I haven't really written about living in Leeds, but I am collecting ideas. So, if you have any questions about moving from the US to Leeds for school, or the area in general, possibly for the military, leave me a comment. I may also be able to help if you have questions about moving to the UK in general, but I can't make any promises on that.
If you have any ideas for posts you'd like to see in the future let me know!
If you'd like to request that I review a book please leave a comment. Include a brief description of the book, including which genre it is. Please also note if the book is an ARC and whether you are self-published.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
Life continues
Hmmm. I wanted to put a post up in January, but everything has been so jumbled up in my head. I was also sick from the end of October to the end of February, which didn't help my non-desire to write. Right now I have good days and bad days mentally. The good days are starting to outweigh the bad days and hopefully it'll stay that away.
I haven't been reading as many books, but hopefully that will start to pick up again too, and I'll be able to write more reviews.
I am working on a few new posts on:
Korean numbers
Korean cooking shows
Korean recipes
and Korean culture
I hope to have them available soon.
Currently watching: reviewing King of Food episodes for a future post!
Currently reading:
Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by Robin Hobb
Just started this book, only just got it from the library.
If you'd like to request that I review a book please leave a comment. Include a brief description of the book, including which genre it is. Please also note if the book is an ARC and whether you are self-published.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
I haven't been reading as many books, but hopefully that will start to pick up again too, and I'll be able to write more reviews.
I am working on a few new posts on:
Korean numbers
Korean cooking shows
Korean recipes
and Korean culture
I hope to have them available soon.
Currently watching: reviewing King of Food episodes for a future post!
Currently reading:
Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by Robin Hobb
Just started this book, only just got it from the library.
If you'd like to request that I review a book please leave a comment. Include a brief description of the book, including which genre it is. Please also note if the book is an ARC and whether you are self-published.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
The blahs
October 16,
I get the blahs some times. I worry about them, because I have been previously diagnosed with depression. The latest round of blahs started in November last year. There was November, March, June/July and now. I mostly chalked it up to stress, with moving and things changing. I'm sure part of the current set of blahs has to do with stress too, stress of change, money, trying to find a job and get things setup for our life. But, I was thinking back in March that I should go back and see the doctor again and maybe get put on medication again, but I didn't and I kind of regret it.
I am slowly climbing out of the depression and I really do want to write about our time and experience so far, before I forget things.
We left New York City on the 15th, and we had a 9 hour flight to London, we went through customs and then had to go to a different terminal to catch our flight to Leeds. The husband almost missed the flight to Leeds, because of the foil wrapper on his gum. Jasmine and I left him at the security desk so we could get on the bus that took a 20 minute drive (it might have been shorter, but not by much) to the airplane, that away we could at least tell the airplane crew he was on his way and they would hopefully wait for him, but he made it on time.
Leeds has an awful lot of food blogs, which I think is strange, because when I think of places to go and eat, Leeds isn't one of them.
Jasmine goes to ballet and swimming classes now on Saturdays.
I found Korean classes at the university.
Currently Reading:
The Affinity Bridge: A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation by George Mann
This book isn't going as well as I had hoped. The beginning was really awkward and stilted, the coversations between the characters feels odd and I couldn't really tell if this was supposed to be the first book in the series or not. It is a bit weird that the book isn't offered as a kindle version in the UK (as far as I could tell) and got a better rating in the US.
January 13, 2014
Yeah... this is so old.
When we arrived in Bradford (the Leeds/Bradford airport is clearly in Bradford and not between the two cities) I think I had two 30 minute naps, and Jasmine and the husband had been awake the whole time. We caught a taxi and told him to take us to the Hilton, but he took us to the Hilton in Leeds, our reservation was for the Hilton in Bradford and we couldn't change the reservation and since it was free (yay points) we had to take a taxi back to Leeds (ouch that was all painful and expensive lesson.) It was still morning and we fell asleep until about 5 or 6pm. We had dinner at the Chinese/Thai buffet next door and shopped for a few essentials, like toothpaste, and went back to sleep.
We had to get up early in the morning so we could go look at an apartment. We took the first one that we saw. Reflecting on that, I'm not sure if it was the best idea (the owner has done way too much work on the house on his own, we have already had a toaster on fire and the washer flooded the kitchen when a hose snapped under the cabinets), plus the place was filthy. However it was close to the university for the husband, and close to a school for Jasmine. When we had no idea where anything else was or how to get any where those to things where important.
After signing for the house we called and scheduled a cleaning company, talked to the owner about taking out furniture that we knew were weren't going to use, and called a cab to take use to Tesco Extra in Seacroft. When I read about Tesco when we were still in the US, it was described as being like Wal-Mart, but honesty that isn't true. At Wal-Mart you can expect this to be cheap, but still last for a long time. We bought a set of three pots and the littlest one has already rusted, and it looks like the middle one is on its way out already. So, I would says some times are more like the quality you would expect from the Dollar store, cheap and not long lasting. Without knowing better we had to buy things there, because we didn't know where else to go and there were things we just needed for the house, like pillows and blankets.
The next week the cleaning crew came out. Three people worked for four hours cleaning, it was just that bad. There are still spots that aren't clean, like over the kitchen cabinets. I love my home country, but they can't, or won't, make a decent cleaning product. I've scrubbed the kitchen cabinets over and over before the cleaning crew came out and the cleaning crew also scrubbed them, but they are still nasty and sticky to touch. Luckily there is a US base not too far away, where we can get US products from every once in a while.
Halloween was a bit disappointing here. Since we live in a university student area almost no one hands out candy. Plus, some punk ass kids smashed Jasmine's pumpkin. Next year we'll take Jasmine some place else for trick-or-treating.
For Thanksgiving we got all of our sides at one of the US bases here, and I got two turkey drumsticks and a turkey wing from one of the butchers at the Leeds Open Market. There's no way a whole turkey would have fit in our tiny oven, which is just as while since I didn't see a whole turkey on sale any where here.
The brother-in-law and his family came up from Germany for the Christmas break. We spent two days in London. The first day we went to The British Museum, which is free if you ever get a chance to go. Since it was during school break it was a bit crowded, we didn't get to see everything (that would be at least two or three days to do), but we did get to see the things that we specifically wanted to see. The next day we took a bus tour around London, we sat on the second floor of an open top double-decker bus, and it was really cold outside. It was fun, but because everything just takes so long, it is London, we didn't get to do as much as we had hoped. We had tickets a river cruise from the bus tour, but it was really quick and there isn't a guide who calls out the sights. We did stop at King's Cross station before leaving London and got our pictures taken at Platform 9 3/4. We also took a day trip and saw Sherwood Forest and bits of Nottingham. Unfortunately Nottingham Castle does charge, so we didn't see the inside of the castle. There was a lot more that we wanted to do, but because of the winter break there were a lot of places closed, especially places in the National Trust, which like The British Museum are free to see. So, that was a bit disappointing, because we didn't know that some of these places were going to be closed beforehand, we could have planned better.
Let's see... Jasmine still takes ballet classes on Saturday with Northern Ballet. On Sunday she has swimming classes at The Edge. She has moved up from Stage 1 to Stage 2, so there are kids her age in her class. In stage 1 I think she was the eldest. She still won't put her face in the water, but I think she is getting more confident and progressing nicely.
We are considering moving when our lease is up, not just because this place is still a bit of a mess, but we need to find a better school for Jasmine. The school she is in right now is totally disorganized. We are going to try to get her evaluated by an independent speech therapist in the meantime. The kids in her class are on multiplication, but Jasmine doesn't have a solid grasp of addition and subtraction yet. It just feels like she is being left behind. I know that she will be behind in things like US history when we go back to the US, but I don't think she should be behind on something like math, basic comprehension, spelling or reading. So, we'll see what they say at the evaluation.
Hopefully my next post won't be so drawn out. I'll try to get some decent pictures of the area and post them, but it might have to wait a little more. Mid-November it snowed a little bit here and water got into my phone, needless to say the phone died. I should have the new one soon. Yeah, I've been without a phone for two months.
Currently watching: Nothing, we have a test for Korean class on the 29th, so I am studying for that.
Currently reading:
City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
It is actually a reread, but going good so far.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
I get the blahs some times. I worry about them, because I have been previously diagnosed with depression. The latest round of blahs started in November last year. There was November, March, June/July and now. I mostly chalked it up to stress, with moving and things changing. I'm sure part of the current set of blahs has to do with stress too, stress of change, money, trying to find a job and get things setup for our life. But, I was thinking back in March that I should go back and see the doctor again and maybe get put on medication again, but I didn't and I kind of regret it.
I am slowly climbing out of the depression and I really do want to write about our time and experience so far, before I forget things.
We left New York City on the 15th, and we had a 9 hour flight to London, we went through customs and then had to go to a different terminal to catch our flight to Leeds. The husband almost missed the flight to Leeds, because of the foil wrapper on his gum. Jasmine and I left him at the security desk so we could get on the bus that took a 20 minute drive (it might have been shorter, but not by much) to the airplane, that away we could at least tell the airplane crew he was on his way and they would hopefully wait for him, but he made it on time.
Leeds has an awful lot of food blogs, which I think is strange, because when I think of places to go and eat, Leeds isn't one of them.
Jasmine goes to ballet and swimming classes now on Saturdays.
I found Korean classes at the university.
Currently Reading:
The Affinity Bridge: A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation by George Mann
This book isn't going as well as I had hoped. The beginning was really awkward and stilted, the coversations between the characters feels odd and I couldn't really tell if this was supposed to be the first book in the series or not. It is a bit weird that the book isn't offered as a kindle version in the UK (as far as I could tell) and got a better rating in the US.
January 13, 2014
Yeah... this is so old.
When we arrived in Bradford (the Leeds/Bradford airport is clearly in Bradford and not between the two cities) I think I had two 30 minute naps, and Jasmine and the husband had been awake the whole time. We caught a taxi and told him to take us to the Hilton, but he took us to the Hilton in Leeds, our reservation was for the Hilton in Bradford and we couldn't change the reservation and since it was free (yay points) we had to take a taxi back to Leeds (ouch that was all painful and expensive lesson.) It was still morning and we fell asleep until about 5 or 6pm. We had dinner at the Chinese/Thai buffet next door and shopped for a few essentials, like toothpaste, and went back to sleep.
We had to get up early in the morning so we could go look at an apartment. We took the first one that we saw. Reflecting on that, I'm not sure if it was the best idea (the owner has done way too much work on the house on his own, we have already had a toaster on fire and the washer flooded the kitchen when a hose snapped under the cabinets), plus the place was filthy. However it was close to the university for the husband, and close to a school for Jasmine. When we had no idea where anything else was or how to get any where those to things where important.
After signing for the house we called and scheduled a cleaning company, talked to the owner about taking out furniture that we knew were weren't going to use, and called a cab to take use to Tesco Extra in Seacroft. When I read about Tesco when we were still in the US, it was described as being like Wal-Mart, but honesty that isn't true. At Wal-Mart you can expect this to be cheap, but still last for a long time. We bought a set of three pots and the littlest one has already rusted, and it looks like the middle one is on its way out already. So, I would says some times are more like the quality you would expect from the Dollar store, cheap and not long lasting. Without knowing better we had to buy things there, because we didn't know where else to go and there were things we just needed for the house, like pillows and blankets.
The next week the cleaning crew came out. Three people worked for four hours cleaning, it was just that bad. There are still spots that aren't clean, like over the kitchen cabinets. I love my home country, but they can't, or won't, make a decent cleaning product. I've scrubbed the kitchen cabinets over and over before the cleaning crew came out and the cleaning crew also scrubbed them, but they are still nasty and sticky to touch. Luckily there is a US base not too far away, where we can get US products from every once in a while.
Halloween was a bit disappointing here. Since we live in a university student area almost no one hands out candy. Plus, some punk ass kids smashed Jasmine's pumpkin. Next year we'll take Jasmine some place else for trick-or-treating.
For Thanksgiving we got all of our sides at one of the US bases here, and I got two turkey drumsticks and a turkey wing from one of the butchers at the Leeds Open Market. There's no way a whole turkey would have fit in our tiny oven, which is just as while since I didn't see a whole turkey on sale any where here.
The brother-in-law and his family came up from Germany for the Christmas break. We spent two days in London. The first day we went to The British Museum, which is free if you ever get a chance to go. Since it was during school break it was a bit crowded, we didn't get to see everything (that would be at least two or three days to do), but we did get to see the things that we specifically wanted to see. The next day we took a bus tour around London, we sat on the second floor of an open top double-decker bus, and it was really cold outside. It was fun, but because everything just takes so long, it is London, we didn't get to do as much as we had hoped. We had tickets a river cruise from the bus tour, but it was really quick and there isn't a guide who calls out the sights. We did stop at King's Cross station before leaving London and got our pictures taken at Platform 9 3/4. We also took a day trip and saw Sherwood Forest and bits of Nottingham. Unfortunately Nottingham Castle does charge, so we didn't see the inside of the castle. There was a lot more that we wanted to do, but because of the winter break there were a lot of places closed, especially places in the National Trust, which like The British Museum are free to see. So, that was a bit disappointing, because we didn't know that some of these places were going to be closed beforehand, we could have planned better.
Let's see... Jasmine still takes ballet classes on Saturday with Northern Ballet. On Sunday she has swimming classes at The Edge. She has moved up from Stage 1 to Stage 2, so there are kids her age in her class. In stage 1 I think she was the eldest. She still won't put her face in the water, but I think she is getting more confident and progressing nicely.
We are considering moving when our lease is up, not just because this place is still a bit of a mess, but we need to find a better school for Jasmine. The school she is in right now is totally disorganized. We are going to try to get her evaluated by an independent speech therapist in the meantime. The kids in her class are on multiplication, but Jasmine doesn't have a solid grasp of addition and subtraction yet. It just feels like she is being left behind. I know that she will be behind in things like US history when we go back to the US, but I don't think she should be behind on something like math, basic comprehension, spelling or reading. So, we'll see what they say at the evaluation.
Hopefully my next post won't be so drawn out. I'll try to get some decent pictures of the area and post them, but it might have to wait a little more. Mid-November it snowed a little bit here and water got into my phone, needless to say the phone died. I should have the new one soon. Yeah, I've been without a phone for two months.
Currently watching: Nothing, we have a test for Korean class on the 29th, so I am studying for that.
Currently reading:
City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
It is actually a reread, but going good so far.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving!
I know I still haven't posted about our first days after arriving in the UK and Leeds. I do hope to get it up soon, but I've lacked inspiration to write recently and Jasmine and I were both sick this week. Luckily Jasmine's NHS number has come in and she was able to go to the university medical centre.
I found turkey at one of the butchers at the Leeds Open Market. They didn't carry whole turkeys, which is just as well, since one wouldn't fit in our tiny oven. They sell turkey necks, butts, wings and drumsticks, but no breasts. I got two drumsticks and a wing for £4.31, which is really reasonable since two small steaks, I don't know from which part of the cow since they only say frying steak, are £2.75.
I had to ask one of our lovely neighbors how to light the oven, more complicated than you would think. It took about an hour and half to cook the meat, these were huge drumsticks and wing. We got boxed sage stuffing, and tinned whole berry cranberry sauce when we went to the commissary at RAF Menwith Hill last time. I would have gotten the packaged fresh cranberries and made my own sauce, but they only had three packages and each one looked terrible, the berries were about to mold.
But the food was all good and we got to have dinner as a family. Hopefully next year we can invite friends, but this year we could only handle ourselves.
I forgot to take pictures, oh well. Still looking for a job too, not having much luck though. If anyone know of any part-time jobs in the Woodhouse area please let me know!
Currently watching: The Heirs. It has a really, really typical K-drama story line, but the actors make it fun to watch in my opinion.
Currently reading:
One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1): A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich
I don't normally read mystery books, but from the blurb on the back cover this one seemed like it would be fun, even though it is almost twenty years old.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
I found turkey at one of the butchers at the Leeds Open Market. They didn't carry whole turkeys, which is just as well, since one wouldn't fit in our tiny oven. They sell turkey necks, butts, wings and drumsticks, but no breasts. I got two drumsticks and a wing for £4.31, which is really reasonable since two small steaks, I don't know from which part of the cow since they only say frying steak, are £2.75.
I had to ask one of our lovely neighbors how to light the oven, more complicated than you would think. It took about an hour and half to cook the meat, these were huge drumsticks and wing. We got boxed sage stuffing, and tinned whole berry cranberry sauce when we went to the commissary at RAF Menwith Hill last time. I would have gotten the packaged fresh cranberries and made my own sauce, but they only had three packages and each one looked terrible, the berries were about to mold.
But the food was all good and we got to have dinner as a family. Hopefully next year we can invite friends, but this year we could only handle ourselves.
I forgot to take pictures, oh well. Still looking for a job too, not having much luck though. If anyone know of any part-time jobs in the Woodhouse area please let me know!
Currently watching: The Heirs. It has a really, really typical K-drama story line, but the actors make it fun to watch in my opinion.
Currently reading:
One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1): A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich
I don't normally read mystery books, but from the blurb on the back cover this one seemed like it would be fun, even though it is almost twenty years old.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Saturday, September 14, 2013
I'll fly away
We leave to go to England tomorrow (aka in about 14 hours since my insomnia is keeping me up.) I am nervous and anxious, but I am also excited and and full of anticipation for the adventure.
We sold our car right before leaving California and tomorrow we are turning off our phones. We are staying in a hotel right now, but we will continue to be homeless until we find a place to rent.
Luckily most of our things have already been packed up and sent on ahead, or I would probably be running around like crazy. Instead we have been able to enjoy the last few days and tour some of New York (West Point, bits of Sleepy Hollow and Tarry Town) and New York City. We took a dinner cruise of New York City, but we also drove downtown and saw the sights.
It is almost 2:30am. I am going to try to sleep.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
We sold our car right before leaving California and tomorrow we are turning off our phones. We are staying in a hotel right now, but we will continue to be homeless until we find a place to rent.
Luckily most of our things have already been packed up and sent on ahead, or I would probably be running around like crazy. Instead we have been able to enjoy the last few days and tour some of New York (West Point, bits of Sleepy Hollow and Tarry Town) and New York City. We took a dinner cruise of New York City, but we also drove downtown and saw the sights.
It is almost 2:30am. I am going to try to sleep.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Homeless
I came back from Dragon*Con sick. I am actually still sick. I didn't find any of the things that I would have wanted to buy, which I guess is just as well since we really don't have the space for extra stuff.
We left California on the 10th, and we are in New York until the 15th. We are living in hotel rooms until then, but we still have to find a place to live once we get to England on the 16th.
I don't know when we will get a permanent internet connection, so updates may be spotty until then.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
We left California on the 10th, and we are in New York until the 15th. We are living in hotel rooms until then, but we still have to find a place to live once we get to England on the 16th.
I don't know when we will get a permanent internet connection, so updates may be spotty until then.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Taking mini-vacations
We've been back several weeks now from our trip to Oklahoma. Jasmine and I had a great time. We stopped at the Grand Canyon on our way out to see my Father, we didn't do the Skywalk, because it was $187 for me and Jasmine and no cameras allowed. That was just too much money, so we went to Guano Point instead. On the way back from my Father's we stopped at the Petrified Forest we didn't get to stay long since it was getting dark and it started raining, Meteor Crater right after we got up, so it was early in the morning, but still hot, a Deer Farm the deer were a bit pushy, but Jasmine got to hold a baby wallaby and she was enchanted with him, Bearizona Jasmine loved being able to drive through the wildlife park, and Hoover Dam on the way back. We had a pretty good time. I don't know if I will get a chance to upload any pictures, but if I remember I will try to.
We have about a month left in the U.S. Saturday we leave to go to Las Vegas and see my Mother for a week, then we'll go to Carson City and spend Jasmine's birthday with her school friends and my mother-in-law. We'll drop Jasmine back off with my mother-in-law while we attend Dragon*Con, after that we will go to New York for five days and leave from New York to go to Leeds.
My new passport arrived and soon we are going to go get the husband and Jasmine's visas.
We have tickets to Leeds already, leaving from New York, but we still need to sell the cars and bed and not a lot of time left. My anxiety is high. My internet is not good and we don't have a lot of time left, not sure if I'll get to do any more updates.
Currently watching:
Who Are You (후아유): Only up to episode 6, because that is all that has been released. I think they are on a Monday/Tuesday schedule, 2 episodes a week. It is really good so far.
Good Doctor (굿 닥터): On episode 3, only 4 have been released. I like the main character, an autistic doctor, but what I don't like is how the other characters keep saying that he can be cured.
The Blade and Petal (칼과 꽃): On episode 3 of this too, 13 have been released. This is a bit slow going, I'm waiting for the action to pick up.
Currently reading:
Freak of Nature (IFICS Book 1) by Julia Crane
I thought this book would be more science-fiction, so it is a bit disappointing that it is not progressing the way that I thought it would.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
We have about a month left in the U.S. Saturday we leave to go to Las Vegas and see my Mother for a week, then we'll go to Carson City and spend Jasmine's birthday with her school friends and my mother-in-law. We'll drop Jasmine back off with my mother-in-law while we attend Dragon*Con, after that we will go to New York for five days and leave from New York to go to Leeds.
My new passport arrived and soon we are going to go get the husband and Jasmine's visas.
We have tickets to Leeds already, leaving from New York, but we still need to sell the cars and bed and not a lot of time left. My anxiety is high. My internet is not good and we don't have a lot of time left, not sure if I'll get to do any more updates.
Currently watching:
Who Are You (후아유): Only up to episode 6, because that is all that has been released. I think they are on a Monday/Tuesday schedule, 2 episodes a week. It is really good so far.
Good Doctor (굿 닥터): On episode 3, only 4 have been released. I like the main character, an autistic doctor, but what I don't like is how the other characters keep saying that he can be cured.
The Blade and Petal (칼과 꽃): On episode 3 of this too, 13 have been released. This is a bit slow going, I'm waiting for the action to pick up.
Currently reading:
Freak of Nature (IFICS Book 1) by Julia Crane
I thought this book would be more science-fiction, so it is a bit disappointing that it is not progressing the way that I thought it would.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
California
We have been living in California for almost a week. Most of it has been hot and miserable. Where we are has been going through a heat wave.
In about a week Jasmine and I will be driving to Oklahoma. We will be making a few stops along the way to see some family and friends. We will be driving all of the things that we want to keep, but don't want to ship to England, to my Dad's home. He will store them for us while we are gone. It will probably be a four day drive, a week-long stay and a four day drive back.
After that we have about a two week rest and have to go see my mom for a week, fly back to Carson and celebrate Jasmine's birthday. We will drive back to California and wait a couple of days to drive back to Carson to drop Jasmine off with the mother-in-law. Then the husband and I will be flying to Dragon*Con in Atlanta... in August. Phew... I can already feel the heat and humidity.
About two weeks after that we will be off to Leeds. Our time in the USA is ending quickly, yet slowly at the same time.
July 9, 2013
AHHHHH! Never mind what I wrote about Oklahoma. Jasmine and I were in a car accident today. We are completely fine, but the car is not. I'm not sure how we are going to Oklahoma, but right now I am not driving the car.
I at least got to mail off the renewal of my passport, but that was really the only thing I accomplished today.
I better publish this post before something else happens.
Currently Reading:
Blood Calling (The Blood Calling Series Book 1) by Joshua Grover-David
I got this as a free kindle and read it. It is a pretty good story, good enough that I would pay to read the next book. It is about vampires, but has a re-imagining of their purpose in the world.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
In about a week Jasmine and I will be driving to Oklahoma. We will be making a few stops along the way to see some family and friends. We will be driving all of the things that we want to keep, but don't want to ship to England, to my Dad's home. He will store them for us while we are gone. It will probably be a four day drive, a week-long stay and a four day drive back.
After that we have about a two week rest and have to go see my mom for a week, fly back to Carson and celebrate Jasmine's birthday. We will drive back to California and wait a couple of days to drive back to Carson to drop Jasmine off with the mother-in-law. Then the husband and I will be flying to Dragon*Con in Atlanta... in August. Phew... I can already feel the heat and humidity.
About two weeks after that we will be off to Leeds. Our time in the USA is ending quickly, yet slowly at the same time.
July 9, 2013
AHHHHH! Never mind what I wrote about Oklahoma. Jasmine and I were in a car accident today. We are completely fine, but the car is not. I'm not sure how we are going to Oklahoma, but right now I am not driving the car.
I at least got to mail off the renewal of my passport, but that was really the only thing I accomplished today.
I better publish this post before something else happens.
Currently Reading:
Blood Calling (The Blood Calling Series Book 1) by Joshua Grover-David
I got this as a free kindle and read it. It is a pretty good story, good enough that I would pay to read the next book. It is about vampires, but has a re-imagining of their purpose in the world.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
And moving on
Well, we finally closed on the house on the 3rd of May. It is completely gone and sold. We are now at a friend's house, all of our stuff squished into one room. The husband is back from California.
A few plans have changed, we may be leaving in 3 to 6 weeks to go to California until the husband retires. The husband interviews tomorrow (okay, it has been long enough since I first started typing this that the interview occurred over a week ago and the husband did get the assistanceship!) to see if he will teach (well, be a TA), if he gets the job then we will leave some time after September 19th, he will start on the 24th. That doesn't give us a lot of time to get to England and settle in. If he doesn't get the job I think we will be going with our original plan and not leave until the end of November, but I don't know if we will stay the whole time in California.
Some things are settled, but a lot of things are still up in the air. It is a stressor, or at least for me it is.
I am taking a few courses with Coursera. They are free, taught through various universities, community style (videos and forums.) Right now I am taking "Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade," to brush up on my English grammar, and "Introduction to Art: Concepts & Techniques," just for fun. As you can see some of the English homework has made its way here since the teachers wanted it to be hosted online, I don't know why.
There's also a class called "English Common Law: Structure and Principles," starting in a couple of days, figured I needed to brush up a little bit on English law before we moved. I am also enrolled in: "Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets," sounded like fun and I have enjoyed the few archaeology (luckily I already spell that the British way) classes I have taken for college; "Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World," I normally only read Fantasy or Science Fiction, although I am currently really into steampunk, I also enjoy writing and normally write in fantasy settings; "Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies For Your Classroom," okay, I don't teach, so I don't know how useful this information would be, but I figured that it couldn't hurt to learn it; "From the Big Bang to Dark Energy," Astronomy! If I was better at math I would want to be an astronomer... or a chemist, probably a chemist, then I could blow stuff up; "From the Repertoire: Western Music History through Performance," music, not sure what else to say about this class beyond that I like music; "Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers," another art class, not sure how useful this one will be either, but it sounded interesting; "Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy," another astronomy class, yay!
Some of the universities hosting the classes are big, famous universities, like Brown University, and the classes aren't all at the same time, for example, the "Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy" class isn't until next year. But if you complete the class you get a certificate of some kind, I don't know what kind yet because I am only on my first class.
The lovely Gail Carriger is have a contest for an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Curtsies & Conspiracies, which is set to come out November 5th. Curtsies & Conspiracies is the second book of the Finishing School series. I have had Etiquette & Espionage in my Currently Reading section before, but it will show up there again, since I will need to refresh my memory to write the 60 word review. The contest ends June 10th, you can find the rest of the rules here.
Currently reading:
The Iron Butterfly (The Iron Butterfly Series Book 1) by Chanda Hahn
This is the book that my FB book reading group picked. It is a free kindle, I've had it for a week, but I've only managed to get to page 10. Hopefully things will settle down soon.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
A few plans have changed, we may be leaving in 3 to 6 weeks to go to California until the husband retires. The husband interviews tomorrow (okay, it has been long enough since I first started typing this that the interview occurred over a week ago and the husband did get the assistanceship!) to see if he will teach (well, be a TA), if he gets the job then we will leave some time after September 19th, he will start on the 24th. That doesn't give us a lot of time to get to England and settle in. If he doesn't get the job I think we will be going with our original plan and not leave until the end of November, but I don't know if we will stay the whole time in California.
Some things are settled, but a lot of things are still up in the air. It is a stressor, or at least for me it is.
I am taking a few courses with Coursera. They are free, taught through various universities, community style (videos and forums.) Right now I am taking "Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade," to brush up on my English grammar, and "Introduction to Art: Concepts & Techniques," just for fun. As you can see some of the English homework has made its way here since the teachers wanted it to be hosted online, I don't know why.
There's also a class called "English Common Law: Structure and Principles," starting in a couple of days, figured I needed to brush up a little bit on English law before we moved. I am also enrolled in: "Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets," sounded like fun and I have enjoyed the few archaeology (luckily I already spell that the British way) classes I have taken for college; "Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World," I normally only read Fantasy or Science Fiction, although I am currently really into steampunk, I also enjoy writing and normally write in fantasy settings; "Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies For Your Classroom," okay, I don't teach, so I don't know how useful this information would be, but I figured that it couldn't hurt to learn it; "From the Big Bang to Dark Energy," Astronomy! If I was better at math I would want to be an astronomer... or a chemist, probably a chemist, then I could blow stuff up; "From the Repertoire: Western Music History through Performance," music, not sure what else to say about this class beyond that I like music; "Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers," another art class, not sure how useful this one will be either, but it sounded interesting; "Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy," another astronomy class, yay!
Some of the universities hosting the classes are big, famous universities, like Brown University, and the classes aren't all at the same time, for example, the "Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy" class isn't until next year. But if you complete the class you get a certificate of some kind, I don't know what kind yet because I am only on my first class.
The lovely Gail Carriger is have a contest for an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Curtsies & Conspiracies, which is set to come out November 5th. Curtsies & Conspiracies is the second book of the Finishing School series. I have had Etiquette & Espionage in my Currently Reading section before, but it will show up there again, since I will need to refresh my memory to write the 60 word review. The contest ends June 10th, you can find the rest of the rules here.
Currently reading:
The Iron Butterfly (The Iron Butterfly Series Book 1) by Chanda Hahn
This is the book that my FB book reading group picked. It is a free kindle, I've had it for a week, but I've only managed to get to page 10. Hopefully things will settle down soon.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Assorted news
It has been busy here. We finally have a closing date on the house. The estate sale is this Saturday and then the close is the first week of May.
On April 27 we will be attending Nova Albion, a steampunk convention. I want to see Gail Carriger, and hopefully get a few books signed, and I would like to hear Ay-leen from Beyond Victoriana speak, hopefully specifically about Asians in the steampunk world, since I am half-Korean I know most people identify me as Asian only.
The husband is presenting a paper at Dragon*Con at the end of August, so we will be attending all four days of that. We are going to dress up, all the more reason to listen to Ay-leen, I would like to try to do Korean steampunk for one of the outfits, but I don't know how it will go.
Then at the end of November or the beginning of December we will be leaving and moving to Leeds, UK. The husband was officially accepted. We have a little bit over seven months left, we are renting out a room with some friends, I kind of want it all done. We will only be in Leeds for three years. Just enough time for Jasmine to pick up a British accent and then get put in Speech classes like I was.
Currently reading:
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School Book1) by Gail Carriger
This is the first book in a new series by Gail Carriger. I have read it before, but it is worth rereading, and refreshing the memory before seeing the illustrious author.
Currently watching:
Gu Family Book (구가의 서)
The synopsis from viki.com: Can a man born to a human mother and a mythical-creature father find a way to become a real human and live the life he desperately desires? Choi Kang Chi is a gumiho (a fox with nine tails) whose mother is Yoon Seo Hwa, a human, who fell in love with Gu Wal Ryung, the guardian god of the Jiri Mountains. Chased by their enemies, Seo Hwa sends Kang Chi in a basket down the river so that he will not be captured. The Choi family finds baby Kang Chi floating in the river and raise him. Kang Chi discovers his true identity by chance one day, and he becomes determined to become a real human. Can Dam Yeo Wool, a master martial artist and archer, help him in his quest? “Gu Family Book,” also known as “Ancient Medical Book,” “The Writings of Nine Houses” and “Book of the House of Gu,” is a 2013 South Korean historical drama series directed by Shin Woo Chul, an award-winning director who also directed “A Gentleman’s Dignity” (2012), “Secret Garden” (2010), and “City Hall” (2009).
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
On April 27 we will be attending Nova Albion, a steampunk convention. I want to see Gail Carriger, and hopefully get a few books signed, and I would like to hear Ay-leen from Beyond Victoriana speak, hopefully specifically about Asians in the steampunk world, since I am half-Korean I know most people identify me as Asian only.
The husband is presenting a paper at Dragon*Con at the end of August, so we will be attending all four days of that. We are going to dress up, all the more reason to listen to Ay-leen, I would like to try to do Korean steampunk for one of the outfits, but I don't know how it will go.
Then at the end of November or the beginning of December we will be leaving and moving to Leeds, UK. The husband was officially accepted. We have a little bit over seven months left, we are renting out a room with some friends, I kind of want it all done. We will only be in Leeds for three years. Just enough time for Jasmine to pick up a British accent and then get put in Speech classes like I was.
Currently reading:
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School Book1) by Gail Carriger
This is the first book in a new series by Gail Carriger. I have read it before, but it is worth rereading, and refreshing the memory before seeing the illustrious author.
Currently watching:
Gu Family Book (구가의 서)
The synopsis from viki.com: Can a man born to a human mother and a mythical-creature father find a way to become a real human and live the life he desperately desires? Choi Kang Chi is a gumiho (a fox with nine tails) whose mother is Yoon Seo Hwa, a human, who fell in love with Gu Wal Ryung, the guardian god of the Jiri Mountains. Chased by their enemies, Seo Hwa sends Kang Chi in a basket down the river so that he will not be captured. The Choi family finds baby Kang Chi floating in the river and raise him. Kang Chi discovers his true identity by chance one day, and he becomes determined to become a real human. Can Dam Yeo Wool, a master martial artist and archer, help him in his quest? “Gu Family Book,” also known as “Ancient Medical Book,” “The Writings of Nine Houses” and “Book of the House of Gu,” is a 2013 South Korean historical drama series directed by Shin Woo Chul, an award-winning director who also directed “A Gentleman’s Dignity” (2012), “Secret Garden” (2010), and “City Hall” (2009).
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Moving along
February 20, 2013
I really had planned on posting so much more often this year, but it just isn't working out.
Our house is on the market right now, you can buy it if you want to. We are in the process of moving the things that we want to keep to the place that we will live temporary, and trying to sell the things that we don't want to keep. There were 3 showings Saturday, 2 yesterday and there is one later today, but there are already 4 bids in on the house. Which is great I guess, but we won't see any of the money, so I'm not sure if I really care. We need to see about selling the things that we aren't going to keep and I am worried we won't have enough time for that.
We cancelled Jasmine's taekwondo classes, the drive would just be too much, but we might see if we can put her in ballet classes instead. I don't think she will miss the taekwondo classes. It isn't that she hated them or didn't like them, she just likes other things better.
We will live in Dayton temporarily with some friends while we find out where we are going next.
February 27, 2013
As you can see I got distracted again. Well, we have signed to sell our house.
March 19, 2013
OMG. I might as well give up on this and just post it.
We have been busy. We spent a week in Charleston, SC, and a weekend in San Ramon, CA.
So, we signed on selling the house, the bank finally approved it, now we have sixty days to move out. I am not sure if the sixty days started from when we first signed to sell or if it is from today.
Since we are moving all of my books nowadays are either ebooks or from the library.
Currently reading:
UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 1) by Chanda Hahn
Got this book as a free kindle book, but there is the paperback edition. It is a quick and fun read, there are a few, minor, personal issues with the book, but overall enjoyable and I do like a good retelling of fairy tales.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
I really had planned on posting so much more often this year, but it just isn't working out.
Our house is on the market right now, you can buy it if you want to. We are in the process of moving the things that we want to keep to the place that we will live temporary, and trying to sell the things that we don't want to keep. There were 3 showings Saturday, 2 yesterday and there is one later today, but there are already 4 bids in on the house. Which is great I guess, but we won't see any of the money, so I'm not sure if I really care. We need to see about selling the things that we aren't going to keep and I am worried we won't have enough time for that.
We cancelled Jasmine's taekwondo classes, the drive would just be too much, but we might see if we can put her in ballet classes instead. I don't think she will miss the taekwondo classes. It isn't that she hated them or didn't like them, she just likes other things better.
We will live in Dayton temporarily with some friends while we find out where we are going next.
February 27, 2013
As you can see I got distracted again. Well, we have signed to sell our house.
March 19, 2013
OMG. I might as well give up on this and just post it.
We have been busy. We spent a week in Charleston, SC, and a weekend in San Ramon, CA.
So, we signed on selling the house, the bank finally approved it, now we have sixty days to move out. I am not sure if the sixty days started from when we first signed to sell or if it is from today.
Since we are moving all of my books nowadays are either ebooks or from the library.
Currently reading:
UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 1) by Chanda Hahn
Got this book as a free kindle book, but there is the paperback edition. It is a quick and fun read, there are a few, minor, personal issues with the book, but overall enjoyable and I do like a good retelling of fairy tales.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Hello New Year!
Happy New Year!
Well, as you can see I didn't get to post my 순두부 찌게 Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew) recipe before I left. I still need to take down all the holiday decorations too.
***
Oops. Well, I am late again. I started this post, but didn't finish it.Well, as you can see I didn't get to post my 순두부 찌게 Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew) recipe before I left. I still need to take down all the holiday decorations too.
***
Well, I am almost at the end of week two of Kaiafit. I haven't died yet, but my knees and hips hurt a bit, my arms really hurt, but I have lost seven pounds. Hard to argue with that.
Here are my resolutions so far:
Lose more weight.
Write more, I was going to try to post here once a week, but I have already failed >.<
Submit a story or article somewhere, anywhere.
I feel like I should have one or two more resolutions, but I haven't thought of anything yet.
Currently watching: Cheongdamdong Alice (청담동 앨리스)
Currently reading:
Cloud Atlas: A Novel by David Mitchell
I went and saw the movie before reading the book. I liked the movie and I borrowed the book from the library. I don't know why, but Robert Forbisher's part is really difficult to read. I know some people didn't like the movie, not because the movie wasn't good, but because there was an added reincarnation element, which I think is ridiculous it is in the book if you read carefully. And because of white people in "yellow face", which I think it was unnecessary. I find it hard to believe that Korea of 2144 would still be a mostly homogenous society.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Dieting woes and other things
I have lost about 5 pounds in the last few days, but mostly because I was sick. Yesterday I was feeling all blarghy, so I didn't eat anything all day.
I went to the store today, did you know you can't buy a single 12 oz. soda by itself. They are all 20 oz. or more, if you want a 12 oz. can you have to buy more than one. all the 20 oz. sodas are 200 and more calories, even the tiny 9.5 oz of Starbucks frappuccinos are 200 calories.
So I ended up with a 20 oz. Gatorade, even though I really did want something with caffiene in it. It is still 160 calories.
I want to keep the weight I lost off, so I have to count my calories, also if I do the Kaiafit thing I have to keep a food log any way, so I figured that I better start now. Of course I had half a fillet of mackeral for lunch and I have no idea how many calories that is... this counting calories thing sucks.
Although I am baking cookies today. Tomorrow is Jasmine's last day of school before the winter break, and they are having a pajama party. So I am going to make Chocolate and Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies and some sugar cookies shaped like snowflakes. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.
12/24/12 Oops, forgot to publish this. Anyway, went to Kaiafit on Saturday and I am still sore. I did sign up for the BRIK. I am going to die.
I need to figure out some New Year's resolutions, besides the same one I have every year, lose weight.
I finished watching an old Korean drama, Assorted Gems. It was 50 episodes long, and very rushed at the end. I think the last episdoe in particular was rushed and too much was just slammed together.
I will try to remember later to write about the variouse Korean dramas I have watched.
I will try to post my 순두부 찌게 Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew) recipe before we leave for Las Vegas, for New Year's.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
I went to the store today, did you know you can't buy a single 12 oz. soda by itself. They are all 20 oz. or more, if you want a 12 oz. can you have to buy more than one. all the 20 oz. sodas are 200 and more calories, even the tiny 9.5 oz of Starbucks frappuccinos are 200 calories.
So I ended up with a 20 oz. Gatorade, even though I really did want something with caffiene in it. It is still 160 calories.
I want to keep the weight I lost off, so I have to count my calories, also if I do the Kaiafit thing I have to keep a food log any way, so I figured that I better start now. Of course I had half a fillet of mackeral for lunch and I have no idea how many calories that is... this counting calories thing sucks.
Although I am baking cookies today. Tomorrow is Jasmine's last day of school before the winter break, and they are having a pajama party. So I am going to make Chocolate and Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies and some sugar cookies shaped like snowflakes. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.
12/24/12 Oops, forgot to publish this. Anyway, went to Kaiafit on Saturday and I am still sore. I did sign up for the BRIK. I am going to die.
I need to figure out some New Year's resolutions, besides the same one I have every year, lose weight.
I finished watching an old Korean drama, Assorted Gems. It was 50 episodes long, and very rushed at the end. I think the last episdoe in particular was rushed and too much was just slammed together.
I will try to remember later to write about the variouse Korean dramas I have watched.
I will try to post my 순두부 찌게 Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew) recipe before we leave for Las Vegas, for New Year's.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
End-of-the-year-rush update
I stareted using allrecipes.com to help selecting dinner items to cook. They have a spot that you can design weekly menus, you have to pay to save them, but I can plan out the whole week and just write in a notebook the items I selected and then purchase just what we need. That away we aren't throwing away so much excess. We are really trying to cut down on eating out so much and dinners out is where we spend the most. The second is lunches, or more lunches for Jasmine. But some times she is so picky.
I texted the above to myself at the beginning of November, as you can tell it did not get posted. I have tons of things I want to post, recipes, crafts and just life in general posts, but often finding the time to set down and write out a post doesn't happen.
As an example I used the allrecipes.com site for one week, and then life, visitors and finals happened and I haven't been able to use it since. But for that week it did work out pretty well, even when I had to make adjustments for a few days of not having the husband around. I think we will try it again after the New Year starts, but can't guarantee anything.
The beginning of the New Year is when we will start trying to sell our house. We ahve found a rather nice set of apartments that have an indoor pool, which if there is availabilty is where we will move to temporary, until the reall big move. Right now we are waiting on Oxford and Brown University in Rhode Island. Cambridge said no, Auckland said yes. We should hear from Oxford and Brown by the end of March and will make our decision then.
If we move to Rhode Island or Oxford I may need to go back to work. If we move to New Zealnad I am not sure what we are going to do, it is apparently ver difficult to get a work visa. What I would like to do is apply to the University of Auckland myself and go through their Bachelor's of Asian Studies with an emphasis in Korean. Afterwards I could work on an MFA in linguistics/translations. But I don't know if we could afford having both of us go to school. But still, I would like to try.
I think one of the things I need to do is get back into writing, and maybe see if I can sell some short stories or something. Maybe I can earn some money that away, since we are going to keep our P.O. Box due to the husband's home business.
I think it will be easier to sit down and write once we move and get rid of all the excess junk we have collected over the years. Right now everything feels messy and I never get anything done.
In the New Year the husband and I are thinking of doing a fitness/workout bootcamp with one of the local fitness clubs. I am also thinking of eating a pescetarian diet for a while. I think I need to cut out beef, pork and dairy. I often crave beef and cheese, but I think it is making me fat and tired. My mother was here the last week and during that time I was eating a mostly pescetarian diet, and while I didn't lose any weight I did feel better.
I choose my end weight sort of at random, it is the weight I was at the end of college, but that part is not so important for me. I want to look better, but I really also want to feel better and especially have more energy.
So far I have 2 goals for 2013, finish and submit a short story, lose weight. I am also going to try to write a post once a week, but it won't be a hard goal.
I'll write more later.
Book recommendation:
Abandon Book 2: Underworld by Meg Cabot
.
I don't know why, but recently there has been a lot of Hades/Persephone books come out. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
is another series about the Hades/Persephone myth, but I didn't like the first book very much and have not read the rest of the series. This series Abandon
by Meg Cabot isn't as good as some of her other works, but in my opinion a better take on the myth than Everneath. There is still another book to come out in the series, so I don't know how it is going to end.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
I texted the above to myself at the beginning of November, as you can tell it did not get posted. I have tons of things I want to post, recipes, crafts and just life in general posts, but often finding the time to set down and write out a post doesn't happen.
As an example I used the allrecipes.com site for one week, and then life, visitors and finals happened and I haven't been able to use it since. But for that week it did work out pretty well, even when I had to make adjustments for a few days of not having the husband around. I think we will try it again after the New Year starts, but can't guarantee anything.
The beginning of the New Year is when we will start trying to sell our house. We ahve found a rather nice set of apartments that have an indoor pool, which if there is availabilty is where we will move to temporary, until the reall big move. Right now we are waiting on Oxford and Brown University in Rhode Island. Cambridge said no, Auckland said yes. We should hear from Oxford and Brown by the end of March and will make our decision then.
If we move to Rhode Island or Oxford I may need to go back to work. If we move to New Zealnad I am not sure what we are going to do, it is apparently ver difficult to get a work visa. What I would like to do is apply to the University of Auckland myself and go through their Bachelor's of Asian Studies with an emphasis in Korean. Afterwards I could work on an MFA in linguistics/translations. But I don't know if we could afford having both of us go to school. But still, I would like to try.
I think one of the things I need to do is get back into writing, and maybe see if I can sell some short stories or something. Maybe I can earn some money that away, since we are going to keep our P.O. Box due to the husband's home business.
I think it will be easier to sit down and write once we move and get rid of all the excess junk we have collected over the years. Right now everything feels messy and I never get anything done.
In the New Year the husband and I are thinking of doing a fitness/workout bootcamp with one of the local fitness clubs. I am also thinking of eating a pescetarian diet for a while. I think I need to cut out beef, pork and dairy. I often crave beef and cheese, but I think it is making me fat and tired. My mother was here the last week and during that time I was eating a mostly pescetarian diet, and while I didn't lose any weight I did feel better.
I choose my end weight sort of at random, it is the weight I was at the end of college, but that part is not so important for me. I want to look better, but I really also want to feel better and especially have more energy.
So far I have 2 goals for 2013, finish and submit a short story, lose weight. I am also going to try to write a post once a week, but it won't be a hard goal.
I'll write more later.
Book recommendation:
Abandon Book 2: Underworld by Meg Cabot
.I don't know why, but recently there has been a lot of Hades/Persephone books come out. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
is another series about the Hades/Persephone myth, but I didn't like the first book very much and have not read the rest of the series. This series Abandon
by Meg Cabot isn't as good as some of her other works, but in my opinion a better take on the myth than Everneath. There is still another book to come out in the series, so I don't know how it is going to end.Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Where is all the time going?
We only got to see them for a few hours on Saturday, since they had to drive that night to San Fransico in order to catch an airplane Sunday morning.
Jasmine was Wonder Woman for Halloween and she was really cute. I dressed up as Hippolyta, Wonder Woman's mother, and a friend dressed up as Circe, Wonder Woman's arch-nemesis.
It looks like we aren't going to have any problems with the bank taking back our house, so we are looking at apartments and houses for rent now. We plan on having a place in December so we can start moving the things we are going to keep. The bank should close on the house in January.
We should find out about different colleges by February or March. The husband did not get the Marshall Scholarship, but that is okay. He has gotten accepted into Nanyang Technical University, and to The University of Auckland. We are waiting on word from Cambridge and Oxford. He is also applying to Brown University in Rhode Island.
My mother is supposed to visit mid-December, my best friend is coming out of Texas at the end of March and my father is supposed to visit either in April or May. So we will be a bit busy.
The husband is graduating in December and I should, if the school can get its act together, graduate in May.
I think that is all that is happening now. I am preparing other posts, but have to find the time to finish writing them.
Swagbucks it is how I make money for amazon gift cards!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
A new start
I got tired of going back and forth between blogs and it really drove my desire to write straight down. Now I will just have one place and be able to write whatever I want to write about.
Tons of things have happened since I wrote any where.
In July, before we left for Greece, Jasmine had her testing at Taekwondo and is now a confirmed yellow belt.
Then we flew off to Greece and had a fabulous time with the family, brother and sister-in-law, and cousins. We got to see a lot of great places and swim in the Agean Sea several times. I do wish we could have gone in a cooler month, it would have made all that hiking a lot more pleasent.
On the way home we flew British Airways into London. AH! Finally a proper cup of tea. I tested this and when we flew on American Airlines on the way from London to Chicago I ordered a cup of tea... yeah it was nasty and I immediately regretted the decision.
After coming back from Greece I got bronchitis and tonsillitis. Not fun. The tonsillitis lasted about a week and a half, but the bronchitis was never-ending.
We had Jasmine's birthday and then school started at the end of August. Jasmine is in first grade at Carson Montessori and really liking it there, she asks to go to school on the weekends.
I was supposed to take a second Korean class online, but it was cancelled after the first week, so I had to scramble to register for Painting II at WNC.
I am supposed to have only two more classes to finish at WNC for my associates, but I found out when they did my transfer credits, for the second time, they took away one of the social science credits they had previously given me. So, I am waiting for a copy of my transcript and then I will need to make an appointment and argue with them. I am also going to try and get out of the digital photography class at the same time.
Well, my husband is graduating this December with his Master's in Philosophy from UNR. So, we sat down to talk. He wants to continue with his doctorate right away. So, we are moving. Internationally. We aren't sure when or where yet, but it is happening.
Right now the first scholarhsip ends mid-November, and that scholarship is UK-centric. He is applying to Cambridge, Oxford and St. Andrews. He has a 1:12 chance of getting the Marshall Scholarship, but even if he doesn't get it there is a possibility that he might get a scholarship from one of the universitites.
After he has exhusted all the possibilites in the UK we still have New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. Singapore is lasted because it is such a large city, and there will be some finacial burden, as an example Jasmine would have to go to a private school, and my husband's PTSD kicks in when he is in crowds of people, it doesn't even have to be a large crowd of people and it can even be people he knows. Anyway New Zealand and the rest won't happen until 2014.
We are trying to sell our house for the cost of the loan, but since our house is vauled at 130k less than what we payed for it, that is probably not going to happen. We will probably have to do a short sale, that will hurt our credit rating for a few years, but the shortest doctorate program is two years so most of that will be cleared up by the time we get back.
If we do get the Marshall scholarship and my husband gets into Oxford we would move in July of next year. That would leave me only one semester to complete my degree, which is why those transfer credits are so important. If he gets into Cambridge we would leave early October, which would give me a summer class possibility if the right classes are offered.
So, we do a whole lot of waiting and planning, but we can't make any solid plans because everything depends on other people. I look at furnished apartments online all over the UK. We are selling most of our possesions since it is too expensive to ship things and they aren't worth storing. We made a deal that things we couldn't store at friends and families houses we would sell. We are not getting a storage unit.
Of course in all this my mother-in-law has become a super drama queen. Oh, how could we drag her to Northern Nevada and then abandon her here. When my father-in-law was dying she had no where else that she wanted to go. Her daughter is living in 'Vegas and she could have moved there. But nope, she didn't want to live with daughter and grandkids. Now the mother-in-law owes us 11k, that we know we will never see, and thinks that it is our fault that she didn't plan during the years that she knew that my husband's father was dying. It is very frustrating.
But there is no way in hell that she is moving with us internationally.
There's no way I could do it.
I'm going to stop here and write more later.
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