we're back!

we arrived safely in seattle last night around 5pm. the flight was really good, i was dreading it, but it was fine i was comfortable in our upgraded seats ;) it's now 430am sunday morning and i can't sleep any longer because of the time change. hopefully this won't last long! today we're heading to our house to unpack our stuff in storage and move back in. it will be so nice sleeping in our bed tonight, hopefully it's as comfortable as i remember...

leaving do

Last night I had my leaving do at work. One of my co-workers always bakes fabulous cakes for everyone's birthdays. For my birthday she made a cake with an American flag on top! The picture above is the cake she made for me yesterday. It was sad to say bye to everyone, but the night was very nice. I got loads of lovely presents, all for Parker, which I know we/she will enjoy.

It's unbelievable that we're flying to Seattle tomorrow with no return ticket to London. It will be great to be in Seattle again with so many friends and family but sad to have left. It's been a great experience that I wouldn't change for anything. I never imagined that I would live abroad, and for two years at that. Andy and I have been so fortunate to have traveled to so many places, made some wonderful friends and experienced such a great time together before having babies (just barely!). We have missed home and all that comes with it, but have grown so much individually and together from being here together.

Coming Home

Well, no pictures on this one, but some exciting news. I've accepted a new job in Seattle that will be bringing us home. Even better, though it has taken a while to get everything in order, the official paperwork came through today and things are now moving rapidly. The relocation company has every confidence they will be able to get us packed by Friday the 13th (scary!), and on a plane for Saturday the 14th!

That everything that we've been thinking about and planning on is a reality today is both really exciting, and just a little bit...melancholy? However excited we are to move home (and we are quite) it is the end of a wonderful experience and means saying goodbye to a number of great friends.

So, who's free on Sunday the 15th to help pack and unpack a U-Haul?!?

Our last trip in the UK

The American Couple in Edinburgh Castle

So one thing to note about Edinburgh - it's pretty darn windy, especially on higher ground. We just took our last trip while in the UK, a long weekend in Scotland. It was a stunning train ride up, especially the stretch between Newcastle and Edinburgh. You end up along the coast, lots of little towns. Pretty amazing. Another great thing about the train - 4.5 hours vs. an 8-10 hour drive!

So, while in Edinburgh you might have heard that Katherine was feeling a little sick. So there were some adventures on my own, and a few adventures together. Even with Katherine not feeling great we still managed to make our way around much of the old town and the new town, all the way out to the Botanical gardens (no pictures, it's still winter :), and the Stockbridge neighborhood. We also checked out Edinburgh castle together on Sunday, where we got the picture above. It was pretty awesome - it was the first castle I saw going on 13 years ago when traveling with Sean, and was great to see again.

On Friday I had to venture out on my own. So, the first thing was to do a scotch tasting at the Scotch Whisky Experience. It was informative and tasty - and also quite small drinks, leaving me functional for the rest of the day. After that I made my way down the Royal Mile to Holyroodhouse and then into Holyrood Park, and took up the challenges to heading up to Arthurs Seat - sticking up just about a kilometer above Edinburgh. It was quite a hike - I am pretty sure I took several wrong turns on the way up, and on the way down ended up going down a rain-gully. But I made it up and back and was rewarded with some amazing views. Check out the link to the pics on the right to see some of the views.

The last thing going was 6 Nations - again, I'm a huge fan. And on Saturday Scotland played Italy, in Edinburgh. We did not go to the game, but watched the game in a pub. It was a blast, Italy got beaten thoroughly as they do, and the Scots celebrated all through the night. I watched the following England-Ireland game (which Ireland won). Not a great envirnoment to be an England fan, but again a lot of fun.

View back across Edinburgh toward the castle from Arthur's Seat

Self portrait up at Arthur's Seat - just a bit windy

Katherine from inside Edinburgh Castle

we've been so lucky

as our time in london is quickly ticking away, it's nice to reflect on parts of our experience here. i feel very lucky to have had so many fabulous guests and visitors while we've been living here. it's made our time here more enjoyable to be able to share first hand with our friends and family how we live here and for them to experience this great city the way we do.

our great guests and visitors have been: lisa & dave, my dad & kathleen, rich, beorn, my mom, paul & gwen, ben & stephanie, rich & clara, my brother & christina, tim & michele and lisa - it means a ton that you all made the long trip out here to see us if for an evening or a few weeks!! can't wait to see more of you all very shortly.

12 hours no eating!

i haven't been feeling very well since wednesday afternoon. i won't go into details of what's been going on as to not gross anyone out - let's just say it's not pleasant...somehow i made it to scotland and back on the train (4.5 hours) but wasn't able to actually enjoy edinburgh all that much. i spent a lot of time in our hotel room. because of this i am going to leave andy to post about the trip! i have been speaking with my doctor (from scotland) and today now that we're back in london and she has advised me not to eat for 12 - 24 hours to help what ever is bothering me out of my system. i'm going to wait 12 hours to eat, if i can even make it that long. at this point it's been about 2 hours since we spoke and it's already difficult. i'm not sure how people fast, i guess it helps if you're not sick as well, and pregnant! she said the baby will be fine. parker is bouncing around a ton and doesn't seem to mind that i've been feeling like crap. hopefully this passes quickly.....