Hey! I ran a marathon and I finished without dying or crapping my pants! (more on France soon)
sunny fall day
It’s a sunny fall day in London town and it’s mid-November. I recall the end of November 2010 as blustery, snowy, and incredibly cold.
We’ve been enjoying life here and have settled into a pretty nice routine. Our work keeps us busy and the adventure of living here is just the day-to-day happenings of anyone else. We’re approaching my 2-year mark and Nate’s 3, which is nuts to me. It’s amazing how quickly the time has passed.
This past October, we went home for a whirlwind visit. Weddings occupied our weekends while Nate’s grandfather’s 90th birthday was the big event mid-week. Despite being super busy, these lovely events allowed us to visit with many friends and family, however, there were a few people that time didn’t allow us to see. As with all visits I suppose.
As the close of 2011 approaches, we are gearing up for the holiday season. 3 Thanksgiving dinners are on the agenda (talk about over-indulgence), but I suppose we have a bundle of things to be thankful for. We’ve booked flights to Dusseldorf for NYE, which will be fun and exciting and also include a day trip to Cologne. And then wah-lah! It’ll be 2012.
Green Pea Soup and summer
Nate and I have fallen in love with this soup: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/green-pea-soup-recipe.html
Something about it - it’s gingerness? freshness? I’m not sure, but we continue to keep coming back to it. As it simmers on our stove, Nate is off playing soccer while I’m still in my sweaty work-out clothes. Gripping lives we lead. Hence our quiet. However, we have been busy! Really! Like busy living and working and sleeping and eating. All of those fun interesting things that everyone else does. Actually though, we went on a splendid trip to Italy (Florence and Cinque Terre) with some good friends of ours from home. It was delightful in every sense of the word. It tickled our senses and re-sparked our mission to save money for travel. Next up, home. Home is great. Home is where our friends and family are. However, home eats into our travel budget. Alas. We are excited to celebrate three very special occasions in October, all of which warrant our presence. and presents. ha.
Our slew of visitors has passed. Some dear friends from GR were the last to pass through. On the night before they left one of them broke out toilet seat while he tried to muffle the sound of his flushing. Needless to say, the snap of the lid was likely louder than an actual flush - neither of which woke us up… This was quite unfortunate (and hilarious) and still not fixed. Ugh. Would one consider this to be a landlord situation or a DIY? and where the hell is a Menards when you need one, right?
What else.
- My camera lens busted so it is in GR getting fixed under warrantee. Boo. I miss her.
- I got a kindle for my birthday and highly recommend Bossypants, Room, and One Day.
- Nate is sick
- Brighton beach is full of stones and not very comfy to lay out on. And some British people lay out in their bras and skivvys while others lose their children.
- Strawberry/lime cider is my new favorite summer drink, but only in limited quantities as it is quite sweet.
- Nate and I are going to see an animation movie (Summer Wars) at an ourdoor screening. NERDS. What we do for our loved ones…
I guess that really sums things. The weather has triggered some major seasonal depression, save for the past few days and here’s to hoping this sunny warm weather sticks around a little longer…
Happy August.
visitors!
This has been an incredibly busy spring. We’ve had visitors almost back to back from mid-March through next week. Not all of them stayed with us, which I’m thankful for, but it has been a whirlwind of dinner and drinks out, time spent on the Southbank, and catching up with old friends while still trying to maintain a budget, house hold chores and time for Nate and I to spend together. Throw into the mix a new full time job, finishing grad school, and however many days of veganism, we are exhausted.
BUT, it’s great to have visitors. I love living here b/c it is accessible to others and it’s fun to show people this big ole’ city we live in. It also helps refresh my mood and outlook on being here. While I mostly enjoy it, we are still going through the everyday actions of life: wake up, work, eat, bed. All of these are quite normal, but they cost more. However, when I think about what other alternatives there are, nothing else sounds that appealing. It’s safe to say that neither of us really want to move back to Michigan.
I also think that I am starting to further acknowledge that we have started our life together here and are slowly etching out our future. Our rough plan is just that - a plan - and neither of us are too fussed to carve anything into stone yet. I’m not sure what led me onto this tangent, but I think my point was that by having guests, I’ve been thinking more about our life here and how we are at such a great point in which we can decide what comes next.
Whew.
Royal Wedding, 29 April 2011
update
Hooty Hoo! It’s been awhile since we’ve updated. This past month, we have tried very hard to be vegan as we decided to give up animal products for lent. We are now about to round the the last corner before Easter and I have to say, it has been a really great experience.
For me, the most challenging aspect has been going to the pub and not being able to order a glass of wine. WINE PEOPLE! Who would have thought that certain wine (beer as well) wouldn’t be vegan? Things such as egg whites, gelatin, isinglass (derived from fish bladders) and milk proteins are all products that can be used in the processing of such products, which render them un[vegan]friendly. sigh. This, of course, is not to say that all wine in pubs isn’t vegan, it’s just that the app on my phone is very specific and if it wasn’t on the list, I didn’t bother researching any further and ended up sticking to beer I knew was ok: carlsburg, peroni, corona, becks, and blue moon to name a few.
To say the least, this experiment has sparked many conversations between us about how we will move forward in our approach to food and has hopefully broken a few bad habits we’ve acquired over the past few years. I’m looking forward to see how strong my self-control will be when it comes to cakes and delicious sweets. In fact, today at a training, we were offered the most delicious looking carrot cake cupcakes and I kindly refused. I have to wonder though if I would have still refused had the date been April 25th…
Lent.
Tomorrow, we start life as vegans. For 40 days, we will not eat or use products that incorporate animal bits (within ingredients or processing techniques). This will be difficult. Eating will be OK. We already don’t eat meat and cook out of a vegan cookbook quite often, however using animal-free products will be a challenge. And I can tell you right now, we might fail, especially with the usage part. We haven’t done a ton of research or preparations on that front so it may become a trial by error. We are out of conditioner so it might be time for me to purchase something that is ‘vegan friendly’. Unfortunately, it will most likely cost more, which goes against my ‘trying to save money’ life story. It will also be a challenge to buy wine. Buying bottles will be OK, but going to the pub or someone’s house might be a challenge. Alas, it will be one I’m willing to take. FULL ON.
While this blog is not meant to be a food blog in any capacity, you can tell that what we consume has been on my mind lately. I predict that the next 40 days will be focused around this new adventure, which will probably be more for my benefit than yours.
health rant.
It’s one of those Fridays where I feel like I’ve been here FOREVER. I’m purposefully trying not to look at the clock very often yet every time I do, only minutes have passed.
It’s also one of those days where my stomach seems to have expanded to my toes b/c I have been continuously hungry from the second I got here until about 30 minutes ago - when I ate 5 (count them FIVE!) biscuits. (biscuits = cookies, although not like home made cookies, more like the kind you buy in the flimsy plastic packages).
Shame. On. Me.
My affinity for all things sweet has always been harbored within, but for a good few years, I mostly craved savory things. Since moving here, my sweets intake has increased by unhealthy leaps and bounds and it is now time for me to reign it in a little.
Time to jumpstart new habits and kick the old ones to the curb…
