Arrived at London Heathrow on August 31, 2010

My first post on my first blog-we'll see how this goes! I arrived at the Cleveland airport just after 5:30pm on Monday night, said my goodbyes and headed through security and down to my gate. At first I was nervous, mostly excited, but after waiting 2 hours for the flight I felt more ready than ever to get this over with. The flight to chicago was short and sweet and I arrived with plenty of time to find my gate and have my final meal in America for the next 10+ months...McDonalds! There ended up being a 2 hour flight delay which wasn't too bad with a Nigel Barker look-a-like sitting across from me(who ended up sitting right next to me on the 71/2 flight--not a bad start at all!) I didn't realize until now that we never even exchanged names but he looked about 30, from New Zealand, just got back from months in Indonesia, staying in Holland for a few months while he tries to get a work visa for the US to live in Santa Monica where he comes to surf. I was still full from my really healthy meal before boarding the plane so I offered my dinner to "Nigel" and he was more than happy to enjoy it, forcing my to take the brownie and cheese in my bag for a snack if I get hungry.

He passed out and started snoring which I always said would be a deal breaker but I guess I was wrong(learning things about myself already). I was able to doze off too but was rudely awaken when I felt the bottom of my foot soaking wet. The cranberry juice bottle had busted open all over the floor and I frantically tried to soak it up with the airplane blanket, which was no help at all so I gave up and tried to watch Letters from Juliet which I ended up turning off anyway.

We were about 30 min outside London when the nerves started to kick in. Most of you know I'm not one to get nervous but I'm not kidding when I say I thought my stomach was going to jump right out onto my seat. I couldn't tell if I was nervous about the flight, boarder control, or meeting the family but I'm gonna go with all three. I was settled down when "Nigel" offered me a pen to fill out my landing card...we had a moment. I really wish I would have asked for a picture but that was the last thing on my mind.

Nigel and I parted ways with "nice flight, cheers" and I got through boarder control just fine, picked up my luggage(thankfully all got here safely!) and walked into the arrivals gate where I saw Lisa and the girls waiting for me. They were all being shy and quiet which changed the second we got into the house. We loaded into Lisa's Range Rover(I was so hoping that would be my car, not so much), and drove about 20 minutes through little storybook towns and villages, the tesco market just like the one by my old flat, one-way bridges, shops and pubs.

I unpacked, had an apple juice with the girls, gave them the Justin Bieber notebooks, Malley's chocolates, and silly bands which they had never seen and are now obsessed.

Beth, the oldest is 6 but turns 7 on September 11th. She is really sweet and has huge dimples. She showed me her "club penguin" which is the hip thing here for little girls(basically a webkinz kinda thing).

Abbie, the middle child and supposedly the most mischievous, is 4 years old and so so cute! She has a little speech issue which is even harder for me to understand with the accent.

Kate is 3 and such a doll! It took her a few minutes to warm up but was cuddling up next to me in no time. She is OBSESSED with lipstick. She found a little one in my purse and hasn't stopped putting it on. Lisa said the other day she came downstairs looking like a hooker. It's funny how quickly I can see their personalities...I'll have to video the girls so you can hear what they sound like!


I was exhausted from being up for basically 24 hours so I went to bed early last night after meeting Gordon who(the only way to describe him) is a big teddy bear with a scottish accent. Seems like the nicest guy. Lisa is super nice too, seems young and cool, pretty and trendy. But anyway, I set my alarm for 11am because I figured I would never wake up from being that tired! But oh how I was wrong...I heard a little knock on my door and Kate came in at 7:30am. She played on my phone then I kicked her out to get a couple more hours of sleep. Two hours later I had another knock, I figured if I ignored it it would stop...but it didn't. This time it was Abbey who climbed right in bed.

Today, Lisa took the girls to the farm while I am writing this and getting ready for the day. When they get back we'll have my driving lesson and see what is around Pitstone(their town), Tring(the main town center next to them), Beth and Abbie's school, and wherever else I might need to go in the next couple days.

I'm off to get ready and head outside, beautiful weather(fall-like), but I'll try and post again soon. So far, I'm loving it!!