Coming out of retirement

“What are you going to do in America, Amy?” 

The question that has been asked umpteen times and the question that has been answered in so many different ways, depending on my mood at the time, and the number of times I had been asked it that day/week/month.

Today I have a better answer than “I don’t really know yet”.

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19 things to expect when you move to California

1. Everyone back home (a.k.a England) thinks your life is now all beaches, sunbathing and eating kale.

2. You will loose the ability to walk anywhere. Driving is life.

3. Prepare to spend too many hours of your life stuck in traffic.

4. Get used to answering the question “where about’s are you from in England?” with something that has to be related to your home town’s distance from London or Manchester. Any other attempts to explain your origins will be met with blank stares. 

How did we get here?

What feels like a lifetime ago, almost 4 years to the day, to be precise, me and D were about to share one of our best summers. Looking back, it was one of our hardest, and most challenging, but it still has to go down as one of our best. And there is a reason to me telling you about it: it’s the story behind how we got to where we are now. Those three short months of Summer 2013 play a huge part in how our lives have turned out. So, kick back, grab your favourite snack and enjoy this short segment of our life so far.

Getting back on the horse

I’ve had a bit of time off from social media lately. It wasn’t intentional or planned or for any reason at all. It was mainly because I just forgot about it. I had other things to do, I didn’t have the time to sit down and put pen to paper or I just simply didn’t think “I need to write about this on my blog”. I’ve just been doing life. 

Vegas baby!

Vegas had always been on our list to visit while living on this side of the world and we are so lucky that we made it happen in our first year. We had been talking about it, looking at hotels and flight prices for a few weeks when one evening, D suddenly snapped his laptop closed, exclaiming “I’ve done it! We’re going”. He had booked us three nights at The Venetian. I couldn’t wait! Three nights exploring the glitz and glamour of the lights of Vegas. Bring it on!

We arrived at The Venetian hotel on a Friday evening and quickly made our way to the check-in desk. I had read several things online about offering tips to the clerk and asking if there were any complimentary upgrades

Living without home comforts

Living so far away from home, there are always going to be things that you miss about your home country. It’s just human nature to crave something that you’ve been used to for so long. So what do me and D miss? Apart from Cadbury’s chocolate and Kingsmill bread? There are so many things other than food that we reminisce about on the sofa on a Sunday night!

Of course, the list starts with family. We miss our family. Growing up and being so close to both of our own, it was difficult to leave everyone. But we made the decision to move here to better ourselves with the blessing of our parents and wider family. We get through missing these important people by staying in contact with them, phoning them whenever we want to (thank heavens for FaceTime!) and truthfully, having a good cry when it all gets too much. There’s nothing wrong with phoning your mum, sobbing incoherently until you’re finished and then moving onto talking about the weather and what colour they’ve just painted the spare room. It helps! And it’s needed. It makes everything better.

A huge part of our life leading up to our move to CA was London. We lived

You can’t wear a woolly hat in the gym

I know I am going to sound pretty shallow with my next statement but here goes: I don’t want to go out in public because my hair doesn’t look right. There, I said it. My hair is hot mess and it’s making me feel rubbish. I spent time yesterday washing, drying and straightening my hair to end up in a crumpled heap, sobbing into my pillow. An hour that started with a “it’s a new day” and a positive attitude