So our lives have been pretty busy lately, super sorry for not posting on here. Since we have been here we have been to Windsor Castle with some friends. We have been to Huntstanton Beach, which was a super beautiful, but shallow beach. We hit it at low tide. We went to Castle Rising, small, but pretty. We tried Indian Food, oh wait let me rephrase that, I tried India Food. Andrew had chicken nuggets, oh yes I said it. Lol. That is my Andrew Michael. Lol. We had fun.

We have been busy with our jobs. I work at the CDC on Lakenheath and work with 1-2 year olds. I love it, they make the day go by quickly, but definitely keep you on your toes. I love them all. They are terrible 2’s, but so loveable. I love sitting down and having 2 and 3 kids sitting on your lap wanting you to read to them. They make it so worthwhile. We are teaching them to walk holding the walking rings around the block and they are so proud of themselves. I am proud of them too. I work with great people and truly love it. I am learning all the rules slowly, but I will catch on. I love it more and more each day.

Andrew is doing good, obsessed with Mafia Wars on Facebook, and working every day. He is a busy guy. He is a wonderful cook; he grilled our lunch. He is enjoying his job, certain factors make it a rough day sometimes, but he is a great guy working hard. He loves checking the mail and seeing what we get. He really enjoys playing on our new Mac Computer that we got to replace my broken laptop.

Britain is keeping us busy with her craziness. We bought a gate to keep her downstairs while we were at work and somehow she found a way to get around it and when we get home she is upstairs, still haven’t figured that out. She is potty trained for the most part; she still has accidents, but is really good at waiting to go outside. She loves her bones and lost her first tooth last weekend. We were shocked, but her teeth are so small that as she loses them, we will probably never know where they end up.

Our house is totally put together, after not so long. We are so happy to have a home. It is not huge, but snug. Our main issue that is difficult is the fact that we have NO water pressure; it is a test of patience. But we are doing well. We love all of our wonderful gifts that people have given us for our wedding, finally getting to use them. Lol.

Well not much else going on, our 1 year anniversary is August 15, so we are excited about that. Time is going by quickly as we are both working. We are enjoying being together and dread his deployment (don’t know when, it will be a surprise), all in the life of a military family.

We look forward to traveling more and seeing so many things…any suggestions???

Love,
Andrew and Rebekah

Life with the Blakeman's

So to start out, Thursday is my Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday to me!!! 21, oh yeah! So we have been super busy with school, work and life all together. We have all of our stuff and the house is almost all set up. Andrew finally got his fish. Britain is as stubborn as ever, now she is refusing to come. Making us both mad, but it takse patience. We went to London with a friend yesterday, it was a relativly short trip, only an hour and a half. Then Saturday I went to Ely with Kaye, we had fun. We went to Market and Cathedral. I had an interview with the Child Care center West on Wendnesday, cross your fingers I got the job. I am ready to get out of the house. We had a Pig Roast on Wendnesday for the people leaving in Andrew's squadron. Britain goes to her 2nd puppy appointment tomorrow, so wish us luck. Andrew is finally getting into the working groove and enjoying it. I am getting our house together and not enjoying that, lol. I am but it gets old very quickly. School is keeping me busy, I am attending University of Maryland online, majoring in Human Resources Management, no one offers Education over here, so I took my second choice, I am taking intro to business right now, the book is interesting, but you know me, it takes forever to read it. Well speaking of school, i better start working on it. Love you all and miss you too!!

sorry its been so long...

Hey our wonderful followers. I am so sorry it has been so long since we have updated this thing, we have had SO MANY things doing on. Well we got our unaccompanied stuff on Friday. So our kitchen was chaos then Saturday we went to London. I rode the tube for the first time; all I can say is CROWDED!!!!! We literally went from one end of the Tube to the other. Oh I am sorry, it’s not the Tube it is the UNDERGROUND. Goodness me. Lol. It did say “Mind the Gap” like Dave warned me, they said it at EVERY stop. Oh my. It was hot. We went too united about our broken Laptop, got nowhere, a lady (not a claims agent) came over took some notes and copied our paperwork again and said someone will contact us. So that was pointless. Then that afternoon we got lost walking around London, finally we got back on the Underground and rode to the Theater where we got to see the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!!! Yes I said it. It was amazing. Such wonderful scenery and just wonderful!!! I got like everything at the souvenir shop. Lol. I am actually wearing the T-Shirt right now. I will put pictures on Facebook when the computer will let me. So we went home after that.
Sunday we went to our wonderful little church and then had to get our house together and cleared up so we could get our household goods on Monday. We have FMO, the loaner furniture in our corner waiting for FMO to come pick it up today. Monday was crazy, I had my wonderful friends helping me put things away and together. Unpacking is coming along, slowly!!! I just have to keep moving. Yesterday we got Andrews car, it is at the shop getting fixed for England and will be done today at around 4:30 or so. That brings us to today, we got internet at home so I will be on more often. Well I better go and unpack, I am procrastinating. Lol. Talk to you all soon.

Things I have learned so far...

Wow ok so it is Monday May 10. I am already worn out. Lol. This weekend was good, Friday we went on the Bury St. Edmunds tour with a small group; we went to our first Pub called the Queens Head. It was good, again with the NO ICE. Oh well, I will get used to it. We then went to the Edmunds Cathedral. It was so beautiful. Pictures are starting to work a little on our Facebook so take a look at our new pics. We went bowling Friday night with our new friends, so sweet!! Then Saturday we slept in till 9, and then we went to Bury St. Edmunds market. We tried to get cell Phones, but they won’t help us unless we have lived in UK for 3 consecutive years or had 2 UK addresses. So that didn’t work, we got phones from the base, not as good but they will work for us for now.
While at the market, we got fruit, bread. I got a new jacket and puzzle. It was really neat a different experience. After the market we came back and went to the Case Lot sale at Commissary, we bought a lot of stuff. It was fun! Then Sunday we went to Commissary to get the things we forgot on Saturday, went to Church and met even more great people. We ate lunch with the Redds, thank you!! We came back home at about 3, I took my final for Art and made dinner. Then we woke up this morning and tried calling Affees to fix my computer that was broken by the Airlines, they couldn’t help us, we had to call Sony. They said we would have to call back later because the people who we needed to talk to weren’t there yet. So we are going to have major phone bills because people keep giving us the run around. I am getting very mad about the computer, I didn’t do it, but no one is willing to fix it. Why make us buy $100 dollar warranty if you’re not going to fix the computer when you didn’t even do anything wrong. Sorry that is my rant, it really makes me super mad.
I was cleaning out our suitcases and realized that I packed all of Sammy’s information my parents need to ship her here, so I have to go to the post office and mail all of that to my mom. It is one of those days, I want to go back to bed and start over!!! I hope it will get better. I am getting my cell phone today. Andrew is calling Sony when he gets back from his meeting, hopefully that will get taken care of.
We are getting to sign our house papers tomorrow, that is exciting. But Andrew called TMO today and apparently they didn’t have a folder on us at all and our stuff is still not here, it has to be here before the 24th, but I am getting mad that they have no information on us. I emailed her a copy of Andrew’s orders, so let’s hope that it gets taken care of. Oh well, today will get better, I hope!!!
So things that I have learned about England. The first day in England I asked Andrew’s master Sergeant, almost drove him nuts.
• In England all the lines on the road are WHITE all of them, even for 2 way streets.
• The only yellow lines are areas that there is no parking or stopping.
• England has no 4-way stops, they have round-abouts, you drive in a circle till you hit your exit and always yield (give way) to the person on your right.
• Parking lots are called car Parks
• England signs are pictures almost no words.
• The lanes are narrow and steep on the sides, cars are allowed to park on the side of the road so watch out.
• Nowhere is actually 24 hours, all their stores here close.
• The Texting or internet might tell you “Unlimited” but it’s not really, we are under the “Fair-Share” program so “unlimited” means 3000 texts and 500mg of internet.
• Cops can pull you over for nothing and call it a safety check.
• It is ILLEGAL or a 500 pound fine to talk on a Cell Phone while driving or Eating or Drinking while Driving. They have no Pity
• If you are parked it a no park zone or in front of a fire hydrant, they have a Car Crusher and without warning, they will just crush your car in the street. NO PITY!!!

“What no one told you about living in England”
(These are things I got in my Spouse’s handout)
• No electrical outlets in the bathrooms, or the “loo”
• Have a GPS in the car; maps of England will absolutely drive you insane
• Annual TV tax- paying for the right to WATCH TV in your home
• Hogwarts isn’t real!
• Clotted cream served with your scone; sounds suspicious, but it’s so good!
• Everything closes at 4pm on Sundays, even supermarkets except for TESCO (their Wal-Mart, but not as good)
• Whatever you do, don’t hit a horse- they always have the right of way and some, especially near Newmarket, cost millions—really!
• Things are not always cheaper on base
• If grocery shopping off base don’t wait for someone to bag your groceries; just grab a bag and start stuffing.
• You must add salt to your dishwasher; otherwise, the dishes will have a cloudy, hard water residue.
• If your child attends British School and forgets PE clothes, they will participate in their underpants (we’ve yet to figure out why!)
• You will learn the capital of all 50 states, courtesy of AFN (our cable)
• Learn to back into parking spaces; it makes parking in these smaller lots easier
• British made DVDs will NOT play in your American DVD player.
• Be prepared to pay for annual MOT and road tax on your vehicle.
• And Finally…
You will make friends here that will last a lifetime!!
I think that is enough info for now. I am trying to get used to it here, I am ready to be done with the hard things like our broken computer. Well ttyl. Hope to hear from you all soon!!

Andrew and Rebekah

So more briefings, about phones and so on. We got a house offer one in Ely (45 minutes away) and one in Lord's Walk (which is literally right outside Gate 2) So we went and looked at the Lord's walk, Andrew didn’t want to drive 45 minutes to and from work every day, especially in the dark winter, they have Car Eating Ditches, they are deep and full of water. So we didn’t even go that far. We decided to go with the Lords Walk it is 11 Lancewood. I am so happy. It is a 2 story house, 2 bedrooms. 1 Bathroom, a cute little house with Pink Carpet. The main problem is no fence in the back yard, we are going to ask how we can maybe get that Okayed to put it, but I am not sure. I am super excited about it though.

We met Andrews Supervisor Tech. Sergeant Hartford and his wife, Kaye. She is soooo sweet; she has all of these plans. They will live in Lord's walk too, just in the nicer houses. lol. But she wants to have a BBQ and so on.
We are took our driving test today, so wish me luck, we both passed you had to get an 80 and that is just what I got, Andrew got an 88, he is so smart!

We went to church last night, Melody drove over and we followed them there, it is so small less than 30 people, very nice people, some old, but I didn’t meet any couples our age, just Kelsey and her boyfriend. I have met so many nice people!!
I signed up for a class called Heart Links it is a class for the spouses of Armed Forces and it is a brake down of ranks, rules, deployments and so on, the things that Andrew learned and just didn’t bring home. lol. That is June 11; I am pretty excited about that. I am taking it with Camille and Kaye. So that will be neat.

So that is what happened yesterday (Wednesday) it is 11:40am here. The days go by very quickly here, which is good, but also not good. Andrew is getting really good on driving on the Left hand side. I hope I don’t have too, but if I do, I at least passed by driving test. When I took my test up for him to grade it, he just sat there; I said “How are you?” He was like “good, you?” I was like “NERVOUS” He laughed and said, “No need you got an 80” I was so relieved!!! I was shaking. Andrew wasn’t nervous he knew the information, even though I read over the book more. Oh well. Lol.

Tomorrow is our trip to Bury St. Edmunds; we are very excited about that, we will hopefully get Cell Phones or Mobile phones here. Pretty excited. Lol. We will go this afternoon and tell the housing office we want the house and ask all of the questions we have. Then we will call and see if our stuff is here or if it is close. I am so excited about having a house and getting ready to move it. I am loving it more and more here each day. I am meeting such wonderful people who are having the same problems or questions as me. I met another new wife today, I lost her name. lol. I am so bad, but I like having that security. She is looking at a house behind where we live, so that will be really neat to have someone young close to us. I am excited to get done with in-processing and start traveling and setting up our new house.

When we looked at the house it was so small, but the more we walked around it grew on me. I think it will be a perfect house for Andrew Michael and I. Super excited and looking forward to you all coming to visit me!!! Well I better run, I am not sure when Andrew is done with his briefing and I know he will want to run to the housing office as soon as he is done. Love you and miss you all!

Rebekah and Andrew

Day 1-2 in England

So we are here.
Yesterday, what a day!! Met up with each other in Chicago and got seats next to each other, while waiting our Plane was 30 minutes late showing up to our gate, then when we got on the plane the Airline found a leak in the Hydrologic fluoride. So we had to get off of that plane to wait about an hour to get on a different plane. Finally on the plane we were on our way, with TINY TV’s (I know at least we had one). We started off and about an hour in we were served our Plane dinners, I got Chicken something and Andrew got lasagna, not the best food ever, but it wasn’t too bad. We slept for about 3-4 on the plane. We finally landed to find that the Airline had lost my bags; I had to fill out a lost report with a real jerk (A man from India, who I couldn’t understand at all). After that we headed out to meet Andrew’s Sponsor, we headed out to his car to get a call from the Airlines, apparently they had put my bags on the flight after us. We waited to 30-45 minutes for them to bring our baggage out, not even an “I’m sorry.” We were finally on our way. Dead tired and in for a 3 hour drive from Heathrow to Lakenheath. We went to a Welcome store and got some chocolate. We finally made it to the base; we took a tour around, saw where Andrew will work and so on. Then came to check into TLF, we got a cute little apartment with one bedroom, a living room and a full Kitchen (Oven, Stove, Refrigerator, Microwave, and Dishwasher and kitchen table with chairs. We got settled in and unpacked to find that the Airline had broken my laptop, the screen is broken, still useable thank goodness, but broken. So I got a hold of my parents and they are taking care of that. THANK YOU MAMA AND PAPA!!!!! Yesterday was super hard, I cried and I cried after I talked to my mom it was better (thank you, mom). It will get better; it just took my breath away yesterday. With losing bags, rude people, broken laptop, lack of sleep. It all just built up. We stayed up till 12am (England time) so Andrew could say it was his Birthday!
Today we slept till 2pm. I don’t know how, but we did it. I guess we were that tired. After that we went to the Commissary twice, then BX once. We have to walk everywhere for now. We are going with his sponsor tomorrow to being in processing and hopefully get a rental car and cell phones. We have cooked and cleaned. Already. Lol. We are ready to get off the base and explore. I have pictures of our flight and of the base (a little bit of it), but Facebook won’t let me load it. I will keep trying though. Well I have to go, it is getting late, it is 10:30 here. Well night everyone! Hope you had a great Sunday!!

Love,
Andrew and Rebekah

About to Go...

So it is Tuesday of our last week in the states, it is hard to believe that the time has finally come. Andrew is trying to tie up lose ends and I am doing the same, while trying to picture our future. I am so nervous and yet so excited for what lies ahead of us. Andrew leaves on Thursday at 2:20pm, but he has to report 90 minutes before. He is so excited. He will stay in St. Louis that night and the next day meet me in Chicago. I will wake up Friday morning report to Airport by 8:20am and fly our at 10:20.

I cannot believe that by the weekend we will be in England!! Well I have to go, I am at school. lol. Keep you all updated!

Love,
Rebekah (and Andrew)