Roller Coaster

(Written by Beth)
So, as you can tell from our previous blogs, we really love London. Life is amazing here and we know we are lucky to have this opportunity. There is so much culture here and the people are really nice/respectful. It's been really great knowing that people won't stare at us or make comments about our relationship; most of you don't have to deal with this, but it's really shattering emotionally. Things are going well for both of us - JaNae is going to be coaching in the next couple months (as you've read in the last blog) and I'm finally figuring out how to take care of my self! I hate to admit it, but hiring a personal trainer is the best decision I've made recently (or was forced to make - thanks Love). I think I've got it figured out and just need to keep it up!
Last week we 'attended' the Royal Wedding (blog forthcoming) and are going on an 8-day sailing trip to Croatia at the end of this month. And, the 2012 Olympics are coming up next year; just keep your fingers crossed that our ticket application will go through! What an amazing time to live in London - I think we really timed this 'path' well!
I know everyone from back home is tired of hearing how great London is or how much we actually love it here - well....this blog is dedicated to you. No matter how wonderful London is or how good it is for us to be here, there are a few things missing: family and friends! When we moved here, a few people told me that the first 6 months are the hardest; trying to figure out a new country with no support system proves difficult for most people. Luckily, JaNae and I are a strong support system in ourselves so the 6 month (and 12 month) mark came and went with no problem. It seemed like we would never feel the home sickness that everyone talks about. I'm guessing the first year was more like a holiday in our minds because the time was amazing and simply flew by! Now that we are into the 14th month, the sickness has set in.
The only thing we've dwelled (is that a word?) on in the past year is that we gave up our dogs. I'm not sure that terrible feeling will ever go away for us. We knew we would miss out on family and friend gatherings, but we still keep in touch so that hasn't really bothered us (and Jasmine and Jim came to visit, so that helped a lot!). I think that is starting to set in and is maybe at the forefront because we aren't sure when we will have the money to fund another trip home. (I know JaNae calls me her sugar mama, but I'm not really...lol) And, if we do come up with the money, I know we'd like to use it to start a family of our own (at some point). Speaking of that, we are still undecided as to where we would like to raise a kid. It's all do ridiculously complicated! I thought we were lucky because we can literally plan most aspects of having a child, but it's expensive and there are so many decisions to make along with it! DOH! Anyway - I'll cut this off because I could just go on and on and on (and because my boss is probably wondering why I've been typing for so long - oops), but we just have one thing to say:
We love you all and are missing you all more than ever right now. Love to you!!