Friday Five

Hey, remember me?  I've been a bit MIA recently.  We'll pretend that it's because I have been oh so busy preparing for my move.  Here's a bit of an update on things in my world.

1.  My UK spousal visa arrived safe and sound on September 22nd!  I am now free to move to the UK (which is anything BUT free).  Buying last minute flights is not fun for wallets.  We've decided to fly from my local airport which is a bit more expensive but well worth it for a 10 minute drive and only a 4 hour layover.  When we come back for vacation, however, we may need to take advantage of the cheaper flights between NYC and London.  Good thing I have amazing family members who would love to put us up for a night or two.  ;)  We'll be landing in London on the morning of the 27th so fingers crossed that everything goes according to plan.  I am already too emotional so I can't imagine it's going to get any easier.

2.  My Long Distance Relationship ends for real a week from tomorrow.  CANNOTCONTAINMYEXCITEMENT!  Except for the year that I spent in England getting my master's degree, Matt and I have been long distance since we began dating in 2010.  We've spent more time apart than we have together since we got married.  We weren't even in the same country for our first anniversary!  Fortunately he is arriving the day before the first anniversary of our wedding blessing which is totally almost the same thing...  right?

3.  I have a lot of stuff.  A lot.  I mean, I totally needed to save those skittles wrappers from 5th grade.  I've been sorting through my possessions in preparation for my move which is not the worst thing in the world.  Managed to get rid of an entire bookshelf full of books, albeit the smallest of the three in my room and the only one which was not double stacked.  It's still progress!  I saved a lot of things from my earlier days.  Why in heaven's name did I think I would want to keep a vole skeleton from 7th grade????  I've also had a chance to go through a lot of good memories.  I nearly cried reading some of the cards from my grandfather, though I usually miss him a lot around this time.  Also managed to organize the entire box of photos that was under my bed and get them into albums.  Now that my room is all in order, perhaps I should consider packing.

4.  The Lake Blue Streak football team has actually stepped up and are playing a lot better than they were at the beginning of the season.  Of course, the main attraction is watching my seester in the marching band.  They are currently doing a Disney show in anticipation of their upcoming Florida trip this December/January.  It is fabulous!  I treated my parents to a splendid rendition of Be Our Guest tonight.  They loved it.  Lake plays Central Catholic (my alma mater) the Friday before we fly back to England and I am pumped!

Seriously the most adorable creature ever.
 I shall name him Mojingo.

5.  My husband spoils me.  Not that I'm complaining, of course.  He knows how emotional I am about the move so he's planned a little trip for us this January.  The main attraction:  I AM GOING TO MEET A RED PANDA!!!!!  I am so freaking excited.  The Bristol Zoo has a Red Panda Experience so my husband has booked us in to go see that.  I usually don't care for zoos but am game for anything concerning red pandas.  Think they'll notice if I take one home?  I am quite looking forward to our extended weekend out west because it also means that I'll get to do a bit of genealogy.  My maternal grandfather's ancestors were originally from a couple of small villages just south of Bath so we're going to stop there and explore.  I am so excited to see where they came from.  They were all coal miners who moved north when the Somerset mines closed in the 1870s before immigrating to Salem, Ohio in the 1890s.  The family is actually a tad bit famous because my great-great-grandmother's younger brother, Gerald Lippiatt, was an organizer for the United Mine Workers of America union and was killed by two members of a detective agency.  It was hot stuff back in the day and was one of the triggers for the Ludlow Massacre of 1914.  You could say that I am a bit excited to delve a little deeper into the Lippiatt roots in Camerton and Dunkerton.  Woot woot for ancestors and red pandas!


So, there's an update.  Feel free to stop by to help me pack.   Until next time!

Friday Five

I got this idea from a US to UK forum that I read and figured this might be a good exercise to keep me blogging.   Every Friday I will try to post five things about my week.  I am sure some will be more exciting than others.  So, without further ado, here is my first Friday Five:

1.  I got an e-mail on Thursday that a decision has been made on my visa.  17 workings day for priority processing so I suppose that $510 smackaroos did the trick.  We don't know if the visa has been issued or not yet as the e-mail is ridiculously vague!  I have been refreshing FedEx tracking like a fiend.  Is it Monday at 10:30 yet?  We are pretty confident that my visa will have been issued.  We meet the requirements and put together a solid application (or so we think).  I will be devastated if it is a 'no'.  Fingers crossed!

So...  that's a no?

2.  Scotland has voted to stay in the UK.  YAY!  My feelings on the referendum were not very strong.  I probably wouldn't have been terribly upset if they had chosen to leave.  I suppose I just like the idea that the UK will remain has it is for the present time.  I wonder how my Scottish ancestors would have felt about an independent Scotland.  They relocated to the colonies around the time of the Jacobean Uprisings and the beginning of the Highland Clearances but I do not know to what extent these events affected the Ralstons but to the wilds of (West) Virginia they went!  Don't get me wrong, if Scotland truly desires Independence then I am all about it.  The American in me has a soft spot for anyone who declares independence from England (TJ what what?!).  That being said, I think any vote to break away from the UK should not be a simple majority.  The vote to break away from England had to be unanimous in 1776 so that no colony was torn from its roots against its will.  Scotland should require a 2/3 majority in the future to ensure that it is a true majority.  Just my 2p.



3.  I am very ready to finish working.  Don't get me wrong, I have very much enjoyed and appreciated my summer job.  It has kept me occupied during what could have been a very lonely time.  However, now that the season has ended, six hours there just crawl by.  There really is not much for me to do.  I will finish out September and then I really should get started on the packing for my move.....

4.  It's football season!  Which means that it is High School BAND season!  I don't even particularly like football, I just really like watching my sister in the band.  I am so proud of her and so glad that she found something that she loves.  Her band will be debuting their Disney show soon so, needless to say, I am psyched that I will be here for that!  GO HAL!

5.  I AM GOING TO SEE MAROON 5!!!!!!  That's right, I will be in the same building as Adam Levine!!!  Swoon!  Judge me if you will, I love Maroon 5.  Props to my awesome Sister-in-Law for arising at the Godforsaken hour of 8 am to get those tickets.  I did my part and managed to get tickets for my own sister and my mother to see them in Pittsburgh.  The stinker gets to see them in March while I have to wait until May when Adam and the gang comes to London.  First World Problems, eh?


There you go, a bit about my week for those who care.  I promise to do a rant, er, blog post about the UK visa process very, very soon.  Please cross your fingers for a visa approval!

An Heir and a Spare

'It's not sharing MY room, Lupo!'

Photo: Jason Bell via
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2014/08/prince-george-first-birthday

I know quite a lot of people aren't going to care about this but I am so excited!

PRINCE GEORGE IS GOING TO BE AN OLDER BROTHER!!!!!

Being in England last July was so amazing.  There was such excitement knowing that another heir to the throne was going to be born.  As an enthusiastic Anglophile, I ate it up.  I spent all day on July 22nd camped in front of the television switching between BBC1 and ITV waiting for news that the royal baby had been George.  I did the same thing the next evening when Will and Kate debuted their offspring (BBC even had a live feed window in their regular programming).  I missed the hype of the Royal Wedding so I am really looking forward to experiencing another royal birth.

I've seen some comments asking why should we care about another baby?  What makes this kid so important?  They're not even going to be the king or queen.  Ok, maybe it is just another baby.  However, there are so many terrible stories in the news that it's nice to have something about which to be excited.  I am fascinated with the English Royal Family.  There is a duality in public opinion when it comes to the Windsors.  They are a family who lives on the tax payers' dime while holding very little political power in the modern day, yet they are such an institution that a Britain without them is almost unimaginable.  Whatever your personal feelings on the Royal Family, let's all be happy for this young family as they begin the next part of their life.

Congratulations William, Catherine, George, and Lupo!

New Beginnings

This post is really just a test run.  All of my other friends are so much better at blogging than I am.  I've had a blog since 2011.  If you didn't know that, it shows you just how much I never post.  Now that I am moving (indefinitely) to the UK in the next couple of months, I suppose some people may actually what to know what exactly I am doing with my life.  I can't promise much but I will try to do more than my best.

I don't have anything more to say at the moment BUT I promise to try to explain just how frustrating the visa application process has been... eventually.

I do want to spend a minute in remembrance of a pretty special doggy who went to chase that great bacon sarnie in the sky today.  Here's to you, Miss Pippa Barter-Jones!  You will be missed.