Our trip overseas

Well, England was a huge hit!

We spent Oct 7 - Oct 17th traveling abroad in London and Poole, England. The first five days were spent in London and we were blessed with an outstanding hotel room right next to Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park (think London's version of Central Park). We filled our days with sights such as Wimbledon (yes, the lawn tennis courts - only used 2 weeks out of the entire year, by the way!), strolling through Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, The Royal Albert Hall (a grand place for concerts, basket ball, balls, you name it!), THE ORIGINAL Hard Rock Cafe, Windsor Castle (my favorite, I think), a cruise tour down the Thames River, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Billy Elliot the Musical.

The second part of our adventure in England started with renting a car (the Hybrid Prius is HUGE by English standards, by the way... if you have to drive in England get something smaller!), finding out there were no more GPS units available so we'd have to go off of the dilapidated maps they provided for us, and making our way west to Dorset County to visit friends Grace and Richard and their family, stopping to see Stonehenge on the way. We had a very pleasant stay with the Sanders but it was much too short. After seeing the English seaside and visiting the city of Bath for a day, it was already time to say goodbye. Already looking forward to the day we will see each other again! I miss you Grace! You were wonderful hosts to us!

Our travels back became loooooooonnnnnnnng. Upon arriving at the airport Friday morning (3 hours early for an international flight, mind you) we found our flight was going to be delayed 4 1/2 hours! Turned out to be almost 6 hours delayed, putting us at that airport for 9 hours that day! Thankfully the airport had a shopping center and computer access. Then we were put up for the night in Pennsylvania since we of course missed our flight home. But all in all, we got home safely after being up 36 hours. Good to be home.

There are far too many pictures to post on here right now. So if you want to see pics, check out my Facebook page as I've just downloaded them all there. I will try and add some of my favorites here soon.

Introducing OC Tae Kwon Do

Its really happening... doesn't quite feel real...

Cameron and I are officially business owners! We received the keys today to our very own Tae Kwon Do studio!!

In case you haven't heard, we are going into business for ourselves. We've been contemplating being our own bosses ever since we got married basically. And technically, we did run Kelly's Gift Basket for a while, but that didn't really go anywhere so we stopped after just a few months (but we made out even, so it was a good experience!). And now Cameron is going back to his roots, which I am very pleased about and very proud of him for. He has done Tae Kwon Do for over 15 years and he even ran his own business for a while back in the day. His pre-Kelly days. Sad days (j/k).

My husband is so happy these days. Right now he is over there placing the mats on the floor with his brother. Even before we had the keys he's been driving by the place almost every night to plan and imagine things out. Its so cute. I'm so proud of him.

So here's the plan - we'll set up and move in as much as we can this week. Mats, desks, supplies, changing room set-up, phone, utilities, etc. THEN we leave for ENGLAND next Wednesday and hopefully he will have accomplished enough to set his mind at rest for a little while during our trip =). When we get back we'll start taking sign-ups for our INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL= 2 Private Introductory lessons for only $19.95 and we'll include a FREE uniform! Once we have enough students (by the first of November or so) we'll start classes!

So if you know anyone who may be interested, tell them to check out our website! WWW.OCBLACKBELTSCHOOL.COM.

And watch out, in a few years I just might be a black belt myself...

2 Years!

On September 1, 2009 Cameron and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary! What a thrill it has been, and how fortunate I feel to have found a man who makes me laugh, allows me to open up and completely be myself, loves to dance, loves to be with me, loves the Lord. I love him for his hard work, his passion for life, his desire to do the right thing. I'm glad he's not perfect and I'm glad that he has (finally) gotten me to see that I cannot and do not have to be perfect either.

For dinner on our actual anniversary we went to one of my all time most favorite restaurants - The Old Spaghetti Factory! It was SO yummy! There's nothing better than mizithra!
Then, over Labor Day weekend, we had a wonderful time staying at the Grand Californian at Disneyland! It is such a nice hotel, and we were able to stay using our Disney Vacation Club points so it was a deal. When we arrived for check-in, they told us that there was a special wine and cheese event planned for Disney Vacation Club members which was unexpected and turned out to be a very nice event. We received as a give-away this collectors-edition painting which features Mickey and cute representations of all the Disney Vacation club resorts.We spent the weekend looking for Hidden Mickeys in the rides and had a blast! Totally puts a different spin on going on rides when you are searching out the hidden mickeys and following the clues. Can you spot the Mickeys in the pictures below??Here are some more fun pictures of the weekend.

Thank you to all our family and close friends who have supported us and built us up over these past two years! We are so grateful to have many wonderful role models and examples of Christ-pleasing marriages at Christ Community Church!

England

Well, its settled. We're going to England this fall! Our flight is booked and paid for. We just purchased LondonPasses for ourselves which includes admission fees for most sightseeing spots as well as unlimited underground, bus and train travel within the city of London. And we get to see my good friend Grace and her husband and two sons who live in Dorset. We are SO excited!

Has anyone been to England before and have any suggestions of sights to see or tips on driving in the English countryside?

Family

I just have to write about how happy I am that I have such a large and connected family. I know my immediate family is not that large, having just one brother. But I have what seems to be an ever-growing extended family of aunts, uncles, grandmas, cousins, second cousins, first cousins-once-removed... And that's just MY family! I love the part of being married that includes HIS family too! Through marriage I now have four sisters, another brother, a father and step-mom and I'm an aunt EIGHTEEN times over! Some of this family I have yet to meet and I am so looking forward to when that time comes.

This week I met three of my father's cousins from Nebraska. Such sweet ladies. They saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time last Sunday and they've been having so much fun and can't believe they're actually in California =).

This week we're also hosting our first overnight guests in our 2-bedroom apartment. Cameron's sister Sunny from San Antonio, TX, and her two kids, Renee and Solomon (who were in our wedding), are staying with us until Monday. I'm having a great time reconnecting. I appreciate any time I get to spend with his family since we don't see them very often.

Thank you , Father, for the many blessings of family you have placed in my life. May Cameron and I be blessed to continue the legacy with a family of our own some day!