The day has arrived...

Let me go back and tell you about the day we left St. Louis.  We flew out on New Year's Eve.  After counting down to this day for several months, it was finally time to say our last goodbyes and head over the big pond.  I was excited, nervous and anxious to get settled all at the same time.  More than anything, I was sad to leave love ones, so there were several tearful goodbyes. 

We somehow managed to get all of our clothes and belongings for the next month plus all of the gifts from Christmas and Dylan's birthday into eight suitcases.  We were very careful to use every inch of space in each suitcase.  All shoes were packed with small toys, hair bows and batteries.  (Eric took batteries out of all electronic toys so the suitcases would not be saying, "To infinity and beyond" as we pushed them through the airport.) We made a list of each item in every suitcase just in case one or more suitcases did not make it.  We also put two luggage tags on each suitcase as well as a paper inside listing our contact info.  I was not going to risk losing anything.  Packing was quite an ordeal!

We certainly looked funny entering the airport with all of that luggage.  Most people thought my parents and Eric's parents were going with us.  Trust me, I wish they were coming!  The kids look like they were not cooperating (imagine that), but the sun was actually right in their eyes.  Dylan and Amelia both were excellent travelers.  I am so glad we had the stroller!  At 7 months pregnant, carrying kids was the last thing I needed.

We flew to Detroit which Dylan was excited about since he was born in Michigan.  Then we departed at 7:00p.m. for London.  The kids loved the large plane.  We knew they were exhausted, but the excitement won over, and they stayed awake for several hours.  Having their personal screen for movies and games was so much fun.  Eric and I dozed while they continued to watch movies.  They finally fell asleep around 9:30p.m.  We landed around 1:20a.m. St. Louis time.  What a way to ring in the new year!

Of course everyone was in a rush to get off of the plane.  I'll never understand why some people think it is o.k. to push ahead just to get out in front of 4 more people.  We woke the kids up, gathered our belongings and had to wait for our stroller at the gate.  Finally the stroller arrived after what seemed like forever.  But it was worth the wait, especially when Eric's status got us the Easy-Pass through customs.  So we passed up most people on our flight and got right to the front of the line. Customs was a breeze.  Again, Eric's status got our luggage out first, so all was good.  Dylan counted, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight!  We used 2 carts or trolleys as they call them here.  Our luggage took up all of the space in the Avis shuttle, so we had a private ride.  Dylan was thrilled to see a double-decker bus right away!  We headed to Avis to get our rental vehicle, which apparently can be a 7-seater.  Vehicles here are SO small.  So are all of the parking spaces!  Eric magically arranged everything and got it all to fit.  I couldn't believe it looking at the car.  So we picked up the kids' new car seats (which I will write about another time...so different from US seats!) from a storage locker, and we were on our way to our new house!  Everything went well, and we were all exhausted after about 4 hours sleep.  Eric drove the hour and a half to our house while the 3 of us slept.  I wasn't ready to attempt driving on the wrong side of the road. 

     

The Journey Begins

Moving away from family is never easy.  I managed when I was 2 hours away at college.  I thought 8 hours away in Michigan was all I could handle.  Then, we lived 12 hours away in South Carolina.  We made wonderful friends and had great experiences in both places.  I just always thought our next move would be back closer to family.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined we would move OVERSEAS!  My husband's job offered him an opportunity in Chippenham, England, just 100 miles west of London.  So here we are, starting a new journey in our lives, away from family again.

I truly wish there was a manual titled, "How to prepare for a move to the UK".  Everyone told me, "Oh, it's not that different there.  You'll adjust quickly.  At least the language will not be a barrier."  HA!  Wrong, wrong and wrong!  I am taking this transition one day at a time.

I wanted to start a blog before moving here, but since Eric was already here for 3 months, and I was a "single mom" preparing for a move and the holidays AND pregnant, I just didn't find the time.  I may not find the time to keep up with this blog very often, but I want to try and document some of the interesting parts of our journey here.  I figured our families and friends would enjoy hearing about the differences here, so I am giving this blogging thing a try.  I hope you stop by once in a while to read about our adventures here in England.  Cheers!