pretty bloody good and I didn’t need anything or anyone else disrupting the status quo. Funny how both sides are the same at this point.

One Friday evening I was driving home and I called my housemate (roommate to us Americans. Funny how the English are so proper. Jason says "But we never shared a ROOM, we shared a HOUSE) Matt to see what he was doing, he was at home for the evening so I stopped at Asda (a large supermarket, think Walmart) (It's not like Walmart - it is owned by Walmart, so it's Walmart in England) and bought a Pizza and a case of beer, a case being 24 cans. (Does he think we don't know what a case is? Seriously, I may not drink beer but I know how it's sold!) I always did on Fridays but the pizza was bigger if Matt was home and the beer ran out faster. When I got home Matt was playing an online multi-player game, like most nights, and I noticed there were all these pop-ups coming up so I asked him what they were as it was my computer and pop-ups are not usually good. He said they were just people he was talking to, no problem so I went to get me some beer and pizza. The weekend went like any other, meeting mates down the pub, seeing my parents, my sister and niece etc. On Monday I got back from work at around 11pm as usual and Matt was again on the computer playing games and chatting to people all over the world on these pop-ups. He said I should get online and get into some of these chatrooms etc. I thought about it the next day and when I got home the computer was free so I jumped on and checked a couple of places out.

I found a couple of websites and put my basic info in to see what would come back, no photos because people with photos in their websites/profiles are just sadders (??? Jerk!) who try too hard, besides I’m not trying to sell myself I’m just seeing what all the fuss is about that keeps Matt up until all hours of the night. The next day I got online and amazingly there were messages for me, so I flicked through them and deleted a lot but some caught my eye so I sent a couple of messages back to those who weren’t desperate sounding, those who appeared to be online just chatting to people. One I didn’t delete and did reply back to was this girl in America who mentioned her sister a lot, which seemed odd (my sister is my best friend and was the driving force behind me going online) but she wasn’t pretentious or after a husband so she fit the bill and I left her a message. A couple of days later we were both online at the same time so started chatting. More than a couple of hours later I said I had to go as it was late and I told her we could chat if we were on at the same time again.

The next day I didn’t get on as I got home at 11pm and Matt was playing games, but I was trading my Porsche in for another car in the morning so we went out for a last ride in the car, we got it to 155mph which Matt recorded and on the return put the top down but it only got to 136. (More bragging.... Sorry!) We got home and I went to bed and left Matt playing. The next day I got online and there she was, this odd (??? - Jerk!) Yank (??? - I'm from the South! He doesn't get it, South = Southerns, North = Yankees, why is this so difficult? Oh and is this is the place where I tell you we got into an argument one time and he called me a Yank which made me laugh cause, according to him, I was. Was it supposed to be an insult? So I just said, OOKKK Englishman!) who was fun to talk to. Well this went on for a couple of days and that week-end I asked if I could call her, I just had to hear her voice, (OK - that was sweet!) besides I can talk a lot faster than I can type so a 2 hour online chat could probably be done in 20 mins.

On Sunday afternoon I dialed this number and this girl answered who had this cool voice. I know Cassie says the conversation lasted 20 mins but it actually lasted 45 minutes, (I'm sure he's right about this.) I know because I got the bill. The first 20 mins did entail me talking a lot and her just making agreeable sounds, I later found out it took her 20 minutes to begin to start to understand me. There was a lot of going backwards and forwards with the whole “language” thing but only because Americans have decided to rename things and we got onto this whole thing about carts, buggies etc. at the end she told me she had to go as she had tickets to a football game, she meant “American” football not proper football (Oh jeez..... do we really have to get into this right now??) so we ended the call sorting that misnomer out. It actually turned out the game she went to see was the very game one of our national channels was showing that week, so I texted her to let her know the Jacksonville Tigers were being shown on TV in England, she text back it was the Jaguars, that’s how unimportant the game is in England, we don’t even care to get the names of the teams right.

As time went on we spent more time chatting both online and on the phone and I told her I was going to be away the week of Christmas through New Years, she asked where I was going and I told her I wanted to go to either New York, Berlin, Moscow or Cairo. I was in Berlin between the ages of 9 and 12 as my dad was in the RAF and I wanted to see it as a united city from an adults eyes, I have been to Cairo twice and love the place, I always wanted to go to Moscow and New York seemed to be a pretty cool place. She said New York would not be the best place (I LOVE New York - it is always the best place to be EXCEPT New Years. So stinkin busy!!) at that time of year and that Moscow and Berlin would probably be very cold and as I had already seen Cairo why didn’t I think about coming to Florida and she could show me the sights. (to be fair this is sort of the way it went. He suggested maybe he could come to Florida so that's why I said, yes, come on!) The next morning I got online and using my bank account benefits booked a flight to Orlando for Dec 26th, I know Cassie said Dec 27th (I'm pretty sure he's right! I think I got my dates muxed up.) but I remember it was boxing day and the flight was unbelievable cheap for the day after Christmas day. I called her and said “ guess what I’m just about to do. Cassie is not good at guessing games so she said something sarcastic, well as sarcastic as an American can, and I seriously thought about changing the flight to Cairo, but I remembered it was around 5am in Florida so just told her “when I press this button my flight to Orlando is booked” she seemed pretty happy with it so I hit the confirm and that was it, my Christmas holiday 2005 would be spent in Florida.

The next couple of weeks were spent with lots of Transatlantic phone calls, and hours and hours of IM chatting, I saw the sun come up most Saturday and Sunday mornings. Eventually Christmas day came and I spent it with my family as I have done every Christmas day up to that point. My bags were already packed and my dad had said he would drive me to Gatwick airport in the morning. My alarm was set for 5am and dad came to get me at 5:30. I called Cassie just after we left my house and I told her I would see her later that day, remember it was half past midnight for her and I would be on a plane when she was awake the next day (for her) so it was the last time we talked before I would get to see her in person. The drive down was uneventful, boxing day at 6am is not at all busy, and part of my bank account benefits included the first class lounge (More bragging.... will it ever end??) at the airport so I was OK with that. On the plane I was sitting next to an older couple in the row next to the emergency exit but my seat back wouldn’t lock upright so I was moved back a row, it was a three seat row with no other people in it, so again my flight over was spent laying down a lot watching movies and TV programs, all in all very relaxing.

On landing in Orlando I was able to get to the Immigration desk very quickly, as I said the flight was not even half full, and I managed to get through passport control (Immigration and Customs) with no fuss. I picked up my bag and headed for the toilets, sorry bathrooms, to wash my face and brush my teeth. At the other end of the hall is another desk where you can get your bag searched for contraband, I told the guy at the desk I had a present for my “girlfriend” and it was wrapped as I didn’t realize it wasn’t allowed to be, he was very nice and asked me about it, he was convinced it wasn’t anything illegal and after seeing the box, still wrapped, he told me next time to wrap it after I cleared customs. With that I jumped on the train to the main terminal and headed for baggage claim number 2. My bags came and I got them and decided to wait at the carousel so Cassie could find me when she got there, yes she wasn’t waiting for me when I came off the train. After a long time, I’m not sure exactly how long but EVERY passenger on my flight had cleared the airport, I decided to head out to see if Cassie was waiting at the wrong place, she wasn’t. After a while longer I started looking at the posters around the airport and thinking “well at least I can book into a cheap hotel and do the parks”. I went outside and walked down the drop off/pick up lane, nothing so I headed back inside to the carousel to find Cassie…. Still not there. If I had been stood up I was going to be very upset as I could be in Cairo or Moscow, and how easy would it be to get there now? After a couple more minutes I looked down to row of carousels and saw this female walking towards me looking a bit sheepish (what exactly is sheepish?), and more than a bit familiar. I picked up my bags and headed towards her, we stood there not really knowing what to say so I kissed her…..

Stylish Blogger Award

A big THANK YOU to


Thrifty Mom Spot


for nominating me for this award!

In order to completely accept this award it is asked that I:


1. Thank and link back to the person that has given you this award.


2. Share seven things about yourself.


3. Award 10-15 blogs you feel deserve this award as well.


4. Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.




And now about me:


1. I am a Stay at Home Mom to two kids, ages 14 and (almost)2!

2. I homeschool my 14 year old!

3. My husband and I are thisclose to celebrating 6 years of marriage!

4. Family history/pride is so important to me that we named our beautiful daugther after her great-grandfather and hope to name any more children after family.

5. I am deathly afraid of fish! I have nightmares and will wake up screaming. Poor husband thinks someone has broken in and is killing me.

6. I am very Very VERY close to my family! My sister is my best friend and we talk no less than 12 times a day. (That doesn't include our texting or facebook messaging.)

7. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Being a follower of Jesus Christ defines who I am and who I am striving to teach my children to be. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know he loves me. I know my Father in Heaven loves me. I am part of a forever family. Please click here to learn more!

Sometimes Being Nice Does Not Pay

Yesterday I posted a sweet, lovely, inspiring conversation I had with a sweet, lovely, inspiring mature gentleman......(I think I just threw up in my mouth)

Go here to catch up if you haven't read it.

I know I should be more composed and the bigger person but instead I politely said (or possibly shouted) "I SAID I WAS SORRY - DON'T ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME!" And possibly some other forms of not niceness.

As I was checking out I noticed him at the Sam's cafe eating his lunch, alone, with his buggy full of his treasures from the hunt and I felt bad. I felt ashamed that I spoke unkindly to him and didn't have patience. So after I checked out, I walked to his table and looked him in the eyes and said "I'm sorry I spoke to you that way. I should have never done so" and then I smiled. Without missing a beat this sweet, lovely, inspiring mature gentleman looked up at me and said.....

"Get outta my d*mn face"

Already on my list for the next Sam's visit? My Husband!

I'm a little bit country

He's a little bit Rock-n-Roll

And when you are trying to design a home, the two do not mix!

We are thinking about some new lights and if I got what I wanted our new chandelier might look something like....

But if Jason got his way then the lights might look like......

So we certainly have a lot of ground to cover to get to the middle. So now we are looking at lights like....

They just lack personality.

Marriage is hard! Compromise stinks!

But for the record ~ when my Georgia's room needs to be redecorated this is a MUST.....

Do you have the same problems? Does your husband have opinions on the decorating in your house?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway. Click here to enter.

Thank You Notes

Dear Sweet Tomatoes:

Thank you for reminding us overeating Americans that even at a salad buffet we should wait to get to our seats before chowing down!


♥ Cassie

Dear Karen:

Thank you for being ever so kind to put your name on your car so I wouldn't mistake it with mine.

♥ Cassie



Dear First Coast News:

Thank you for reminding me spellcheck is so important. Especially with live reporting! (Do you think my navigation will find Downtwon?)

♥ Cassie

Dear Donald Duck Pillow:

Thank you for being so cuddly, cute, warm and wonderful. Hearing my little lady say quack is just about the cutest sound in the world but walking in to find you napping with them is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.


♥ Cassie

Story of Us - Part 3

On February 9, 2005 I woke up really REALLY early. My flight to Washington D.C. left at 6:00 am and once in Washington I would have a short hour and a half layover. My flight to England left at 9:55 am. I was due to arrive in England at 9:55 pm. I had no idea this was actually a little unusual. Most transatlantic flights are overnight flights. I boarded the very small, only slightly bigger than a puddle jumper plane to Washington D.C. It was completely uncomfortable and even a little smelly. I was too excited to sleep, not that I would be able to anyway. I can never sleep on flights. I'm a little jealous of people that can. I wouldn't say the entire flight was miserable but it was very typical of the domestic flights we all get to experience from the cheap seats. The silver lining was I flew United and at the time United was serving Pepsi. And I do love me some Pepsi. Fun Fact: I will go to a restaurant with OK food just because they have a great ratio of syrup to soda water for the Mountain Dew. (Maybe I should rename that to Sad Fact)... Anyway, I got to Washington and made my way to the internationals gate. The flight boarded ahead of schedule. I got on the plane and oh my what a difference a destination makes. This flight was larger, of course, and the seats were bigger and more comfortable. There were TVs on the back of every headrest with tons of things to watch. We were going to be there for a while, 8 hours, so they did a really great job of keeping us entertained. Sad Fact: I was so naive about international flights that I went to Burger King in the airport and got a Whopper meal for the flight. I thought they treated all flights the same and they don't us on regular flights. Not only did they feed me, they fed me two meals and a snack! Not to mention all the drinks I could drink. So as they were closing the doors to the flight I realized there was no one sitting beside me. So I had 2 seats, which was the whole row on the side of the plane, to myself. It was heaven. FYI - domestic flights stink! International is where it's at!! We arrived in London early but Heathrow was having air traffic issues so we flew in circles around London for an hour. We still landed on time. I got off the plane and started the longest walk ever from the gate to the main airport. On the way to passport control I saw the most disturbing sign. It was a huge yellow sign and in big, black, bold letters it said: TOILETS. Gross!! I found this to be the case all over Europe! I had to go through passport control and answer their questions: How long are you here for? What is the purpose of your stay? I passed with flying colors and they let me go through. It was very easy. They were very nice. Let me just say this - if you are traveling to England please let me know. I have gathered quite a bit of knowledge of things you would never think about. Even the best airlines to fly at certain times and times of day to fly. - I walked out of the airport into the waiting area and it was overwhelming seeing all of the people. I finally heard a voice from the side of me that said "hey". And there he was. He helped me with my luggage and we set off for the car park (parking lot to us Americans). The first thing I noticed was how cold it was. When I left Florida is was normal February weather. Maybe even a little warmer. I was expecting it to be cold but it was cold AND wet. We got to the car and I tried to get int he driver's side. After my silly mistake and Jason having a good laugh we were off. It was a 3 hour drive back to his house. I would have been really annoyed but I had to remember I lived 3 hours from the Orlando airport so I had no room to talk. As we were driving, at night, to his house I was noticing a strange thing - they had hotels in the middle of the highway. You know, like in the median. Weird, right? So I said to Jason, ummm, can you tell me why there are hotels and pubs in the middle of the roads? And he said, I don't see them, I don't know what you're talking about. What? How does he not see them. So the next time I saw one I said, there, that one. And he looked in the median and said, where? Are you kidding me? He can't see the buildings? So the next time I saw one I pointed at it and said - THERE and I pointed over my left shoulder. He laughed at me and reminded me that the "median" on the left was actually the side of the road. Because, of course, in England they drive on the opposite side. So when I said median, he looked towards the right, because that was the actual median. I still make mistakes like that which is why I never drive over there. Ever. Period. We finally got to his house and I crashed. I was tired, had been travelling all day and was beat. The next day we went to his parents house. I was nervous. So nervous. Upon meeting his parents his dad said "Welcome to the land of rain and bland food". Truer words have never been spoken! His family was beyond wonderful. Even today I feel like I have the best inlaws anyone could ever ask for. They are kind, considerate and most importantly, they raised a really wonderful son. We spent the 10th, 11th and 12th meeting his family, going to a town called Sheffield to meet his grandmother and great-aunt, meeting friends, touring his hometown of Lincoln. Lincoln isn't far from the Sherwood Forest. We went to the High Street (the main shopping/downtown district) and shopped and had hot chocolate. We went to the Lincoln castle. I'd never been to a castle before. We went to the Lincoln Cathedral. It is the actual cathedral where they filed The DaVinci Code. As we walked around people would comment on my accent. I was the foreigner. It is still strange to be somewhere and you are the only one that talks a certain way. Luckily I usually have Christian to help me feel more comfortable. On the 13th we woke up and I was told to pack a bag because we were leaving for a couple of days. I packed and his mom came to get us and take us to the train station. We boarded a train in a town called Grantham which was headed to Kings Cross station in London. Kings Cross is the station in Harry Potter where they go to Platform 9 1/2 to go to Hogwarts. Once there we took the tube (subway talk there) to Waterloo station in London to board the Eurostar. 2 and a half hours later we arrived in Paris. Yes, THAT Paris. My wonderful boyfriend took me to Paris, France as my Valentine's Day present! It should be noted that I got sick in England. I caught the flu and it was ugly! I was a mess. Must have been all the outside walking in the really wet, cold weather. Luckily, when we got the Paris I was on my way back to good health but I was far from 100%. We checked into the hotel and went on a self guided walking tour of the area of our hotel. We had crepes and went to get a Royale with cheese (cause they have the metric system so they don't know what a quarterpounder is), we ate croissants and just walked around. I got money from an ATM. I couldn't understand what it was asking me but luckily numbers are numbers. We did go to a chemist (pharmacy like Walgreens) to try and get my some medicine. We walked in and up to the counter. I said to the woman behind the counter that I didn't speak French, I was sorry, but I really needed something for the flu. She looked at my like I just shot her mother. I hung my head in shame and started to walk away. Jason went up to the counter, to the same woman, said something in French and asked if anyone spoke English. She smiled at him and went to get the chemist, who spoke perfect English and was able to ask him for some medicine. Which, by the way, was AMAZING! I had to buy more to bring home with me! It was getting late but Jason didn't want to go back to the hotel. I was not feeling well and it was really cold so I was wanting to stay in the hotel room. He asked me to walk the River Seine with him. I gave in and we went. It was 11 pm and we walked hand in hand down the bank of the river and it was beautiful. He could see how incredibly cold I was so he gave in and we went back to the hotel. I really was miserable. The next morning we got up, again I was feeling better, we exchanged Valentine's cards and we ate yummy pastries. I swear to you I have walked the streets of many cities trying to find pastries as good as those in Paris. I am still trying to find them. As you would expect, the croissants were buttery and delicious. We went sightseeing this time on a sightseeing bus, one of my favorite things to do in any new city, and we ended up at the Eiffel Tower, passing along the way places like the Louvre, Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower but knowing I was trying to get over the flu and how windy it would be and not to mention the line to get up there, we decided to skip the view from the top this time. Hopefully one of these days we will have an opportunity to go back and I will be able to go to the top. After the Eiffel Tower we wondered around and ended up at Notre Dame. It is a beautiful cathedral. It is on the river and quite stunning. We tried to go in but they wanted an entrance fee to "worship" with them. I don't care to turn this into a debate on religion but I pay my tithing to my church so I would never pay to enter and sightsee another church. As we were walking out Jason was acting a little strange. Something I couldn't really explain. Until he pulled me close, kissed me and told me how much he loved me. He said "I am completely, totally and utterly in love with you". Then he pulled out a box from his jacket, bent down (instead of getting on one knee because it was wet) and asked if I would marry him. All I could say was "Yes". He put the most incredible, clear, colorless, Emerald cut Diamond solitaire on my finger. Specially designed by him for me. He told me he drove all the way across the country for my ring. I was flabbergasted! I had to ask, "How long did that take?" "3 hours" he said. Wait, what? 3 hours? Oh my goodness, that would take 3 days in America! OK, seriously, are you kidding me? Did I just get engaged to my dream man, in Paris, on Valentine's day? Yes! I did! We were married April 2, 2005 in Jacksonville, Florida. On the St. Johns River. And the rest, they say, is history.

I love our story. We have a really great one. I can't wait to be able to tell Georgia our story.

Story of Us - Part 2

He was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, was carrying a shoulder type bag and pulling his luggage. I knew it was Jason as soon as I saw him but not because I had previously seen his pictures. As much as I love him, he doesn't always take the best pictures. I can't really describe it but I just knew it was him. The feeling was obviously mutual because as our eyes met, even being 50 feet apart, he dropped everything and ran to meet me and put his arms around me. He kissed me, nothing inappropriate, but very meaningful. It was at that exact moment I realized how much I liked him and how much I didn't like his breath. Yuck! But to be fair, he had just traveled 9 hours on a flight, eating airplane food, drinking orange juice and probably plenty of coffee. After a few minutes of just hugging and enjoying being in the same country we picked up the things he dropped and headed to the car. We got to the car and made some phone calls to let everyone know he was safe and I was normal and we were off on a 2 and a half hour drive back to my place. Unfortunately neither of us can remember a lot of the drive home but what I do remember is 1. As we started going over a bridge of water it shocked the heck out him 2. Taco Bell and 3. He stared at me the whole way back. Of course we have a ton of water here in Florida and therefore have tons of bridges. I'm used to driving down the road and without warning being on a bridge but for an Englishman on his first visit to the states this was news worthy. It really surprised him and made me laugh. No trip to Orlando is complete without a stop for gas at some point. On the way home I needed to stop and pulled off 95 at Palm Coast. It was getting late, it was already dark, and I was hungry. I asked if he was and as I've since learned, he's always hungry. Remembering he liked spicy food and even specifically mentioned Mexican food I asked if he want to grab a quick bite at Taco Bell and we could be on the rest of the way home. Yeah sure he said. So I pulled into Taco Bell and asked what he wanted. Whatever he says. How about some tacos? Yeah sure he said. So I order enough tacos for the two of us and then pull into the gas station next to Taco Bell. Knowing he's hungry and tired I handed him his tacos and got out to pump the gas. I get back in the car and there's Jason, sour cream on the side of his mouth, mouth full of taco, rest of the taco in one hand and he looked at me, with a full mouth and said "This is great!". Uhhh, it's just Taco Bell I thought. Then it occurred to me and I asked him, "Don't you have Taco Bell in England?" His response - "No!" No? No! Seriously? Seriously! So then we started going through a list of all the places they DON'T have in England and I was mentally making a list of must-visits. Back on the road for the rest of the ride I would catch Jason just staring at me. I'm not really sure why but I figure I'm just THAT gorgeous! :) Finally we got to my apartment and crashed for the night. He was so tired from his day of traveling that he was out in no time. But before he could go to sleep he had to give me the Christmas present he bought me. It was at this point that I realized we were supposed to be exchanging gifts. Crap! I didn't have anything for him! So I made another mental note to take him shopping for a new shirt or something. He gave me a box that was larger than an earring or necklace box but smaller than box you would get medical supplies in. I opened it to find a pink (my favorite color) Burberry (my favorite fashion house) watch (the one piece of jewelery that I don't have but really need). I couldn't believe how incredibly thoughtful this guy was. He was really trying to impress and it was working! The next day we went on our first "official" date. I took him to Bono's Barbeque. In England to barbeque simply means pulling out the grill on that one summer day when it isn't raining and cooking hamburgers. So I had to introduce Jason to real Southern Barbeque. You know, the stuff life is truly made of. We were seated and Jason asked the server a question which went like this:

Him: Something she couldn't understand

Her: I'm sorry?

Him: (speaking much slower this time) Toilet? Where can I find the toilet?

Her: (with a really sour look on her face) Oh, the bathrooms are over there

When he came back I politely explained that to say toilet throws people off because we imagine the toilet when he says it. So we use the term bathroom. Seems much nicer. We both had a little laugh. I helped him order, the food came and again, he thought I was wonderful for filling his belly with such deliciousness. Let's face it, this wasn't going to be hard. Have you had English Cuisine? Not always the tastiest of foods.

We spent the next couple of days making the rounds, meeting family, getting to know each other a little better, showing him the best North Florida or more specifically, Orange Park, had to offer. We didn't venture far because we really wanted to focus on getting to know each other better and seeing if we connected. We spent New Year's Eve with Casey and Mark at their home doing nothing terribly exciting. We rang in the New Year with kisses and hugs and togetherness. It really was great. I found out later that as Jason and Mark were talking Mark asked Jason when he and I would see each other again. Jason told him we were planning on me going to England in February. Mark told Jason, "If you like this girl as much as you say you do, you'll be back before you know it." Jason didn't put too much into this little golden nugget of information because he had a job to get back to and so did I. We had our lives to live and we were both very much looking forward to February. On January 2nd we prepared for Jason to go back to England. I didn't want him to go but he had to. We both knew it. He packed up and we were back in the car to the Orlando airport. This time leaving in more than enough time to allow for the crazy traffic pattern that plagued me the first time around. We got to the airport in plenty of time and spent the next hour sitting together in the very crowded waiting area. Talk about privacy. We talked about how much we loved each other (yes, we were using the "l" word) and how we couldn't wait until February. Tears were shed (mostly by Jason and yes, that is the truth) and then it was time. He had to board. I watched him as he walked through security and then got on the tram to head to his gate. I felt as if I was letting him walk out of my life and there was nothing I could do. It was at that point that I broke down and cried. I cried all the way home. I couldn't believe I let this guy leave. What was I thinking? I would have to wait until the next day to even talk to him again. It really was painful. The next day I spoke to him and he didn't feel well. He got sick on the flight home. This would eventually be something he passed on to me. The day after that (now the 4th) he called and said he had been doing some thinking (my stomach was dropping...nothing good ever starts with "I've been thinking...") and would I be able to stand him for two weeks? Duh! Of course! And with that he bought a ticket to come back. He was set to arrive on January 12th, only 10 days after leaving me sobbing in Orlando. I guess what Mark said about being back sooner than he thought was coming to fruition. So now, instead of counting down to February 9th, over a month away, we were counting down to January 12th! January 12th finally came and those two weeks were filled with more restaurants Jason had never been to and places he had never been. I took him to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We had a blast riding all the rides and just being together. I did have to work on some of those days so we had fun in between work. One day Jason was in the office and him and my dad were at my Dad's desk talking. I later found out Jason asked if he could ask me to marry him while I was in England in February. My dad gave his blessing. Everyone who knew us could see we were happier than they had ever seen us. We even went to the courthouse and got a marriage license. They're good for 90 days! It was only halfway on a whim. I knew I wanted to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be his wife. He left to go back to England on the 29th and we only had another 10 days before I would fly to England to see him and meet his family. I never even had a passport before I met him. I have travelled all over this beautiful country but had never been out of it, except on a cruise to the Bahamas. Many "firsts" were happening for him and I and it was fantastic. February 9th came and I was off to England for the first time ever.........

Story of Us - Part 1

(Photo by Jarvis Photography)

I don't have "our story" anywhere except memory so I wanted to get it down.....

I was a divorced single mom and I was happy! And I really mean that. I was happy. I was resigned to the fact that I would be single. Enter Casey, Mark and their delirious happiness. She was so happy and thought I needed someone to share my life with. She met Mark online. He made her laugh. To be fair, he is the yin to her yang, the peanut butter to her jelly, the lamb to her tuna fish. Mark lived in Michigan and took a picture of himself with an onion ring. That's how she knew he was the one! She loves onion rings. He moved here, they got married and are currently living happily ever after. I was so happy for her! Seeing her and Mark get married made me so happy. My sister is a good person who deserves every happiness and she got it! But you know how happy, married people are, they think everyone around them should also be happy, married people. She insisted I try to find someone too. Really? Do I have to? I resisted. I think a part of me was a little afraid of rejection as well. I was divorced. Although I left him, actions leading up to that point did feel a little like rejection. Well, if there is one thing I am it is a people pleaser so to make peace I decided I would go online. I would try and communicate with someone BUT I would only "communicate". It wouldn't go any further than that and to be sure my diabolical plan would work I would find the FARTHEST person from me. Wait, here's one. He's in ENGLAND! There is NO WAY anything could ever come of this! I did have a Method to my madness: Find someone far far away while making sure they spoke English so we could understand each other. Yup, this guy in England fits the bill for that! So I found a guy and sent him a message. There was no picture attached to his profile or anything, cause you know, the ones with pictures are really serious about finding someone. The ones without a picture are just there to people watch. Much to my surprise (or maybe not cause let's face it, I'm fabulous!) he responded to my message. We started chatting online on November 30, 2004. Turns out he was really funny. We would spend hours laughing. Most of the time laughing AT each other. We had a funny little conversation I wish I could remember word for word but we got on the subject of babies, walks, grocery stores, you know, all the crazy stuff and it went a little something like this....

Him: (something about a stroller)

Me: A stroller is what you take a baby for a walk in

Him: No, you take a baby out in a buggy.

Me: No, a buggy is what you put your groceries in at the store.

Him: No, that's a trolley

Me: No, a trolley is something in San Francisco that takes people around the city.

(for the record, his sister still can't believe we have bread in a can..lol)

I found myself spending all hours of the night at my office because we were chatting and I didn't want to do anything but talk to him. I don't remember the exact date but only a day or two later he asked for my phone number so he could call me. I gladly gave it to him because I was DYING to hear his accent. I could not have prepared myself for the insanity that ensued! That first phone call was 20 minutes long and went a little something like this.....

Me: Hello

Him: Something I couldn't understand

Me: What?

Him: Something I couldn't understand

Me: I can't really hear you

Him: Something I COULD understand

Me: Finally answering to his conversation

Him: What?

Me: Something he couldn't understand

Him: What?

You get the point! We spent an entire 2o minutes trying to understand each other's accents and over the phone it is surprisingly difficult the first time. We quickly got the hang of it! We spent the next few days exchanging emails, IM chats and phone calls. On December 7th he sent a text telling me he just had to meet me (well, duh!...lol) and asked if I would be interested in meeting. I was speechless but managed to say of course! He bought the ticket that day. He was set to arrive December 27th and would stay until January 2nd. Just in time to still be here around Christmas and spend New Years Eve together. We then spent the next 20 days emailing, chatting online and doing more talking on the phone. I got home one day and my phone had been turned off because the phone company thought someone hacked my line and made a bunch of unauthorized calls to England. They said if I didn't make the calls they would take them off my bill. Man, it was really hard to be honest on that one. Especially since I was facing a $200 long distance bill. During the 20 days we really got to know one another. I knew he liked spicy food. He was funny and bright. Someone I could hold a conversation with and not get bored. I was already in love with his accent. Finally the big day was here. December 27th. I decided on my outfit: flowered skirt, pinkish sweater/shirt combo, brown shoes with a small heal; my hair: straight and soft. I cleaned out my car. I even had it washed. I'm sure he realizes now what a big deal that was because I NEVER wash my car! I left on time and should have arrived just as his plane arrived. I mean, I wasn't too worried - he still had customs to go through. Little did I know this would be the day that the State of Florida decided a new traffic pattern was going into effect on 95 between St. Augustine and Daytona. URGH! Now I was racing! Needless to say I was late! I was so late, in fact, he thought I wasn't coming. Poor guy thought I had a serious change of heart. He couldn't have been more wrong. I finally got to the airport. I parked my green Honda Civic on the 3rd floor of the parking garage and was practically running to get inside. I forgot what a stinkin maze the Orlando airport really is. Once I finally was in the airport I came off the escalator, turned to the left towards baggage claim and I saw him. He was walking towards me. Yes, that was him............

Wordless Wednesday

(a day late....)

December 7, 2010

Today I am grateful for the sense of touch.

As I sit here and type Georgia is rubbing my arm. It gives her security to rub my arm and feel me there. And of course I love feeling her cute little chubby, dimply hand rubbing me. When I had her the nurses encouraged skin to skin touch to help the me and her bond. I love feeling my kids skin on mine. When I hug Christian I make sure our cheeks are touching. When Jason and I sit on the couch and watch TV we are always touching in some way. My feet on him, holding hands, his head on my shoulder. I love the 5 senses.

November 23, 2010

Today I am grateful for books.

I'm so propud of Christian's love of reading. He will read anything! And as I type this Jason is reading a letter book to the cutest little lady I've ever seen!

November 16, 2010

Today I am grateful for smell!

My children each have a certain smell. I love to get close to them and just smell them. My husband has a smell. My parents each have a smell. I love those smells. Smell can triger memories. Smell can take you back to a certain time and place. I can smell a perfume from my teenage years and it will remind me of something I otherwise forgot. When I bake I can smell the cookies, brownies, cake, whatever, in my hair. We often talk of "things" belonging to my parents that each child may want after our parents are gone. I have often said I want Daddy's pillow. It has his smell. Yep, I am extremely grateful for the sense of smell.

October 27, 2010

Today I am grateful for snoring!

Wait, did I just say that? Actually, I did! Last night after we all went to bed Georgia started to fuss. I went into her bedroom, rubbed her back and she fell back asleep. Before I could leave the room she was snoring. As I walked through the house back to my bedroom I could hear the dog-bear-pig snoring on the couch. Then when I got into my room Jason was snoring. As weird as it may seem the sounds of snores reminded me that everyone was peaceful, content and safe. I lay back in bed and I'm sure started to also snore!

October 25, 2010

Today I am grateful for cuddles!

My husband and kids are the BEST cuddlers! Jason usually cuddles all night. This morning when he left for work Georgia woke up so I got her out of her bed and brought her to our room. She laid in bed real close and rubbed my arm and just cuddled with me. Then Christian got up and came and got in bed with us. What a great way to start my day!

Side bar - Happy Birthday Mark! We love you and are so happy to have you as part of our family!

Too Young?

Are you ever too young to enjoy TV? Georgia really loves spending time with her Daddy, even if it involves watching Mythbusters!

I've never had a daughter before so I didn't realize how quickly they become a Daddy's Girl. I should have known, I am one myself. I was telling my Daddy about Georgia LOVING her Dad and I asked him, how old was I when I officially became a Daddy's Girl? He said, Oh, you were about an hour old!