First Entry

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July 30th - Dallas airport

Our flight was delayed to Dallas due to the rainy weather. We have to either spend the night in Dallas or fly to Chicago now and depart tomorrow night. We pick Chicago as we love the city, especially Wicker Park area. Bill and I are kind of cranky as we are so tired from wedding events and packing at last minute. Those who know us well knew that would happen…ha! At first we are told that they would get us a hotel room in Chicago, which pleased Bill greatly. However, the second agent said no as American Airlines did not control the weather. In this guy’s ENTIRE two years, they have never given a hotel room to customers who have missed their flights due to the weather. Well, this did not make Mr. Bill very happy. He demanded a room as not giving us a heads up on the missed connection while we were in OKC was an oversight for AA. I didn’t care about the hotel room, or anything else, at that point. We were going to have fun in Chicago anyway. Bill’s mom Lynda then calls us. She discusses with Bill the concept of how when you are super sweet to people, they become more willing to help you. Bill gets mad at his mom as it is late, we are tired, and he knows all this already BECAUSE HE IS 33 YEARS OLD…ha! This conversation was cracking me up! However, we did discuss how she was right. So the next person at the airport we see (after dinner) says no to the hotel room. I can see Bill getting mad about it. We just remain calm and quiet. He is having a fury inside, but calmly turns to me and says that he’s really sorry that our honeymoon is off to a bad start and he will make it up to me later. Thirty seconds later, after having overheard this, the airlines representative who just said no told us that he would make an exception and set us up with the room. Bill and I walked away smiling. I turned to him and said that he can thank his mother for that!!!

July 31st, 2007 - airplane

I keep reminding myself that Bill and I are now a married couple, which makes me extremely happy. He says that it doesn’t feel much different for him, but I have to say that it does for me. Our wedding was perfect - our close friends and family, a beautiful garden, funny moments. All the planning was worth it. It’s strange for me to say that as I have always been an anti-wedding person. Now I look over and think how I have won the prize with this person beside me.

At this very moment we are just starting to fly over the Atlantic Ocean. We will arrive in London in about 5 hours. It will be 7:30 a.m. there and 12:30 a.m. in my mind. It is strange how international flights are so much more pleasurable than domestic. The snacks are better, blankets are offered, and people are quieter. We each have a computer screen to watch movies and see exactly where we are on the map. I am extremely excited as this is my 1st trip to Europe, our honeymoon, and that we are fortunate enough to have a 3 month adventure together. I honestly don’t know what to expect as we have been so hurried in general in our daily lives (with working, moving, wedding planning, etc., etc.) that we have not nailed down specifics for this trip. I know people think we are nuts for not having all the details taken care of, but that is what I love about us. We have fun weathering the unknown. For me it seems pointless to expect something because it never turns out to be that way. It usually turns out even better! So here’s to our new life together, an opportunity for adventure, and…the unknown.

August 1 - Netherways, Donnegan, Ledbury England

We arrive at the London airport and I immediately see the difference. I hear several languages, see other styles of dress, and have to ask the customs person to repeat herself. Oklahoman’s have a hard time understanding English for God’s sake!!! The cars are all small and hatchback. We take a shuttle to the rental car place, a very exotic rental retailer known as Hertz! j/k Bill takes forever so I start reading no other than the European Wall Street Journal. What the hell!!!??! Wall Street in Europe, now there’s a concept. We are shown to our car, which happens to be rather nice, a new Audi wagen. We get in and start synching our GPS device with an address. It is at this point that I have to decipher what the address means, seriously. Bill starts driving and is worried about driving on the other side of the car, other side of the road. He overcompensates by driving as far from the center line as possible. I was so tired that I had to fight sleep in place of yelling, CURB, CURB, curb DAMN IT! About that time all you heard was a BANG. So much for the new Audi wagen, well just the wheel. I felt so bad for Bill as he had to operate the stick with his left hand too.

Finally we arrive at the Netherways to stay with this older couple named Fiona and Robert Dean, friends of Bill’s parents. I have to say that their place was incredible. A beautiful home with an elaborate garden set in the rolling, green hills of England. They were extremely hospitable, serving us quintessential English food and helping us navigate the many roundabouts and one way winding roads. They punctuated the conversation with stereotypical words like brilliant, giggle, and jolly. These things absolutely crack me up. We ate shepherd’s pie with vegetables. Bill calls the vegetables the squash from hell, as he was offered 2 extra helpings. I was laughing inside as he accepted extras and choked them down. He hates squash!!! And yes, I take my water without gas!!! We all know that gas in the glass means gas in the, well….This is stuff you learn in pharmacy school. Loll! After dinner, we are rushed into another room, used specifically for drinking coffee or spirits. By that time, all the spirits and wine makes for easy conversation…and sleep.

August 1 Nether ways England

We wake up to Bill’s favorite smell….fish! Not really. He doesn’t like seafood at all. Our hosts have graciously cooked us another classic English dish for breakfast - kippers. Kippers are a herringbone fish that are very salty and fishy. They are like anchovies in that they taste eons better than they smell. We had fresh nectarines, bread, and coffee as well. I again watched Bill while he choked it down. It was…brilliant! We later drove into Ledbury where we grabbed lunch in a pub and drank some English beer (of course!). The town was old, beautiful, and quite lively as well. A music festival called the Bill Chill was in town, essentially to raise money too keep the local castle up and running. This is how most castles generate revenue for repairs, etc. After the lunch, we explore the old city a bit before heading out to the countryside for a hike. Bill wore a funny English hat on our hike. I will most definitely include a picture of this as his pants were rolled up to high-water level as well. Lol! We said hi to the sheep and then headed back home. Dinner included veal and vegetables, followed by wine and coffee, again to be had in the “coffee chamber.”

August 2 Netherways, England

We wake up early and pack. Our hosts, Fiona, Robert (and their black lab Truffle), cook us another traditional English breakfast, fried bread topped with grilled tomato. Yum! As Bill and I have trouble navigating the small English roads, our hosts drew us out a map to guide us back to the London airport. We take photos together before packing the car and saying our goodbyes. Bill also learns that kiss, kiss is only for women/women or man/woman…ha! We attempt to turn the car around on the circle drive, unsuccessfully. Bill rolls down the window to receive any guidance. All I hear is Robert saying, “There go the Americans!” Are we that obvious??!? Luckily we get to the airport without many problems, board, and fly over the English channel. I find that British Airway’s snacks are mmm, mmmmm, good! Come on, those who know me from work know you have to please Big Girl!!! No trans-fats…nice! I eat Bill’s snacks too. He’s asleep and will never know! It’s strange that I will be in France soon. I find the language to be quite intimidating. I can wrap my brain around Spanish, Italian, and most other languages.

August 2nd Paris, France

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