I'm On My Way To The U.K.

I've got my plane ticket and new luggage and I'm getting ready to go live with my husband in England.  It has been a very long, expensive and difficult process but we are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

• I have been living with my parents and then friends for a total of a year and seven months, which hasn't been easy for any of us. 
• I have submitted my letter of resignation and presented my employer with a document and resources regarding UK taxes and being an independent contractor in the UK hoping that they will need my services after I move.
• I had to apply for my settlement visa, which was probably one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. It took us months to get the proper paperwork together. For more details, see my post The Visa Application.
• I have been taking trips back and forth to my storage unit going through my things, throwing things away, giving boxes upon boxes to Goodwill. Today I had the ReStore pick up my furniture.  Months ago I even gave my truck to charity.

None of these things have been very easy for me to do but I manage to get this stuff done.  I plan on working from my UK home in the area of Salesforce consulting and administration.  I am very good at what I do and I absolutely love it! I'm hoping to find some work as a consultant or administrator when I get settled.  

My days in the US are numbered... here is what we have planned:

• Feb 1: Vernon arrives in Upper Michigan but very late in the evening.
• Feb 2: Vernon helps me move out of my friends' house.
• Feb 3: Early morning trip down to Madison, WI to spend time with my family
• Feb 10: Back to Upper Michigan to visit with friends and co-workers.
• Feb 12: Head across the UP and over the Mackinac bridge to spend time with my daughter in Kalamazoo, MI. 
• Feb 14: Visit more family in Detroit area.
• Feb 15: Non stop flight from Detroit to London. 

So there you have it. My schedule for my last few weeks here.  I'm worried I wont see everyone I want to see but I promise that I'll be back someday to visit.

There are a few things I haven't quite figured out yet. If you happen to have any advice, experience or input please let me know!

• Banking. I have yet to talk to my credit union about keeping me on as a member but we'll see what happens. I have to have an American account in order to receive payment from my American clients and take care of my ongoing American expenses.
• Mail. I've been looking at these mail scanning/forwarding companies and the security part makes me nervous.  One I've been looking at in particular is Mailbox Forwarding.  I really need to make a decision on this soon.
• Website. I need to create a website for my Independent Contractor status and I'm not even sure where to start.  I have a Google+ account and there is a way to add business information.  I need a new email address too. 

The worst part of this is leaving my daughter.  She's an adult in college and finishing up her last year but it has always been just the two of us.  Soon she will be venturing out on her own finding out who she wants to be, where she wants to live and what she wants to do.  This decision of whether to move or not has been a difficult one but Vernon has made it very clear to us that she will always be welcome to visit or stay any time she wants.  

My Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin links are located in the upper right under my profile photo if you are interested in keeping in touch or utilizing my Salesforce expertise.  

WISH ME LUCK! 

Happy Father's Day Honey!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful patient sexy husband.  Every day he loves and guides his two kids, Tom and Yaz as they grow and become responsible adults. They are both parents now and I find it comforting that they have a perfect example to look up to.  This is Diego, the newest member of the Phillips family.  He's getting big fast and so far, Grandad is the only one who can put him to sleep every time.  He does something called the "Diego dance". I can't wait to see that one.  I also love to see Grandad playing with sweet Saffron.  She's old enough to miss him when she hasn't seen him in a while. 

As I've said before, not only is Vernon a great dad to his two kids, he has been the attentive, supportive loving dad that my daughter deserves and never got.  She loves him and wants him to be happy.  She knows that he will always be there for her no matter what.  

Happy Father's Day Honey, I wish I could be there to spend the day with you and all the kids.  Would be an amazing day! I love you.

The Wedding

We got married July 27. It was an intimate ceremony at my parents' house. Last summer was rainy and cool and on our wedding day it drizzled off and on all morning.  The plan was to do everything outside: Get married, play cornhole and enjoy our shredded turkey sandwiches in the sunshine.  I was stressing over the sporadic rain but when it came to "I do" time, it stopped. We had our ceremony, took pictures, and it started up again.  I feel like God stopped the rain just for us.  The photos below were taken by a local photographer, Mearleen's Photography. She also made us the most amazing DVD. The DVD was very important to us because Vernon's parents were not able to be at the wedding. I told Mearleen how we wanted it done so that my future in-laws didn't miss anything. She delivered exactly what we wanted.  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding day.

Salon 323

Perennial Gardens

Vernon, my daughter and nephews decorating the sign for the four wheeler.

We wanted an eggless cake and a local girl who bakes as a hobby sold her first cakes to us.  She went above and beyond to find the most amazing eggless cake recipe and then perfected it. 

This handsome couple graced the top of my parents' wedding cake many years ago.

Perennial Gardens

We did a "first look". Then I put on his boutonniere

I was trying so hard not to cry.

I love this girl!

Ok Ok, I had to throw a little bit of Yooper in there.

I can't believe we all fit inside. My family did an amazing job moving everything into the house.

I wish we could do it again.

Teeny Tiny Penises and CUPCAKES!

I had been busy planning the wedding and the closer it got to the big day the more stressed I became.  My friend Heather asked if she could throw me a bridal shower and bachelorette party.  I immediately said no, it just wasn't necessary.  I felt I was too old, I don't have any bridesmaids to help out and I didn't want my friend to take on this burden alone.  She insisted and convinced me to have these gatherings.  Boy am I glad I listened to her!  What fun they were. My girlfriend put together the nicest parties I could have asked for.  I also really needed the "me" time because I hadn't done anything for myself in months.

The bachelorette party was pretty low key, at my request.  We had my favorite...pizza! There was a game of pin the kiss on the shirtless guy and penis shaped swizzle sticks, (because she couldn't find penis shaped straws at the last minute).  We did have fun with the penis shaped swizzle sticks.

Another wonderful day was my bridal shower.  I couldn't have asked for a nicer time.  Heather and her girls really went all out.  The food was amazing and she came up with such clever games.  Everyone there had a great time.  There was only one slight mishap.... we had to search for safety pins in a bowl of rice, blindfolded.  When it was my daughter Heidi's turn we placed a frosted cupcake in front of her instead of the rice... let's just say I ended up with cupcake all over my dress from a hostile shower guest.  It was great! At the wedding expo I signed up to register at Presents of Mine and I'm so glad I did. I got a lot of really beautiful items for our future home together. 

I felt so blessed and so loved after this amazing weekend of a girls night out and then an afternoon of great food and laughs.  I don't feel I could ever thank Heather enough for everything she has done for me.  What a wonderful start to the wedding I've been waiting a long time for.

One of many terrible jokes I have to put up with all the time.

My niece had to have her adenoids out so I thought I'd send her a little gift to keep her busy while she was stuck in bed.  I was simply telling Vernon that this gift would be from the four of us and this is what I get in return.

 me: ... I sent her a coloring book, stickers, crayons and a lap desk from you, me, heidi and yaz she'll get it on thurs.

the stickers and coloring book are of animals

 Vernon:  Cool

 Sent at 10:50 AM on Tuesday

 me:  from now on i'm signing cards/gifts, etc from the both of us or all 4 of us

 Vernon:  Are they in a packet? Don't open if the seal is broken

 me:  huh?

 Vernon:  Lol

 me:  i don't get it

 Vernon:  Animal stickers

 me:  still don't get it

 Vernon:  Remind me when we're bored in bed one day

 me:  NO

tell me now

i wont remember this conversation

why do animal stickers have to be sealed?

OH... Seal is an animal

is that it?

 Vernon:  Lol

 me:  Is that it? did I get it?

LOL

 Vernon:  Yes!

 me:  sometimes I REALLY hate your jokes

 Vernon:   :)   

Shopping Day with Mom

I have been wedding planning like a maniac and because of this I have neglected this blog terribly!  I wanted to blog about my wedding planning especially for Vernon and his family to see but I just haven't had it in me to sit down and type.

This is a blog post I had started about a shopping trip with my mom. It was a fun day.

[March 2013] During my wedding planning adventures I had a list of things I wanted to get so I thought I'd go into Escanaba and do some shopping.  I had a coupon for JoAnn Fabrics and I still needed to get a handful of items for the wedding so I thought mom and I could make a day of it.  Sadly, JoAnn didn't have everything that I was looking for, but I did manage to pick up the floating candles needed for my centerpieces.  I did see a cake service set on sale and this was not something I really wanted to buy. It was simple and inexpensive so I went ahead and grabbed it then my mother immediately pipes up... "No! Don't get that! It's ugly!" I just looked at her, "What?" She said it again, "Don't get that, it's ugly!" She was so animated and determined that I didn't buy the cake service set.  It didn't take long for me to figure it out... she's buying us a cake service set. Ha ha ha.Normally I would have blown her off and got it anyway, but I didn't want to spoil her fun so I put it back.

Next stop was GFS.   This is a pretty cool store. My dad is like a kid in a candy shop in this store. They are a supplier to restaurants and businesses but they are also open to the public.  Mom and I just wanted to see what they had as far as party supplies and food.  I don't think we picked anything up here.

Of course I can't go into a town without stopping at St Vinnies and Goodwill as I am still looking for teapots and teacups.  I also found a "collector" type shop in downtown Escanaba and totally scored on teacups and a teapot!

To complete a rather nice day out with my mom we stopped at Hereford and Hops for lunch. It was great! There mom confessed to buying me a, you guessed it, Cake Service Set! She wants to give it to me for my birthday.  She wanted it to be a surprise but I told her if it is wedding related she needs to tell me otherwise I'm getting it myself.

This was a fun day.  Shopping for the wedding and spending time with my mom. It was perfect.

My Favorite Time of Year

Everyone has a favorite time of year.  I really do enjoy Thanksgiving to Christmas because of all the family time, parties and the joyous meaning of the holiday season.  I love Valentines Day because in the 13 years Vernon and I have been together, he has not missed one.  I love all the pink and hearts and flowers everywhere.  Superbowl Sunday is pretty awesome with all the parties and everyone sharing their favorite party food recipes. I  get really caught up in March Madness where I end up spending more time with Dad watching NCAA Basketball and losing a bit of cash.  My most favorite time of year is right now, it started today, can you guess what it is?

The beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  Why is that? We lose an hour of sleep, it pretty much sucks. Well, not for me. For the next three weeks, Vernon and I will only be 5 hours apart rather than the usual 6.  Even though it's just one time zone, it almost feels like we are physically closer, as silly as that sounds.  Yay for Daylight Savings!   

Do you have a favorite time of year? If so, why?

I Have the BEST Step-Daughter (to be).

Early Friday morning I got a message from Vernon's daughter that literally brought tears to my eyes. She wanted to surprise her dad with a Valentine's dinner that she would cook herself. That wasn't the special part as she often makes dinner for her dad. The extra special part is that she wanted me on the computer in a Google+ Hangout at the other end of the table, with a vase of pink roses to add the final touch. She wanted to do this for her dad because we weren't able to be together for Valentine's Day. She coordinated a time with me and I made sure that I was ready for lunch when she had his dinner ready. She made a wonderful bolognese (spaghetti sauce with meat) and home made garlic bread; I had a bowl of chili with cheese. I even drank out of one of my fancy wine glasses. He was so surprised to see me "sitting" there on the pink table cloth with the pink roses. He looked so happy and so surprised. She then left us to enjoy our dinner together.  Oddly enough, we've never had a dinner like this online before. Vernon was amused that I obviously had known about the secret Valentine's dinner and stated, "I can never trust either of you again". I have to admit that if he was able to see my face while I was playing dumb to Yasmine's odd behavior he would have known I was up to something.  Saturday morning I was in a giddy mood, excited about my date with Vernon.  It makes me happy when that girl of his does things like this for him.  This was the first time she's involved me and it was lots of fun.

Thank you so much Yasmine! I don't think you quite realize how very thoughtful and wonderful this dinner was to the both of us.  You are the best!

Happy Birthday to my Future Husband

Happy Birthday to the man of my dreams, the man that I will marry this year.

I have never been so excited for a year like I am for 2013.  Vernon, I wish I could be with you today.  You work so hard and take such great care of those around you.  Enjoy your daughter today, as I'm sure she's going to spoil you like she does every year. I hope you have something special like a lager or root beer. 

Here are some recent pics of me since you are always saying how you want more pictures of me.  This is what I wore today for your birthday.  I love you so so much!   I can't wait to talk to you this afternoon/tonight. 

Yes, this one is cheezy... I'm actually on the phone with Heidi.

Thanksgiving 2012

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I was lucky to be able to spend it with friends.  We had a traditional meal with a gloriously delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, corn, homemade stuffing, and dinner rolls.  We finished it all off with pumpkin pie and apple-pear pie.  We enjoyed each other's company, laughed and watched some great movies: Eight Crazy Nights, The Tale of Despereaux, Addams Family Values and last but not least, The Color of Magic.  I take photos of holidays and special occasions because I get sad that Vernon is not there with me, so I bring him with me by taking pictures and talking about him.  Last night was even better because they turned on The Color of Magic, which is a movie based on the Discworld Book series by Terry Pratchett.  Vernon and I have read all of the Rincewind books together and then watched the movie together on one of my trips to England.  But, to be honest, he and I weren't very impressed with the movie and quickly dozed off.  There was so much missing that we got frustrated.  When watching the same movie last night, everyone liked it so very much.  I enjoyed it and happily talked about the Terry Pratchett books with everyone.  It was like Vernon was there and at one moment during the movie I felt emotional and wanted to cry.

 

The next day is.... you guessed it... Black Friday.  I did this once several years ago.  I stood out in a parking lot with a friend at like 4am and I don't think either of us were really planning on getting anything specific.  We just wanted to have the experience.  I don't think I'll ever do that again, especially with the crazy stories that I hear every year  and the scary videos that I see. I can't imagine what the rest of the world thinks of us crazy Americans fighting each other, stepping on children and grabbing and shoving like a bunch of starving wild dogs over a freshly killed deer carcass. It's pretty sad when you think about it.  Just so you non-Americans know, we all aren't like that. 

Today I did go out on Black Friday, but later in the morning when the psycho craziness had died down; but the parking lots are still full and stores are still busy, but it's all civilized.  I stopped at the Goodwill store and found a couple of beautiful teapots for my reception centerpieces.  I want to find used ones and I don't want them to match.  They only cost $1.50 each. I feel like I got the best deal of Black Friday! I was so excited to find these.  I'm going to go back a few times a month to look for more. These are the only ones I'm going to share because I don't want to spoil all the fun.  So exciting!

Tomorrow I have a second Thanksgiving dinner with my parents so that will be fun.  I was able to have some face time with Vernon today after I came back from my Black Friday shopping and he said to me, "Darling, I'm glad you get to have multiple Thanksgiving meals".  Yeah, me too.

Our Summer Vacation 2012: S'mores, Sunken Ships and Monkeys Riding Dogs.

We are nearing the end of our vacation together and I wanted us to spend some time with my parents.  They were thrilled with the news of our engagement.  They were the last ones to tell before we made the news public. 

I had a big surprise planned for both Vern and Yaz, and couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces.  First, we spent the day and a fun evening at the lake. We had a campfire and made s'mores.  This was their first time having s'mores.  I think Vern really liked them... he had two!  While we were there the girls went four wheeling.  It's something Heidi likes to do when we have visitors.  Vernon has fallen in love with the U.P. and its scenery.  He also really came to love the hummingbirds.  He was insistent that there were no hummingbirds in the UK. I thought that was crazy, of course there are hummingbirds in the UK, with all those flowers... and after some research, we found there were no hummingbirds in the UK.  We even came across a story about a guy who tried smuggling a bunch of them wrapped up in his pants... and got caught in customs.  We thought that was amusing... poor little birds. I nearly convinced Vernon to get his mother a hummingbird feeder as a gift. What a sad gift that would have been. LOL  

Dad and Vernon did some bonding.... dad was teaching Vernon how to grill.  I enjoyed watching them.  Vern looked like he was having a great time grilling.

Ok, now for the surprise.  I took them to the rodeo! The rodeo comes to Iron River every year.  It doesn't get more American than that does it?  Everyone enjoyed themselves, from the barrel racing to the bull riding.  The girls were a bit creeped out by the clown running through the stands, but that's pretty normal right?  

At the rodeo, Yasmine asked me a very interesting question.  She asked me why we sing the national anthem so often and also noticed that so many people have the American Flag hanging outside of their homes.  Vern and Yaz were only here for two weeks, and in those two weeks, they had heard our national anthem three times.  At the car races, the water ski show and then at the rodeo.  It has always been normal for me so I never really thought about it. I just told her that we sing the national anthem before all sporting events and that Americans are very proud and patriotic. 

The coolest part of the trip for me was the Shipwreck Tour in Munising.  It was fascinating, interesting and eerie all at the same time.  The boat we were on had glass windows on the bottom and you could see the shipwrecks so clearly.  If you are ever in this area, I highly recommend it.  The views are amazing as well.

Kid Rock made a video up in this area.  When I hear this song I think of Vernon and the fun we all had up here as a family.

   

I miss you Vernon.