We Have Moved!

We have been in our house for exactly two weeks at the time I am writing this blog post.  There is no internet at the new house—still! And we won’t get it until Sept. 3rd (one more week) because that’s how things are done in the UK—takes three weeks for someone to come around and flip the switch, but whatever;). We are borrowing our neighbor’s wi-fi, so we are able to use internet in a certain spot in our living room.

Our house is not crooked. It’s the picture:).

So far, that is the only negative to our house that I can find. Everything else turned out so much better than I anticipated. All that lack of space not that noticeable, and the fact that we now will have to have our desktop and office desk in our living room is going to be okay. Alex got the biggest room this time because has the biggest bed that becomes our guest bed if we have visitors. Katya got a room that is very cozy and is just the perfect size. Mark got a closet. Well, not a closet, but a tiny room where we can only fit a single bed, a dresser and a armchair (we still read books with him in the evenings).

We also had to buy a few pieces of furniture—like a big dresser (from IKEA) for Robert’s clothes since the closet in our room is not big enough for both of our hanging and folded clothes. We also got some night stands for the kids and still looking for a bookshelf for Alex’s room to hold a million of our picture albums (kids love them!).

The yard is just the right size, although Mark thinks it’s too small. We have a great apple tree in the back that the kids have been shaking to get some more apples down. It is beautiful in the backyard as we have a big old oak tree and a squirrel name Icy (or Icee? or Isee?).  

We have a garage where we will most likely be only storing extra stuff like Christmas decorations and bikes. The good thing about moving to "base owned housing” is that we are allowed to send some furniture or any stuff to storage, although we won’t see it until we move out of here since it will be in the states. So we have some things we have decided to send to storage, such as a box of some framed pictures, our Japanese table and a few more decorative items.

We love our neighborhood. I mean, that was the main reason we moved—so the kids could play and  ride their bikes next to our house. It’s amazing what a difference that makes! We have learned our lesson. People are so friendly here. In the evenings, we can just sit out and have “street parties” where people just chat, snack and drink, and that’s exactly what we have been missing—feeling like we are part of a community.

We have nine houses on our street, and probably 25 children! Because most of the people on the street are higher ranking officers’ families, their children are older as well—only one kid is younger than Mark. We have a good mix of teenagers and mostly kids ages 9-13. Most kids go to the base school, so the bus comes to our street at 7:45 and drops the kids off at 3:27.  Katya is going to be going to the base school, so I’ll have to rush home to be here right after I get the boys from the village school.

The neighborhood is also regularly patrolled by these British Police guys who are responsible for US Forces off base.

Oh yes, so the name of our village is Brampton. It’s a good size village with High Street (main street) that has pretty much the same standard British village things—Post Office, Fish and Chips place, Chinese Takeaway, Co-op shop for quick grocery trips, hair place, gift shop and a butcher. I am sure there is more, but for now, that’s what we have seen.

Brampton is connected to Huntingdon, which is a bigger town. It has a lot of jogging and biking trails. When you get out there on your bike, that’s when you realize again that you are in the middle of the countryside. The cows love Alex.

And the best part of our house is our Fun House mirror on the door of our master bedroom! Who doesn’t want a crooked mirror?

Obviously, maintenance people are going to be coming soon to replace it, but it makes us wonder how come people before us never replaced it.

So, now that we are moved and are located even closer to the train station (and the train that takes you to London), come visit us! But let us know ASAP, as our two year schedule is filling up fast!