All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray

I woke up this morning dreaming of California. I keep having dreams about Santa Monica, Malibu, law school, and all our friends whom we miss so dearly. "The summers" get here in two weeks, Brian informed me this morning. This is a term used in the legal world to describe the students between their second and third year of law school who spend the summer at their hopeful future place of employment. If all goes according to the big law plan, the law firm will hire them at the end of the summer. Then, they will go onto complete their third year of law school, study for the bar the following summer, and begin at the law firm in September or October.

Considering last summer was a wasted three month studying hell that I prefer to black out completely, it seems very much that it was just last summer that Brian was "summering" in London. That summer (2014) really set everything into motion. This new batch of summers is one of many signs that we have been here a full season and that a new season is ahead.

Weather wise, though, that could not feel further from the truth. It hailed twice last week. Yep, not a type-o, legitimate hail fell on the ground here in London twice. I couldn't believe it. I am so anxious for tossing my coat in the closet and scurrying to work without it. I suppose its not surprising that in this gloomy weather and settling further into London, I am California dreaming.

Our first week to-do list for making the apartment 'ours' included a to do list item: Enlarge a wedding photo, have it framed and hang it in our bathroom. Well, I just finally got around to doing that last week. It's funny though because the delay in doing it led us to select a totally different picture to enlarge.

It's been one year since we moved almost exactly to the day. It's been one year since we completed our law school classes. It's been one hell of a year.

Traffic People

I forge my own path every day. Literally. I commute from the core of "The City" which is the true original city of London and the financial hub into the heart of the city at large in its center, and the area of law firms clustered around the courts and chambers of law. Of course, I make this commute at the busiest times of the day: 8 am and 6 pm. It's like playing frogger, and God forbid I decide to text or look down to change the song on my phone and I've been run into or I have run into someone else. Remarkably though, traffic of people, completely unprotected by the metal of a car, isn't that much different than Atlanta or LA traffic. Everyone sticks to their own bubble and there are certain public transportation rules that everyone observes. Obey the unspoken code, or receive stares and glares galore.

Just like there are rules of the road, the rules of the riders for Transport for London have a code of conduct. 
Escalators: walkers walk on the left side, standers stand on the right. This is taken seriously and you will be run over or pushed if you're doing the wrong action in the wrong 'lane'. Switching lanes is also dangerous and must be done swiftly.

You cannot hug a pole or handrail, you can merely hold onto it. Hugging, or leaning your whole body against such a place for others to put their hands makes everyone sway unsteadily and causes social strife. 

There are no consequences for jay walking. 


No talking. Well, you can talk, of course, but no one else is. And whoever is, is a tourist. This rule is taken less seriously on the overground or bus where there is service but it's still widely observed. 

Speaking of tourists, every pedestrian cross walk has 'LOOK LEFT' or 'LOOK RIGHT' instructions so that pedestrians know which direction to check before they cross the road. I love this because I do actually use it a lot. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when they decided to paint these instructions on every corner and crosswalk in this massive city. The staffer to the Mayor, "Sir, for the last calendar year, we've had 11,567 accidents on crosswalks where the injured reported that they didn't understand which directions the cars were coming." "Bloody hell, do we need to put instructions to all the tourists on every corner?!!" Yes, apparently so. (If you don't get this joke, you're forgetting that they drive on the wrong side of the road in this country)

On the note of crossing the street, this is a good place to mention that no matter how confused you are on which direction to look... If you wait for the light to completely change and don't start darting across the road in between cars, you're a tourist. 

Food and drink rules are interesting. Drinks are forbidden on the buses to the point where a bus driver will not let you on the bus if you have one in your hand. Drinks are cool on the tube, but food is not. You are welcome to bring it of course, but no one eats on the tube. Especially if you have something like chips, I mean, crisps, and you're just there crunching away, you'll catch all the stares of that entire cart. 

To finish this post about rules of the London commute, I will say, if you ever happen to drop your phone on the tube tracks, its best not to panic. It's NO BIG DEAL. You'll just use the emergency button/"help pointe" to call a member of staff. They will determine, depending on where your phone has landed on the tracks if they will be allowed to retrieve it. Then, they will stop the tube cart completely, make the driver get out of the cart, and then other members of staff will use this little stick thingy to retrieve your phone from the track. If the stick thingy doesn't work, they will do the entire charade over again and use the same stick thing a second time. I wouldn't know or anything.... ;)

A Check off the Bucket List: Iceland

Iceland was AMAZING.

I won't ruin the pictures by overcrowding them with too many words, but while I know I have your attention, hear me clearly --- you must find a way to go. Iceland was like a sixth grade science project in real life. When we first arrived, it was snowing sideways. We met our driver who told us on the way into Reykjavik (the capital) that "In Iceland, the earth is alive." And it is so true. The land is made of dried lava, there are glaciers and volcanoes, geysers and waterfalls, mountains and valleys, seas and lakes, rivers and cliffs. Natural hot springs and the Northern Lights were clearly two of the best highlights.

Our trip was the perfect mix of relaxation, laying around, yet adventure-filled and abounding with incredible sights. It was rejuvenating and powerful to experience nature in this incredible country.

We saw TWO NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD in the same twelve hour period. I mean, what a place!

Enjoy the photos... and find a way to go!

^This is the famous Blue Lagoon where we bathed in the natural hot spring

Seven Month Status Report

My job: I have transitioned to a new law firm. It's about 40 people, and I work in the Actions Against the Police department. 
I'm still settling in, but I am enjoying the change and I'm curious to see how I'll feel in a few months time. Our department deals with police complaints, improper abuse of power, wrongful arrest, etc. The department also takes on various human rights cases.

We LOVE the neighborhood where we live. We've fully set into routines and commutes. I'm going to reformer pilates a few times a week at a nearby studio and its really fun. I'm finally gaining abdominal strength so that's a first in my whole life! Brian was playing soccer 2-3 times a week on various teams or pick up with friends. He is nursing a heel injury and taking it easy these days. We'd appreciate your prayers for a solid answer on the diagnosis. We also really love this wine shop that opened up across the street. We've been to two excellent tastings there. One was a wine and chocolate pairing for Valentine's Day! It was so much fun.
Thanks to the wonderful visitors we've had, we have had a special opportunity to explore sights in London we had not yet seen. When the Hubbell ladies were here, we went to the British Museum where we observed giant chunks of Parthenon on display and gawked at mummies galore, and the Rosetta Stone. We also saw a play together, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. We LOVED having them here for a full week- our first visitors really made it feel like we've made this place a home. 
My Dad was here for a few days and we explored new restaurants. We visited the Churchill war rooms, which was quite the history lesson. Brian's Dad visited for nearly a week while checking in on his London office. With him, we went to the British Library which boasts an impressive collection of original Shakespeare manuscripts, Florence Nightingales notebooks, original Beatles' lyrics, the Magna Carta ! it was so cool. We also journeyed outside the city to Greenwich, where the British Naval Academy has this gorgeous park and lovely observatory showing the division of the timezones for the world, hence the name, Greenwich Mean Time. 
My sorority sister, Erin, was in town for a few days and we had dinner at a pub that is housed in the spot on the Thames River where the Mayflower left for the Netherlands (and eventually, onto America). We've been SO blessed by these visitors and hope to have many more! It's easy to get lonely here and to miss our good friends. Brian's brothers have just planned a trip in June and one of his groomsmen will be here for his birthday! 
On the subject of friends, we are still couple-shopping. We've made some good friends here, but its hard not to miss everyone back home. Meanwhile, the time difference and chaos has made it challenging to stay in touch. So hang with us, and please know that we hate how difficult it can be to get in touch. But at the same time, technology has never made staying in touch easier, so please reach out!
I guess the last important update is about the Roswell house. I had the great pleasure of coming home for about two weeks while I was in between jobs. I worked a lot on the house, but the real hero of the project has been Barbara. It's remarkable how much work she has gotten done and how much she has helped us. We are so grateful. The house has officially been listed and we are hoping for positive feedback and a loving new buyer soon! 

Brian's job: there's not much to report here. He likes his job a lot and is enjoying all experiences associated with the big law firm life. We live very close to his office, so these last months he has been able to walk home for lunch which gives Grey a great deal of joy. 

We've just returned from ICELAND and it was the most amazing trip. I'll post about that next! 

That pretty much covers a good chunk of it. 

This is 1 Dec

I've been avoiding posting, so here you have a few very stream of consciousness updates on our life in London.

1. We still have no shower. It has now been 40 days that we have not had access to our en suite. We are super lucky that we have a second bathroom (which has a tub only). However, it has effectively now been 7 weeks out of the 8 weeks we have lived in this flat that we have been shower-less. In the last 7 weeks, I've taken three showers, which were in Rome. I recognize that we are very lucky overall and that this whole ordeal is a real first world problem, but it's also really stressful, obnoxious, and driving me crazy.

2. My ugly feelings toward plumbers has reached an all-time unfathomed high.

3. I am still working! In fact, on Friday, I worked an 11 hour day and won my first court case. Well, the barrister "won" it, but I did a lot of work with my colleagues and I was present at the hearing, so it felt very satisfying. Its good to feel like a real lawyer.

4. Our obsession with the International Street food fair on Sundays has plateaued. We still love it, but it has been kicked from being the highlight of the week.

5. We managed to find Americans to share Thanksgiving with us. On Thursday, we hit up Pepperdine's group and had a lovely Thanksgiving meal with our fellow law students. It was really nice. On Saturday, I baked three pies and a sweet potato casserole. The store only had pink and white marshmallows. We made it work. The pies turned out excellent. We took the sweets to a feast with our new British/American friends that we met in September. They've turned out to be lovely friends, and they introduced us to even more really lovely people. It was a great day.

6. My two new favorite phrases that will forever be incorporated into my verbiage:

"cant be bothered" = cannot bring myself to do that

 Example, "I cannot be bothered to do the dishes right now." 

"muppet" = a person who is worthless  

Example, "Those plumbers are a buncha muppets!" 

7. Brian and I shared the one year of our engagement last Friday. We were in Rome and it was a lovely day. Brian had never been to Italy, so we had a great time. I met a colleague from working in Madrid and spent wonderful quality time with her. On Saturday, we were filled with sentimental thoughts about where we were one year ago and how much has happened since then. I look back on that weekend with the fondest of memories with our closest friends and family. I was filled with warmth all weekend, still reeling from the event even if it was one year ago.

8. Grey doesn't bark like a Brit. Not yet, at least. But she has learned to pee on concrete. And she actually likes the cobble stone. Great success!

9. I think that Starbucks holiday cup "scandal" was one of the stupidest things in the 21st century.

10.  Brian and I will be in Cincinnati and Chicago for about one week around Christmas. I will be eat Chic-Fil-A at least ten times, Brian will demand Skyline at least fifteen times, and I will spend over two hours frolicking the aisles of Target.