london: part 2

so we arrived in nigeria last night....it is really scary here and it was a pretty bad experience, but things are looking up.  i will save that for a later post.  for now, lets go back to the fun stuff and talk about london!

so during the week we had a pretty strict schedule.  training started every day at 8 AM and went until 6 PM.  the hotel we were at was a mariott and it was AWESOME.  we would go down for a full breakfast each morning, then at 10 and 3 during the day, we had a break room near our conference rooms that the staff would come and bring smoothies, fresh fruit, fresh baked cookies, make awesome coffee and cappucinos, and make fresh omlettes.  they seriously rolled out the red carpet for us.  they also had jars of candy gummies available all day.

we are learning the competency system training, which is 80 slides and takes about 6 hours to present from start to finish.  so we were broken into groups and would deliver specific parts of the training to our specific teams.  my first morning presenting, i did REALLY bad and was all nervous. but as the week went on, i got more and more confident and by the end of the week, felt great on my slides.  (i can't wait to come back and practice on my landmarkers!)

break time!

gummies

our training room

at night, we would either eat in the hotel or try to get out a bit and go see the local area.  we went downtown to london on sunday, i ate in my room monday, ate in the hotel restaurant tuesday, and went out wednesday, thursday, and friday.  on wednesday night we went to windsor and ate at this really good restaurant. i had the pork belly and it was SO good.  and we also had venison for appetizer.  made me miss home!  then thursday we went to this local place and i saw GYPSIES!!!!!!!  AHHHH!!! there was this girl with her family, and she was dressed to the nines in a short white dress, hair and makeup all did, and tanned.  i asked her if she had gotten married and she laughed and said "no! i am 14!! i just had my confirmation!!"

umm.

wow.  this chick looked like she was older than me! i asked if i could take a picture with her and she instantly got into posing.  it was hilarious.  the whole family was doing it too.  they kept telling me ok take more take more!! and are you on facebook?  tag us!! they loved it.

then friday, i went out and got to tour windsor inside and check out three awesome little pubs around it.  i went with my co-worker glenn instant connection for me there! i miss you dad!) windsor was amazing.  seriously just amazing.  everywhere you looked there was amazing architecture, awesome global finds from years and years of history, and just so much opulence and history. i loved it.

after we toured the castle, we decided to stop at the little down at the base of the castle and find a cute local pub to grab a beer. we found this place called the blarney stone and had a local brew.  we left there and decided to find one more pub...this one was called two brewers.  we had another beer and headed to find a taxi.  but then, we came across the third pub, and it was called THREE tuns!  we had to stop, obviously. it was a sign!

the three tuns was my favorite.  it was built in the 1500's as a public meeting house, and was transferred into the three tuns bar in 1625.  it was used frequently by the king in the castle.  one king even had tunnels built from the castle into the basement of the three tuns, where he would grab some whiskey and beer mixed (can't remember what it was called) and go next door to visit his mistress.  awesome! haha.

after friday, we flew to paris, which has an awesome airport, and then began the trek to nigeria.  i will leave all that for the next post.

yummy macaroons in paris airport!

i miss everyone at home and cant wait to get back to the states!!  margaritas and mexican food, get ready for me!

london....

so far so good! on saturday afternoon, oliver took me to the airport and dropped me off.  it took a lot, but i didn't cry! i was pretty proud of myself on that one.  this is the longest i have been away from him since we began living together over 4 years ago.  and definitely the longest i've been away from harley.  obviously that one sucks. 

so i got to the airport, checked in, and got through security. i literally walked right up to each line and walked right through.  the airport was pretty empty.  i stocked up on snacks and then went to find somewhere to park it for 2 hours and hang out.  i missed out on rachael and kyle's 3rd annual crawfish boil (again) so i thought it was fitting that i ended up at papadeaux. ha.  i got a couple of fat tires and some mozzarella sticks and then headed over for my flight. 

the flight was late getting off, but i was all excited because the pilot said that we would make up that lost time in the air and that we would arrive within 9 hours.  awesome!!  and equally awesome--i met this awesome british lady who was a seat apart from me in the very last row.  the plane was 2 on the left, 3 in the middle, and 2 on the right, and she and i were both in aisle seats in the middle of the last row.  we were so excited because we were normal, got along, and both immediately stocked up on pillows and blankets.  i thought that it would be great to share the middle seat and get some more room.  uhhh wrong.  about halfway through the flight, this random lady walks up to me and says, im going to sit there.  and shes pointing to the middle seat.  well by this point, the lights are all down, the british lady is passed out, and i was bundled up with pillows and blankets reading my kindle. i said, ummm seriously?  and didnt move.  well she insisted, and sure enough she climbed right into the seat that was holding all me and the other lady's extra stuff.  i was SO mad.  she told the stewardess that the seat that she was assigned to, closer to the front, that the guy in front of her was reclined into her lap, like the seat recline was broken.  later we found out that she LEFT HER KID up there, and came all the way to the back to avoid sitting behind another person.  ummm there were tons of other open seats around. but whatever.  

so i arrived at heathrow,  and got through security and baggage claim pretty easy.  it was about 9:30 am london time by then, and i was running on about an hour of sleep, so i stopped at the airport for a coffee.  my taxi to the hotel was SO CUTE!!  and my cabbie was really nice.  our hotel, the mariott windsor, is really close to heathrow, so after a short drive i was here. 

not a bad room, huh? it has a really comfy bed and a nice bathtub.  must haves for a whole week of staying here. 

i unpacked a few things, rinsed off in the shower, and then met my master trainers in the lobby to see the sights of london! we started off at windsor castle, which we are very near to, then took a bus and two trains to get to downtown london.  we ate a snack and bought tickets for the hop on hop off busses that tour the city.  a lot was closed down for the london marathon, but i thought it kind of added to the excitement of the day.  by the time we were headed back to our hotel (about a 45 minute trek from london with all the trains and busses) i was EXHAUSTED.  i passed out early and kept waking up thinking i would be late for training. 

this morning, we started training and its going good so far also!  ill write more about that tomorrow.  i am looking forward this week to: being more comfortable presenting in front of people, eating entirely too much, seeing harry potter at universal studios (fingers crossed here....we are trying to figure out a cheaper way to get there. its like 100 pounds for  cab.), potentially seeing a theater show, and enjoying the people in my training class.  

so, here are the pictures i took yesterday.  i will take more tomorrow of the training room and hotel.  its nice here, and the people are so friendly!

raaarrrrrr!!

last night, we celebrated oliver's 27th birthday and kyle's 26th birthday.  they both wanted something pretty low key, so we just went to wings n more after work and had some beers and hung out.  both guys are OBSESSED with the game jurassic park on their iphones and play it incessantly, so we made the party a dinosaur theme (kind of as a surprise to kyle).  here's what it looked like:

we had masks, plastic little dinosaurs, balloons, cups plates and napkins that said raarr...the works.  it was actually pretty legit.  i think the wings n more people thought we were crazy.

for kyle's birthday present, oliver found this kids dinosaur backback that you could stick the heads of the dinosaurs through the holes in the back.  so obviously, kyle had to have that, filled with his favorite--sweet tea vodka. 

both boys also got coolers filled with texas beers from the hayfords, and then oliver got an awesome grilling apron and BBQ sauce from cacey and joe. 

my favorite baby was there, being cute as ever, and i might have hogged him a little....or a lot.  ben! why are you so dang cute???

"meh"

some of our crossfit friends came after they worked out, so as always it was good to see them.

after wings n more, we went to a local bar called two a days (or something, i still dont know what that place is called) and watched this band play.  they were super random, but really entertaining, and the lead singer wanted to borrow my triceratops mask.

we capped off the night with some taco bell for the birthday boy.  of course.  and went home.


happy birthday kyle and oliver! raaarrrr!!!

easter 2013

when i was a kid, camping at easter was an annual tradition.  rain, wind, sun, or extreme cases of love bugs, we went camping for easter.  that's just what we did. i wish i had some pictures to show you, but they are all at my parents house. maybe i'll upload some another time.

after oliver and i got married, we really wanted to start establishing some new/old traditions for our little family of two, our extended family, and our future kids. christmas at our house this past year was one of them, and then the idea of camping for easter was born.

now, we all know i am a girly girl and love my baths, my wine, and a good kindle in a ziploc.  but when we get down to my roots, i grew up camping and fishing and not bathing for three days....and I LOVE IT.

this easter, we got a pretty good sized group together for the first annual willingham easter camping trip.  my mom was in europe, so she had to miss, but we had: my dad, richard (family friend), me, oliver, the hayfords, cacey and joe, calyn and chris, the robinsons (my cousins), grandma and dick, cameron and carolyn, my mother in law sheila, and gatlin.  we rented out three spots at lake sommerville's big creek park and marina and basically boxed ourselves in, with my dad's camper on one end and the hayford's on the other.

ya'll, it was seriously SO. MUCH. FUN. everyone who came pitched in, played washers and corn hole, participated in my ridiculous easter bunny picture requirements (see below) and had a great time.  we fished each morning, came back and had a glenn breakfast (if you don't know what that is, i feel sorry for you), and then played games/drank/fished til sundown.  then we would sit around a fire and laugh and talk and drink, and wake up the next day and do it all again.

i have been on a little bit of a fishing frenzy, so cacey and i finally went and got legal on thursday morning before we went.  on friday morning, i caught a nice sized white bass.  then on saturday, i caught a pregnant crappy, and then sunday, cacey and i caught matching (hers was a little bigger) black bass.  AND i baited my own hooks AND my dad taught me how to filet a fish!  if you know me, you know how big of a deal that is.  (***disclaimer--i still do not EAT the fish i catch.  i know, i know.  baby steps, people.***)

we dyed easter eggs, had a big easter feast, and harley, my dad, and oliver all got baskets from the easter bunny at the campsite. the easter bunny had one for me when we got home sunday.  grandma brought a huge basket of goodies for us all to eat from, and when scott came, he rented a jetski that some of us indulged in.

anyway, basically, it was such a great weekend and it is seriously exactly how i want my family, friends, and kids (one day) to spend our easter from here on out.  i think every person who came had a great time, and i think that the people who couldn't make it will be excited to come next year.  so without further ado, here are way too many pictures for one blog.