Category: Journal

  • We’re not in Kansas anymore

    Simple things, like eating a meal out somewhere, have become something of anxiety producing process.  Each time I consider where to eat I feel my heart beating a bit faster.  How much does a sandwich cost here?  Do I order at the counter? Am I supposed to leave a tip?  Do I really want to…

  • Expats in London

    In this issue of Expats in London: ‘Sweet and Spicy’ 30 Minute Meal recipe #2, from the “Accidentally Yummy” collection A Newcomer’s Experience at International Banking House-Hunting Tips and Trends What’s Hot and What’s Wrong with this Picture Stereotype Myths: Real or Old School Hype? Letter from the Editor Thanks to all of our devout…

  • Great Art in Londontown

    Jen and I had, what I consider, a great opportunity to see this work, Morning Star, in person yesterday. It is by an artist I had never heard of before, but I am very glad I now have. His work may not be earth shattering or mind altering. Of course then again – I am…

  • My First Really Good Day in London

    As I sit in a coffee shop near my new home with cup of hot chocolate in my hands, I can feel the vibration of a train passing underneath me for the first time in the 13 days I have been in London. The sensation is a novel experience–a reminder that I am really here.…

  • Money Down on New Digs

    Right to the point – we put a deposit down on this [link removed] place today. Jen had been talking to me about a different place yesterday. Yeah, the same one she posted a blog entry about because she was so excited about it, and today she passed on it completely – even putting a…

  • Isn’t It Ironic? (Not to be confused with the completely coincidental Alanis version.)

    I apologize for the lengthy radio silence.  Monday was a bit of a day of recovery for me.  I was tired from everything that I had squeezed in.  The weekend was wonderful, but not much of a break.  I did manage to field some calls from agents following up on the properties we had seen…

  • And on the seventh day…

    When I left you last night, we were headed out to grab a bite.  We ate at a wonderful Japanese skewer restaurant. We had teriyaki salmon and rice. It was delicious. We may have wandered around a little, but I can’t remember what in the world we may have been looking for… ahh, ice cream.…

  • The Saturday Evening Post

    After a very full week of emotionally and mentally exhausting work, we ponder what to do with our night.  The evening has passed already, but the streets are still full with people and the restaurants will be serving for hours…  It’s Saturday night–we should be tearing up the town–but we’re very tired.  We’ll definitely eat.…

  • I thought you said it would be rainy.

    Well, the weather is great in London town this week. God knows I have appreciated it while I wander and orient myself to my surroundings. What I did to deserve this good fortune is unbeknownst to me. As the party beat pulses through the floor of our flat and the cheery voices float up to…

  • So happy together (feel free to sing along)…

    Well, Drew and I are pretty darn official today. We opened a British bank account. Whew. I feel somehow better about our situation. Our banker even gave us a three-ring notebook to keep our paperwork in and gave me a free pen that says “I love a good doodle”.  Well don’t we all?!  There just…

  • Hey, Quiet Out There!

    So yesterday, on my way into the office there was a large chuck of Leicester Square blocked off by barricade and a large crane was behind it hanging a sign on the front of the Empire building. Now I guess I should tell you a bit about Leicester Square so you understand what I am talking…

  • Oh I, I will survive…

    Please allow me to introduce you to my new friend, Gina!   Since my sister couldn’t come with me to London, she sent a sista, aka Gina McSasspants, to look after me.  I hope you are all looking forward to the upcoming “Dang, Gina!” moments. Now, as you may already know, the FedEx outpost in…

  • Jenspeak

    My, my, my.  It’s London out there.  And in here, really. I feel like I must have felt on my first day at school.  My five senses are overloaded with the incoming information.  Wow, what people wear in this chilly weather!  When I close my eyes, I dream about foreign languages I barely understand. My…

  • The Huddlestons Have Landed

    So after thirteen hours of travel, Jen and I finally made it to the flat. We think we got pretty lucky with TM putting us in the same location as our previous visit because this time we will already be a little familiar with the locale. We had a little issue with shipping a few…

  • Deep Thoughts and Ranting

    I am constantly amazed by the enormity of the body of information that is lost on me. Another big fat wave of “really?!” is sure to hit me in the next five minutes. I knew there was a lot I didn’t know, and then I began the process of moving overseas. Through this shenanigan, I…

  • Live via Satellite-

    We sincerely apologize for the radio silence and recent interruption in your regularly scheduled programming.  Please be patient with us as we experience periods of time with no internet connection.  Additionally, our comcast email accounts will no longer be used.  When the address book is once again functioning, we will be sure to forward our…

  • Sleep. Not so much.

    This simple girl is having a hard time dealing with the weight of liquidating a household full of stuff.  Drew is much cooler.  We are running on fumes, though, and there isn’t any gas in the cars either. I must apologize for the delay in the release of precious details since our last post; I…

  • We interrupt your regularly scheduled program…

    Thanks to our collective faith, positive attitude, and willful visualization of that “SOLD” sign, there will soon be a “SOLD” sign in our yard! What an amazing feeling–if I weren’t so excited, I might be scared out of my shoes. Everyone breathe a sigh of relief and get some good sleep tonight. There will be…

  • The Epic Tale Continues…

    So this week my work permit arrived from the UK office. One would like to think that was the end of, what has become, the epic process of entering the UK, but one would be wrong. Apparently, while I can now legally work in the UK, I still have to be approved to ENTER the…

  • The Roller Coaster

    Updates- We now expect to board a plane for London on October 4th. We are being fingerprinted on Friday, 29 August. We send our paperwork to be processed to Chicago as soon as our fingerprints (and other biometrics) are on file. We have shown our house to the same buyer twice–and she likes the snacks.…

  • Don’t Stay Home

    Usually when you come home and someone has eaten your Reese’s cups, you call the cops–or at least the exterminator. Tonight it was awesome to find that someone (maybe several someones) had several drinks and snacks from our wide selection of yummies. Our house hosted a new family this evening, for the first time since…

  • Special News Bulletin

    For those faithful readers who cannot stand the suspense any longer, the move has been postponed and is now scheduled for approximately September 28th or 29th.  Additional paperwork was requested of us and we expect our legal documents to be ready for us the first week in September, but when it arrives we have to…

  • It’s Getting Ok Now…

    The proof is here, our house is actually for sale.  You definitely want it–or you know someone who does. MLS Number 1003420 Julie Perkins Coldwell Banker Snow & Wall 615-415-0311 JuliePerkins@realtracs.com Cozy, right?  Check out the details: House For Sale.

  • Brought to you by Tums

    Did I survive a yard sale or I am still dreaming?  Oh wait, it rained today.  A yard sale on a rainy day would be counter productive. Silly rabbit…  Of course, it did stop raining.  Right after it poured and then rained and then stopped and then poured.  Hmmm.   I am delirious, I still…

  • The Final Decision

    Well the budgets have been created, checked, double checked, tweaked, triple checked, torn apart, put back together and checked again. Discussions have been had. …many, many times, and we have finally reached a decision. Looks like Drew And Jen are going to London! I have actually been holding off on publishing this blog post for…

  • The In-Between Time, Chapter Three

    Vegan chocolate chip cookies rock.  They rock pretty hard core, actually.  Vegan not-chicken noodle soup is excellent, but it doesn’t hold a candle to vegan chocolate chip cookies.  Thank you, Skinny Bitches, for the chocolate cake that saved my life and the cookies that rock my socks off. Now, on to things that do not…

  • The In-Between Time, Chapter Two

    I am sure that you are creative enough to imagine the kinds of things one considers as he or she contemplates a move.  You are likely to be crafty enough to formulate a loosely constructed course of action for relocation to another country.  Try as you might, though, I am not sure many deliberate the…

  • The In-Between Time, Chapter One

    It was a little strange coming home from the UK this time–maybe because I had been awake for the entire return journey, maybe because of the mind-blowing philosophy book I bought for the trip, or perhaps from the heat that hit us in Atlanta…but most likely because I wasn’t sure how long I might call…

  • The Visit, Day Five

    A simple girl in London has many things to be thankful for.  Body shapes and sizes are so varied and not many people endeavor to hide their jiggles and wiggles.  The wind is always blowing in London and the hairstyles are evidence of that.  In fact, it seems to be rather cool to look a mess,…

  • The Visit, Day Four

    Jet lag can be a bit tricky.  We tried sleeping with the shutters closed last evening because it gets light so early here, but it was still hard not to feel like we were oversleeping.  Our morning was spent planning a trip to Marlow to meet with my prospective employer.  We had to take a…

  • The Visit, Day Three

    Today started out with an early visit to the TM office to chat with a couple people I didn’t get a chance to meet with yesterday. Was only there for about an hour but I feel like I got a lot of important questions answered. Still have a few more people I have to touch…

  • The Visit, Day Two

    Yesterday was short and busy. Started the day off by sleeping till 11am local time after going to sleep around midnight – 11 hours of sleep, yeah, we suffered from jet-lag. After we finally got up and around we got ready, did a little catching up online and Jen prepped for a phone call with…

  • The Visit, Day One

    Jen and I touched down in the UK this morning at 9:00am local time after traveling for HOURS. We had been in the air since 4:00pm Nashville, which for those of you doing the math (and after the additional commute to the flat) means we were traveling for over 12 hours. It made for a…