Holiday...

So the last week in June, Rob and I headed to the Canary Islands for a week. We headed down to London Saturday afternoon, because our flight was super early on Sunday morning and none of the trains run that early so we had to head down on Saturday. We stayed at a hotel right by the airport so we could just take a cab there and have it only cost a us a few pounds. Sunday morning was hectic and slow all at once, we woke up at around 3 something and headed to the airport at 4. Well we had to wait in line forever until they opened the check-in counters. Then once we checked in, we had to wait for a while till they announced a gate. None of the restaurants in the airport were open that early so we couldn’t get food. Once we found our gate you couldn’t leave the area, so once you went in there the only food option was vending machine snacks. The flight wasn’t bad, Rob slept for most of the time and it was only 2 hours to Madrid, this is where I got my first passport stamp.

From Madrid the flight was another 2 ½ hours but still it was broken up nicely so they seemed to go by really fast. Once we landed we found a cab and got on the road to the hotel. We were expecting the islands to be a lot like Hawaii, but they weren’t. The scenery of the inland is a lot like Vegas, so a desert.

We were ok with this since we were going to spend most of our time on the beach or at our hotel pool anyways. Once at the hotel we changed into our bathing suits and went to the pool. We had to get our pool chairs because once we had seats they were ours and no one could use them. We got drinks at the pool bar since they were free and just got some sun till we went up and got ready for dinner. After dinner we went for a walk along the boardwalk and then along the beach on the way back to the hotel.

The next day we spent the morning laying on the beach and playing in the ocean and after lunch we lay by the pool area.

On Tuesday we went for a walk after breakfast to see some of the area around us.

And then we lay by the pool all day. For dinner we were celebrating our anniversary and we were going to go to a nice local place but they were closed so we ended up going to the Hard Rock Café.

Wednesday we went to a water park just to have some fun and not just lay by the pool or on the beach. After lunch we took pictures with Sea Lions, which was the highlight of my day.

We headed back to the hotel so we had time to get ready for Spanish Night. Apparently from Wednesday thru Saturday they do themed dinner nights. It was a nice change of pace from the regular buffet. We ended up sitting at a table of British people. None of them knew each other but we all became good friends. We shut the restaurant down and when we moved to the bar we also shut them down because we were having such a good time getting to know each other.

Thursday we spent the morning picking up souvenirs and we were dying to play a game of mini golf and we finally found a place. Rob likes to say that he beat me but I won.

We went back to the hotel and then went and spent the rest of time till dinner on the beach just soaking up our last full day there. We were very excited for dinner because it was Mexican night and we had friends we were meeting. To get into the restaurant we had to take shots of tequila and that was the beginning of the end. Our table of eight ended up going through a bottle of tequila and countless lemons.

After dinner we moved to the bar and then headed up to bed. Friday morning we woke up earlier than usual to pack and get everything situated. Then we did the airport routine. Once back in London we had to go through customs. This was a bit of an issue for me because I didn’t bring my visa along, just my passport. We were held for a little while, until they believed me and let us through and told me to never do it again. I will now always remember to travel with both of my passports.

Fun Times in London Town

On the 19^th of June, some of Rob’s friends from deployment planned a night out in London. We spent the day at the Bavarian Beerhouse.

There was delicious German food and very tasty German beer. I also had one of my friends from school come down and meet us so we spent the day with her also.

We also had a metre of Schnaps, with this metre there are 16 shots on it and we did this a few times during the day.

At around midnight Rob and I and some of the group headed to a club called Fabric. Not really our scene but if they had different music it would have been an amazing club. There were about 5 different dance floors and tons of places for people to just hang out. The drinks were expensive and it was strictly techno music.

(Us by the end of the night)

The following Tuesday Rob, our friend Ben, and I went down to London to see the Tower of London and do some shopping. I also needed to stop by school so I thought it would be a perfect time to do it.

After going to the Tower of London and seeing the Fit for a King exhibit. At this exhibit there were hundreds of years worth of armor, so it was fun for me because it is a part of clothing history but it was fun for Rob and Ben because it was armor.

(Ben next to the biggest armor ever made)

After all of that we went to lunch at Chipotle, which they have just opened in London and it is one of Rob’s favorite places to eat so he was very excited. From there we ran to school so I could drop off some documents and then we went to Oxford St. to do some shopping. We ended up eating dinner down there also at a place called Ping Pong. It is a like a Chinese Tapas place and amazing. We took one of the last trains back home and it was a very long day but tons of fun.

"That's Daylight Robbery"

So on Rob’s second weekend home I had planned for us to go to Edinburgh, Scotland. We can go up there without him using leave and it was just a place that we both really wanted to see. We left on a Saturday morning at an obscenely early hour for a weekend. We had a nice little road trip and by little I mean, it took us around 6-7 hours to get there but we did get to drive past Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood Country. Once we got a little further north the drive was on the coast, which was so beautiful to drive along, especially because the day was so nice and sunny. Those are rare here so we really do appreciate them when they happen.

Once we arrived and found our hotel we went to the Royal Mile… this is there main shopping road but that is only on one side, the other side has amazing views of Edinburgh Castle, some beautiful cemeteries and tons of monuments.

We just did some quick sightseeing so we would know where we wanted to go the next day. Once done walking all over, we went out to dinner in this way too fancy restaurant right at the end of the Royal Mile. We had to be done with dinner by 7:30 because we really wanted to go to a pub and watch the England, US World Cup game.

We decided to go to a pub right across the street from the restaurant and had so much fun. All of the Scots were cheering for the US and we were basically being congratulated on for being Americans. It was definitely the experience we were hoping for nut not expecting. The next day we woke up early and started our busy day by going to Edinburgh Castle early, because we were told it would be less busy in the morning.

(Rob at the Castle entrance)

(Me once we made it into the 3rd area of the castle)

This was not the case and it was packed and that was with crappy weather. We took a guided tour and learned a lot. It was definitely one of the coolest castles we have seen, but it was used for protection and battle more that just having royalty live there. After a morning at the castle we went home and got lunch and dried off since it was pouring rain by the time we left the castle. After lunch we took a bus tour around the city. This was a way for us to hit some cool spots that we didn’t even know about. Halfway through the tour we got out and went to the Museum of Scotland and saw the grave of Greyfriars Bobby.

We also saw Dolly at the museum and we were kind of excited about it.

After all of this we went back and got on the bus to finish the tour. This time the weather had gotten nice and sunny so we got to sit on top of the double-decker bus.

We drove through old town, which is where the plague had been, and they basically built a new city to keep everyone who was infected in the Old Town. After the tour ended we walked along the Royal Mile so we could do some shoe shopping for Rob. We then went to dinner at a Chinese Buffet restaurant. We were so excited but let down just a little. We went home and I passed out immediately. We woke up the next day and headed home. Edinburgh is an amazing city and the total opposite of London. We loved every second of being there. I guess I need to explain the post title. Back in the day in Scotland, they were being taxed for every window they owned. So people just bricked over there windows. But the people called it Daylight Robbery because the government was robbing them of daylight. This tax stopped when one of the queens built a palace in London that is basically made of windows.

First Few Days!

So we have been pretty busy since Rob has been home. The day he got home the weather was so nice and very unlike England. The forecast for the following days were supposed to be equally as nice, so we decided to go to the beach the next day. We woke up and Rob wanted to take his first shower at home and the shower broke while in the middle of his shower the gasket broke and the water turned off. We packed up all our stuff for the beach and then called the realtor to get the shower fixed. The beach we went to is Southend-on-Sea. It is about an hour and a half away so a fun car ride. When we first got there we wanted to walk up and down the boardwalk to see what they offered so we got some ice cream to eat while we decided.

We finally settled on a little seaside café and ate lunch. It was here that I tried fish and chips for the first time since we have moved over here. After lunch we found a spot on the beach (which is not sand but tons of little rocks and seashells). When we first got there the tide was out which was a little depressing but we did get to see it come in which was very cool. While laying out Rob kept making fun of all the little kids whining that their feet hurt when walking to the water. When the tide finally came in we decided to walk to the water and we finally knew how all the little kids felt.

Those little rock hurt so bad. Before we headed home, we bought some freshly made sugar doughnuts, which were delicious. The next day we headed to base to shower and do some grocery shopping. We also stopped and bought some patio furniture and we love using it.

That next day which was Sunday we spent the day laying around and made ribs for dinner, we then went to the movies and saw Iron Man 2.

He's Back!!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update with this very important news but we have been kind of busy… yes I said we. Rob got home on Thursday and like I said we have been busy. The weather has been gorgeous here the past couple of days, so we headed to the beach on Friday and yesterday we grilled out and did yard work. I will update with more details of what is going on, on this side of the world soon but I just wanted to let everyone know that he is home and safe.

Schools out...

School is officially done… well at least until July 19^th. I still have not registered for classes yet so we will see how that goes for me. The fashion show went really well and the reviews were all very positive so this should bump my school up in the fashion world. The day of the show I had to wake up at 5:30 and got to the show’s venue at around 9 am.

(The Venue: One Marylebone)

Once inside Kelsey (my roommate) and I did some stuff to help out the Fashion Marketing Exhibition area of the show. Basically what happens at the show is there is a fashion show for the design students but there is also a hub exhibition, which is where all the marketing kids show their work. I will explain this more when I get to this area in school and it isn’t that far away. At 10 I had to go backstage and get briefed on being a dresser. Being a dresser is really fun/hectic/nerve wracking/exciting. The whole show kind of relies on you because if the model isn’t dressed she can’t walk or if she has the wrong outfit on the whole show will be set up wrong. It is really fast paced but it is a lot of fun and it was a great experience. I am hoping to volunteer to dress for London Fashion Week this fall but we will see. Instead of just putting up tons of pictures of the show I figured I’d show you the video. If you have a half hour it is a really good show. The model that I dressed is the red-haired one.

www.aiulondonfashioncollections.com

This upcoming week is going to be full of cleaning the house, getting everything ready for Rob to come home.

The time has come...

School is winding down and I actually have time to work on this again. I promised you once school was done I’d be back and I am. Technically school isn’t done, I still have one more class and then the school’s fashion show/exhibition which I am attending for the first time ever because I am putting it on. My job for the day will be a dresser but I will talk about that after it happens and I can actually tell you how it went and hopefully I will have some pictures from the very long day that it is going to be.

So as for my classes, things were pretty slow the first half of the term. I felt like I had no homework and it was just crawling along. Then week 5 hit, all of a sudden things were due in a few weeks and things started getting busy which is good for me right now. I need it to be busy to stay sane while Rob isn’t here. All the lounging that I love to do just makes the days crawl. So back to school, week 5 is our midterm and we never have midterms, we occasionally have a presentation to do or something but they aren’t the horrendous midterm exams that most US colleges have. This could be either because it is a specialty school or because it is in the UK. I am sure it is a little of both. The one class I was really excited to take which is Fashion Events has kind of turned out to be a bust. I wish I wouldn’t have taken it the first term it was brought to the school but the next time it is offered it will be my turn to have my stuff shown at the exhibition, so this was my only chance. This class has tested my patience every step of the way. What was initially supposed to happen is that we were going to put on an Alumni event and help with the exhibition. Well there are a total of 20-fashion alumni still living in London so we were expecting about half of them to show. This event would have been miserable and a huge failure. They cancelled it and now put the Alumni party with the fashion show, which is much better. There will be tons of industry people there and everyone will be able to see the work the current students are doing and bump shoulders with some potential employers. There was an opportunity to work with a PR company for this event and I got screwed out of doing it. Every time I leave class I want to punch things and I am not a violent person but it tests me. My other two classes are amazing, I love my teachers and the classes are just so much fun. I do have a group project in one of them and I hate my group. The girls in it are study abroad and have no idea what they are doing and yet try to push me around, I finally just stood up and took control of the group because I am not going to risk my grade because they don’t want to ask for help or admit that they don’t understand what the teacher wants. This term I have also helped on a professional photo shoot and it was so much fun and I met some really good contacts.

(Me working behind the scenes)

(The whole group that made the photo shoot happen)

(One of the models getting touched-up by the make-up artist)

As most of you know I have acquired a roommate and that is going really well, it is nice to have someone around while Rob is gone. We have started going to yoga together on base, so I get to see all my friends from base more often, which is really nice because they all know what it is like to go through what I am. Yoga is so much fun and I have a love/hate relationship with the instructor but I feel like that is how it should be with trainers and exercise instructors. I hate her during the class when she is making me do tons of stuff but at the same time I love her for pushing me and I actually want to do it well so it is nice. She is one of those instructors that when counting time down she will go 7 6 5 4 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. She only does this a few times but its always a fun class. She also will push us harder when there are more guys in the class. And yes there are tons of guys doing yoga right now, but who wouldn’t when they are in a room full of women in spandex.

Some of Steve’s friends were here recently and I met up with them for a night in London. It was a lot of fun to hang out with some people from the states in my new home.