The Journey from the USA to England

This is the beginning of our new adventure.  Not everything can run smoothly in life as many of us have found out at one point or another but in the end we hope that everything turns out for the best and know that life will not hand us more than we can handle.  And if it tries to, we have family to lean on and help out where needed.

March of 2012, we found out that we had orders to Alconbury, England.  This was a shock to all of us.  We  were in Ohio for the birth of the Twins when we received the call from Mat. I had so many questions and so did he.

ALCONBURY??  WHERE IS THAT?  WHAT CAN WE TAKE?  WHO GOES THERE? DO THEY DEPLOY? WHAT ABOUT OUR HOUSE IN THE STATES? OUR CARS? WHERE WILL WE LIVE? WHAT ABOUT SCHOOLS? DO WE CHOOSE ON BASE SCHOOLS OR BRITISH SCHOOLS? WHAT IS THE BEST FOR OUR FAMILY?

First was to inform the family who were all supportive yet saddened by the fact that we would be moving further away than a car ride.  We had done it before but there was always an option to drive if needed. This time was different.  With the kids getting older, it was hard to tell them they were moving further away from their Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends.  They did not quite understand why.  Even after we told  them that is where Dad's new job was going to be they still did not know why they had to go.  They had never had to go overseas when he did.  Why now?  We explained this was a family move just like when we moved to Arizona and again to New Jersey. They were excited for an adventure but knew that they would miss everyone.

Arrangements were soon made.  First, we had to place the house on the market.  This was not an easy process.  We had to find someone that specialized in Short Sales.  Even though we loved the house and the house was upgraded during the time we were there, we knew we would not be able to sell it for what we owed on it.  The market was just not there.  Luckily we were able to place it on the market and a buyer came soon after!  There were many appointments that needed to take care of so we could clear everyone to fly.  There were dental appointments and doctors appointments.  I had to schedule appointments with the teachers to get all there paperwork so they could attend school in England.  Mat had many appointments to clear everything he needed to do for us and himself.  We scheduled our household goods pick up as well as a vehicle drop off day.  We made plans to go back to Ohio to visit family and friends for the month and a half before we were to fly.

All of the above happened, just not all so smoothly.  The house sold fast but the closing has been delayed a few times due to the bank not wanting to push things through and our realtor having twins.  We left with the house still not settled by the bank but in the hands of our realtor.  We easily cleared Medical though they gave us issues with Paige having breathing treatments in the past to clear a bad cough that she had for several weeks and me with forgetting to take my vitals during my appointment.  Dental was OK for the kiddos but for me I needed some work done before they would clear me.  I guess that is just how life works. School was painless for Paige.  We just had to wait until the end of the year to pick up all her records to transfer.  Mathew's Preschool did not know exactly what they needed to do.  Since Preschool is not mandatory they do not really need the paperwork that the elementary kids do. Our HHGs were picked up in June and the vehicle was shipped in July.  All of these arrived before we flew into England.  Our HHGs had some issues in customs with the BB guns that had been packed by the movers.  They informed us the would be fine to pack but then once customs got a hold of everything, they questioned much of it.  They also wanted to know everything about any knives that might be in the boxes as well as the animal fur and antlers.  It was a bit touch and go at that point and everyone was uneasy since many of the items were custom made and irreplaceable. Luckily almost everything cleared.  The only item they kept was the Gammo Pellet gun that I had purchased for Mat for his Birthday last year.  They seized it and the only thing we can do is fight their decision.  The vehicle also arrived before we flew into England.  We spent a great month and a half with family and friends.  We had a lot of visiting to do so we could see everyone and enjoy family time.  We were very lucky to have my mom keep us for such a long time.  We had many over nights with cousins and some over nights with friends.

On August 18th after a tearful morning, we flew back to Philadelphia. We had a few more visits to take care of before we could head across the pond.  Our plans though changed as our flight from Detroit to Philadelphia was delayed and we did not make it to Philadelphia until after 3:30pm.  We did a quick tour of the US Mint and when I say short, I mean short!  They were closing at 4:30 and we arrived at the mint 15 minutes before closing.  We were pushed through the tour by a security guard wanting to move people through and out of the building FAST! I wish we could have arrived there earlier but Delta had other plans.  We then went to Dave and Busters to visit with Megan and some friends.  It was great to see Megan, Chris, Chris's parents, Phil and his Girlfriend Megan, the Tourvilles and the Privitts for the night.  Dave and Busters set up a great location for us and the kids to be so we could have time to talk and enjoy everyones company.    The night ended with tears again as we had to leave some of our greatest friends from NJ and Megan.  It is never easy moving away and Megan took the plunge to move to NJ to better her life and there we were leaving her.  I know she will be ok but I still feel like I was abandoning her there without family.  I am blessed she has some good friends that promise to look out for her like she was their sister.

On August 19th, we woke up in our hotel... we ate some breakfast and then headed to the pool to burn off some kid energy.  We had lunch and then met up with Christine and the Boys at the Please Touch Museum.  It was their second birthday and I could not believe how big they had gotten in just a month and a half!  I got my last kisses in the states from the boys and we headed back to the hotel to pack up and head to the Airport.  Everything went smoothly there. We made it through security with no issues and headed to get food.  Mathew had to have one more Sushi Roll before leaving the states so we headed to the Japanese restaurant close to our gate. Once we were finished eating we set off to the gate and started calling everyone to say goodbye.  We loaded the plane and set off on our journey over the ocean.

Once on the plane we settled into our seats and prepared for take off. The kids did great and before I knew it, Mathew was asleep.  I knew it would not take long with a full belly and the time of night we were flying.  Paige took a bit longer.  Dinner came and she was still awake to eat a little bit of it.  She settled in with a movie on and about an hour into the movie she had fallen asleep.  Mat watched 21 Jump Street and was laughing out loud at it.  I settled in with The Descendants.  I was not a fan of the whole cheating aspect of the movie since that seems to be the topic of many movies these days but a big fan of George Clooney. :) Halfway through the flight Mathew became uncomfortable and started thrashing around and crying.  It took a lot to get him back to sleep quietly.  I kept waiting for him to wake up again but luckily he did not.  Once at the airport we went through customs quickly... thank you Olympics for having all your workers there to handle the influx of people.  We had arrived a bit early but had expected to have someone there waiting for us or at least soon after we landed but the person picking us up was not there and after 30 minutes of waiting Mat was doing laps searching for someone that looked like he was supposed to be picking us up.  He talked with the Taxis to try to get us a ride to Alconbury and none of the Taxi drivers had a clue where Alconbury was... GREAT!  Finally on the final lap before I think Mat went crazy... an hour or so of waiting, he found our guy.  He had left to head to the airport at 7:30 and just arrived around 11:00 to pick us up.  There had been a couple accidents which left traffic at a standstill and had detoured around them.  Lucky for us he knew how to get there a different way!  It took us a few hours to drive to Alconbury on this detour.  The drive was scary... not that the driver was bad but the traffic was ridiculous and the roundabouts are all over the place in the cities. ( And I thought Jersey was bad!)  As we got closer to Alconbury, traffic was not as bad and all around us was farm land.   This is a very small base compared to JBMDL.  I do not mind it one bit.  It feels like everything moves at a slower, calmer pace.

Once we checked into TLF, we took a walk around the base.  We were from our TLF to the far side of base in less than 10 minutes.  The kids played on the playground for a bit and then we headed back to see the other places around.  I'm not sold on living on base.  I enjoy the quiet of it, but the houses are small.  I do not think our things would fit into a house like this.  The school on base is right next to housing just like at Fort Dix which would be nice but I want to be sure what is right for our family.  We will start searching soon to see if indeed we can find a house we would like to rent outside of base.

So far I am looking forward to our adventures.  We are all exhausted and in need of naps but I know in the end that will just hurt us in our transition to this time zone.

Some of our new adjustment are...

Chips = Crisps
Cereal the same brand is called something very different in England.  I am sure this will be the same for many things.

Most things are closed on Monday...that means no errands for us at the beginning of the week.
AFN TV- no fighting over which channel to watch kids shows on since there is only 1!
Toilets have very little water in them and sometimes it takes two flushes just to flush toilet paper...
At about 4pm it gets stufffy in the house.. but by bed time it has cooled off enough to be comfortable.
EVERYTHING in England is more expensive than the states even at a smaller size!