We hope everyone is doing well. Things are really shaping up for us now. Our phone is working, we have satellite TV, DSL, and our mobile phones are set up. It seems like we went through the same routine with all of these things - we ordered it, they said it would take 7 - 10 days to get it done, we would wait 10 days, it wouldn't work, we'd call them up, they'd say that they would send someone out in about another week. What a pain!

We got our boxes from FedEx - and they were only a day late - you know by now that this is too good to be true - well, we got the boxes alright - but they looked like someone had taken each one, threw it down a mountain, run over it with a Mack truck, then thrown it in the Thames River. Every box was busted open, clothes were hanging out, and they were all wet. On top of this, the FedEx guy doesn't even help Jill bring them up the stairs (I was at work at the time). Our printer and glass from our picture was broken. We'll be looking for another company when it comes time to ship all of this back home. But it's all taken care of now, so we are glad to get it all behind us.

Just to round things out, we had one more issue during our startup weeks. Discover card called us because of a purchase that was made that was "unlike our regular spending habits". A $4700 purchase from Sam's Club in Florida looked a little strange to them. After I collected myself off the floor and caught my breath, I informed them that we weren't even in the country at the time of the purchase. Since it was easy to prove that we did not make the purchase, they said it shouldn't be a problem and we wouldn't owe them anything. The weird thing is that a card was actually swiped - and it didn't even have the correct expiration date (aka the "expiry date").

We have put up a few pictures of out flat. Check them out here. Our contact information has been updated with our phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing address. It also shows you how to dial us from the US. Give us a call, send us an email, write us a letter - we'd love to hear from you. We're looking for a good calling card - they aren't as good as they are in the States, but once we find one we'll try to call you guys and keep in touch. If you know of any good calling cards for international use, please let us know. We've also just created a guest book - so please sign it and let us know how you're doing.

I've been working for the last two weeks now. I walk to the train station every morning (about a 15 minute walk), get on a train for about an hour and a half (with one train change), then walk another 15 minutes to the office. My total commute is about two hours. The good thing is that I'm on a train and not driving, so I can get some work done, read, or take a nap during the commute. The toughest part is walking with my laptop bag - my back is getting pretty sore.

I guess I'll eventually learn to walk faster. Every time I get off the train and walk to work, even if I'm the first one off and start off in the front, I ALWAYS get passed and I ALWAYS end up being the last one to get to the office. My co-workers are really nice - they have been giving me rides to the train station after work, and have even picked me up in the mornings for the last few days. I should be able to work from home most of the time once we get things up and running. I am really excited about this job - I am really enjoying the work that I do.

Jill's been busy - she's been amazing! She has had to sit around the flat a lot to meet all of the technicians as they came to fix everything - and of course they all had to come on different days. She cleaned up the whole apartment, she unpacked all of our boxes, and she has been cooking some good eats! She's cooked more in the last two weeks than she has since I've known her - and she can cook! Before we moved, she worked so much she never had time to cook - and when she gets a job here, I guess it will be the same - but I sure will miss it - she is awesome! She finally got to get out into Central London and take some dance classes. I know she's been ready to get out there for a while. This week she'll be able to get out there more often and take more classes and look for some work.

The weather has been pretty good. At one point, during a 10-day forecast it was sunny for seven, raining for two, and snowing for one. It usually shows more rain than this. It has only been really cold a couple of times. It did snow once. We live in Richmond, which is located southwest of central London. The picture to the right shows one of the streets by our flat. There are lots of shops and restaurants all over the place. Notice the double-decker bus pulling up to pick up Jill. Last weekend we went up the street to Richmond Green. Here are a couple pictures of the Green:

We also went over to Waterloo and saw Big Ben - I took some pictures, but they didn't come out so well. I'm sure we'll be back - I'll get some good ones next time. Everyone says that the food is awful around here, but it hasn't been so bad. We have found several good places to eat. For those of you who may not know, Jill is part Mexican - she has to eat Mexican food at least five times a week. We did a lot of research, and there just aren't many Mexican restaurants around here. But it didn't take Jill long to find them anyway. We've been to two different ones, and one of those we've been to twice. She also bought a liter of salsa to take home - a LITER - that's half of a regular size coke. She'll probably finish it off in three days.

For all of the women out there - Jill has found the place for you! For all you guys out there, sorry about this, but Jill would have told your women anyway. She has found the Harrods world famous department store. Here's a picture of the outside - it's huge! Jill says that this place is unlike any other department store you've ever been to. All I can say is that it's big and has rooms of clothes and stuff all over the place. The food court is different than any I've ever seen. Instead of sandwiches, pizza, etc., they have raw meat and skinned animals on display. You just tell them what you want them to cook for you. They also have a sushi bar and some other restaurant type places. This is one of those places that could put a dent in your wallet.

We were at Harrods yesterday. After we went there, we went and walked across the Tower Bridge and London Bridge. London Bridge is more of, well, just a bridge. I'm surprised that there's not more to it - We were more impressed with the Tower Bridge.

Today we went up to High Street Kensington. It's only a few tube stops away from us. This place that has a few interesting people. We saw lots of different types of personalities, clothes, interesting haircuts, etc. But there was a wide variety of people there - young and old, conservative and not so conservative. This is another place for all of the women - lots of shops all over the place.

I found a casino while we were there - so fellas, while you're women are out shopping, we can go rest and have a seat in there. The casinos work differently around here. You have to be a member to get in. And once you sign up, you can't go play immediately - you have to wait from 1-3 days before you're allowed to play. I went ahead and signed up for membership at this one - we're allowed to bring up to six guests at any one time. I figured I'd help you guys out by signing up so you could get in when you come to visit. Yep - always looking out for my boys.

While we were at Kensington, we saw Kensington Palace - this is where Princess Diana used to live. They offer tours, but we didn't go inside this time. We'll try to wrap this up - here are a few other things to mention real quick. We are getting to watch the Super Bowl - it started around 11:30PM, but I'm just glad we get to see it. We do not get all of the cool commercials though. I get to sleep in and work from home tomorrow, so it will be ok for me to stay up until the end. It's halftime right now.

The Covet Garden tube stop has lifts (elevators) to take you to the exit. You can choose to walk up the 193 stairs if you wish - we thought we were in good shape, but believe us, walking up 193 stairs is a thing of the past - as we hit stair number 80 out of breath, we actually realized that there were fewer steps if we chose to go back down - but we were determined - and we made it - but we will never make that mistake again. We'll race you guys when you visit - you take the stairs, we'll take the lift.

Fridays - they do things differently over here. The folks at work told me that the tradition in Britain on Fridays was to go to the pub for dinner. When they asked if I wanted to join them, I said that I needed to get home to Jill. They looked at me like I was crazy. I learned that they call lunch "dinner", and dinner "supper". So on Fridays for lunch, everyone goes to pubs and not only that, but they drink pints of beer - then go back to work. It was weird to have a couple of pints of beer during lunch on a workday. And they aren't afraid to buy a round for everyone - whoever gets up buys the whole table a round - if you tell them you'll take care of your own, they'll look at you like you're crazy - that's not an option - just tell them what you want and shut up.

We both found something we didn't think we'd see while we were here. Jill found Krispy Kreme doughnuts at Harrods and I found some Coors Light at a store by our flat. We go grocery shopping every Sunday evening- we have to go every week because 1) we can't carry too much home at one time and 2) our refrigerator is too small to hold too much.

I told someone to crack a window the other day. They looked at me funny and asked me what "crack a window" was. Some folks at work were also confused when I told them that I wore a toboggan. A toboggan to them is a sled - they told me that I wore a beanie. I found out that a jumper is a sweater - sweater means vest, and vest means sleeveless undershirt. When I told them that we call it a wife beater, they just looked at me funny.

Well, we hope we didn't bore you guys too much. Thanks for reading all of our updates and keeping up with us. We'll try to update the site every couple of weeks. Please give us a call or send us an email - let us know how you're doing. Try to plan a trip out here - you are always welcome to stay with us - we have room. For things to do in London, check out our London link. Bart and Kerrie Benson will be our first guests - they're flying in on February 14th. Jill's mom comes in on March 6th. We're looking forward to it - our door is always open, who's next? We miss and love you all! Take care and God bless!