Going Home

Ely was amazing. We went to Watersides, and walked around for a long time. I wanted to go to Hennessey's for fish and chips, but to my horror, found it closed down... so we went and had mediocre fish and chips at The Lamb. After that we went to the cathedral for Evensong and walked around. Kyle could not believe how big the cathedral was. I told him about how Dad stood at the giant golden eagle lectern and played a practical joke on the other Chaplains while he said the Thanksgiving service prayer one year. I bet Marmie remembers that story. :)
   After we left the cathedral, I took him by Oliver Cromwell's house, and then we drove to our old neighborhood. It is full of new housing, except for our old street. In a few more years it will probably be completely unrecognizable. Our old house was vacant, so we were able to go into the back yard and look in the windows. So many memories. I think I told Kyle 20 different stories.
   I went back to the dentist today and he said that I need to get 2 fillings completely replaced ... but I have to wait a month to do it.. so one more month of drinking through straws and eating soft, lukewarm food. Oh well.
   I have been thinking about the issue of communicating with people back home and probably the best way to solve it would be heytell, since it still works fine, and doesn't cost any money... so if you have a smartphone or an ipad, just download the app and add me through facebook, and we can send voice messages back and forth. (Kind of like voice text messages for those who havent heard of it,) :)

First REAL day in England

We didn't end up going to Ely today because we had to wait for our American car insurance agency people to wake up and go to work, so that we could get insurance on our rental car. By the time we got our rental car, it was around 4 pm. They gave us a station wagon, because it was one of the only cars they had left. It was a bigger vehicle than we had hoped to learn on, but we took it. Kyle was the first to drive and I only had to say "Left side.. Left siiiide" once, and then he got the hang of it. We drove to Bury St. Edmunds and walked around. I had my first cornish pasty in 6 years and it was amazing. We finally felt like we were in England and that the adventure had really started. We were in a bit of a hurry, but we got to see what was around town and check out the cathedral for a bit. Tomorrow we will head to Ely straight after church. So excited! It will be good to be at a place that I know like the back of my hand. All of this haphazard navigating can get old.
  I hope everyone is doing well!! Love you all!

Progress!

   My dentist, though he looks like a 5 year old, gives me hope. He took x-rays, listened to my whole story, did a freeze test (awful.), and told me that he doesn't think the problem is in my teeth. He said he thinks that the fillings I had done look good and that the problem is something pressing on the nerve... either a stressed out muscle, a tumor, or a blood vessel... or possibly a TMJ problem, even though he doesn't see a problem with the actual joint. He admitted that it confused him and that I'll probably need to expect to come back pretty regularly until we can figure it out. I'm going back on Monday for us to talk about it some more. The fact that I'm not clenching in my sleep anymore is a good sign, though.
   We are moving into our house on Wednesday!! We will also get our loaner furniture on that same day to hold us over until our own furniture gets here. Tomorrow, we are wanting to drive down to Ely and explore around the cathedral and town. We're excited because we both think that it will finally feel like we are in England once we get there. So far, we have mostly just felt stuck on base. We have been walking around a lot, bowling, and watching movies. (Last night we watched The Gods Must be Crazy I and II.) We are definitely ready to get off base.
    The man who did our driving briefing definitely knocked the fear into us. Apparently, 1 to 4 people from the base die trying to drive on roads around this area every year. I know Mom, Denny, and I will always remember witnessing those two girls crash their car into the river and only one of them making it out. We knew the roads were treacherous, but I had never heard the odds regarding base personnel before. Scary stuff. We promise to be as careful as possible, and always ride together when we can. I'm glad that our house will be a straight 10 min shot from base.
    I will try my best to update on our Ely adventure tomorrow night. So excited!!!! :)

   I got a dentist appointment for 0910 tomorrow!!! Perserverence is finally prevailing... I hope. They told me yesterday that I wouldn't be able to be seen until May 13th, so going in person to talk to them definitely did the trick. I also got a library card today and feel more accomplished than I have since we arrived.  The past two days have been filled with briefings, which have been informative, but long. We probably could have avoided about half of them by telling them that we don't drink at all. ... but oh well.
   We took our English drivers tests yesterday, after having to study a book on the UK Highway code, and attending a class. I'm just going to go ahead and brag for a second because I was so worried I wouldn't pass, and would have to retest. I got a 96. Kyle got a 92. I beat him. I beat Kyle. The only thing I EVER beat Kyle in is word games.... and a couple times in mini golf, so I am a happy camper. We are a competitive couple, which I am just going to pretend is healthy. We think I might have even gotten the highest score in class, but aren't sure on that one. Anyway, we are going to pick up our liscenses later today.
   Tomorrow, we are meeting with housing to talk about when we can move into our house. We are hoping as soon as possible. Being new to base and living in temporary lodging does something to your psyche as a military spouse. I don't like feeling completely uprooted. We will take pictures as soon as we can. We think it's cute. :) It has a big back yard, two bedrooms, lots of closet space... and that is pretty much all we know about it right now, but we are excited.
   We are trying to save as much money as we can since moving here takes so much (even though we get reimbursed a lot of it), so we are waiting until tomorrow to rent a car. That way, we can drive ourselves to church, and then go exploring to Ely, Thetford, Bury St. Edmunds, or wherever we want to during the weekend. Not having a car makes living in England very depressing. We are trying to see if maybe Kyle can carpool with other people coming to base for work, so we will only have to rent a car during weekeneds. The families who live on Feltwell seem to be really helpful, so it should work out. I guess that is as much of an update as I can offer, for right now, but I'll try again tomorrow after our appointments. We love you all!
  

Learning

   Today, we were picked up for church at Brandon, the same church that I attended when I was younger. The only thing that has changed is the sign on the building. Two people still attend there who remember my parents... at least that I have met so far. One is a black gentleman named George who I remembered when I heard his name called in bible class, and the other is Polly. She spoke highly of my Mom and mentioned them decorating sweatshirts together? I vaguely remember this... or at least I THINK I do. We like the church a lot and plan to keep attending. Our ride fell through for evening services, though, so we were only able to attend in the morning. 
   We got cell phones yesterday through a network call Three Mobile. I got an iphone 5 and Kyle got some sort of tiny rocketship.  Apparently reception in this area is awful for any of the phone networks, especially on Lakenheath because of all the communication equipment. I am hoping that the reception is better where we are hoping to live. If not, we have basically bought really advanced electronic calendar alarm clocks. 
   It has been frustrating not being able to get around, since we don't have a car and the shuttle buses no longer go from base to base. It's weird being in England and not getting to see anything yet. We found out today that we can rent a  car, even before taking the driving class, so we are going to look into that tomorrow if we have time. 
   Tomorrow, I am going to the dentist on base (fingers crossed), and we are going to try and claim our house at Feltwell. Other than that, I am hoping that we will get some sort of schedule on briefings and other things that we have to do to get settled in. 
I'll try to update tomorrow on what we have found out, how long we will be in temporary lodging, etc. Right now, I am going to try to sleep so I can wake up on time. :) Love you all!!!!

Home with a dash of Twilight Zone.

    We're here!!!! We landed in London at 8 AM and were picked up by Kyle's sponsor... who also happens to be Tiffany Williams... one of my best friends from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. ......what? I really don't think I'll ever get over that. She has the same job as Kyle and will be working in his office with him. He has one of the nicest offices on base BY FAR. Almost nothing has changed since my dad was stationed here... which isn't necessarily a good thing. A lot of the buildings are old. Apparently they are planning to update some of it soon, though, which is definitely needed.. 
  We got a lot accomplished today. We set up a pounds sterling account, got a room at temporary lodging, and looked at a couple of houses. The housing office gave us two options: Lord's Walk and Feltwell. Lord's walk is a more convenient location, since it is practically on Lakenheath, but the neighborhood didn't look very nice, the washer and dryer were IN the kitchen next to the stove, and it was next to a busy street, which we had enough of in Biloxi. Feltwell is 13 mins away, but is much more peaceful, the housing is a lot nicer and it has a fenced in back yard.... so we went with that one. It is under maintenance for the time being, so I am not sure when we can move in, but we will sign for it on Monday!!  For those who know the layout of Feltwell, our neighborhood is RIGHT next to the giant field where they do fireworks for July 4th. :) 
   I tried to tell Kyle not to sleep until it got dark, so that he could beat jet lag and fix his sleep schedule in one night... but he didn't listen to me and has been asleep the past 4 hours. I took that time to walk all over base and memorize where everything is.  That nerd can go ahead and have fun with being awake all night. I will be asleep.
   I walked to the Dental squadron, but they were already closed by the time I got there. I'll have to try again on Monday and beg them to help me out, because I flat out can't eat anymore. I'm really hoping that they know their stuff, and that they won't turn me away for being a spouse. :(