Our Royally Hot Adventure: June 2013

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A report…6 months end.

I am actually sitting in the business lounge at the Abu Dhabi airport – heading home after a two week trip to Australia and Japan – it will be great to get home and I’m sure Kel will be happy to not be going it alone for awhile.

Abu Dhabi this morning.

So today will be a good day, but it also actually marks the official 6 month mark from the time we last left Kansas City to begin our adventure in the UK and I must say it has been quite a full six months. We often say, it feels like we fit about 3 years of life in about a months time as we had so much change hit us so quickly.

In just a few short weeks upon arriving we had to:

- Learn to drive on the other side of the road (it is the right side of the road, but it still feels wrong)

- Purchase two vehicles

- Get the kids enrolled in a private school we weren’t used to

- Understand taxes, expenses in a new country

- Understand a new culture

- Find food we actually liked (still looking…)

- Learn a new job

- Work with new peers around the globe

- Get used to global travel for all of us

- Learn to do international banking – exchange rates

- And so much more…

We had very realistic expectations of what the transition would be like and prepared ourselves for it being very hard and it has been just as hard as we have expected.

We got some advice from a local ex-pat that told us to train your mind to look forward – not back and focus on what you have vs. what you haven’t. That advice has served us well as we could have been quite bogged down in thinking about all that we don’t have in the UK vs. the US.

Some of the surprisingly good parts.

- Media Detox – Due to the fact that we have few outlets for US news in the UK, we fill our heads with a lot less information on a daily basis about local and national crisis – much of which didn’t ever direct relate to us, but is amazing to see what a vacation from all of that will do to free your mind. If you are a FOX news junkie…take a vacation for a week – see what it does for you.

- Family Time – Due to the fact that we have a few less friends/responsibilities outside of our school and work lives, we find that we have a lot more time to spend together as a family – a fact that Kel and I know we will look back on as a treasure when the kids are gone one day. We spend weekends together doing things vs. running kids to other friends homes constantly. We like that.

- Travel – It has been important for a number of reasons for us to get out and travel and see some of Europe when we got here. Probably the best move we made was schedule a trip to London in February soon after we got her – it was a great opportunity for us all to see one of the big reasons one would do something like this. We have done other trips and plan more in the future to help us keep looking forward.

- Growth – While it is hard to see when you are in the middle of it, I know I look across my family and see such growth in everyone one of them for having taken on this experience. Chloe has had challenges that have made her more resilient and tougher than she ever knew she was and will use some of these experiences as anchor points throughout her life. Dawson has taught himself he can make friends easy and enjoys new sports – we have also had a chance to have a bit more Dad/Son time which I appreciate. Dawson will have left a boy and will return a young man. Sadie is so sharp and being in a school that challenges her more has pushed her to limits we didn’t think we would see for a few years. Her spelling words a few weeks ago were FARMYARD, MARVELOUS, MAGNIFICENT – a kindgergartner shouldn’t know these words but she does. The girl is spelling, playing piano and growing – she still has some apprehension on Mondays about school that she is facing into and learning from. Kel has shown herself that she is stronger than she thought she was. She has done a lot of heavy lifting through this experience as I am not around as much as I have been in the past and a lot is left on her to sort out and she is doing it and facing into fears with her typical style and grace. She has a good ability to see the benefits of the experience and has also done a great job being perceptive to each of the kids needs as they have been on individual journeys. She is a superstar.

- Get On With It – The first few days we arrived in the UK it was raining – surprise – so our thought was…we will stay in today as it will be difficult to get out and about if we have to do a lot shopping. We eventually found our way out and realized everyone was out – wrapped up and dressed for the occasions –and the English people have taught us to just get on with it. The joke here is….if you waited for the weather to be nice…well…you wouldn’t get out much.

- Culture Immersion – I think the world to us seemed like a very big place when we were in the US and didn’t have a lot of direct experience of experiencing other cultures…that has obviously changed and it is important to realize there is a world going on out there where the cultures, customs and day to day activities are different for us but quite normal for them.

- Be Uncomfortable – If I had to sum up the experience to date and offer a bit of a challenge out there for all that might be reading. This experience has forced us to get uncomfortable. We were actually quite comfortable in KC – great network of friends, family support and many things that gave us a lot of satisfaction. There was no reason to leave that, but we forced past the comfort to see what was on the otherside of this adventure. The other side of the comfort zone sits opportunity and growth for us all if we just take it. I’m not sure one has to move 4000 miles away to get uncomfortable, there were probably ways we could have done that in KC…but this has forced us to do it. On many occasion every part of our being was saying turn back – go back to the safe place and we pushed through and are glad we did.

It can still be hard at times, but 6 months in, we are happy the challenges didn’t hold us back from seizing the moment. Let’s see what the next 6 months bring.

A few pics from my trip:

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Our little British Actor

Sadie is taking lessons in speech and drama and had to memorize a poem - she didn't have to do it with a British accent, but she did.

END OF TEST PARTY

Chloe joined some of her friends from school to attend an after test summer fling/party today. Poor Chloe had tests all last week - much of the material she was tested on was covered in the semester that she wasn't there - but she put in a great effort reviewing other people's notes - studying - and doing her best to prepare. Now that this is over, some girlfriends of her decided to throw a summer fling to celebrate.

20 Big Ones

Well this past Wednesday- Kel and I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Truth be told - there wasn't much celebrating as I had to leave in the afternoon for Amsterdam and returned on Friday, but we did have a chance to celebrate it properly a few weeks ago when we went to Spain. Nevertheless, it is great to see what 20 years has brought our way - plenty of fun - worry - pain - joy - excitement - adventures - sorrow - mistakes - twist - turns - but mostly a lot of happiness.

We were naïve little kids when we first got married - thinking we had it figured out - but had so much to learn. Thanks to God's grace - time - and a partner that was supposed to be mine from the start - we have made a nice little life for ourselves. I'm happy to see what our next 20 will bring.

20 years later! (I am really not choking her)

I was able to bring some fresh flowers from Amsterdam back

- never thought I would be doing that on our 20th!

Goofing outside tonight

Kel had some rose petals that she decided to take outside and have some fun with. Enjoy some pics of everyone goofing around!

The gang all left

We had some good friends Jason and Krista visiting us for the past two weeks and they left his past Wednesday. It was great to be able to show them a bit of England and some of what we are excited about seeing in this area. The weather was nearly perfect their whole trip, so we hope that continues through the summer months!

They traveled with two kiddos under 4 and never missed a beat -so...if you are thinking about making the trek over here sometime in the future...not to fear. If these 4 could make it - anyone could!

We miss you guys.

Jason after seeing the price of gas here in merry ole England.

Take me out to the Rounders....game....

Chloe joined her class and her house (Duckworth) to play against the 3 other houses in her grade at Ashville College on Saturday for a Rounders tournament. I hadn't had the chance to see the game or to see her play before, so it was good fun. Not sure I totally understand it - it is the closest thing England has to baseball, but it certainly had some different rules.

As I yelled "Hey Batter - Batter" from the side lines - I got the glance from Chloe that indicated to me - she was really enjoying my verbal support...meanwhile the other parents seemed a little less pleased.