Before You Ask...

Hello there, my wonderful family and friends! I am back in the US, safe and sound :-)

Everyone has lots of questions about what's going on with my man, wedding, life, and such. I know that the multitude of questions is because y'all love me so much (and I love you too!), but I'd rather not answer the same questions over and over. No offense. I mean, I like talking about myself and all, but it makes me sad to have that constant reminder of all the endeavors we have ahead of us before we will get to begin our happily ever after.

So, here is your Q&A session, A's provided without any Q'ing effort from you!

-When is Rob coming over?
         We don't know. We have begun the process of getting his green card, but it can take anywhere from 6 to 10 months.

-Whoa, 6-10 months?! Why so long??
           It's the government. You figure it out, let me know please.

-Can he visit during that time?
          Theoretically, yes, but it depends on the border agent that he talks to when entering the country. If he tries to enter, they will see on his record that he is in the process of getting a green card.. and why would he be coming to visit if he is getting a green card? So, maybe they would let him in, and maybe not. We don't plan on risking it.

-Can you visit him? 
          Sure, it just depends on the money and work. Wanna buy my ticket? ;-)

-How does it feel to be married?
          Well, seeing we are in different countries, no different. I am having a blast planning our future home though!

-Are you changing your name?
           Yes, I will be changing my name after wedding #2. I'm not quite ready to give up my magnificent last name!

-What's the plan for wedding #2?
          We haven't started planning yet. Going to start doing that this week, just gotta unpack first (yuck).

-So who is going to be in the wedding party? ;-) ;-)
            Rob and I are blessed to have so many amazing and wonderful people in our lives. Choosing those few to stand with us during the ceremony is proving to be a very difficult task. If I could have everyone I wanted standing with me, I would have 15 Bridesmaids! And don't even get me started on flower girls! We ask that people understand that when we do make our decisions. 
         
-Need any help with anything for the wedding?
            Actually yes- wine bottles and corks! If you can save some for us, I'll come around and pick em up. Even I don't drink enough wine to fully decorate a wedding reception!

-Where do y'all want to live?
             Ideally, in or around the St. Augustine area. However, we will live wherever we need to depending on work... Wherever, as long as it is below the Mason-Dixon Line!

Any other questions? Leave them in the comments below, and I'll add em to the list!

Thanks for caring enough about us to read this. Our situation is difficult, but with the awesome support you all provide, I know that we can make it through!

DIY 4 Ingredient Mini Spa Bath

I love Pinterest. I love the ideas, possibilities,  inspirations. The crafts. The foods. The beverage concoctions. The pictures of men's abs. Yum.

One thing I don't like, however, is the sometimes unrealistic attitude about the creations. In my opinion, a recipe labelled "Easy Mongolian Barbecue"  should not need 13 ingredients and 2 hours to cook. I don't have an endless supply of herbs and baubles sitting around my house, waiting to be forged into something fabulous. No glass cutter, no mini blow torch. Just a normal household, with normal things. 

That being said, I wanted to have a bit of pampering before my wedding, without spending any money. I scoured Pinterest for things I could do at home with what I had. I decided on extremely simple homemade face and hair masks, because I wanted the least amount of stress and risk*. I combined them with a nice bath, and the combination of the three left me feeling relaxed, revitalized, and moisturized.


What can you expect from your spa bath? The olive oil and yogurt are working to moisturize. The egg provides protein, and the honey works to kill bacteria. The bath is just a fabulous way to relax and moisturize your whole body.

DIY 4 Ingredient Mini Spa Bath

You will need:

Olive Oil

1 Egg White

Yogurt (plain)- Greek works best

Honey

 Step 1: Hair Mask

Combine olive oil (about a half a cup, maybe more or less depending on the length of your hair) with an egg white. 

 Step 2: Face Mask

Combine yogurt with honey. My honey was a bit hard, so I microwaved the concoction for about 15 seconds, which made it easier to combine.

Step 3: Run a Bath

This is pretty self explanatory.  Got your rubber duckie ready?

Step 4: Get in bath

Duh.

Step 5: Apply hair and face masks

Yes, apply while you are in the bath. Massage them into their respective surfaces. The hair mask is a bit messy, some of the mixture will fall into the bath water- that's good! The oil and egg will moisturize your body while you soak. And the yogurt mixture in the water won't hurt either. Wrap up your hair so the mask doesn't wash off in the water. 

Step 6: Relax

Ahhhhh. Candles, wine, a little background music really helps the ambiance of the bath. Just don't fall asleep- safety first people!

Step 7: Remove masks

The face mask should stay on for up to 10 minutes. Wipe off with cotton swabs. A little may drip into the water, which is again, ok.

The hair mask can stay on for 15 minutes, then massage with warm water. Use a small amount of shampoo on your hair to remove the excess oils. 

And that's it! 

Simple mixtures, simple steps, maximum relaxation. I bet this spa treatment leaves you a lot calmer than if you had to drive across town and pay exorbitant costs for the same thing. 

Looking to spice it up a bit?  

If you have these other ingredients, try adding:

Face Mask: oatmeal, avocado, lemon, pumpkin

Hair Mask: mayonnaise, banana, avocado, pumpkin

Also, you can:

1. Dab peppermint oil behind your earlobes

2. Add a few drops of coconut oil to the water

3. Get that special someone in your life to massage your feet

*Risks: I choose ingredients that I knew I would not have an allergic reaction to. If you are doing any of these in preparation for a special event, try them weeks before to make sure there are no adverse affects. 

Any other ingredients you have tried? Ideas for other additions? Leave me some love below!

A Wind-Swept Theatre Trip and Tips for Enjoying London Theater

Over the weekend, my man and I got a chance to indulge in an experience I had been craving ever since I began to habitate this small town on the outskirts of London- The Theatre. 

I am a self-admitted musical zealot. I sing, laugh, yell, and weep along with the actors, as if I was a part of their magical world. I took part in drama clubs and performing groups throughout high school, and I guess I never really lost the passion for the stage. I actually considered studying musical theatre in university, but the practical part of my mind told me no way- go for a more certain career. Thus, education. Luckily for me, teaching is performing, sometimes even with singing and dancing!

Anyway, back to the trip. On Saturday, we went to the theatre, specifically, to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.  The tickets were a gift from my wonderful brother (thanks Chris!). If you have been considering seeing a production of Wicked- DO IT! Especially if you are a fraction of the Oz fan I am. It is of course, nothing like the classic film, though it ties in quite well (just with a different point of view). And of course it is no where near similar to the newest Oz movie (which I also adored). So, as long as you are not trying to compare them, you'll love it.

Now, the London theatre environment is almost indistinguishable from Broadway. Mostly the same shows and amazing quality of perfmorance and production, just with some funny accents added in. If you are a person who lives in a big city and often goes to the theatre, I'm not sure I can say that it would be worth it for you to attend a show while experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime trip to London. The prices are quite high, and the shows are always crowded. However, for people from small towns like me, it is a great treat. Sure, I've seen lots of shows, and a show does not have to be in a huge auditorium to be good (some of the best shows I've ever seen were performed locally!). But, it is wonderful to get dressed up and have a classy night out on the town.

In this instance, the "getting dressed up" part was tricky. See, we had to take my man's motorcycle into the city. Taking it reduced the time of travel by 15 minutes, which was fabulous, but also introduced an issue- clothes. Riding on a bike requires padding and protection.. not something you would want to wear to the theatre.

Now, obviously one does not have to be dressed up to attend the theater. Many people don't. However, I was raised that you should dress up, and personally, I love it. If I was just planning on spending a night in jeans, I could have gone to the local cinema and paid $10.  No, this is the London Theater! A night of glamour and prestige, a place to see and be seen! So yeah, motorcycle gear was a no-go.

However, this was easily rectified when we took into account the services most theaters offer: cloakrooms.  For just £1 ($1.50) a bag, we were able to easily store a backpack and our gear. Doesn't work out much better than that!

So, thanks to a backpack and a place to store our things, I was able to go from this..

The bike is hiding it, but I am wearing pants and boots.

 to this!

High heels, a dress, and hose- I am ready for the show!

So feeling all classy and ladylike, I was able to enjoy the show to it's fullest!

The Wonderful Land of Oz! 

So, taking a trip to London, and planning on going to a show? Below are some tips that will make your trip go off without a hitch!

Tips for Visiting the Theater in London

1. Drinks 

When we booked our tickets on Ticketmaster, it gave us the option to "Have a drink waiting  for us when we arrived"... uhm, yes please!! Well, it turns out the program is still in it's infancy, and when we got to the theater, most of the employees had no idea what were talking about, or where to get the drinks. And just as we were saying "Well that was a waste", we got our drinks and saw the prices for drinks at the bar. See, to preorder a drink was £5, but at the bar, the same drink was £6 or £7! So long story short, preorder a drink, and while you might have to do a little work to get it, you will save a little money.

2. Theaters 

The area where most of the well-known theaters are located in London is called The West End. However, for the 50 or so in the West End, there are even more in other areas of the city. Yeah, it's a big city. So when planning your trip, make sure to take the location of the theater into account.

As for the theaters themselves, most of them are historical protected buildings. This means older architecture, which for some means a building not conducive to the large crowds of a theater. For example, the theater we were in for Wicked. The theater itself was large and spacious. But the lobby was tiny and crowded. We arrived 45 minutes before the show began and, due to the fact that the doors were not open yet, we were soon squished against the walls because of the crowd. People who arrived closer to the start time had to wait outside the building until the people in the lobby filed in. The lesson we learned? Get in early, get a drink, then post up near the entrance to the seating area.

3. Bags

As mentioned before, take advantage of the cloakroom. You can take a small purse to your seat. But don't risk any enjoyment of the show because you are concerned about your stuff falling out, etc. I mean, if you don't feel safe with it being in a cloakroom, then you probably shouldn't be walking around a major city with it anyway.

4. Attire

Also as mentioned before, there isn't really a dress code. Matinees during the week are going to be pretty casual, evening shows on the weekend a bit more dressy. I saw people in jeans and gowns, sneakers and heels. If you are paying upwards of $40 a ticket, I'd think you'd want to get a little snazzy. If you are worried about travelling by train or walking or something, take a bag, leave it in the cloakroom. See how everything is connected here? Pretty much, you can look like a slob, but there is no excuse to!

5. Tickets

When you walk around London, you will see advertisements galore for "cheap theater tickets". Well, sometimes they are. But sometimes they are not. And they are not always real tickets. We booked our tickets on Ticketmaster, and they actually ended up being cheaper than some of the "cheap ticket" websites. So where is the best place to get them? Well, if you want to be 100% sure you are getting real tickets, then use Ticketmaster. If you want to go with the flow, and try to get a cheap one, then stop into one of the shops in the West End area, and see what they have. You might not get to go to the show you want, at the time you want, but hey, it'll be quite the adventure!


Questions, comments? Love me some love below!

Add a Few Smiles to your Monday

I dream of a world where Monday's coming brings joy to the masses, instead of despair. 

Advice I wish I had received years ago! Though, there is wine in the trap, which makes it a little better..

Ok yeah, you are right. As long as people love weekends and hate their jobs, Mondays will be loathed by the world. Heck, even people who love their jobs still feel the melancholy of two days of freedom coming to an end, and 5 days of bondage looming.

Lucky for me, I get only one day of liberation- Saturday. I mean, not really good for me. I'd love to have a whole two days off from explaining why answer is not pronounced "ans-Wer". But working on Sundays means that when Monday comes, the misery is more on the same level as a Tuesday for normal people. Ya know, there is something to be said about working fewer hours but more days.. what do you think? Would you rather work fewer hours and more days, or more hours and fewer days? I guess it really depends on the week, and what I have to look forward to during the time when I am not working..

Anyway, I digress.  Fancy a smile?

Ok so, I took a picture of the bag from which my dinner last night came from.. Can anyone tell me what full fat soft cheese or medium fat hard cheese is? What's with the adjectives? Why does Cheddar have it's real name used, but the others judt get descriptors?!

Ohhh, this is something that really should be taught in classrooms. Can you find your country/state/city?

I bet this could be used to teach Geography in a fun and silly way! 

DON'T TASE ME BRO!

Hehe this was the question (err answer) on my Jeopardy-esque game app last night. 

One of those times where being a Gator has me so proud!

And one more for good luck..

Well, I hope that gets you going on this Monday! Cheer up, at least tomorrow is Tuesday, not another Monday!