Oh, dear. It's been awhile.

I've failed big time at keeping up with this blog. I do not want to abandon it though! Life changed and I simply fell out of the habit.

We got the house we were wanting in Carlisle and we've been here for close to two months now. It's beautiful and I love it and the location. But... we're moving again. Unbelievable, right? We are renting a fairly expensive place but we had no idea how crazily high the utilities were going to be. Our first gas bill came and it was £200 for one month! Electric was nearly £100 for one month! It's just way too much money to be spending on utilities and is going to force us to redo our budget and cut our personal spending by more than we're willing to. So, as soon as the lease is up we'll be off to another home.

It's exhausting moving so often. This is my tenth place in seven years and we'll be off to the eleventh soon enough. I'm so over it. I really am.

 Now that I know I'll be leaving this place in a few months I feel like I'm in limbo and can't be bothered with any more decorating. I was all excited to get my Biorb aquarium up and running again once the Christmas tree came down but now I can't see the point in that until we move again. It's things like that that do my head in. The same thing that happened in Glasgow.

I'm going to miss the beautiful details in this Victorian house!

When we do move we're going to see if we can find a place that allows pets. We're considering getting a dog, which is CRAZY because my husband and I are NOT dog people! But, Isaac loves them and if he can't have a sibling to grow up with then the least we can do is give him a best friend to grow up with. We have a lot of research to do into finding the right breed for us and I'm quite nervous about it but I think it'll be good for him. 

I still can't believe I'm going to be looking for a new place to live so soon.

A Sudden Life Change

We've only been in Glasgow for two months but we're moving away.

It's bittersweet.

My husband wasn't sure he wanted to attend the University of Glasgow. It was going to be more work than the English university he was accepted into and the course would last a year longer, finishing in four years rather than three years as is standard in England. It would involve moving away from his family and starting over in a lot of ways.

But, it's one of the ancient universities and they have high standards for being accepted, so it was a big deal. We were both afraid that if he didn't go he would regret it. And, there would always be the opportunity to change to the other university if he didn't like it.

We both love Glasgow. We've really enjoyed our time here and we really enjoy living in a big city. But, the truth is, my husband was really beginning to doubt his choice to attend the university here. It wasn't just one or two things; it was a lot of things.

He's 32 years old and the majority of the students in his classes were 17 and 18 years old. Besides studying psychology (the subject he's getting a degree in)  he also had to choose two other subjects to study. In the English university you only ever study one subject. He couldn't find a third subject he was happy with (options were quite limited) and ended up with something he really didn't like. Not only this, but it was loads of extra work for subjects that were essentially pointless in his education. Add on several other issues and it was quickly becoming clear that he'd be happier at the English university.

So, he contacted them to see about getting an application in for next year. Because they were only two weeks into the semester they sent him an email and said they'd still consider him for this year.

So, in one day we made the decision to move back.

Last week was incredibly stressful. It involved staying in a hotel one night, driving back and forth between Cumbria and Glasgow several times, viewing houses, and working out how much money quitting our lease here early was going to cost.

We've found a beautiful Victorian house that has been converted into two places. It's very modern but is full of original features. It's so beautiful. The final checks are going through today and we should be able to sign the lease by the weekend. If the moving boxes I've ordered arrive in time, we could be moving this weekend.

I will miss Glasgow and I'm sad that I didn't get more time here. But, I'm also looking forward to being around my in-laws again and being back to where my friends are. It was a little bit lonely here but I'm good at lonely so it was never going to be a major issue. My sister-in-law just found out she's pregnant this week too, so being around for that will be really cool.

So, busy times ahead! But I am looking forward to the new house!

The Creation Station

I've just discovered The Creation Station and I love it! They appear to have classes all over the UK and I found a local one to our part of Glasgow. I took Isaac yesterday for our first session to try it out. I'm used to taking him to loads of free things back in Carlisle run through Barnardo's and Sure Start so when I heard this was £5 per 45 minute session I thought to myself, "It better be good!" Well, it was and next week I'll be dropping £50 for 10 weeks.

It was held at a local church and run by a really nice, friendly woman. She was great with the kids and the adults as well, engaging us in conversation that never felt forced or uncomfortable during the session. I say that because I can be a bit awkward around people I don't know, especially being in a new city and a new country where I don't know anyone. So this helped me enjoy myself, too.

The session started with everyone sitting in a circle and making waves with a parachute and then lifting it up and pulling it down over us, like we used to do in P.E. as kids. I remember parachute days being the best! The session revolved around autumn leaves so a box of leaves collected from outside was dumped onto the parachute and we made them bounce around and fly all over.

Next we sat at tables and did chalk rubbings of leaves. Then we painted leaves to do prints on some construction paper. After that she passed out paper plates with the centers cut out and a hole punched in the top to make a wreath. We glued down leaves and were given other things to embellish them with (like confetti, pom poms and feathers). Lastly, we got to sprinkle some silver glitter on them.

And finally, she had some cardboard binoculars to put together and then decorate.

We were constantly doing something and it all moved along quickly so Isaac never got bored. I was impressed with all that was packed into that session.

Yesterday I got out a cotbed sheet and told Isaac it was our very own parachute. Daddy joined us and we made waves with it for awhile. Then we added different sizes and colors of pompom balls to bounce around on it. The joy he got out of that was awesome. Then he decided he wanted to be bounced on the parachute! So we very carefully gave him some rides in the sheet. I think it's his new favorite thing to do.

I can't wait to see what we're doing next week!

An update!

I currently have 12 drafts sitting on this blog. That means there have been 12 different times that I've sat down to write an entry and abandoned it before finishing.

Do you know why I suck at blogging? Because I'm lazy. Simple as that.

There won't be much for me to look back on if I don't write entries.

I'm not going to make any bloggy friends if I don't write entries.

So, I'm back at it!

Really, I am.

Like, I mean it this time.

I'm totally going to do it.

Babble

I have been feeling a lot better about what happened at the doctor's office last week. Isaac is bright, he's hitting all of his milestones and I just don't feel like anything is off. If there is some kind of abnormality, it must be extremely mild but I just really don't think there is. We went back to the doctor's office last week though to try to get his files from the specialist sent up  here so he can be referred to the hospital here as I had no luck with them on the phone. The receptionist was very short with me and just answered, "We don't do that," for any request I made. So,  hopefully our new GP is sorting it out for us.

I went to the Salvation Army auction for that ball chair. As soon as I was there I spotted this two guys and girl who were very hipster looking and I just knew they were there for that chair. Sure enough, they were after that chair and it was clear that they decided it was theirs and they were going to get it no matter how much it cost them. In the end they paid £330 for it! So, no ball chair for me.

I love that Salvation Army though. The amount of stuff that goes through there is unreal. The back of the store is right across from my window so I see the truckloads going in and out every day. Yesterday I popped in and found an Ikea laptop table that seems brand new for £5. I was looking at getting that very one so it was a lucky find. I also paid £2 for a brand new skirt with the tags still on it. Now I'm watching out for a small table to go inside the hallway by the front door.

My mom is going in for a major major surgery next month. She's really scared and it sucks that I can't be there. So I'm trying to put together a care package for her but with no food items as she'll be on a liquid diet for several weeks after. When you think about care packages they are usually stuffed with food so it's not easy trying to think of things to put in it. I'm going into the city tomorrow and will see if I can find some bits for it.

My flat

I'm slowly working on getting our flat decorated. We're looking to order two pieces of art for our living room walls. I'm going to choose one and my husband is going to choose one. We've decided to try to find something from the DeviantArt shop so that we have something different from the same old stuff we keep seeing in the shops. Some of them are really expensive and after browsing the online shop on several different days I still haven't decided on anything yet. I'm waiting for something that really speaks to me.

We've got beige carpet and dark chocolate brown leather sofas. We're going to go with red as an accent color. The Salvation Army across the road from us is having an auction this week and this awesome white with red interior ball chair was in it!

I've wanted one of those chairs since I was a teenager so if I can get that it'll be like a little dream come true for me!  I don't know yet how much we'll have to spend on it but they average £500 brand new and it is in immaculate condition as far as I can tell. So, fingers crossed! I'd love to be curled up in there with my laptop.

I've also got this lovely 60 litre BiOrb that I get to put up. It sat in a closet at our last two places so I'm looking forward to getting it running again and finding some fish to go inside. I'm thinking maybe just some guppies because they're really colorful and it'll hold quite a few. I think Isaac might really like them. I'm hoping to try out some live plants for the first time, too.

 I'm really looking forward to getting this place completely set up. Most places we've lived I haven't bothered with getting stuff on the walls because of how often we move but most of the walls in this place have picture hooks on them already so I won't be doing any damage. I can't wait until my husband gets through university and grad school so we can look for a house to buy!

So What! Wedensday {4}

This week I'm saying so what if...

• I have been eating more than my planned calories the past few days. I've been feeling extra hungry.

•  I didn't go out for  a walk the past two days aside from going to see the doctor and going to the corner shop.

•  It's rained at some point every single day since we moved to Glasgow three weeks ago. EVERY DAY.

• There is an awesome Salvation Army across the street from me that sells furniture for insanely cheap prices. I go there every day hoping to find some awesome random things to add to our flat.

• I still haven't tried out the American cafe across the road. I had hopes of going there for breakfast a few times a week when my husband starts classes but it's a bit too expensive for that.
  
• I'm still playing Minecraft. It's fun.
  
• Moving house got me hooked on caffeine again because I was convinced it would help give me energy while packing.
  
• I still haven't been shopping in the city centre. There is plenty of time.
  
• I downloaded a hidden object game on my phone and it's been taking over my reading time before bed. Why are they so addictive?
  
• I'm wearing mismatched socks, as per usual.
  
•  It's 5pm and I haven't woken Little Man up from his nap. The peace and quiet is...well, peaceful and quiet.

Life in an Instagram {7}

I haven't done this link up in several weeks due to moving but I'm going to dump all the photos here anyway!

 

1. Isaac playing with a numbers board at softplay.

2. Picking Peppa's nose.

3. He loves these car rides. I'm a sucker and always give him a coin for them.

4. Near my old flat in Carlisle.

 

1. This hot air balloon would fly over our old flat about once a week. We got in the car and chased it down this time because Isaac loved it so much.
2. Church in Carlisle that I snapped a pic of walking through the city centre.
3. Isaac with his  cupcake mix watching an airplane.
4. Making cupcakes.

 

1. Cupcakes!
2. Pretty road near Carlisle
3. Birds!
4. Wheat field

1. Those trees in the background are lining the road in the above picture. It's so pretty there.
2. Sheep!
3. Isaac thinks sheep are hilarious.
4. Out for a pub meal with the in-laws.

1. Take from the train to Leeds.
2. Isaac on the train to Leeds.
3. A bunch of designer stores in Leeds.
4. Leeds city centre.

1. Isaac loves wearing other peoples' shoes. Here he is with my cheap flip-flops.

2. Walking to the playground.

3. Trying on a hat at H&M. Bought him that sweatshirt because he didn't want to take it off and it was cute.

4. At Morrisons buying flowers for Grandma's birthday.

1. Way proud of this drawing as it's the first time he's ever said he was drawing something specific. This was a duck. he even asked for an orange crayon to make the "nose."

2. Brownie and juice at Starbucks.

3. A little American cafe in Glasgow that is across from our new flat. Looking forward to trying it out.

4. At a random playground we came across in Glasgow.

1. Helping to get his car bed to the lift on moving day!

2. Stayed a night at a hotel during the move. He got a new little scottie dog that he made watch tv.

3. Fruit Loops at Tesco! Apparently, only for a limited time. They aren't as good as the American ones as some of the ingredients aren't allowed here.

4. Isaac and I playing with the camera.

1. Isaac's self portrait!

2. I love how foreign this makes it seem here to me.

3. Hunterian Museum at University of Glasgow. Museums are free here!!

4. Signs in a little shop on Byres Road. I love my west end flat, too.

1. An old police box at the other end of Byres Road. Dr Who fans will recognize it as a TARDIS.

2. Took Isaac for some ice cream while we had lattes.

3. I don't know what these were but they were hanging from a tree outside the library at the University of Glasgow.

4. This shop...just... I can't decide if it's amazing or awful.

1. Found a four leaf clover. Immediately after I found a five leaf clover!

2. Isaac driving a bus at the store.

3. Playing with the camera before bed.

Scotland

Well, we're now in our new home in Scotland. I like Glasgow quite a lot so far.

We've been in our house for a week now. Moving was hard work with a toddler and we are still only half unpacked. Trying to sort out a new place for everything isn't easy, especially since we've moved into a smaller place. I do like the flat though.

Our location is brilliant. It's a one minute walk out to a major road that is absolutely filled with shops, restaurants and cafes. There are also loads of charity shops and I can't get over how cheap they all are compared to down in Carlisle. I love a good bargain and don't mind second hand toys for Isaac at all. I even picked him up a brand new pair of Ted Baker jeans for 75p.

There's an American breakfast and lunch cafe a very short walk from us. I haven't been in yet but I'm looking forward to trying it. The owner is from Scotland but he spent five years living in New York City and Florida and has modelled his shop on NYC cafes. He even imported a NYC police car and a NYC cab that sit in front of his shop and also get hired out. He parks the cars across from our flat at night and he was driving the police car yesterday while we were out there. I was pointing it out to Isaac and the guy turned on the lights and sirens for Isaac and he got so excited. Now he's constantly pointing out the car.

Last weekend my father-in-law and his wife came up to see our new place and we went out for lunch and coffee and also took them to the university and to the Hunterian Museum there. It was a really nice day. At the moment they're talking about coming up every other weekend. Not sure if that will actually happen but I am looking forward to it.

Izzy Says

I bought Izzy some little animals from a 10p bin at a charity shop in Glasgow yesterday. Just now he brought this one to me.

Izzy: "Bird!"
Me: "That bird is called a peacock."
Izzy: "Peapock."
Me: "Can you say peacock?"
Izzy: "Peapock!"
Me: "Peacock."
Izzy: "PEAPOCK!"
Me: "Yeah!"  LOL

So What Wednesday {3}

This week I'm saying so what if...

• I haven't watched any of the Olympics, including the opening ceremony. Apparently, because I'm living in the host country I should be really into it but I'm not. 
  


• We didn't move when we were supposed to due to my husband being ill.
  
  
• I bought my son an entire pack of Happyland animals just to get him the chicken in a nest with baby chicks.
  


• I didn't log my calories on MFP for the past 3 days. I'm back at it now.
  


• We kept toys from the toy library for like 5 months. I returned them today! Still can't believe they never phoned me or sent me a letter about them.
  


• I returned a bunch of books late to the library because I knew we wouldn't be checking any out again before we moved. Now I owe fines.
  


• Tomorrow we have to drive up to Glasgow and sit around in our new and very empty place all day long just to wait on a technician to come out and set up our phone and broadband. That's three hours of driving to look forward to.
  


• I think I'm going to start deleting people on Facebook who post pictures making fun of obese people. It angers me every time and I don't need the negativity. Rant about this coming soon on my blog.
  


• Tesco is now carrying Fruit Loops so I'm suddenly desperate for some. They were out of stock yesterday but I'll probably buy some as soon as I see the on the shelf just because....homesickness, ya know.
  


• I started playing Minecraft again because one of my cousins is now running a server. Like I don't waste enough time these days.

Moving delayed and my trip to Leeds

We're supposed to be in our new place in Glasgow right now but my husband woke up really sick on Friday and suffered all weekend with a fever and chills and the most painful sore throat of his life. He saw a nurse practitioner who gave him antibiotics for strep throat. But yesterday he started breaking out in a rash and I'm now convinced that he has Hand Foot and Mouth disease rather than strep throat. He has an appointment to see a doctor after hours tonight to be checked again.

So, we're hoping to move this coming weekend if he's up for hauling furniture around. We're going to have to go up on Thursday and sit around most of the day though because we're expecting a technician to hook up our phone and broadband.

LEEDS

On Friday Isaac and I took a train down to Leeds along with my brother-in-law's wife and their little one. It was a 2.5 hour journey each way and Isaac did much better than I anticipated. Both times he got quite antsy towards the end of the journey and wanted to be allowed to walk around, probably to stretch his legs, but he was a little trooper. On the way there, an older gentleman sat behind us commented on how well behaved both kids were. It's so nice to get that kind of compliment.

Leeds was really nice. First thing we did was meet up with a fellow American expat at Starbucks for a coffee. We've known each other online for about 7 years but it was our first time meeting in person. I was worried I would be super awkward because I don't socialize much these days but I think I did all right. Ha! Plus she was really nice and easy to talk to. She showed us around the city center a bit. Stupidly didn't get a picture of us together!

It was nice going to a city I haven't been before. There is so much more of the UK I need to see. Can you believe I've been here for seven years and never visited London? We flew out of London last time we went to America so we drove more than 6 hours to get there but that was just straight to the airport. I definitely need to get down there at some point!

Random Thursday {1}

If you were given the opportunity to have an all expenses paid vacation, where would you go? Who would you take with you? What would you pack? You may take this post in any direction you want. Don't forget pictures!! We wanna see it all!

ICELAND

I have dreamed of going to Iceland for years. Every time I mention I want to take a trip to Iceland people make faces and say, "Why?!" These people must know nothing about Iceland. They have the Northern Lights, the Blue Lagoon, and some seriously beautiful countryside. 

The Aurora Borealis

 via

I want to see the Northern Lights before I die. This picture is of Hotel Rangá in Iceland. Can you imagine staying there? There's a hot tub outside so you can stay warm and comfortable in the snow while watching the aurora. How amazing would that be?

The Blue Lagoon

via 

Iceland has many geothermal spas but the Blue Lagoon is the most famous. The temperature of the water ranges from 37–39 °C (98–102 °F) while you're out in the cold Icelandic air. The water is very rich in minerals and is said to have healing powers and to help with skin conditions, especially psoriasis. You can view their live webcam here.

Icelandic Horseback Riding

via 

You can take horseback riding trips to all sorts of places in Iceland and in all sorts of weather including snow! I think it would be prettiest in the summer myself though.

Dog Sledding with Greenland Huskies

 via

Can you imagine the thrill of being pulled by all of these huskies? That must be an awesome experience and one that not many people experience in their life. I'd love to try it!

Gullfoss

 via

This is Iceland's most famous waterfall. It falls into a deep canyon and I don't know what to say about this other than it looks absolutely beautiful and I would love to see it.

And so much more!

 I could spend all day going on about all the things to see and do in Iceland.... ice caving, hiking around some amazing scenery, whale watching, Puffin Island tour, visiting the capitol city Reykjavik, Jeep tours, 4x4 off road adventures... I could seriously list more. 

Moving House

We are moving on Sunday!

Originally, the plan was to move somewhere around August 11th. But we've bumped it up and we're moving this weekend.

There is so much to do. This is so last minute. We've packed a few boxes over the past couple weeks, thinking that we were going to have ages to do it, so at least we've made a start, but not much of one!

On Friday I'm taking a day trip to Leeds with my sister-in-law. We're taking the Carlisle to Settle line which is an old fashioned steam train on a very scenic route. I'm looking forward to it but also not because it's a 2.5 hour trip with my two year old! He's not going to care about the scenery, he's just going to be bored and annoyed at having to sit for that long. So, I'm a bit nervous about it but looking forward to it at the same time.

I have to mention this 30 Day Ab challenge. Oh man, I am SORE. It's mostly the very very very tops of my thighs. I've never been sore there before! Also, I can't do four of the exercises so I've had to substitute them with crunches. Pathetic! Hopefully by the end of the 30 days I'll be able to do those other ones though.

Also back on track with my weight loss. My husband and I are using MyFitnessPal together and it's really working well for us right now. I've also been getting on the rowing machine in addition to doing dumbbell exercises and the ab challenge. Shaping up and it feels good!

Izzy's Obessions

Sometimes the oddest things really grab Izzy's attention.

A couple months back we were looking at a numbers book that had hot air balloons in them. In order to help him understand what they actually were I put some YouTube videos on for him. He became obsessed. He wanted to watch hot air balloons every single day. Here we are, months later, and he still asks to watch them every day. A few weeks ago one flew over our house! So we got in the car and followed it for awhile so he could really watch it. Last week it flew over again so we're keeping our eyes open in the evening now.

He loves things that fly in general. Hot air balloons, hang gliders, helicopters, parachutes, rockets, airplanes, balloons and even birds. We watch a lot of YouTube clips in this house. Last week he put his little Cars 2 backpack on pretending it was a parachute pack and was walking around saying, "Jump from airplane!" My husband said he's glad we're about to move into a ground floor flat!

His latest obsession though is bird houses. Yes, bird houses. He wants to watch them on YouTube. You can find some videos of bird houses on YouTube but, hardly surprising, not many. He started wanting his very own bird house. I attempted to make him one out of cardboard but he wasn't fooled. I have to admit, I didn't do a very good job! So, last week the husband and I took him to one of the local garden centers to get him his very own bird house. We ended up with a nesting box since it seemed to be the best choice as a "toy."

He loves this thing. He packs it around talking about it and often says, "Birds come from eggs." That's another thing we watch a lot of on YouTube. Birds and baby chicks hatching. He's got a thing for eggs, too. He puts his toy birds into the bird house but it's also a home for his small airplane and small helicopter.

He also really loves watching videos of babies and toddlers laughing, dogs popping balloons and toddlers and babies playing with bubbles. This one is his absolute favorite and he laughs his little butt off throughout the whole thing:

It's so odd that  he lives in an age where he can see pretty much anything the instant he asks for it. You can find a lot of odd stuff on YouTube. He wanted dogs in hot air balloons the other day...no problem!

About me

I finally got around to writing an "about me" page so I thought I would include it as a blog entry as well since most people who are already reading probably won't notice the addition.

---

I often feel like a fish out of water.

In 2005 I moved from America to England for love. I am one of those crazy people you hear about who meet someone online and fall in love before ever meeting in person. Yeah, it can happen and lucky, lucky me, because it turned out to be all I hoped it would be and more. We’re happily married and have a two year old boy we adore.

But about this fish out of water thing, being in a foreign country does that to a person. Being a new mom also does that to some of us, although I’m getting a bit better at being that. Now I’m about to move to Scotland, which is a lot like England, but I’m expecting more of that “fish out of water” feeling. They may speak the same language but the accent is different (and often very difficult to understand) and there is a lot of new slang to learn. I’m still learning English slang after seven years! Not only that, but I’m moving from rural England to the largest city in Scotland. And, aside from my husband and my little boy, I won’t know a soul. But I like new adventures.

You may want to know who I am as a person. I’m a typical Pisces--generous, patient, compassionate, accepting, adaptable and friendly but often let others walk all over me, am easily led, indecisive and over-sensitive. I’m also an INFP personality. I’m a dreamer and often lost in my thoughts. I’m a peacemaker. I hate conflict and confrontation and will go to great lengths in order to avoid it, unfortunately, to my own detriment. I will apologize to people who should be apologizing to me, just to calm the situation but I will secretly hold a grudge for it. I complain too much about the little things (I’m tired, I’m hungry, it’s too hot, etc) but I’m a happy person and I always look for the good in people.

I love beautiful things. I love the sea and anything that reminds me of it. I prefer to listen to my music through headphones or turned up so loud that I can’t hear myself sing. I like sitting alone in coffee shops with a good book. I enjoy going to restaurants alone and am not embarrassed by it. I make time to read every day. I hate clutter but seem to live in a constant state of it.

This blog is about my life. It's a place to document the changes, the happiness, the sad times and the growth of my little boy. I don't expect it to be interesting to everyone who comes across it and I'm okay with that because it's really just here for me.

Life In An Instagram {5}

First off, just a note to say that I've removed Disqus from my site. I originally installed it because it allowed me to reply to comments rather than just replying below someone's comment. But now it's come to my attention that some people may have issues with being able to comment using Disqus. And after a bit of Googling I've found that other people can't be bothered leaving comments using Disqus simply because it puts them off. So, goodbye Disqus. It seems that Blogger lets you reply to comments now anyway so I'm happy with it now. The only down side is that I've lost all of the comments I've received over the past few months.

Moving on...

I love this link up so much. I really do need to use my phone's camera more often so that I have more to post though. And, I need to start taking more than just photos of Izzy!

Here's some of what I've been up to this week!

 

At Whale of a Time.

 

Walking to the park. Just a couple months ago I had to carry him part of the way but now he walks all the way there and all the way back.

 

He loves the roundabout!

 

He loves to go grocery shopping and often asks if we can go. This day he insisted on wearing his fireman helmet (most of the time it was backwards). We picked up a truck set for him on the way in but halfway through the store he spotted this mini Hello Kitty sets and really wanted them. He chose to get two Hello Kitty sets over the truck set. I love that my husband isn't the type of man to tell him that he can't have it because it's a girl's toy. He loves his "cats" now.

 

I will have to make an entry about the random things Izzy is into at the moment. This was taken at the garden center where we went specifically to buy him a bird house. Not to go outside, but for him to play with. Odd, I know.

 

 At Aztec Softplay they have a room that is usually filled with puzzles or crayons. This day they had buttons and spools for stringing but he just wanted to stack.

 

I don't know if you've heard about the weather in Britain but it's been pretty bad lately. Torrential rains for weeks now and no signs of ending until September. So, when we had some sun and I told Izzy we could go to the playground and then it started raining, I didn't want to break his little heart. So, we went in the rain and he had the best time. This is him putting his umbrella down when we got there.

 

I think I may use one of the side shots I have of him to make a sillouette. Maybe do all three of us!

 

Happyland toys are awesome. 

 

Pilchard(s) in the Happyland cottage. He mixes and matches everything.

I hate this picture of me and Izzy isn't making the greatest face either but I figure I hide too much so I'll just put it out there!

So What! Wednesday {2}

This week I'm saying So What! if...

• I haven't worked out at all this week. At least I'm eating right.
• My toddler has suddenly stopped listening and is acting super hyper half the day.
• I skipped Slimming World last week. I'll go tonight.
• I haven't "done" my hair in days.
• I keep daydreaming about the Mexican food I'm going to eat in Glasgow on Friday.
• The living room floor is covered in toys and the small sofa has become a collection of clothes.
• I drink more coffee than ever since switching to decaffeinated.
• I'm giving away a ton of stuff that I could be making money from while we're packing. 

A new place to live

We have a place to live in Glasgow. We're really moving!

We are driving up on Friday to sign the lease and get the keys. We found a 2 bed / 2 bath flat that couldn't be any closer to the university. The location is great. We are right in an area filled with shops and cafes and there is so much within walking distance. There's also a subway station right near us and £1.20 will get you right into the city centre. I can't imagine we'll use the car very often.

The flat itself.... there is nothing wrong with it. It's nice, they've just laid brand new carpet (and it's the nicest carpet I've ever seen in a rental), it's on the ground floor and really not much I can complain about. BUT... I'm really not a fan of most British houses and flats. I'm American and I grew up in very open houses. What I love about the apartment we're in right now is the open plan. The new flat we are getting is very much like a typical British flat.

You come into the front door and there is nothing but hallway. A door to the kitchen on the left and a door to the living room on the right. Halfway down the hall is a door to the bathroom on the left. At the end of the hall is a door to Izzy's room on the right and our bedroom on the left along with another bathroom attached to it. Doors doors doors.

I hate this type of floor plan. Not only does it feel incredibly claustrophobic to me, but it also seems like such a waste of space. I know, it's not the end of the world. We're lucky that the living room is bigger than the standard here and that was one thing I wasn't going to compromise on. But overall, the location was just too good pass up.

We won't be moving until next month and while I'm not looking forward to the actual move, I think it will oddly be the easiest one we've had yet. This will be my eighth place since moving here seven years ago. I think my husband has some gypsy blood in him! This will be our farthest move so we'll be renting a truck this time (one trip, yay!) and my husband's sister, brothers and dad are all going to help. It'll be very different from our typical move of hauling carloads over a week or more!

So, our new adventure is not far away now!

Aillidh {2}

I know I don't have many readers but here is an update anyway just to let you know that Aillidh passed away on Saturday night. I cannot get her family out of my mind. I know that how ever awful I imagine it is for them, that in reality it has to be a hundred times worse. It's just so incredibly sad that she actually got her transplant and it took successfully but she died from other complications. It's frightening as a parent to be reminded of how easily you could lose your child.

I will get back to blogging regularly this week. I really do need to focus on actual writing rather than depending so much on link ups. But I really do love those link ups.

Aillidh

It's been a week since I've posted. There has been a lot happening in my mind over the week and I've just been sort of dealing with it.

Someone very close to me checked themselves into the hospital for a mental evaluation last Friday night when, apparently, things just go to be too much. The person was transferred into a mental health facility. It was very worrisome and extremely stressful not knowing what was happening. Fortunately, they are back home now after several days and getting to see their doctor and having some meds adjusted. I'm glad my husband was here for me because when thing like that stress me out I tend to have very little patience with my little one.

The other thing that has been really upsetting me this week is the life of a little girl named Aillidh, the daughter of a fellow American-expat. I don't know her personally but we have a lot of mutual friends (via an expat community). Aillidh is eight years old and has Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. She's been an inpatient in the hospital for like half a year now. They had been looking for a bone marrow donor for ages but due to her unusual mix of being part Native American and part Scottish, things didn't look good for long time. Finally, when she had nearly run out of time a donor was found and she received the transplant. The transplant took but unfortunately, she started having problems with infections and for the past couple of months has been fighting them.

This week things got really bad for Aillidh and her health rapidly declined. I'm only watching from afar and have only been able to offer words via the Facebook page and send positive and healing thoughts, but I've been very affected by it. I never ever thought that her story wasn't going to have a happy ending. Especially after she received her transplant. But yesterday it got so bad that a priest was called in to administer her last rites. It sounded as though she wasn't expected to make it through the night. But, Aillidh has been a fighter through all of this and it appears she is still fighting. She held on through the night and even showed some improvements in her sats. Today they have gone back down a bit. I can't even imagine what this is like for her parents.

I was talking about her in the car to my husband the other day, when it finally sounded as though she wasn't going to make it and I started crying. It's just so horribly sad. Eight years old. Only last month she was listing off the things she was going to do when she finally got out of the hospital. Every morning now when I wake up she's my first thought, hoping that she's made it through the night. I still have hope that she's going to pull through this (especially after she seemed to get a bit better for awhile last night) and I am continuing to keep her in my thoughts and trying to send positivity and healing energy her way. She can use all the prayers and thoughts she can get, so for anyone who is reading this, please keep Aillidh (and her family) in your prayers and thoughts too.

Aillidh's Facebook Page

Life In an Instagram {3}

 A little bit of what we've been up to this week...

Izzy and I go to the library every week. I usually choose books for him while plays.

 Went to Starbucks after the library and had an iced decaf latte and we ate a packed lunch.

 Bubble bath after dinner!

 

 Giving George and Peppa kisses at the soft play place.

 

 We went to Glasgow to look at flats. See the Starbucks? That will be my new local. Bet yours isn't in a building that awesome!

 Also in Glasgow there is a California style burrito bar. Man, I miss those. This one wasn't amazing but it was good and I'll be eating there more.

 I gave him my old iPod nano ages ago. It's usually docked in his room but he wanted to listen on headphones like daddy.

 He enjoys stacking rocks like Makka Pakka on In the Night Garden.

He really loves pushing the trolley now when we go shopping. This is working out well for us so far. He's not complaining about being stuck in the trolley and he's not running around grabbing things from the shelves!