Summer daze

Day 48 in the big Wallace house. 

The boys have been off for summer, for quite a while now. They are starting to get on each others nerves and argue. Mainly it has been about who's turn it is on the video games or who had the remote control first! They can be best friends for 12 hours and then by the 13th hour the tears are flowing and my ears are ringing. 

Whilst I grumble about sibling rivalry, I love being home with them. 

The inlaws have been over for the past couple of weeks. It has been nice to show them our new house and see the boys entertained. It certainly makes you miss the support structure from having family in the same country as you. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders when I don't have to entertain the kids for an hour! 

Hubby and I have made the most of it too. We have been able to go out, have some beers (or wine in my case!) Tonight we are going out for the last time for a while. We used a babysitter once, and the dog spent the whole night growling at the poor woman. Needless to say we haven't used one since. But I've decided it's important. I NEED to feel like I  haven't aged 40 years because we do the same thing day in, day out.  

So for now, I'm happy being the Stay at home mum. I am looking for the part time jobs to keep me busy, but there's nothing that has caught my eye. I decided to put the beach body business on hold for now. Whilst its a great business with great people. I need to concentrate on me first. I have not been able to be as consistent with my workouts or nutrition since we came back from our European holiday. 

Thankfully, my wonky pelvis and hip that keeps popping out seems to be doing better. So i'm crossing all my fingers that it won't put me off any longer. 

I have noticed that since I had to lay off going to the gym etc that i've been slightly down. It goes to show that exercise does more for you than just changing your body image. But I have great motivating people around me who encourage me to do better, and that helps enormously. 

The title of this blog needs to change, because it doesn't really feel like an adventure anymore. We own our house, we have a great lifestyle and more or less do the same things we did in the UK. 

I still get asked where my accent is from, and then get the story of their friend Bob. Who lives in a town in England. I also get the questions about what i think of Brexit. I have had fun introducing pimms and marmite to my American friends. That soon changed the subject! :D 

Hubby and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage this year. We have been together 12!  I've been trying to convince him we need a party to celebrate. As much as I would love to do something like that, it takes a lot of effort and I'm not the person to do that! :D 

Anyhoo. Time to make the most of the sunshine! 

Love to all! 

xxx 

Two years on!

Call me sad but i've got into a habit of checking three things on my phone, when I first reach for it.
1. Check all the unread emails that are telling me about deals in the UK and US (yes. I'm really that person that forgets to unsubscribe to EVERYTHING)
2. Scroll through Facebook - the advantage of being over here is that there is something to nose at because of the time difference!
3. Look at Timehop - where it shows all my photos that I have taken over the years! Today it showed the 2 year mark of us getting ready to leave for the US!

Not to blow my own trumpet or anything, but there's not a lot of people that would pack up and leave with their family, move across the pond and start a new life.. whilst 6 months pregnant! When I look back from today, I can't quite believe we did it.
Two years over here and this week we get to find out if we are going to BUY a house!
I like to reflect a lot and bug the crap out of Dave with my "this time a year ago" or "in a month we will.." So, what have WE done over the last 2 years apart from have a baby, start new schools, jobs, football teams, get new cars, go back to the UK for a month, go to a waterpark, do lots of sledging..you get my point. There has been a lot. Life has carried on. We have been able to do what we can, with three young children and a hectic schedule!
Daves' job enables him to see a lot more of the country, eventually I will be able to come along to those kinds of trips- but the reality of having young children stops ME from doing that. I know it CAN be done, and I would love to say I want to travel around with my kids.. but I don't. When they're older HELL YES. But right now, 10 weeks with them in the summer is long enough! :D
When we sold our UK house a few weeks ago, it was a weird feeling, That was our FIRST house we bought. It was nothing spectacular and it certainly wasn't anything to shout about. But it was the end of an era, especially as it means we are now free to buy over here. Which feels right, but it doesn't feel like home yet.
I still have no sense of direction when I'm driving around (or lets' be honest here.. I have no idea where I parked half the time) I HAVE got on the wrong side of the car to drive, in fact only a couple of weeks ago. I did spend at least a quarter of the way home (luckily down a quiet street) on the other side of the road, trying to remember which side i'm meant to drive on. And, yes. I will quite happily pay $6 for a small tub of bisto gravy to have with our roast dinner!

So yes, Two years in. Life is hectic, but brilliant. We have an amazing group of friends that are like family. Some of which it feels like we have known them for a lot longer. The boys are happy, doing doing well in school and looking after their little brother very well.
What do we miss? County pubs. I miss seeing hills and familiar faces. It has become quite funny when I go out now, I see doppelgängers of friends in the UK now. I don't want to be THAT person who takes photos of strangers and posts them, but if I come across any I WILL BE! :D
There's lots of different things I miss, but the list of things I like about being over here is growing.

Apart from the house, everything else is carrying on as normal. Nothing new to report, spring is nearly here.. it's teasing us. It's going to be a very busy 2016 and I can't WAIT! :D

Lots of love

Lu xxx