let's start back

...with a little taste of home over in London.

After an amazing almost 4 week long vacation in the States, Wiley and I boarded our plane (Wil was already back, poor chap) back to the land of Wimbledon, afternoon tea, and no air conditioning. Fortunately for us, Brad Paisley decided to come across the pond and play at a venue similar to Wake's Ziggy's but a bit bigger. I think the venue holds 2,000. There were no super fancy lights, fancy videos, nothing. Just Brad and his band. While I could mostly only see him from his shoulders up, it was a phenomenal show. He is so talented. And listening to a bunch of Brits listen to or sing country music might be one of the most bizarre experiences I have had here. I decided they can't really understand all of those songs because really, do they have places "way down in the sticks" here? Perhaps? Is that Scotland? Or Ireland? Which are they funny about? However, an enthusiastic bald man in front of us was clever enough to bring an American flag which Brad liked quite a bit. I was super amused by Brad's (yeah, we're on first name basis, hah) quips using "British" words like "cheerio" and "jolly good time." His thoughts on the USA Soccer team win was equally amusing as he tried to explain how we don't really keep up with the soccer very well in a very blase voice. Typical American. Soccer? Oh, we won? Cool.

There is so much from our vacation to share, but chances are I talked to you or saw you, so maybe I'll share some pictures soon--a bit of a highlight reel. I just wanted to say that I'm back, and I'm hoping to do a better job than I did this past month...oops. Guess that is a preview of what's to come when I come back to the States?

{note: while my weight gain in the above picture could be and should be partly blamed on the amazing food of the South (my mom's cooking, Zoes, Miss Myra's, Hamburger Heaven, Milos, and legit Mexican food...I'm drooling now), I will also blame part of it on the fact that Wiley is going to be a big brother in early January.}