Running thru life... UK Recap

UK was truly a blast and a wonderful trip with so many good memories
especially because we were with friends.
That being said here are some of our likes/dislikes:

Likes:
1) The TUBE
There system is so advanced and you can get anywhere!  AMAZING

2) Pubs
It is completely different than eating out in the states, it is an experience!

3) Cider 
Not the crappy Woodchuck that makes me breakout but real cider!

4) CatchPrase-
Totally asking for this for a present!

5) Tea 
Joe and I are now on a major tea kick.  He purchased some vanilla tea while we were there and I am loving it!

6) The history. 
I love English history!

7)Friends
Being with Friends on Holiday!!!

8) The ease of it all
I did not have 1 crisis moment!!!!  Not 1. 


Dislikes: 
1) $  Maybe because we live in DC where most things are free but it is amazing what you are charged for over in the UK.  You are charged to park at a MALL!!! OMG I would order everything on Amazon.


Joe's favorite was high tea!
While mine was definitely either New Years Eve or the Tower. 


Happy Traveling!!!!
Where too next?

Running thru life... UK London

So I totally posted out of order and just realized it... sorry!
Back to our UK trip....

Thursday December  29th-  London

Our London day was a long one but a good one.

We started off by waking up early to catch the train into London to the Paddington Station at 8 am.

Train tickets were pricey- however this was the only splurge of the trip $90 total round trip.
The total train ride was over an hour long. 

The train was super nice equipped with a snack cart and the views thru the countryside were fantastic. 

Upon arriving at the Paddington station we took the Lube and so our London adventures started. 
A day pass on the lube cost was 12 pounds total for both of us- so under $20.
Totally worth it since we rode around on it all day!

First Stop-  The British Museum

Cost:  Free

This was one of the places I wanted to visit because when we were in Athens in May parts of the Parathon were in the British Museum.  So we got to see the remaining pieces which was kind of cool since it was in the same year.  We also saw an exhibit on Egyptian Mummy's.  The Rosetta Stone!

Plus we got to see the Olympic Metals for the upcoming 2012 Olympics. 

Second Stop-  Lunch

We stopped after the museum to catch up with one of my friend's friend. 

We stopped at a Turkish restaurant. 

Unfortunately by this point, I had a cold and did not want anything but soup. 

Everything looked delicious that other people ordered

Lunch- Under 20$

Third Stop-  The Tower of London

Cost: 51.80

Yeap big price tag!

Things in London are not cheap!

Fortunately, Joe has his student ID which they honored which saved up about 5-10 dollars. 

This was by far the coolest place because you really could spend all day there. 

We got to see where the be-headings took place and the story of them. 

We visited the mini towers. 

We watched the changing of the guard. 

Shannon and I even spoke with one of the funny men in a hat- which was awesome! 
Primarily because they are not suppose to talk to people. 

But the best part was the Crown Jewels- they are so big that they almost look fake. 

They had one diamond that was 3,000 carats.  OMG!!!!
We could not take pictures which was totally a bummer!

Fourth Stop: Harrods

I needed to get some gifts for people so we thought we would swing by Harrods on the TUBE.

BIG MISTAKE. 

So apparently people in the UK love their after Christmas shopping even more than Americans. 

We could not even move from one room to another while in Harrods. 

So we rode up the Egyptian escalator and rode down. 

That was our visit to Harrods. 
It was actually quite comical!

Fifth Stop:

Back on the tube to head to Paddington Station to pick up the Train.
This is where Paddington Bear is from. 

Sixth Stop:  The Pub

For Pizza night and cider- delicious after a day of walking. 

Our London day was by far our most expensive day but it truly was the only $$ we spent because the dinners at the pubs were cheap. 

Running thru life... UK New Years

December 30th-

Swinton and Malboro

Joe and I slept in relatively late and woke up at 11 am. 

We then headed to Swinton which was a nice little town that was very pictuiques.

We stopped and had tea. 

Joe and Mark shared High Tea for two while the girls had soup and sandwich. 

Most excellent

Tea time-  +3 for the UK

I found a red phone booth.

I wanted to get a picture with me in one!
Total obsession!

Leftover dinner at home followed by a fun game of catch phrase.

Totally love this game!

Dec 31st

We all slept in and then packed an over night bag for Salsibury.

Shannon and Mark were awesome and booked us rooms so we could just take a taxi and not have to drive!
Each room was 19 pounds or roughly $30.

It was actually a really nice hotel!

We headed out to see the Cathedral in Salsibury.

Normally, you have to pay to get in but because we got there really late- we were not charged!

This is where the magna carta is stored- we did not get to see it but still cool building. 

Then we headed back to the room for a quick nap followed by Champagne and Appetizers
which Shannon and Mark had arranged. 

Then to a Thai restuarant for a delicious meal.

Then we walked literaly 3 doors down into a cute little pub that was busy but not packed.

We got beers/cider and got a table

The were serinaded by a bag piper.

Then watched as the time counted down on Big Ben.

It was truely one of the most enjoyable New Years Joe and I have shared together.

It was wonderful to be in another country/culture and be with friends. 

We headed back to the hotel and were in bed by 1 am.

Jan 1, 2012

We woke up and stopped at a little bakery for breakfast before heading back to their house.

We hung out for the majority of the day and had a wonderful feast that night.

Running thru life.... The UK

When we were packing for London, I truely had no idea what to expect and for the first time in my whole adult life of going on a trip I had not planned anything. 
Yes me who plans everything- NADA!!
I completely left everything up to my very best friend and her hubby. 
Most of this was due to the fact that Joe was busy with school/work and I was superbusy with work!

We had an amazing trip and it could have not been more perfect for what me and my hubby needed. 
Over the next couple of blogs I will detail our trip!
This trip was a little different in that fact that we were visiting friends.  So while we did do alot we mostly just hung out (in pubs)! 

Monday December 26th-

Took off from Dulles traveling AIRFRANCE.

Yes AIRFRANCE ROCKS!

Tuesday  December 27th-

Landed in Heathrow Airport. 

Took us 45 minutes to get thru customs. 
The English are not as efficient as us Americans!

Then our friends met us at the airport and drove us to their house. 

They live on a military base which is tiny tiny compared to American standards.

To get there we drove thru English countryside which was gorgeous. 

Upon arriving we hung out for a bit and then Joe and I took a very very long nap. 

For dinner we headed to this cute English Pub that was 5 minutes from their house. 

We had the traditional dinner- Joe had meat pie and I have a macorroni bake with beer and cider!

Oh how I love cider! 

They had it everywhere in the UK- 1 point for the UK. 
Magners was by far my favorite and my staple for the trip!

Wednesday December 28th- Stonehenge

Joe and I slept in till noon- CRAZY!!

Upon waking we had a quick bit to eat and then headed off to Stonehenge.
Only a 20+ minute drive from where our friends lived. 

It was pretty amazing. 

Seriously, these big stones in a field. 

You did have to pay for admission but part of admission was a walking tour which was quite interesting because ALOT about Stonehenge is unknown.  

Cost for two:  23$

It was very windy as you can see so I was glad to have packed my scarf and gloves!
We spent probably a little between 1-2 hours walking around. 
It was not particularly crowed which was nice. 

After Stonehenge we headed to another pub for ciders and beers to warm up. 

Oh pubs- Point 2 for the UK.

Pubs are awesome-
really you just walk in, get a seat, and drink. 

No waiting in line, no rude people, no cover charge. 
Oh and you can bring your dog everywhere!

We headed home for a home cooked meal and a movie night. 

Up Next:  Our day in London

Running thru Life.... New Years Resolution for Hubby

There are many many wonderful things about being married,

I could go on and on.

I really do have it made as far as hubbies go.

That being said I have made one New Year's Resolution for my hubby:

Working on Remembering!

You may ask what I mean by this?

Here is a prime example that happened last Friday morning while talking on the phone to my hubby. 

Me:  "So what does your day look like?"

Hubby:  'Work then home to play chuckit with Clemson."

Me "You failed!  What else are you doing today?"

silence on the phone

Me "You are suppose to go to Plow and Hearth on the way home to get the refund.  We talked about it last night, I sent you an email last night and I put the form in your wallet!" 

Hubby: "Well you did not send me a email this morning to remind me."

Me:  "Seriously, you are a grown man- I should not have to remind you!  I am setting a New Years resolution for you- you need to remember more!"

My hubby knows more things that I will probably ever know but he can not remember things. 

I need to help find a system for him. 

On thought is once he gets an Iphone to have him make a checklist like I have that way he can be easily reminded.  I could find a check list on his droid that he currently has.  I will need to look into this. 

I already sit down on Sunday and plan out our week/meals with him but by tomorrow he forgets. 

Seriously in my next life... I am coming back a man who forgets things. 

Any suggestions? 

Running thru life.... Gift Card Spreadsheet

Now that the holidays are over.... Joe and I have tons of gift cards.

Which rocks!

However, I have found that Joe and I often forget what we have.

So this year I decided to make a spreadsheet of our gift cards.

I saved it into dropbox so both Joe and I can edit it as we use the cards either on his computer or my ipad.

I also printed the spreadsheet out and placed it on the fridge.

This way we know what we have.

I basically made a column for the name of the gift card, another for the total amount, and then a third column to desinated how many gift cards.  For example we have 3 Starbucks gift cards that total $75, so this is how it looks:

Cards 

Store                                   Amount                               Number

Starbucks                            75.00                                        3

Then at the bottom it totals how many gift cards we have and the TOTAL value.

I think this will help us to use the gift cards and remind of us of what we have. 

Running thru life... H2O

It is very hard to shop for my husband!

Seriously why are men so hard to shop for!

Anyways, when he said he wanted a Sodastream I quickly did the math in my head.

We spend 6.99 on seltzer water every 2 weeks. 

6.99x26= 181$ a year we spend on seltzer water!

We love seltzer water. 

I do not know why but the taste of regular water to me is just yucky.  

With Joe and I both running more now, we are going thru so much of it. 

We fortunately had family member that had purchased one so we could ask for their reviews. 

After much debate, I gave the item to my parents for them to get my hubby for Christmas.

Of course I told my mom to get it from Bed Bath and Beyond so she could use her 20% coupon because my mom loves to save even more than I do. 

So Christmas day we assembled it and are loving our water. 

It came with flavor packets to make other things which I am not too interested in. 

We will probably try them just for fun. 

It came with the machine, a gas can, and two bottle with tops. 

The gas can you do have to get refills but Bed Bath and Beyond has them which makes it easily.  

The gas can last from 4-6 months from what we have been told.  

Fortunately we got a gift card for Bed Bath and Beyond so we can save it for when we need it!

I am happy to have this and $181 back in our pocket each year.