CHICAGO HERE WE COME!!!!!!

They say good things come to those who wait! I guess they (whomever they may be) were right because Shannon got his visa approval today! I literally don't know what to do or say other than THANK GOD!!!!!

We are so excited to be starting this next chapter together and we all the delays, Chicago seemed more like a pipe dream than anything. But, here we are.

All I know, we have a few precious weeks here in London, so I want to make sure that we make it count. I walked to the top of the Great Fire Monument & went to the Globe Theater ... all in all, a pretty terrific London Monday. I made a celebratory dinner, including homemade Alfredo sauce! I was pretty proud. Dinner was followed by It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Shannon's first time watching it).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Cheers,
Kate

Love The Covers & This Is For Autumn!!!!!!

                                     

♥, A Thousand Times ♥!

Hello beautiful people!

I am writing this after a perfect London day. Lunch with my love, afternoon at a gallery followed by drinks & dinner on the Thames. I don't think Shannon or I could ask for anything more. As we walked home, hand in hand, we stopped to admire the beauty and just how very fortunate we are!

Now, I do not pretend that the destinations that we have been so fortunate to travel/live are amazing BUT, we get to do things that we were merely dreaming of just a few short weeks ago ... a nightly stroll, drinks, dinner, bad television and even better ... good television lol! I am just so happy, I think my heart may be at max capacity because I finally get to be with my love. Best of all, there is no dreaded date upon which one of us has to get on a plane and hope that we see one another soon. Knowing that we just get to be together .... uh ... no words can ever express the pure joy ... and yes you read that correctly NO WORDS HAHAHA. 

On a tangent, I was reminded today why I love children and the arts. At the gallery I was at, a few children (probably 12) were filling out a questionnaire from the education department. The three of them were arguing back and forth over whose interpretation was correct. I politely asked what they were doing and they excitedly told me about the questionnaire. Quickly, they began to argue over who was right and I told them that either could be correct. Each viewer sees for themselves what is there and showed them how I could see both of their perspectives. They got so excited, giggled and ran about to finish. The pure excitement on their faces and the interaction with the art made me long for when I can be doing that, for real! Makes me smile as I write this hehehe! I hope this entry finds you all well!!!
One last thing, laughing. We have laughed so hard and so much now. I love how he can make me laugh so effortlessly and I know that I can always get him to giggle. I usually don't mean to either, it just happens ahahaha! That is all!
I am signing off and heading to bed, happy as I could ever hope for!!

Cheers,
Kate

C &C HAHA!

Cheers,
Kate

Apparently, we are not leaving the apartment!

Hello all!

I apologize for the hiatus but Shannon and I did NOTHING all weekend long and it was amazing haha. One of Shannon's best mate's, Doug, came over and we went out for drinks on Friday night! We had a fun night of laughing, stories, dancing and drinking. And in true Katie form met people and chatted for a bit. Have pictures of the nameless few but fun nevertheless. It was a crazy little night but put us out of commission for the rest of the weekend.

Shannon and I literally left the apartment once to get food. We watched movies, read, slept and watched more movies haha. Shannon got to see The Little Mermaid for the first time, I think that his life is pretty much changed for forever lol! What I think I loved most about this weekend is the fact that we could be together that much and be so blissfully happy. For anyone that knows me, I like to see people for a few hours then I need my alone time again. But, not with Shannon. I love him and he loves me and we love spending time together ... and that is all I need to know.

I am planning my week of museums and walking... I love just walking around the city and seeing what it has to offer. I miss you all!!

Cheers,
Kate

Bliss.

Hello out there.  So, life is here with Shannon is feeling so real and I could not be happier. I have done nothing crazy or out of the ordinary and that is just what I was hoping for. Shannon and I have been so blessed with travelling to amazing places but have not had the down time of making dinner and snuggling up for a movie and now we can do just that.
As crazy as it sounds, it is everything  I have wanted and everything I hoped for. Shannon came home, we went for a few drinks at the pub next to us and made dinner (chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes and veggies ... hello London lol!)

All I know is my heart is as full and happy as I could ever imagined! I am signing off with a handsome Aussie sound asleep next to me, perfection!

Cheers,
Kate
PS-Here is a pic of the pub, The Chamberlain.

L.o.v.e.l.y.

Hello all.
Today was the epitome of bliss. Slept in, lunch with Shannon, walk to the Tate followed by 2 hrs of art exposure and a beef dinner with veggies with my love, pretty darn happy.

I have a new obsession that is very evident all over London and Europe really ... the melding of old and new.I am slightly obsessed and a lot of my pics reflect just that. Wish we would blend the 2 in the states rather than tearing our history down. Just a thought ...

Cheers,
Kate

Life In London Town.

Hello all. Well, we are really settling into life together very quickly, thank goodness. I got my UK number, had a good grocery and have been doing a ton of walking!

Shannon's office is only about a 10 minute walk from our flat so we have met for lunch the last 2 days which has been wonderful. We went for drinks and Thai food in Kilburne. It was one of Shannon's best friends last night in London before he returned to Australia to be with his fiance! I know how happy that makes them and I couldn't be more excited that they get to be together! We know how hard it is to be apart! We had a great night and the Thai at Banana Tree is unbelievable!!!!!! I have missed it.

I also did a food shop and forget how lucky we are in the states and the convenience that comes with having a card and a store around the corner. Carrying all your food supplies is a hefty task ahaha. Although, it is good because it is my hopes that it will counteract all the creams, cheeses and alcohol that London is known for. But, I have made myself a promise, no freaking out about it. Good food is good food and in moderation with added exercise ... well it is worth it. The cranberry stuffed cheese we had as a starter tonight was enough of a reason haha.

I am off to bed soon, I am really trying to get on UK time STAT! Miss you guys but loving it here with my love!!

Cheers,
Kate

And just like that, I was whole again.

Hello ladies & gentlemen. Welcome to my first attempt at a blog ... fingers and toes crossed! So, I am in England right now (Shannon calls me The Real Housewife of London ahahahaha). We are waiting on Shannon to get his visa so we can move to Chicago, we have renamed it Ourcago.  This process has taken a bit longer than we anticipated, so I am here with my love until that comes through! I thought a blog would be a fun way to come our friends and family connected since we are so far away.

For those of you that don't know our story, here is the short version haha. May 2010. I had just finished a very long semester and had not had any fun in quite a while. I had been invited out of town for Memorial Day Weekend but per the advice of my mom I decided to stay in the city and go out. The couple I was out with, got in a fight and we decided to come back home to 1257 Park Ave. As fate would have it, a handsome Aussie was on the fire escape and called down to me. "Hey, do you live here?!" I do, I quickly replied and it was then he asked me to come up for a drink at the housewarming party he was at. We spent the whole night together, talking, flirting and above all, laughing. He was leaving in 24 hours but told me that he would like to take me to dinner. We did just that and we knew that this was something special. He asked me to come to England that summer and as luck would have it, I had been accepted to a Study Abroad Program in Ireland. I came to England a few days before I began studying and that was single handedly the best decision I made. We fell in love and the rest is history ...

I hope that you enjoy the little stories I share from our lives together! So here is to the start of the rest of our lives!

Cheers,
Kate

(This is a picture of our London residence.)