The Boyzzz

1) the boyzz did not want me to leave.. so they sat on my luggage as I tried to pack :)

2)Zee zee eye balling the cup of tea.. so cute

3) The boyzz are looking pretty in the light

4)Bud sun bathing in the sun

5) Bud fell asleep on my lap after a hard day at the park!

The Charity Shop Madness!!!

Picture 1: The coat Sally gave me from when she was my age

Picture 2: the 100% wool coat that I bought for 3 Pounds!

Picture 3: the Marks & Spencer's coat I got for 3 Pounds!!

The handbags not shown cause I ran out of time :)

Pics

Picture 1: Real fish and Chips with Vinegar!

Picture 2: Bread pudding Sally's momma made!

Picture 3: Traditional English breakfast.. bacon, egg, sausage, stewed tomato and fried toast!! YUMM!

** Packed and Ready**

Today was full of fun at the charity shops (thrift stores) and you wont believe what I picked up!!! Sally went on her buggie and we met up at the road where all the charity shops are and boy oh boy did I find some amazing steals! I spent 15 Pounds and bought.. a Marks & Spencer's coat (expensive brand here).. and 100% wool coat(beautiful!).. a cute cute blue cardigan.. three vintage handbags and a silky scarf! I could not believe the coats were only 3P and I was in shock the whole day because they were in excellent condition and super expensive coats. Sally also gave me the most gorgeous coat that she wore back when she was my age and it is absolutely stunning!!!! We shopped till we dropped and it was truly worth the experience.

When I started to pack the boyzz were laying in my luggage and would not let me pack until I payed them attention. This reminded me of my baby b because she is like that all the time, when I am trying to do something she has to stick her nose in everything.

I am so thankful for Sally and Allen's hospitality and there is no way in the world I could repay them for the amazing stay I have had here. I told them if their daughter Charlotte would like to come visit the states, I would be more than happy to take her around and show her a good time.

There are so many cute things I bought that taking pictures of them all would be impossible.. but the best memory is being here with them and spending a week with these wonderful people. They are so silly (as am I) and full of laughter and have such a wonderful heart. I am planning on coming back for sure because they are just amazing people and friends.

I miss home, and I miss my loved ones and friends... but I am taking a piece of Portsmouth with me that I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life.

Miss you all and please pray for a safe trip!

XOXO

Annette aka Nettie

Photos

Pictures from up to down

1) Cousin Alex Playing Pool

2) The Boyzz keeping my bed warm

3) The very cool pool chart with the skull

4) Me with the pint of Guinness and my new shoes and shirt! YAY!

** Jet Lag**

Today was a very relaxing day, the jet lag finally caught up to me and I was dead tired this morning. I felt as if a ton of bricks has fallen on me and the splitting headache no not fun either.

After I finally put myself together, Alan and I went to pick up my cousin at his hotel and we went to a shoe store :) (loooove shoes!) Charlotte, Alan and Sally's daughter had been telling me about this place and she was absolutely right about it. It was shoe heaven, after I picked out some of the cutest heels and a pair of flats we left and came back to the flat.

When we arrived back at the flat my body was achy and I the headache I had in the morning turned into a migraine. Sally had made up my bed to nap on to catch up on the jet lag that was finally hitting me. I slept about four hours and woke up refreshed and ready to go. Came out of the room and had a cup of tea to liven me up a bit and I am loving the tea here.. sooo good!

I went on the computer for a bit and decided that I wanted to head out for a walk to visit my favorite stores, Dorothy Perkins and Boots. Alan gave me the key and off I went (the mall is about a block down) the walk was absolutely refreshing and I took deep breathes as I walked to feel the cold air in my chest. It was very calming and a smile came across my face because a feeling of warmth and happiness fell upon me. Watching everyone walk (people watching) was interesting and when I arrived at the plaza I sat down for a bit to take in the beauty of this place. Sitting there gave me time to have a moment to myself to relax and be one with myself, the scenery and cold air felt so wonderful even though I was freezing my hands off.. it was well worth it. (I forgot my gloves at the house like a ding dong)

I went into Boots and took my time strolling down the isles and picked up some cosmetic wedges and eyeliner. After Boots, I went in search of the Dorothy Perkins store.. I knew what it looked like and had a faint memory where it was, so I just walked around to find the store. They have beautiful classic clothes, very me and I was in heaven. I ended up buying a cute black and white stripped shirt and wore it tonight to the pub along with my new shoes my cousin bought me this morning at the shoe store.

I came back around 5:30 and changed into my new gear and Alan and I went to meet my cousin at a pub he was at. Sally wasn't feeling very well and needed her rest, so she did not go to the pub with us for dinner. She is feeling better now that she has rested to regain her energy.

We met my cousin at the pub and ordered our meals and I was happy they had my favorite juice called J2O, this is a fruit drink with different flavors. My favorite flavor is blueberry&apple. We had a wonderful mean and dessert then went to Alan's normal pub. We were there playing a couple games of pool and the pub is really neat. I played about two games and for some reason I was playing with all white balls (meaning I couldn't make any of the balls in except the white one) and Burt (Alan) was makin fun of me.. LOL My cousin on the other had not decided he wanted to play flying pool cause 9 time out of 10 he would hit the white ball and it would go flying off the pool table. Pool here is interesting, they don't have different colors or stripes on their balls. The balls are a solid color and are two different colors with one eight ball. I was fascinated with the pub and all the stuff on the wall, my favorite thing was the board hanging with a skull on it.. so of course I had to take a picture of it. :)

All in all, today was a very relaxing and enjoyable day.. not to many adventures but the jet lag finally caught up to me. I knew it was going to kick in soon and it sure did bite me in the but!

Its time for me to get some shut eye its 1AM and I need to hit the snooze button

Sending a shout out to my coche, T, Angel and April!!! Love you all and miss you oodles!

Xoxo

Snoozi Annette

~ Just the sillys and its Pissing!~

LOL!

That is all I have to say!

Since I have been here, I have had a Love/Hate relationship with their toilet... lets just say that their toilets do not flush from the actual toilet. The lever to flush the toilet is a metal chain that you pull.. well.. lets just say the first time I used their toilet it took me 10 minutes not to figure out how to flush their toilet, but to break the chain from pulling to hard because the toilet would not flush.(embarrassing I tell you) So once I walked  out truly embarrassed, I held up the chain and said " I think you toilet does not like me, I'm going to need some pliers". Thankfully Alan and Sally both laughed at me and Alan was sweet enough to put the chain back on the pump for me. 

Since then, the toilet and I have been on good terms and I haven't broken anything in the loo (bathroom) or anything in the house yet.. LOL.

Once we picked up my cousin Alex from the train station we came back to the flat to have some tea and catch up. We decided to go out for dinner at an Indian restaurant (delish) and the place was fantastic. After we chowed down on the feast, I attempted to scoot my bottom out from the table and my foot caught itself on the bottom of the table and I almost fell, let me just say.. that was a close call. Thank goodness I was able to keep my balance or I would have taken a giant bite of the floor.( it was too funny)

When we were leaving to the restaurant it was lightly raining and by the time we left the restaurant it was PISSING down with rain (pouring) rain! Sally and I huddled under the roof as we waited for Alan to bring the car around. We climbed in the car and took my cousin to his hotel to check in and off we went back to the flat. In the car Sally has a Russian hat in the back and I decided to make a ding dong of myself and put the hat on to take some silly pictures. We walked into the flat and of course I forgot something in the car, Alan was sweet enough to go back in the car to retrieve my camera. I took one look outside and it was pissing rain like I couldn't believe! Poor Alan walked in and the poor thing was dripping wet.

Ohhh! Alan has this really cool barometer in the lobby (hallway)  and it tells you if it will rain by the amount of water that is in the spout. Let me just say that when we got back from Boots,  the water in the spout had spilled over and we all just looked at each other and said " Its gonna piss down with rain later"

This afternoon I decided I wanted to walk to Boots in the rain (because I am crazy like that) and Alan, Alex and I took a walk over there. As I shopped and shopped (didn't buy much) the boys were following behind me giving me heck. They would ask me "are you done yet" and I gave them the eye as to say " don't you tell me to hurry up!"(LOL) The boys enjoyed following me around the store talking about manly stuff as I strolled the isles of makeup and such.

Today has been quite the eventful day and has been a blast! I'm even loving the rain (they don't so much) and it has come about that I am now " Gladis" and he is " Burt" (funny names we call each other when we do something silly or sassy) Lets just say that Burt has heard the best of my burps and its not over yet!

Its been a wonderful day and cant wait for tomorrows adventures!

Sending rainy hugs to you all!!!!

**Getting back into Sync**

These past few days have been tiring, wonderful and I have not had concept of time. Yesterday I worked on my final project to complete my classes and the time difference had me up till 3AM my time, but it was FINISHED!! YAY!!

Today we went to drop off Charlotte at her flat in Bath (yes like our bath) LOL

I have to tell you , it is sooo beautiful beyond words and the building were absolutely stunning!

I finally made my way to LUSH (a very cool body and bath place) and I was in heaven!

The money out here has me soo confused, I went to buy a sandwich the yesterday and I couldn't remember what coins were what. LOL I'm getting the hang of it now and today in Bath Alan and Sally went into Marks & Spencers (like a cross between Costco and Walmart) to exchange money and let me just say the money here is very pretty. The dollar (pounds) are very colorful and there is a picture of the Queen on there.

The time change is throwing me off and I seem to lose track of time quite often. They use military time and I have to count with my fingers to figure out what time it is ( I look really funny doing it)

I met Sally's mom and she is such a doll! We are planning on having tea with her during the week and I cant wait to hear her stories of when Sally was a little girl. I hear down the grapevine that she is planning on making a Guinness cake and I am super excited to try it!

Last night we all had dinner and Sally made a real treat! She made lamb noisettes ( this is lamb with new potatoes and sweed carrot parsnip) SO GOOD!

The boyzz have been so sweet and loving, Bud slept with me last night and Zeezee was a a bit jealous this morning, it was the cutest thing!

My cousin flys in tomorrow and we are super excited! We are planning on going to an Indian restaurant tomorrow night and I loveeeee Indian food! I have only been here a few days and I am in love with this place, the history of the buildings and churches are amazing. I have never seen  lambs just hanging out on the side of the road like they do here.. its like farm animals on the side of the road!

As we speak.. BUD.. is whining at me because he wants a banana.. LOL... he has already had a cup of tea when no one was looking.. LOL His little yips are soo stinkin cute!

Well.. its dinner time and we are getting ready to have  a cheese and fruit platter with port (never tried it but it sounds yummy)

Now that I have turned in my final for my classes I will be blogging on a daily basis!!

Loves&Kisses!!!

**D-Day!**

Went to sleep late, and woke up early.. the story of my life!

This morning when I woke up I felt as if I had been hit by a truck.. No Joke! It was the Zombie in me that forgot to twist the door knob before opening it..and WHAM.. there I go running into the bedroom door.(yes go ahead and laugh) My thump was loud enough to wake little miss sleepy head and she looked at me as if to say " Thanks for waking me up!"

Once I made my way down the hallway I proceeded to wash my face and was delighted to hear my phone ring (which I thought was my alarm going off again) to hear Kim on the other line! She was the cutest thing ever "Did I wake you?" she asks, I thought oh if you only knew the wake up slam I received from the door this morning. We chit chatted for a couple of minutes and she was such a hoot to talk to...I will be calling you more often KIM! LOL

Once I took the oh so stylish lime green curlers out of my hair, I stood there for about 5 minutes deciding what I was going to wear. (Like we all don't do that ladies ;) ) I was going to wear a pair of jean like pants to work and thought to myself.. Umm. I think I be called out on dress code for this (Yes Yolanda.. your voice came in my head) and to think of all the dress code talk lately I thought.. I should stick to black pants.

Now that I am at work literally trying to keep myself awake, I find myself dozing off at my desk with my elbow keeping me afloat. (Yolanda.. you never read this) Trying to keep myself awake is more of a challenge than I thought but I think its good for me to be exhausted so that when boarding the plane I can snooze happily.

Auti Marie will be picking Baby B up today at 3 or so and she is wearing her sailor dress to look super cute for her! This morning when we were driving to work I had her in my arms, and for some reason she thought we were going to the vet because she was shaking with all her might. (she does that when she knows we are visiting the vet) I was singing to her and telling her that we were going bye bye and the more she shook, it made Geo and I laugh because she was shaking like thumper. I should have taken a video because it was just too darn cute!

Well yall.. I am going to try and get some work done (KEY word TRY) and if you all can say a little prayer for me at 8:40 tonight when my plane takes off I would be most grateful!

I'm sure I will post really quick before I board the plane but who knows what LAX International looks like on a Friday night :)

Trying to Stay awake

Xoxo

Annette

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The Finishing Touches

Luggage sitting on the floor while Bella squeaks her bee toy at me I come to realise, tomorrow is the day!

After work I came home and went to the "Back Doctor" to get adjusted and that did me wonders because of all the stress. The instant relief of the neck and back pain is priceless! After I went there I was on a man hunt for a " Tortilla Maker", this is a metal circular object with a handle to squish the masa (corn or flower mix) to make fresh tortillas.

At the request of my cousin from Holland because he broke his and they don't sell them over where he is; my mom and I went on a hunt for one. Let me tell you.. it was super difficult! We went to two different Hispanic markets and either they were out of them or they didn't sell them. Finally the very last store we went to before we gave up on our mission had two left and I snatched that puppy up so fast! I also bought him some Horchata mix as a bonus :)

Once we arrived back at the house I was yawning from the de-stressing we had earlier and  off to finish packing I went. At this point Bella knew something was up because I was backing a bag for her and normally when that happens she know its bye bye time. As I put her bowls and food in her bag I turned around to find her sitting in my luggage staring at me as if to say " Ok mom.. where are we going?" It was the cutest thing I had to take a picture!

Now as I sit here and write this blog I look down to see my Baby B nursing on her doggie and smile because I know she is going to have a blast with Bubba and Aunti Marie and Uncle Chris!

Happy Packing!

Annette

~Packing Delights~

This past week has been one exhausting week... and I am so happy that I will have 10 Hours to sleep it off. (not really)
Gathering all of my final projects for class and making sure to cross my T's and dot my I's has been the most challenging because when I complete assignments, I take my sweet time (the perfectionist in me)
Tuesday night I finally pulled out the suitcases and laid them out to organize my clothes and go over the list to make sure I don’t forget anything. That is when it HIT ME.. It’s really happening, I am really going to be traveling to the UK to meet such a wonderful person.. and I’m doing this for the first time as an adult. (last time I traveled I was 16 and was with family) I sat down for a bit in front of my luggage and thought to myself.. I can’t believe I am going to the UK, once I pinched myself to make sure this was all real I thought YEP.. its real. LOL

Bella has not even noticed that mommy is going anywhere.. she thinks the luggage is a toy. She will jump in and sniff the clothes, as a matter of fact..this morning after I made her breakfast she walked in to the room and used the side of the luggage as a napkin. I laughed so hard and said " Bella.. this is not your napkin!.. or are you just leaving you scent for mommy and the Boyzz to sniff.. LOL"
I’m sure many of you know this about me.. but I have a fear of flight..anything in the air.. eeeekkk! Not to mention the slight claustrophobia I have.. that should be interesting! Thankfully my family has been super supportive and have given me soo many tips and visuals to use while I am in the air. Just thinking about being on a plane for more than 5 hrs makes me cringe a bit, but I know that if I want to travel the world.. I need to get over my fear, and what better way!

During my stay in Portsmouth with Sally.. my cousin that lives in Amsterdam will be visiting us and I have not seen him since I was a little girl and we have found each other on Facebook (go figure) He read a post of mine that said I was heading his way.. and loh and behold.. he has oodles of vacation to use and it has been a very long time since he has seen family. I am absolutely thrilled to see him and we have loads to catch up on!

Now I just sit at work.. waiting for the day to be over because I still have a million and one things to get done before tomorrow! I am soo excited to share my adventures with you all and feel free to leave comments! I will be writing every day to keep the updates commin and lots of pics!
Sendin LOVE to all the DOGSTER MOMS!!!!!!

Xoxo
Annette