Extra Fun Bits...

Here are some pictures that we've taken over the last few days and weeks that might be entertaining to some of you!

Anthony and I enjoying the sunshine on our half term break (1 week) - the most beautiful weather we've had since we've been here...it's finally starting to reach to 20 degrees daily :) :) :)

I was so excited about purchasing bright clothing that I thought I would put up a picture of my new red pants!! They're so beautiful...very happy with my new purchase!

On our bus ride to Eastbourne this week to look at houses, we saw this beautiful view along the way.

The English countryside is definitely something to look at and very breathtaking to say the least!

On Friday, Anthony and I went to look at our new place and got all the papers sorted out so we celebrated by sitting at a little French cafe in Eastbourne by the seafront while drinking smoothies!! SOOOOOOO GOOD :-P

A little seafront view and beautiful part of downtown Eastbourne with lots of little shops <3

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SUNDAY

Anthony and I decided to walk home from church and just happened to see this on the seafront on our route home....a HUGE AUSTIN MINI DRIVE EVENT! There were THOUSANDS of Mini's all the way along the seafront to the marina and they were all different in some way. They even had people selling all the parts for a Mini you could possibly think of. You could practically make a Mini with all the parts they had! It was so cool being a part of something today with all the festivals going on around here - there is ALWAYS something to do. Not to mention it's pretty much summer weather now so everyone is out walking around - very busy but worth the crowds! Dad would have FOR SURE been in car heaven today - wishing he was here for this :)

Our first views of the Mini Drive Event while walking home. 

Beautiful paint jobs along with many different models, colours and even interiors.

The line up of Mini's was almost never ending...I can't believe how many they packed in all the way down the seafront. 

New 2013 Mini that was a convertible. 

There were some crazy unique custom designs.

Open-ended models that were right in front of us.

Looks like a GT model Mini.

This one said..."Get in, sit down, shut up and hang on."

Almost felt like going back in time with all those Mini's lined up waiting to find a parking spot.

Some people were even still sitting in their Mini's as we walked by.

This one almost looked like a corvette type of Mini. 

This one almost reminded me of Dad's old Mini - pretty sure these were the same colours.

Race Car Mini engine - so nice!

The interior on this one too was pretty cool and very updated. 

They even had pick-up Mini trucks. 

Not sure if this was a trunk or if this was just an extra window to look into the car.

Think these were both 2013 Mini Extended versions - they looked like race cars from one angle but then looked like family wagons from another.

This was definitely a vintage model of a Mini - loved it! 

A taxi cab convertible was also there to look at - I would take a ride in a taxi if it looked like this. 

All sorts of colours including PINK...the interior I think almost matched a little. 

There was a big guy that tried to get out of this car and as we watched him, we laughed because he got stuck. Eventually he got out and everyone watching cheered but this was definitely a shorty Mini. I didn't know they could get any smaller LOL.

And last but not least, I had to take this picture for Danielle and Julia just because it was yellow! So bright so you definitely couldn't lose it! 

What an amazing week we have had off - busy - but really fun! We are definitely looking forward to the summer holidays and enjoying the weather but moving is the best thing for us so wish us luck!! 

We love the UK!! Enjoy the pictures!

Love, 

Steph & Anthony xoxo

Life is Moving in the Fast Lane

It's about that time again to blog and let everyone know exactly what's going on since we told you all about my new job. So you all know that my new job is pretty much in Hastings so from Brighton, it's about a 2 hour + commute (one way) to school every day for me. I was really dreading the commute so Anthony and I thought that we should probably try and check out places that were closer to Eastbourne to lessen the time or at least cut it in half. So over the last week of our half term break (yes again....gotta love the UK and school breaks every 5-6 weeks) we decided to look for a new place to settle. We really wanted to settle in Eastbourne because it was half way for both Anthony and I. Anthony is currently supplying in Brighton until the end of the school year (end of July) and I'm currently doing my supplying at St. Leonard's Academy where I will be full time in the fall. So Anthony's commute would be 45 mins by bus from Eastbourne and my commute would be about 45 mins - 1hr to Hastings.

Needless to say, we had a crazy amount of houses that we looked at over 3 full days. Anthony and I took the bus down to Eastbourne Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and in total I think saw 10-12 different flats. Anthony keeps saying that some of them he doesn't even count as they were in really bad shape! LOL...the situation with us now is that our lease for our place in the marina ends in July which means by the end of this weekend we needed to make a decision to resign or not for the marina. We were really hoping that travelling through Eastbourne and seeing all different properties would be beneficial in our decision. To be honest, like Anthony said, some of the places I wouldn't even count as places to live they were so bad but there was one property that we REALLY had our eye on. It was a 5 minute walk from the bus/train station, downtown Eastbourne (shops/mall), 5-7 mins from grocery store and 10 minutes from the seafront. Long story short, we decided to go with the property and are currently going through the motions of references and deposits in order to sign the lease and get the keys. So luckily we are moving on June 22nd and I'll only have to deal with a crazy 4hr commute every day for 3 weeks! We are so excited and this place that we are moving into has 2 bedrooms, a living/dining lounge, kitchen and bathroom plus a front storage closet. WE ARE THRILLED about this property as it is in such good shape and it comes with a washer/dryer, dishwasher and a fridge!!! JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER :) :) :)

Here are some pictures of the property... LOVE IT!

 Side view of the building - in a very quiet but in an upscale part of town - it's beautiful!

Front view of the property - we are on the 3rd floor of the front of the building

View of looking up to the 3rd floor

This is our front door as we are Flat #4 but as you can see there is no door handle LOL...still weird!

Right as you walk in, you are looking into the 2nd bedroom at the end of the hall with the storage closet to your left 

This is the 2nd bedroom which is a little bit bigger than the picture looks but not by much. Big enough to fit in a queen size bed and some other furniture.

This is the Master bedroom which is much bigger than the 2nd bedroom but in both rooms there are no closets so we'll have to improvise! 

View from the Master bedroom - right across the street is a park where we can walk around and maybe even try having a BBQ.

 First view of the lounge/dining room which is actually quite large so we will have lots of space for furniture :) The door to the left leads into the hallway and then the bedrooms.

Second view of the lounge/dining room - there are stairs leading down to the bathroom at the bottom and the kitchen set off to the right.

Our gorgeous bathroom that looks like it's out of a magazine...I'm still in awe and still can't believe that it's going to be my bathroom!!! <3

And last but not least, our lovely kitchen with the beautiful tiled walls and butcher countertops - equipped with a washer/dryer, dishwasher and bar size fridge and ALSO an oven - FINALLY!!!!!!

So there you have it...this will be our new place and most likely the place that we will stay until we leave the UK for good. As far as a timeline, our Visas expire in January 2015 so we will have to look into trying to renew them at this point or get our schools to sponsor us so that we can stay in the country a little bit longer. We want to get as much out of this experience as possible!

Wish we could have everyone over for a house warming party but that just means that some of you should come to visit because now we actually have somewhere to house people. YAY 2 bedrooms!!! It could be like a bed and breakfast place at chez Carlo! If ANYONE we know is going to be in the area, PLEASE don't hesitate to contact us and come over for a couple days...we would love to see any family and friends at this point!

Love and miss you all,

Steph & Anthony xoxoxo