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!!!! :)
Friday, April 12, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
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!
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!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
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!!!!
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!!!!
Friday, April 5, 2013
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. :(
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. :(
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Whirlwind that was leaving Biloxi
A few days ago, I fed a moving crew donuts and fried chicken and stared at them for ELEVEN HOURS while they packed up my house. A tyrannosaurus Rex might as well have packed it, with his tiny little arms. He probably would have gotten done around the same time. Once they finally left, Kyle and I were under the impression that we would have a pre inspection of the house, where they would tell us what all to clean and turn off, and then stay in the empty house for another week before the final inspection. As per usual, the world turned upside down for a second, and when it flipped back to right-side up, we were completely wrong. The USAF had changed their minds, amended our orders, and we had one night to clean EVERYTHING to inspection standards (without knowing what they were), throw away 3 carfulls of trash and cardboard in some unsuspecting dumpster in town, and then pack the Jeep with all of our remaining stuff for the trip to Arkansas. Kyle also had to out process and get everything sorted out on base so that we could actually leave, which would take all day. Nice.
I rented a rug Doctor and borrowed a vacuum and broom from our good friends, the Dentons. I went to the self help store and wrestled 3 other spouses to the death for a weed eater and some white touch-up paint. (Evidently Irish love knot spoons are very pretty, but aren't meant to be displayed on walls, as they are prone to eat them.) All the houses in our neighborhood have giant white plastic privacy fences around the backyard... so with the exception of those with kids, NO ONE mows their back yard. We did until we realized that nobody cared that we did... so we stopped.
Imagine weed eating the Amazon Rainforest. This was not that bad, but I'm sure my memory will always make it seem like it was, so I'll just go ahead and throw out that imagery. Once I was finally done, I noticed that the bottom of the privacy fence was green from the weed eater throwing grass at it. I went to sweep it off. Nothing doing. I hadn't realized that our privacy fence was made from 2 parts plastic and 1 part marshmallow. I had tattooed my fence with high velocity grass. Awesome.
Kyle came home and helped while I had to go to work. He shampooed the living rug room twice, consolidated, and swept out the garage. He also tried to take a stab at the fence tattoo, to little satisfaction. He ended up going to bed at 11 pm so that he could survive the rest of out processing the next day. I stayed up until around 4:30 AM meticulously cleaning everything I could think of, occasionally coming across giant problems... like the fact that our new red bed sheet had created a pick rectangular shadow on the wall. Mr. Clean and I tackled that thing for a good hour until it became just faint enough to go unnoticed.
I put the last of our belongings in the Jeep about a millisecond before the inspector pulled up. His words were. "Hi. You haven't had your pre-inspection? THAT doesn't sound good." However it turned out that Kyle and I are the first couple, without having a pre-inspection to make it off base without having to pay at least $500. In fact, the only thing we got charged for was some weird red tinge on the carpet that Kyle and I had NEVER seen before. Undoubtedly a robber came into the house while we were sleeping, realized there was nothing to steal, and out of sheer annoyance, spilled his Strawberry Fanta on the carpet. The crime in the country is atrocious.
He also didnt notice the fence tattoo, which looked considerably better after I scrubbed it with clorox on a kitchen sponge at 3 AM. Thank Goodness.
When I was a little Air Force Brat, helping my siblings and my Mom prepare our house for inspection, I never thought it would help me in the future. I vividly remember all of us kids lined up scrubbing the walls and thinking, "I am a slave. We are being treated like slaves." I thought about that while scrubbing the tattooed privacy fence and thought...wow...I really wish I had some slaves, right about now. ....Meaning children, who could help.. Not actual slaves. Just wanted to make that good and clear.
Astoundingly, we were able to get outprocessed, sell Kyle's car, AND eat with and say goodbye to friends before we left for Searcy around 9 PM. It was an impressive day. One we will never forget.
Here is a recent picture I took of a Biloxi sunset near our house. :)
I rented a rug Doctor and borrowed a vacuum and broom from our good friends, the Dentons. I went to the self help store and wrestled 3 other spouses to the death for a weed eater and some white touch-up paint. (Evidently Irish love knot spoons are very pretty, but aren't meant to be displayed on walls, as they are prone to eat them.) All the houses in our neighborhood have giant white plastic privacy fences around the backyard... so with the exception of those with kids, NO ONE mows their back yard. We did until we realized that nobody cared that we did... so we stopped.
Imagine weed eating the Amazon Rainforest. This was not that bad, but I'm sure my memory will always make it seem like it was, so I'll just go ahead and throw out that imagery. Once I was finally done, I noticed that the bottom of the privacy fence was green from the weed eater throwing grass at it. I went to sweep it off. Nothing doing. I hadn't realized that our privacy fence was made from 2 parts plastic and 1 part marshmallow. I had tattooed my fence with high velocity grass. Awesome.
Kyle came home and helped while I had to go to work. He shampooed the living rug room twice, consolidated, and swept out the garage. He also tried to take a stab at the fence tattoo, to little satisfaction. He ended up going to bed at 11 pm so that he could survive the rest of out processing the next day. I stayed up until around 4:30 AM meticulously cleaning everything I could think of, occasionally coming across giant problems... like the fact that our new red bed sheet had created a pick rectangular shadow on the wall. Mr. Clean and I tackled that thing for a good hour until it became just faint enough to go unnoticed.
I put the last of our belongings in the Jeep about a millisecond before the inspector pulled up. His words were. "Hi. You haven't had your pre-inspection? THAT doesn't sound good." However it turned out that Kyle and I are the first couple, without having a pre-inspection to make it off base without having to pay at least $500. In fact, the only thing we got charged for was some weird red tinge on the carpet that Kyle and I had NEVER seen before. Undoubtedly a robber came into the house while we were sleeping, realized there was nothing to steal, and out of sheer annoyance, spilled his Strawberry Fanta on the carpet. The crime in the country is atrocious.
He also didnt notice the fence tattoo, which looked considerably better after I scrubbed it with clorox on a kitchen sponge at 3 AM. Thank Goodness.
When I was a little Air Force Brat, helping my siblings and my Mom prepare our house for inspection, I never thought it would help me in the future. I vividly remember all of us kids lined up scrubbing the walls and thinking, "I am a slave. We are being treated like slaves." I thought about that while scrubbing the tattooed privacy fence and thought...wow...I really wish I had some slaves, right about now. ....Meaning children, who could help.. Not actual slaves. Just wanted to make that good and clear.
Astoundingly, we were able to get outprocessed, sell Kyle's car, AND eat with and say goodbye to friends before we left for Searcy around 9 PM. It was an impressive day. One we will never forget.
Here is a recent picture I took of a Biloxi sunset near our house. :)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Excuse me while I hug all of my furniture
In one day, a team of burly and hopefully equally considerate men are going to box up everything in our house and put it in giant crates to be shipped to England, where they will sit and loyally await our arrival. Is this really my life right now? So much has happened in the past five months at this base, and yet it feels like we are just now getting settled. We haven't even ridden one of those weird aqua tricycles on the beach... :( Woe is us.
While patiently waiting to be temporarily stripped of our belongings, I've been trying my best to wrap my mind around what is going on. To be honest with you, I'm not exactly sure how any of this has happened. I'm still reeling from the fact that I' married to an Airman. Kyle deciding that he wanted to join the Air Force when we were dating: Total Surprise. Kyle putting England as his top choice assignment: Total and utter surprise. Kyle getting his top pick: How is that possible? We found out that we were going to England on the same day I discovered that I had miscarried, which I chalk up whole-heartedly to divine providence. God knew that we needed something to occupy our minds, and handed us an adventure.
The adventure will be bittersweet. In about a week, we will leave the coast to visit family for as long as we can, making every effort to force time to stand still so we can really cherish it. We are both extremely attached to the family we share and knowing that we will be so far away is going to be difficult. My family is a big part of why I love England. In some ways, moving back will be much like greeting an old friend, but for the most part it will be a completely new and unexplored chapter for both of us. However, we are excited. This is, after all, what we signed up for. Our greatest hope is that people come and visit us so that we can share our adventure with others.
Right now, Kyle is in the garage, replacing the control arms on the Jeep, so that its suspension can survive three years in England. We are going to have it shipped from Atlanta and meet up with it when we arrive.. hopefully.
There is a lot more to think about, but since time is already going a little too fast, I think I'll leave it for later. Details can wait. Right now, I want to be excited about seeing family. :)
(East Hall: The first place my family stayed in England that felt like home.)
While patiently waiting to be temporarily stripped of our belongings, I've been trying my best to wrap my mind around what is going on. To be honest with you, I'm not exactly sure how any of this has happened. I'm still reeling from the fact that I' married to an Airman. Kyle deciding that he wanted to join the Air Force when we were dating: Total Surprise. Kyle putting England as his top choice assignment: Total and utter surprise. Kyle getting his top pick: How is that possible? We found out that we were going to England on the same day I discovered that I had miscarried, which I chalk up whole-heartedly to divine providence. God knew that we needed something to occupy our minds, and handed us an adventure.
The adventure will be bittersweet. In about a week, we will leave the coast to visit family for as long as we can, making every effort to force time to stand still so we can really cherish it. We are both extremely attached to the family we share and knowing that we will be so far away is going to be difficult. My family is a big part of why I love England. In some ways, moving back will be much like greeting an old friend, but for the most part it will be a completely new and unexplored chapter for both of us. However, we are excited. This is, after all, what we signed up for. Our greatest hope is that people come and visit us so that we can share our adventure with others.
Right now, Kyle is in the garage, replacing the control arms on the Jeep, so that its suspension can survive three years in England. We are going to have it shipped from Atlanta and meet up with it when we arrive.. hopefully.
There is a lot more to think about, but since time is already going a little too fast, I think I'll leave it for later. Details can wait. Right now, I want to be excited about seeing family. :)
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Off we go.. Into the Wild Blue Yonder
I decided that keeping up with a blog again would be the best way to update family and other loved ones on current happenings, since Kyle and I are about to be whisked away to our first assignment overseas. (Yay!/sigh) …..and Whoa. So much has happened since the last time I wrote any sort of update. I met a Kyle, graduated from Harding, got engaged, got married, gained a whole new family, gained an Airman, moved to the coast, got to be a Mom for a very short but wonderful time, and now I’m about to start a whole new chapter of my life, narrated in an English accent with sarcastic American subtitles.
I will do my utmost and absolute best to give the details on what is going on with us, the Mitchell Mayhem… which is what we would be called if we were an Ultimate frisbee team… but don’t worry. That isn’t happening. A two person Ultimate Frisbee team would be awful to watch. We realize this now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)