It's all coming together!

Come Dine with Me was a major success and it was fantastic to have a night in with the girls while the boys entertained themselves elsewhere. Thanks boys for vacating! We enjoyed some champagne and the southern food was a treat for the girls who'd never tasted anything like it! My key lime cake was delicious (although it was key lime/lemon as 4 grocery stores I looked at were ALL out of limes - I eventually found just one little green guy so had to substitute lemons for the rest of the recipe!) It was still great though! And now, since I was the first one of four to cook I can relax and just enjoy the meals to come! Next one is a week today at my Kiwi friend Lizzie's place. She's a vegetarian so it will be interesting, I'm sure. I hope she at least likes chocolate or sugar so that dessert is guaranteed to be satisfying! By the way, on Sunday I did make a big roast dinner (cooking AND dishes) for 6 of us as all the guys came over - so I think the trade off was worth it for the boys!

I haven't given away too many details about wedding plans yet since they've all been a work in progress. After some serious disappointment when a place quoted us something, then once we were ready to book it decided the original price they gave us was completely wrong...we've found a different place where we will be married! Horseshoe Resort near Barrie has ticked all the boxes for us! It will be on Friday August 5th since weekends were all booked up, but we are okay with that. We've decided since we know all of our families will not likely be able to make it down to Barrie we are going to have a small family/friends ceremony and celebration at Horseshoe and THEN have another party in each of our respective cities. We don't want to miss out on celebrating our marriage with any of our friends and family who think that maybe travelling/staying away is going to be too much - so if that's you - fear not! We are still going to have a couple of great parties in August!

As for other wedding stuff, it's all coming along slowly. I went to try on dresses last Friday night with some girls from work. Thank goodness for them as they can talk sense into my muddled head! Maybe it's because I've never been married or had the experience of finding the perfect wedding dress, but I tell you, I never felt so ridiculous. I tried on 5 different ones. The woman said "well Amy, you have the curse that everything looks good on you". Yes, I'll take that as a very nice compliment, but I did not agree. I looked like a dress up doll and felt so stupid! I think because none of those dresses were "the one" I felt so uncomfortable. The other thing that made me feel uncomfortable was the price! HA! £1800? Um, no thanks. That's "fairly reasonable" here (apparently). Something is telling me I'll have to leave London on this wedding dress quest! I watched a RIDICULOUS program the other night called "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding". It's all about Irish travellers (gypsies) who live in caravans and get married at 16. Their dresses were appalling. The bigger, the heavier, the puffier, the frillier - the better! The dresses weighed something like 150lbs! All putting pressure on their hips - the girls said "the more your hips bleed the better the dress". Well holy camoli thank goodness I dont live in a bloody caravan!!!!!! Haha! Oh side note - we tried to take pictures but because "the designers are afraid you'll copy the design" we weren't allowed. Yeah, LIKE I'm going to make the dress...sheesh. Another wedding dress adventure is happening on Sunday at a hotel where there is an 80% off sale - I have a feeling it's going to be one of those bridezilla warfare events!!! Wish me luck!!!

Work is going well - busy busy still - but it's all very good. I'm really getting some fantastic experience here and truly appreciate the non contact time (something I NEVER got at my old job at that CRAZY school). What I do with that non contact time is not neccessarily work (mostly blogging and writing emails) but I still get all my work done and have a bit of breathing room. Early morning running club was today - it was snowing juuuuuuuust a bit and the wind was quite fierce, but once we got moving we warmed up! Getting out the door at 630 to go running with a bunch of kids doesn't sound like everyone's cup of tea, but it is really pretty good and keeps me going for the rest of the day. Although this is the best job ever I still have to leave it... so Barret and I have interviews on Saturday morning for teaching in Dubai. We're not sure what we want to do yet, but hopefully it will give us a clearer idea if Dubai is somewhere we really want to go. Obviously, I will keep you posted.

Much love to everyone,
Amy

Come Dine with Me...

is a British television show where four strangers get together, cook each other a three course meal and judge the dinner all in hopes for the £1000 prize! Well, it wont be televised nor is there a cash prize, but three of my friends from work and I are all getting together to do our own Come Dine with Me and I kick off the event tonight! Since much of British "cuisine" (if you can call it that) is meat and potatoes, I thought I'd broaden their palettes and go for some things I experienced in the southern states of the US. Corn bread with roasted rep pepper and artichoke dip to start, Louisiana Jambalaya as the main course, and key lime cake to finish off! All of my preparation was done last night, including dessert and the dip, and tonight I just have to put it together. I'm really excited and hopefully setting the bar high for my friends! The only downfall to this situation is the fact that I'm booting the boys out and banishing them to the pub or elsewhere whilst the girls take over the flat! A bit rude perhaps - however, I will make it up to them and do a fantastic meal for them on Sunday - three courses and all! I do appreciate their cooperation by agreeing to not sit beside us and play Xbox while we eat...! These dinners are spaced out over the next few weeks and I will let you all know who comes out victorious!

Last Saturday I went dress shopping. If you can call it that. Obviously I have never been, so I don't know the protocol - especially in a big city. So many of the places said "you need an appointment" (said with a snobby, posh English accent). Needless to say, I only ended up trying on a few dresses at the big department stores. However, it has helped me weed out the things I don't want! For fun I tried on a £15,000 Vera Wang dress and Jimmie Choo shoes (£££). I looked ridiculous. The dress looked like an over decorated cupcake! Terrible. It had to have weighed at least 45lbs as well! I did take a few pictures but to be honest they are not great. NONE of the dresses fit me. Most sample dresses are UK Size 10 - Can size 6-ish. They were all too big so it was really hard to get the right idea. I could be complaining about worse things, however. I have an appointment at a place on Friday after school so hopefully that narrows things down a bit more. I am realizing I may have to leave London and check other smaller places to get a dress in my budget as well! Holy camoli they are expensive...

In other news - I've taken the plunge and joined facebook. It has proved pretty handy I suppose and is not stopping me from blogging. Partly because I can't be bothered to change my status or make notes about what I am up to... it's just too much. I haven't used my full name because I don't want the most random of people looking me up - so anyone reading this blog is more than welcome to be my facebook friend! Look for Amy Louise if you are interested! I think I have 50 friends and I know each and every person - so I'd like to keep it that way.

We have rebooked our Ireland trip for our February Break so I am really looking forward to it! If it snows - I might lose my mind!

Work is busier than ever - I've taken on more clubs and other things around school so I'm constantly running around. Literally - this morning at 630am I was off for early morning running club at a nearby track with 18 keen students. It's really an excellent start to the day however difficult to get out of bed! I'm also going swimming with a year 2 group on Mondays so I'm getting in some extra exercise on top of my regular business. I also have two art clubs after school. I'm definitely earning my pay I think, but I don't think I'd have it any other way.

I hope you are all doing well getting through the cold month of January - I do not envy your minus whatever temperatures. I've become a wuss but I don't mind!

All my love,
Amy

A Fit 2011

Well, January is rolling on and I am back into the swing of things, busier than ever! I hope everyone back home had a great holiday and have managed to keep any New Year’s Resolutions so far! I’ve never really made those…partly because I forget but mostly because if I realize I need to make a change in my life I just go ahead and do it, not wait for a new year to roll around! Having said that, I do realize I have a wedding in oh, about 6 months and do want to make sure I am as fit as I can be. I’ve been frequenting the gym quite often and someone else has joined me! Barret broke down and got a gym membership and the two of us have been going together. It’s so much more motivation when someone else is counting on you to go and work as hard as you can! Thanks B for finally going for it - I’m depending on you to continue being a motivation!

Last April (before the volcano fiasco) Diana and I went to the Netherlands together and we stayed with some friends of hers she met on a leadership conference in the US. They always said they would come visit us in London and last weekend they did! It was so good to see them! We did all kinds of touristy stuff (which, I might as well squeeze in now) and just had some good laughs. They speak English quite well (obviously a heck of a lot better than my Dutch!) but occasionally they make up their own words and sayings. Actually, most of the time – so my belly was aching by the end of the day with all the silly things they were saying! Joanne had to pee and instead of saying she would just hold it, she said she would just “lift it up”. I can see how the translations get a little bit muddled! Anyway, it was fantastic to see them again, but likely the last time in a long while.

Saturday is going to be a very exciting and special day for me! Two girls that I’ve become quite close with at work are taking me wedding dress shopping! Obviously, I would love to go with my mom/sisters/friends from home – but that’s not going to happen – so I will just have to have a fabulous time with two girls who cannot wait to help. I won’t be posting photos incase someone named Barret sees them, but I will be sure to take some and email them around – top secret, however! It’s sort of unfortunate I can’t buy a dress back home because I know they will be more affordable, but when I head home I’ve got about 3 weeks before the wedding and I don’t think it is enough time! Barret did suggest waiting until I got home, but I called him crazy! I think I’d likely end up having to spend a ton to get something I liked on such short notice! Good news, however, the company I am flying home with says wedding dresses are free to take onboard so that really helps! I booked my ONE WAY ticket a little while ago – July 12^th it is! I can’t believe my time here has an official expiry date already… ! Better things to come though, I know it!

Well, I’ve got a million and one things on the go today so I’d better get on my actual school work!

I hope all is well back home –

All my love,

Amy

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2011! We rang in the new year on the couch - if you don't have expectations you wont be disappointed if they're not met! It was nice actually - it allowed us to go to the parade this morning because we were capable of waking up in time! I have to say, this "globally broadcasted" London New Year's Day parade was made up of 80% USA marching bands and 20% crappy London charity floats. And 25 donkeys. Real ones.

This Christmas was nothing like we planned it to be. Our flight to Ireland got cancelled because of the weather in Dublin and after exhausted all other options such as trains, boats, buses...we gave up and accepted the fact that we were destined to spend our Christmas in London. We didn't have presents but I spent all day making a turkey dinner and I know it's Barret's favourite so I hope that made up for it. We watched his family open presents on skype so at least we were slightly involved.

As a child I have fond memories of going to see pantomimes with my family. So, when I heard that David Hasselhoff was going to be playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan, well I convinced Barret to go. I now recall why I enjoyed it as a child... but now... not so much. It was ridiculous. The Hoff really has hit a new low! It was slightly entertaining I suppose and the numerous references to other things he has been in (like Baywatch and Knightrider) kept me rolling my eyes, however when he broke out in song to "I'll Be Ready" the themesong to Baywatch I had to laugh! Anyway, the point was to say I saw the Hoff in person, so that's checked off.

The other day sirens were going crazy around here - more than usual. We looked out the window and noticed all the emergency services parked under the train bridge... so being curious and bored we put on our coats and went out to see what was going on. Apparently, a girl thought she'd end it all and jump from the overpass onto the high road. They talked her down thankfully, however even if she had jumped she would have suffered a broken leg at the worst - it wasn't very high. It was just an attention seeking action I think, but she got what she wanted as the whole of Clapham High Street was out watching in awe... Talk about your happy holidays... sheesh.

We met up with some of our softball friends for an evening of bowling a few days ago. Barret will brag and still say he beat me 4 out of 6 games, but what does that mean? That means I still beat him 2 out of 6 games. That's 1/3! I even bowled a turkey in the 10th frame to claim one of my victories! Since Barret generally beats me at everything I had to make this fact public.

I still have all my school planning to do for the spring, which isn't good. This is what happens when I have TOO much time. I waste it watching silly things on TV, sleeping in, reading well into the night...I read a 700 page book written by Dan Brown - don't pick up any of his books if you don't have a week holidays to read the entire thing front to back. At 4am I couldn't put it down! I will have to get on my planning soon as school is starting back up in a few days. Anyway, maybe I should get on that now. Blair just got home so at least we have stories of an exciting European trip to listen to, although it makes me a bit jealous.

Happy New Year Everyone - Best Wishes for 2011!

Love,

Amy