Blessed

     The Jeep is still out of commission, but luckily, a family at church has offered to let us borrow their minivan until we get it fixed, so we no longer have to pay for a rental car. So grateful.  It has already helped out a lot. My nausea hasn't been as bad, this pregnancy, but it is still definitely annoying. I was able to go to a BBQ at our friends house, go to church, out with another friend the next day, and then to my OB class, without any real problem. I felt bad for all the other pregnant ladies looking sick as dogs. There is no happy medium with morning sickness... Either you are miserably sick, or you're worried out of your mind because you aren't sick ENOUGH. I've been falling into the 2nd category but am praying that I'm just lucky for the time being. I was invited to go to a museum in Cambridge today, but decided to try and take it easy at home. We'll be at a friend's house tomorrow for dinner (I'm making a chocolate trifle), and then Kyle's football tournament on Saturday, so I thought a day of rest would be good idea. 
    Our ultrasound is just 3 days away! I am extremely nervous and excited. It is in radiology, so I have a feeling that the tech won't say much... but I am really hoping that they will at least turn the screen my way, so I can see. Kyle will be there, as well, so hopefully he will be able to watch the whole time and help me beg the tech for a picture or two. If it is a healthy ultrasound and we see a strong heartbeat (or two), we will announce shortly afterward to the rest of our friends and family. Praying that it will be a good visit!
     The days are starting to get noticeably shorter here, which is making me anxious for Christmas! We won't be home for Thanksgiving, which pains me to think about, but Kyle's shop splits up Christmas time off so that we will either be home for Christmas or New Years. I will most-likely fly over early to spend time in Arkansas, meet up with Kyle, and then head to Georgia, before flying out of Atlanta. It is a tentative plan, but I thought I'd put it out there in case other people were planning. If September and October could go ahead and get themselves over with, that would be great.. for my sake, and my little bean! 
   Oh! Also, Kyle tests for Honor Guard this next week, so prayers would be hugely appreciated for that! He gets graded on his uniform, flag folding, facing movements, drill movements with a rifle, and reciting the honor guard creed. I'll let you all know how it goes! I love you!!!

Things that happened yesterday

    I am now, apparently, the new secretary of the Lakenheath Players theatre group.... without having met a single member. I started getting messages from someone about my theatre experience, asking how many shows I had been in, etc. I told them I wasn't sure but that it was over 45, and they immediately sent me an official document asking me to be secretary. (Evidently she made herself President, and her husband Vice President) I told her I needed to think it over and talk to my husband about it before giving an answer. (Not to mention the fact that once I'm over being too morning sick to go to rehearsal, I'll be too huge to be in shows.) I woke up to an announcement on Lakenheath's FB page saying "Congratulations to Lolli Mitchell on becoming the new Theatre group secretary!"  I'm not really sure how I keep getting myself into these situations. I think I'll try to go to the next meeting and make my decision after that. If I can find a serious theatre group, it would be great. My problem is that I keep being "recruited" by groups who either want me to do entire shows by myself and out of my own pocket, or think that karaoke is somehow the same as theatre. No thanks.
    I haven't announced the arrival of the jelly bean on Facebook yet, and probably won't until I've had at LEAST a healthy ultrasound, but I did allude to my awesome morning sickness in my status today, because of what happened afterwards! I woke up at 3 AM feeling all sorts of awful, and went downstairs, with Tesla close behind, to get some ginger ale. We went outside to the patio and ended up sitting out there for a good 45 minutes, watching a meteor shower. It was a great distraction from how I was feeling! Tesla didn't think it was that interesting. She went back to sleep in the grass. If every bout of morning sickness could be followed by some sort of celestial display, it would make this pregnancy thing a lot easier.

The Jelly Bean

    Now that everyone has FINALLY been notified, I can talk about the only thing this Mitchell household has been thinking about for the past month: a new member of our family will be showing up sometime around April 6th! My first ultrasound is on the 26th so lots and lots of prayers would be hugely appreciated and I'll try to keep everyone updated on what is going on. So far my only problem is that the absolutely WORST part of being pregnant in England= the food. All the food I want to eat is in the states! I'm tempted to take a military flight to Little Rock just so I can go to cracker barrel. It's going to be a rough 7 1/2 months...
    Kyle is working hard and starting to put together his packet for an OCS board coming up. We are friends with a Captain in NAV on base who is helping Kyle through the process. He only has a couple of months to get ready, so any prayers regarding getting approved by the board would also be hugely sought after! The process is largely dependent on timing, so we are praying that this will work out.
    I've been trying to take it easy as much as I can, but we did go to Audley End on Saturday. We toured through the house, walked through the grounds, saw the horses and fed the ducks. Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Lady Grantham on Downton Abbey was also there, for a concert. After Audley End, we stopped at a Welcome Break and ate at the KFC there. Two interesting things about English KFCs: 1. They serve french fries, and 2. They don't have mashed potatoes, but DO offer a tub of gravy as a side. Weird.
   

Oh woe is Lolli

I am a spoiled brat that God is attempting to make stronger. I know this because my family got to be together without me for the first time this past week, and it hurt. It hurt a lot. I had never even considered the possibility of that happening. I've ALWAYS been there... and I have ALWAYS taken it for granted. However, the positive side is that challenges like this teach us to never take things like seeing family for granted again. The negative side is that I MISS THEM. I told my BFFFRMI (Best friend forever for real, mean it) Mary, that they were in Searcy without me, and she said "Is it okay if I drive down and see them? Because your family is legit." I agree. They are, in fact, legit. Anyway, my reasoning for writing this is to say that though I complain, I am glad that they got to spend time together and I realize that this was a lesson that I would inevitably have to learn. .. but I was still sad. In fact, it made me paint this:

Not a great picture, but hopefully it still captures the turmoil I was feeling at the time.

Today, I went on a girls from church date to Oxburgh Hall (which we will have to go back to because the inside was occupied), a pub for lunch, and a few antique shops. I bought a very large glass bottle that I will, at some point, find a good use for.

An aerial photo of Oxburgh hall. It has a moat!!

Tomorrow will be exciting because Kyle is competing in the Liberty olympics! He is competing in the 100m relay, and Ultimate frisbee. I'll try and take some action shots while I play cheerleader. :)
 We love you all!

Time is going by entirely too fast

   Poor Tesla was stung by a bee today. She sported a cartoonish fat lip for a good five minutes before looking normal again, and continues to try and catch bees in her mouth every chance she gets. I took a page out of "Marmie knows how to fix everything 101" and rubbed a baking soda paste on her mouth, which made her look a little rabid, so I tried to keep her indoors after that.  A woman who was shopping with her son yelled at me to get the stinger out, or Tesla would die... I tried to tell her that not many dogs are THAT allergic to one bee sting, and that it was a bumble bee.. its stinger has no barbs, so it gets to keep it after it stings you.(Thank you, Harding biology dept) She then left me alone and went back to yelling at her son. He and I shared a sympathetic look. 
    Two weeks ago, Kyle and I went to Great Yarmouth for our anniversary, and the first day was AWESOME. We walked on the pier, shopped,  rode rides, saw a movie, had dinner, took a carriage ride, and played in one of the many arcades on the promenade. The next day was not as awesome, however. I woke up at 4AM with THE PLAGUE, which I had apparently gotten from the two girls I babysat on Friday. I hung out on the bathroom floor for 2 hours, pondering my mortality and trying to give Kyle more time to sleep before I woke him up and asked him to go to the drug store. Super fun times. I won't get into all of the wonderful details of my anniversary stomach bug, but it definitely made me grateful for modern medicine. When we got home, Tesla instantly became worried that I was dying and would not let me out of her sight. She cuddled with me for 8 hours straight, until I started to act a little more alive. Hopefully soon, Kyle and I can go out to eat or something to make up for me being dead on our actual anniversary. :-/
     We are celebrating Kyle's first year in the Air Force this week, which is hard to believe. It has been a busy year and we are incredibly thankful for the opportunity and adventure! We hope and pray that everyone back home is happy and healthy. :)

Stevie Nicks is the best dental hygienist ever.

  I finally, after many months of waiting, started on getting my loose fillings replaced. I wish that I could go back in time and keep my past self from going to that dentist in Biloxi. It would have saved me a world of hurt. My dentist here, Dr. Moriarty (His real name is Dr. Anderson), may actually have begun the long journey that is restoring my hope in the dental profession. He took his time and never caused me any real discomfort. He carefully pointed out to me the restorations that Dr. Barnes did in Biloxi and how they were failing. He also used a bite block, which took the strain off of my jaw so that it wouldn't dislocate again. It only took an hour which was amazing compared to holding my mouth open for nearly 4 hours last time. Stevie Nicks came on the radio twice during the procedure and sang me through it. The rest of the time was made bearable by thoughts of petting tigers and cuddling Tesla.
   The 8 yr old I am babysitting sat patiently in the waiting room while I had the work done. He played his video game and didn't even noticed that time had passed. Feeling like I had half a face, I took him to get a donut on the way home. We may go bowling a little bit later after the novocaine wears off. I'll have to go back to the dentist and do this all again, tomorrow. Hopefully that experience will be as good.
   Kyle and I still haven't celebrated my birthday, and now we have an anniversary coming up. He has this friday off, so we are trying to think of something to do. My dentist was trying to give me ideas of where to go , the entire time he was replacing the filling. I would love to got to Alton Towers while I still can (being UNpregnant, and everything.) Kyle wants me to figure out a destination, so I have about a day to make up my mind. We'll have to take the train no matter what, since the Jeep still sounds like it has had a tracheotomy recently. I had better get on that and start planning! I love you!!

Ghost Hunting and Hedgehogs

    Raf Feltwell is supposedly one of the most haunted places in this area, according to the internet and various sources. Many people who used to stay in the old barracks on base talk about "Herbie", a ghostly practical joker who likes to wander around, stealing beers and resetting alarm clocks. They talk about him like he is just another resident, walking around in khaki pants and a teeshirt. One source said that they saw him walk into the day room, and decided to follow him. Once they got there, the day room was completely empty.
   There is also talk of a phantom plane, which makes attempts at landing on what used to be the Feltwell runway, whenever the fog gets thick outside. This is supposed  to be in reference to a man who crashed his plane trying to land in the fog a long time ago. 
   Lastly, I have a neighbor who has in her possession a very eerie picture.  She took it of the small cabin by the elementary school that used to be my band room when I was in the 4th and 5th grade. If you look at the picture, you will see the figure of a man in one of the windows. Very strange.
   A lot of people ask me, since I have so many stories like this, if I believe in ghosts. After all, I DID used to tell ghost stories every year during rough night for my social club for a good 5 years. No, I do not believe in ghosts. There is definitely something strange and unnerving that exists, but I don't think I have the slightest authority to tell anyone what it is. I merely tell stories, put out my disclaimers, and let people make up their own minds. 
    Kyle thinks I am completely ridiculous. I made up a fun theory, that I don't necessarily believe in, but I think is fun to think about. The theory is that seeing ghosts or spirits is really just a form of time travel. People sometimes see Abraham Lincoln walk down the halls of the White House, because in the 1860's, he did... and when "ghosts" interact with us, it's really just a breech in the barrier that lies between our time and theirs..and sometimes, WE are the ones in the past..and we are looking into the future. I think it would make a pretty awesome novel.
    Some of the "personal experience" stories that I tell come from a stack of occurrences that I secretly chalk up to my crazy imagination. For instance, I used to tell the story about being in the Benson auditorium alone at night and feeling/seeing someone rush by me, only to turn and see no one there. I always fail to mention that I had been running on 0 hours of sleep in two days, at the time. If I think about it logically, I can see how my mind could have been playing tricks. This makes me wonder how many people tell paranormal anecdotes, who know in the back of their minds that it may not have happened.
   However, there are a few times that something has happened, either to people I trust completely, or to myself with the company of multiple witnesses. My parents currently live in a house that was deemed haunted by the previous tenants. I'm sure my mom remembers calling my name and asking what I was doing, one afternoon. When I came out of my room to answer her, she stood there looking surprised. "You're not upstairs?", she asked. I was promptly pulled into the front room where I could hear distinct footsteps coming  from the second floor. We knew for a fact that we were the only ones home, and could do nothing but stand and listen, eyes wide. I joked, "Maybe... morbidly obese squirrels?"  The footsteps suddenly got louder and more distinct, startling us. After a fair amount of clumsy speculation, we made a plan to go up and see what it was... with a gun, just in case it was an intruder. We could still hear the footsteps, so I was at least certain that I would be able to find what was really making the noise. I walked up the stairs while carefully holding one of my Dad's handguns, opened the door.. and nothing. Not only was there no one upstairs, but the footsteps had stopped. My Mom and I spent the day utterly confused.
    All of this is really just to say that some girls around my neighborhood and I went ghost hunting the other night at 1 AM. We walked around the entire base, which is very peaceful and creepy no matter what time of day it is. We walked through the old barracks and even sat in the day room. Nothing very spooky happened, but it was still fun to explore and hang out. 
   All in all, I have a very bipolar attitude when it comes to this sort of thing. Half of me is curious and wants truth, and the other half is terrified and sees all of it as something not to meddle with. It causes a dilemma, because most of my curiosity came from experiences that happened while I wasn't being meddlesome at all. Maybe all of this is just my way of stumbling onto the idea that writing a novel about it would be fun. Hmm.
  OH... and yesterday, Kyle, Tesla, and I found the largest hedgehog I have ever seen. It's spines were so long that even picking it up with my jacket was painful. Once I picked it up, I immediately remembered how hedgehogs smell, from when we used to catch them in Ely. Not awful, but not like roses. 
  Sorry that is post isn't much of an update. I hope all is well! :)