Home Away From Home

SHALLOWFORD QUEENS -- YOU ARE MISSED!!!

Thank You to LoAnn for getting the group together!

Thank you Denise for the "BEST PERFORMANCE" of your life!

Thank you to all of the ladies in Shallowford Ward...what can I say other than you all ROCK!

I am certain that there will never be another time in my whole life where such a combination of friends and personalities will be together to make and have as much fun as we have had. That is something that I truly miss. I think I could search the whole world over and I would never find a more wonderful group of friends who can have so much fun and who truly love and care for each other. Thank you so much for my party!! I think of it often and just have to laugh. I came across this picture the other day...and had to put it up because this represents the best performance that I have ever seen Denise give!!! It was SO GREAT!!! I have thought of you all often and have remembered the fun times. Thank you so much for the party, thank you notes are in process.

HELLO...over a month later...

I am sorry I have not made the time to update this Blog until now. I guess that makes me a sorry blogger. This was not what I intended to have happen! I am guessing that nobody looks at my blog anymore because there is never anything new on it. Boring! If I don't get many comments, then I'll know for sure you have given up on me! So, I am going to try a do better going forward. My excuse...umm...we were taking advantage of the time Rachel was here, running around, exploring, having fun...etc? Just didn't make myself sit down to do this. I have also put it off because I am still "new" at this and it takes me forever to do.

A week ago this past Sunday, Rachel went back to Utah to get settled in before school starts (August 25th). While she was here we tried to pack in as much as we could. There were times when we just wanted to stay home and relax which we did also. We had so much fun and we have missed Rach a lot.

For the most part, we have settled in here. Our few boxes that we had shipped over arrived the end of July, so we got all of that put away. The flat we live in is pretty much arranged and put together the way we want it. I had to purchase just a few things to make it a little more like homey, but otherwise, the flat is completely furnished and is very nice and comfortable. We are starting to feel like we are "coming home" when we come back to "this place" :)

Brian has adjusted faster and more easily than I have. He goes to work everyday and is so busy that he says the days are flying by. I, on the other hand, am finally figuring out my day life and what to do with myself. I went exploring a lot with Rachel but haven't done much since she left. But that has only been a week...so just give me some time!

Last Monday I contacted a lady with regards to a Newcomer's Group in Cheshire. She was super nice and said some of them were getting together for lunch in two days and would I like to come along? Of course I did! She gave me her address and I went there and then we went across the street for lunch. There were about 10 to 12 people there--all were "newcomers" at one time, but now they have been a part of this group for 5 years or more. They have made some good friends and just keep doing things together periodically. They were super nice and I had a great time there. That was a little sigh of relief for me because I now have somewhat of a place to go and "new friends" to do something with on a once/month basis and more in between if I choose. Dugie is the lady whose house I went to. She grew up in New York and then worked for many years as a journalist in Washington, DC. She ended up marrying a British man and will now live here-- forever! Her husband is John and he is a bit older than she is and retired, so he joined us at the luncheon along with another retired man. Dugie and John were telling me all about Northern Wales and how beautiful the countryside is and offered to take Brian and I to some of their favorite places. We are going to take them up on that offer.

The ladies from church are also very nice and I am slowly getting to know them better. Mal and Gordon had us over for dinner a few Sundays ago and that was very nice. I have found that these ladies don't get together as much during the week as we did back home. I know as soon as I get to know some of them better and where people live that things will pick up whether I initiate it or someone else. It's a lot different here because we are logistically spread out over a large area, and people often don't invite many over to their homes because the homes are so small and can't accommodate a crowd. I noticed on the board at church yesterday that Shirley (RS Pres.) was encouraging the women to invite others to get together during the week--kind of on your own--and whoever or whatever. Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is that their ways are different from what I am used to and I am just now learning how it works and will go from here. (I am paying attention to this now because my little buddy Rachel is gone!)

This coming weekend, Brian gets Monday off work because of the Bank Holiday, so we are going to go to Scotland to explore. We don't have our agenda yet as we just decided to do this so I'll let you know about that later.

This is the news for for past week. I am going to post some pictures of things we've done over the last month.

Don't give up on me! My goal is to write on this thing more regularly! Keep in touch! We miss all of you! Come on over sometime! (I wish it were that easy!)

Donna