one year older and wiser too

Mmm, nando's. For my birthday yesterday, Tom took me out to one of our favorite english restaurants (which is actually portuguese). Mmmm, is all I have to say.

We started celebrating the night before my birthday, which is now and forever to be known as BIRTHDAY EVE!!!!! Let's be honest, the day before you are excited for your birthday, with visions of balloons and cake and presents... so why not just start the celebration???

Birthday highlights included:
breakfast made by master chef Tom
a trip into town
snacks at Greggs :D
surprise tracks of OWL CITY!
fun presents from tom and fam
an impromptu birthday cake masterpiece.
and much much more!
so the lady we are staying with at the moment is super nice, but never ever uses her kitchen. Sooo when we went to bake my cake there were no cake pans. With a little imagination, and a gooey gooey center, it was just delicious!

The beautiful cake.

it's that time again!

Last night I got to go up to Salt Lake with my mom and attend the General Relief Society Meeting. After convincing the parking guy to let us park for free, and passing by some ladies with awesome seats, we were situated in the conference center almost at the very front! It was fun to watch those on stage interact with each other and it was a good reminder that everyone is human. The talks were wonderful and the music was even better. It seems like I get more out of the music than the talks some of the time.

Most of all, I can't believe that it is time for general conference again! It seems like it was just April conference and I was watching it with the wonderful saints in England. It looks like this time around I will once again be watching conference in the beautiful United Kingdom. I love conference time and the newness that it brings to everything and the inspiration I feel to be a better person. Can't wait for next weekend!

Summer Update!!!!!

So it's been a while......
and here are some updates.
I am still getting used to putting pictures on here
where i want them to be.....so bear with me.

First of all my summer was filled with awesome wedding showers
from friends, family, and wardies.
Thanks to all of you for the fun nights!!!
It was a blast.

The MOST wonderful update is that Tom & I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on August 4th! What an awesome day with memories that I will never forget. Living in the same country has posed its problems, so we are still working on that.....

Tom & I were able to spend so much time having fun and just playing around all summer.
I am such a lucky girl!
He is so wonderful to me.

The week after we got married, I graduated from BYU....finally!!! I received my Bachelors of Science in Public Health Education. Although I will miss goofing around on campus and the creamery chocolate milk, it feels so great to know that I am free of homework and sitting still in classes for a while!

I got to treat Tom to his first ever live football game!!!
Even though football is not a big deal in England, Tom has always been fascinated with football so it was fun to let him experience the ambiance of a football game!
We can't wait till Tom is back here and
we can invest in some season tickets!

At the end of the summer we had a fun hike up to Timpanogos Cave with my family. It was one of the last things that we all got to do together before Tom left and it was so much fun! My family is great and we love spending time with them! Sometimes I think they miss Tom more than me!!! (but not really)

Anyways, there is a little about our life the past few months....as for the future, I am flying across the Atlantic on October 1st and couldn't be more excited! Tom will be starting his year of school the next week so we're hoping homework doesn't start up too quickly, and we will be able to spend a lot of time with each other!!!! 5 days, 16 hours, and 54 minutes to go, but who's counting???

change of address!!!!!

Hey, just wanted everyone to know that we are changing the address of our blog...from now on you can find us at....are you ready for it????....

tomandelise@blogspot.com

original I know, but it is time for a change!!!!

Hope to see you all there!

scrumdidiliumptious

i need to introduce my new favorite things....
we bought them from the old little man at the candy shop
(which reminds me of the little shop in willy wonka)
and I can't get enough of them!!!!!!!!
mmmm

PINEAPPLE CUBES!!!!!!

and now I need to introduce Tom's old flame......
whom he was reunited with yesterday....

ANISEED BALLS
(if you like black licorice you will loooooove these)

drip drip drop little april shower

UPDATE:
i put the laundry out again...

and it just started raining

hung out to dry

So the other day I decided that I wanted to try something new. Something that perfectly combines British culture and their eco-friendly nature.

I was going to hang my clothes to dry...on a clothesline.

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but back at home the clothesline seems to be something of the past, an object that might have decorated the backyard of many, something that plagued our "poor grandmothers of the past" -aunt missy

But here, in the UK, clotheslines are a way of life. Nevermind the incessant rain, the damp mornings, or the constant possibility of getting absolutely soaked...clotheslines are the way forward. Now don't get me wrong, I think that clotheslines are quite quaint and can be aestetically pleasing, but my skills in using a clothesline have a long way to go.

The first time that I decided to break out of my shell and utilize the wind, I went about my merry way, hanging clothes as if it was my job, using clothespins....the whole lot. I was completely enjoying myself and felt like I had moved one steop closer to embracing the culture. I went back inside, admired my work, and waited for the clothes to slowly, but surely, dry.

If only I would have noticed my neighbor's wondering eyes and glances toward the sky....As soon as the clothes had time to become somewhat dry, the sky let loose and buckets of rain began to fall. Not only on the ground, but ON MY CLOTHES!!!!! We ran outside and snatched the clothes off the line, only to bring them inside possibly MORE wet than when I craftlily hung them out to dry...

Now I will not let this conquer me... I WILL have a successful attempt.............. I just might have to wait until next summer.

so

it's off to the races!!!

last time we were down south, I was able to experience the wonders of horse racing for the very first time... to keep with tradition we watched the grand national race with tom's family, picking our favorites, and cheering them on throughout the race. my personal favorite was brooklyn brownie, but my most promising selection was black apachi. i really thought he was going to win, so it was a bit crushing when he took a tumble and was out of the race. better luck next year black apachi!!!!!

we're goin on an egg hunt...

I LOVE EASTER!!!!!
So, I have been really excited for easter to come. As soon as St. Patrick's Day was over I began a search to find plastic easter eggs, which are almost non-existent in England. When it wasn't looking very promising, we started buying Kinder eggs so that I could use the inside as a pseudo easter egg...but in the end we spotted some in a shop and you would have thought I won the lottery.

We decided to turn the tables and hide the eggs for Tom's parents and sister which was lots of fun! It made it even better that it was drizzling rain and the ground was nice and splooshy.














While we were at Tom's parents' house we tagged along to the ward easter walk....i was quite intrigued as I have never been on a ward walk before... it was a beautiful day full of sunshine, tree climbing, bumps & scrapes, and best of all....costco brownies. ....................................................................................................................................................................................

what a "good friday"!!

What a sweetheart! So this weekend, particularly friday (aka Good Friday), was tinted with a bit of homesickness. But, being the wonderful guy that he is, Tom snuck out and surprised me with the prettiest bouquet of tulips ever made! He knows they are my favorite, and knew they were the perfect thing to cheer me up! love you tom

Another good thing about Good Friday was that I got to sport my electric blue jacket for one of the first times. I am pretty much in love with it, especially the extended collar that can cover your entire face if you want it to. I don't know if these jackets have made their way to the States yet, but they are all over the place in England. They pretty much rock my socks.

Good Friday also included an adventure into town to find non-existent easter candy & an obligatory picture in the park on our way... I mostly like how my eye managed to get so squished. Oohhhh! and the best part was that the park has been infested with gypsies!!!!! I love England!

So, I have been pretty good to deal with being so far from home, but every now and again I just can't help being a little blue. One such occasion struck me at Tom's grandparents house on Friday, but thank goodness there were stuffed animals and lamp shades to make it all better!!! Nothing takes your mind off of home like lamp shade fringe in your nose!

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better Good Friday!!!!!!!

2B or not 2B???

Stratford-upon-Avon

Last weekend Tom & I went with our friend Mark to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, the place where Shakespeare was born, as well as where he died. It was a beautiful day & it was awesome to see the different houses and sites around town. . . plus there was a Christmas shop across the street!!!!! We could say I was in Christmas heaven for a few minutes....only 264 days left!!!!!

Donate Blood: Play Rugby

Last night was the much anticipated Varsity Rugby Match between De Montfort University & University of Leicester, the two unis in Leicester...aka rivalry schools.... We braved the cold, windy, and always wet weather with our friends Rich & Anne & Mark.


The girls game was epic with more injuries than I could count, with Tom calling it "disasterous, or diabolical" take your pick. I wish I could say that this score below was the final score, but I think they topped out at 62-0. Keep in mind that De Montfort is our team. Sad day.


The mens game followed and was good fun to watch. Both teams put up a good fight, and the game was really close at the end which always makes for a good game. The best part was, our friends wanted to leave at the end when it looked like De Montfort was going to lose...later to find out that they came back to win in the final moments!!!!


Here are some pics of Tom & I cause people are always asking for more pictures!!


The night was so much fun and it was great to get out of the house and into the chilly UK weather!!!! Thank you Tom!!!!

Salad lovers unite

We all know the single most important ingredient for a truly mouth-watering salad. It's not the crispy lettuce, the accessorizing vegetables, or even the crunchy croutons. Ranch. Ranch, my friends, is the most vital part of any successful salad, not to mention sandwiches, chicken nuggets, pizza, etc...

I had heard rumors before I headed over to the UK that they did not know the meaning of ranch dressing, but I was not prepared for the extreme lack of ranch. After weeks of lamenting my fading love for salad and struggling to find a suitable replacement, my dear mother intervened and sent me many packets of make-it-yourself ranch dressing. It was a beautiful moment.

My favorite thing is to go where I have never been. I love adventures, and I happen to be living one of the most epic escapades of my life so far. I really do believe that life is here to be enjoyed and that even the most insignificant of events can become exciting and oh-so-amazing if we let them!!!

Seeing as my life is now spent quuuuuuite a long way from MOST of the people that I love ... but definitely not all :) ... it has given me lots of time to think about little things I can do to feel a little bit closer to the other side of the world.

And this, my friends, is the result of strategy #1.

Enjoy!!!