Finally another update

OK, its been a while since we posted...I've been sick, we've been working...but enough excuses...we've been chastised (or maybe its chastized) for not updating frequently enough so we promise to be better...I'm aiming for at least once a week!

Well, its rainy and windy in Britain...it is winter after all. To be honest, the weather changes probably 3-4 times a day. It can be pouring rain when we get on the tube for work, and then sunny by the time we emerge from the depths of the Underground 40 mins later. So while its about the same temperature as Vancouver, we actually see sun here daily, which is a nice change! We are further north here and we get about 1 hour less daylight. Its actually noticeable.

OK, enough about the weather! Sorry, its a big conversation thing here! But here are a couple pics of Clapham Common, the large park in front of our flat:



It was our 5 year wedding anniversary on Nov 30 (wow, did that pass quicky!) and we went to Royal Tunbridge Wells (see Scott's pics below) to celebrate. Its about 40 mins south of London in Kent. We were going to go to Paris, but with Scott looking for work we couldnt buy tickets far enough in advance to make it affordable. So we settled on a cute B&B in Tunbridge Wells.

We got there abou 7pm and heading out to a tapas restaurant to celebrate. A couple bottles of champagne and a few hours later we stumbled home. I should mention that I was horribly sick with a cold, so I was all sniffly all weekend. Poor me.

On Sat we headed to the old part of town called the Pantiles. This is a pedestrian area filled with a market, shops and the spa where the mineral water was found in 1606 and the town was founded(hence the Wells part of the name). After coffee to warm up we signed up for the walking tour and as it turned out we were the only ones. So we had a private 2 hour tour with this REALLY weird tour guide. He was like Mr. Bean...but VERY serious about his love for the town. Anyways, it was interesting. We spent the rest of the day walking around trying out different pubs :) Of course. Then Scott surprized me and bought me a beautiful 1/2 eternity band at the Crown Jewelers. It is absolutely beautiful!!!! The night, in true Jamie and Scott style we went out for a fancy dinner...however were disappointed. It was a bit fussy, with foam on all the dishes and little towers of veg...and the service wasnt great. But enjoyable none the less.

Sunday we awoke to gale force winds. We finished breakfast and heading out to a cafe for one last walk around town. We sat in a cafe and tried to dry off, then in true English fashion, the sun came out! We went for lunch, had a few drinks and then got back on the train back to London. Another great weekend!



I had a great week! Found out I qualifed for my Chartered Accountants designation on Wed, so all that paperwork is filed...after 5 years of hard work I am finally a CA!!!!!! WOOO HOOO!

We spent this weekend decorating our house for xmas...although I do have to admit we bought a fake tree. I know, I know...but the trees here are really lame...Charlie Brown trees. So we went out to Wimbledon on the bus and bought our tree at the B&Q. Unfortunately in came in a HUGE box that Scott graciously carried back on the bus. Poor guy! We also enjoyed dressing up the monkeys in their xmas finery. See the pics below. Poor Hamilton unfurled his tail the whole time!!!!!



Well, thats about it for now. Will update later in the week!!