Nothing says luxury like a 1997 Toyota Camry.

Last Sunday my mom and I drove from Worcester, Massachusetts to Huntsville, Alabama (insert the sounds of banjo's and shot guns here). Yes, I said DROVE. We spent 18 hours on the road in my parents luxury 1997 Toyota Camry. This car is fully loaded with POWER windows AND the original tape deck (you better believe that we were jamming to all of the NKOTB classics). I say luxury because our other option of vehicle was my dad's "baby" The 1993 Corolla that just keeps on going. The Corolla may have been an okay car in its heyday (back in 1993)--it comes complete with crank windows, tan cloth seats AND a tape deck--but now-a-days I have to say that its kind of a piece. My dad does take GREAT care of the corolla...in fact he was a little nervous when gas prices began to sore because it was obvious to him that our 1993 Corolla would be a high theft target due to its great gas mileage. Somehow, no one has gotten their greedy hands on the Corolla...we still keep the alarm on at night though (o0h wait, no alarm system). Needless to say, when driving in the Corolla you can feel every pebble and every crevice on the road.


But I digress...I have many stories about K Campbell (my dad) which some of you have been privileged enough to hear on road trips to Brugge, that I will save for a later date.


My mom and I are pretty good at the road trip thing. She likes to wake up at the crack of dawn (4 AM!!) to hit the road. I drag myself into the car and quickly fall back asleep...happy to awaken 4-5 hours later a couple of hundred miles into the trip. I take the afternoon shift--with the help of Starbucks. We make a pretty good team, and we have fun on our trips. I am pretty lucky to have such a great mom.

10 years younger...

I know that someday I will appreciate it...but today is not someday. Since arriving in Worcester, Massachusetts (my parents home town) I have been called "a beautiful little girl", asked if I was "16 years old" and was asked if I attended Wachusett High School and if so what I thought of their new newspaper. I HATED being 16, haven't been called little girl since I was about 10 years old and am pretty sure that I graduated high school over 8 years ago.

Now, don't get me wrong. I know that someday people thinking that I look 10 years younger than my actual age will be a HUGE compliment. But today, I take offense to it.

My mom and I walked into a medical office to discuss care options for my grandma--while in the waiting room one of the office workers looked at my mom and I and said to my mom: "What a beautiful little girl you have". At this point, my mouth dropped open and I stared at the women with a vengeance. Just that morning I had registered for classes to complete a post-professional degree. This comes 4 years after graduating college. My mom quickly told the women that I was 26 years old, married and living in England...at this point the women felt like a complete, well, a#$. Insert foot in mouth here.

I don't know what these Worcester-ites are thinking. I am afraid that I am going to get pulled over for driving under age or something.

This blog sounds pointless...but I have hated looking young for my whole life. I thought that I was beginning to appreciate this quality of mine, but my last few days in Worcester have definitely made it clear that I still resent my youthful appearance. Someday I will look back at this blog and hate myself for complaining about such a stupid thing. But today it seems important.

So I guess 26 is the new 16. As long as I don't have to move back home and go to High School again I think I might be able to get used to this. Maybe.

Loving Boston, but missing the hubby...

I have totally fallen in love with Boston, AGAIN. I never forgot my love for this city, but being back has really reminded me how amazing a place this is! Dunkin Donuts is seriously on every corner (FAR out numbering Starbucks), you can walk the ENTIRE city pretty easily AND EVERYONE here wears Boston Red Sox gear. Now, normally I get annoyed by "posers" who only started to wear Red Sox apparel since the Sox won in 2004 (stupid band wagon fans!); but it is SO much fun to be surrounded by the Red Sox logo everywhere you go in this city.

One thing I didn't miss about this city: the RUDE city people. I was walking around my old campus (Boston University!!! THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY--sorry bout all the caps, but BU deserves it) and I was spat on by a stupid little BU kid listening to his IPOD. I about bit his head off in front of a crowd of touring parents and potential students. I think I gave them quite a show...my bad. WHO spits without looking to see if there is anyone around that they might hit with their saliva bomb. Seriously...that boy is lucky I didn't Tae-Bo his sorry self across Comm Ave onto the T tracks.

On a side note, Jonathan left Boston to head back to England yesterday. We probably won't get to see each other until October 1st as the Air Force is "making him" go to Las Vegas for "training" for 2 months. Hmmm, lets see...the Air Force is sending a squadron of fighter pilots (who like drinking, gambling and women) to "train" in Vegas. Sounds like a great idea! Ha. In there defense, the guys and gals will be really busy. I am hoping to make it out there to see Jonathan; but my schedule this summer is pretty tight. I have a wedding on Labor day weekend, and then I HAVE to go to Hawaii with my parents :) (insert your sympathy here).

Enjoy the "English summer" gals and guys still on the Island! I miss you all.

BOSTON and vicinity....

I have been in the states for 2 weeks already!! Yikes. Time is flying by....I have already done soo much!

Jonathan and I spent about a week with my family at the beach in Duck, North Carolina (quite possibly the best place EVER!) We also spent some quality time with Jonathans parents in Baltimore (luckily we did not witness any drive by shootings....that place is a little rough!). Then came the highlight of the past two weeks......Lindsay and Scotts wedding!

Lindsay (one of my best friends whom I met the summer before my freshman year at Boston U) and Scott have been dating since 1997!!!!!!!!!!!! and tied the knot on Saturday (July 26th). The wedding was amazing...especially the open bar and CHOCOLATE cake. I was the Matron-of-Honor at the big event so I was pretty busy the whole week but was soo spoiled to be able to spend the week with the bride :) I was pretty nervous to give the big Matron of Honor speech...but I think that with the help of amaretto (thanks OPEN BAR!) I not only got through it, but I also made a few people laugh (I found a way to talk about fluffers, pillowfights and transvestites in the same speech). Lindsay was absolutely GORGEOUS (I hate her...JK) and Scott was beaming the whole day. Despite my offers to be their personal assistant, I was NOT invited to their honey moon at Sandals in St Lucia (and I thought they were my friends...)

I am going to be staying in Boston for a couple of days now...and I am in HEAVEN! I walked from my brothers apartment around the corner and passed a CVS, Cold Stone Creamery, Starbucks AND a burrito place. I can't wait to go on a run tomorrow to check out my alma maters ever changing campus and to work off the open bar.

Good times.

Adios England....Aloha America.

I leave for the states tomorrow morning. While I am really, really excited to get back to "the colonies" (as America is still called by some Brits these days), my farewell to Britain for 2 1/2 months is bittersweet. I'll miss the summer days filled with rain, wind and clouds. I'll miss the "British" way of life...where everything takes a little bit longer, "customer service" is a theory and not a practice, and all of the bad things in life can be swished away with a simple "no worries" statement.

It's not all bad though. We do have sunlight from about 3:15am until 9:30pm during the summer. I can walk into one of 20-something neighborhood pubs close to our house for an authentic ale or a REALLY fresh Guinness. I can fly to continental Europe for less cash than it takes to fill up a gas tank. I can go on a run through our town and pass through Abbey ruins that date back to before the 1100's, a cathedral where barons drew up the magna carta, one of the oldest breweries in England, and a hilltop field with cows grazing. I'm going to miss Bury St Edmunds.

That being said...I have A LOT to look forward to in the states. Apart from the excitement that will come from spending the US Dollar (which is SOOO much more affordable than the British Pound), I will get to catch up with a lot of friends this summer and spend some quality time with the family. Here's whats on the agenda so far:

1. Duck, North Carolina: Beach time for the Campbells and Ritters (and now the Bott's too!)
2. Baltimore, MD: Hanging out with the Bott's
3. BOSTON: Lindsay and Scott's wedding (read: BACHELORETTE party!!!! with my ladies :) )
4. Huntsville, Alabama: Other than time with my folks...not too sure what to be excited about in Alabama yet...
5. Fort Monroe, Virginia: Amanda and Dan's wedding. I get to tell embarrassing stories about my best friend from high school in front of a lot of people...woohoo!
6. Honolulu, Hawaii: Just a business trip...for my Dad. Mom and I will be tanning and sipping on coconut drinks (hers will be virgin of course) all week.
7. Vegas/Grand Canyon?? Not sure yet, but it might happen.
8. Boston (again) : I Couldn't come back to the states and only go to Boston once!!

If you can't tell, I am a little excited. I only wish that I was going to get to hang out with my girls from England this summer :(

So...adios England. And Aloha America!! (at least until September!)

I did it!!

1:21:02. My first triathlon...complete! I conquered my fears of murky water (and thankfully the water was less murky today than on my practice swim last week) and didn't do half bad for a first timer. It was a pretty exciting day, and I think that I may get into this whole triathlon thing. It is definitely addicting!

Note to those who may be interested in doing a triathlon: It is important to take your helmet off BEFORE you start the running portion of the race. Turns out that running 400m before figuring out that you are still wearing your bicycle helmet is slightly embarrassing! Oh well.

Holly, Dori and I enjoying a post-race Hoegaarden!

The final countdown...

My last pool work out before the triathlon is today! Only 3 days until the big event. Holly and I have been tapering our workouts this week...leaving me feeling bloated and large since my body still feels that it needs to carbo-load every day in order to prepare for the next workout. Stupid carbs.

After the triathlon is over I have LOTS of packing to do. I leave for the states on July 12th and won't come back home to England until the end of September! In that time I will attend and play an active role in 2 weddings, travel to at least 5 states, hit up the beaches in North Carolina and Hawaii (I know, I know my life is tough), start my first semester of classes for my DPT, and HOPEFULLY find some jobs to apply for so that I can line up some interviews for when I get home. Ugh. I can already feel myself starting to procrastinating on all of the above tasks (except going to the beach, that will definitely happen on time!).

Alright, its pool time. My mantra today while swimming, adopted from Holly, will be "Don't Panic, Don't Panic". Luckily I have been reassured that the pool is free from sharks and murky water today (though last time we were at the pool I swam by THE largest floating snot I have ever seen in my LIFE so I am little nervous about what else I may find in the water).

3 days and counting..."don't panic, don't panic"...