New Job!

After 3 1/2 long months of job searching, I have finally landed a job!!! With Michigan's economy in awful shape, I am very lucky to have found a job right now. I will be working for Alandt Law Office as their office assistant. They specialize in bankruptcies. As you can imagine, they are slammed right now. It's a full time job, Monday-Friday, and it's right downtown. I've always wanted to work downtown- and my office is conveniently located next to one of my favorite purse stores...Spirals! What's better?

I actually went into work last Friday for a couple hours to answer phones and get used to things. I walked in and was given the phone and a pen! Off to the races! The attorney was not in the office Friday (i think he has a pretty lax schedule). But I meet everyone today! I'm really excited to get busy again, and to make some money!

Justin and I now will be really busy. He works 3 days a week (downtown also, so maybe we can have lunch together occasionally), and has 4 classes this semester. I'm working full time with 3 classes. It will be hectic for a while, but we're just happy some money will be coming in finally.

Here's to busy schedules! Wish me luck!

Holiday Abroad Part 2

Ahhh the daily bus station. Each day we had to arrive at least 2 hours prior to when we wanted to BE somewhere. For 4 days out of our trip the "tube" was down causing everyone to use busses which take FOREVER! Luckily for us this station was a 10min walk from our flat! Each bus ride is about $1.50 US....90pence

This is the O2. A huge arena where people perform. Elton John performed here New Years Eve....right down from where we stayed! Chris Brown also was here a few days later.

The David Beckham Soccer Academy. This was along our walk each day to the busses! It was always a busy place....soccer mom's.

The National Gallery! This was one of my favorite spots! Full of art, sculptures, paintings from Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Leonardo Da Vinci....etc. It was amazing how old everything was and in mint condition. I could have spent an entire day here...

Trafalgar Square!! Always a busy place.

On our bus tour we were lucky enough to drive right through the tower bridge! Very cool!

This is Oxford Circus....the busiest, and most fashionable strip of London. All the designer stores are here. But the Christmas decor was awesome! As you can see here....a webbed type light decoration.

This was a view from our flat (which was very cool...i didnt get many good photos of it). We were just far enough away from the "hustle and bustle" but close enough to hop a bus!

Harrods!! This was unreal. It takes up an entire block!! I could have EASILY spent a whole day here. Just the girls went though. We explored all the floors....of food, fashion, designer clothing for adults AND kids, toys, baby stuff, and stuff you never thought existed. It was crazy. All we could afford were tote bags and a pastry! It was quite the experience.

Westminster Abbey- another favorite of mine. I've been here twice before....but this time I actually got to explore and really take it in. So many kings and queens were burried there...thrones of royalty, tombs of soldiers, a resting place for famous writers and poets, also where Princess Diana's funeral was held. A great stop to make if you go to London.

We rang in 2009 at our flat! It was one of the most hilarious, fun, and entertaining new years i've ever had! We stocked up on dinner supplies, beverages, and began celebrating at 6pm. Haha. We played a game called "Celebrity". Girls against boys....it was hilarious. We played most of the night!! It was great to stay in and just be together to celebrate the new year. We went out on our balcony and watched the city of London celebrate with fireworks everywhere, and people on the streets shouting and singing. It was such a different experience than the US. Happy 2009!

This was the last shot of the trip. We ended at the pub we began at 8 days earlier. A bittersweet feeling as we left.....it was such a great trip filled with so many fun memories. I only hope I can return someday.

Ok this was really the last shot. I tease Justin all the time about "fake smiling". So I helped him out once and for all! You gotta love the guy for putting up with all of my antics.....I do! Cheers.

Holiday Abroad Part 1

As most of you know...The Guy's and the Knapp's spent 9 whole days in London over the Holidays!!!! It was definately a trip to remember. Here we are after being awake almost 24 hours...we grabbed dinner at a pub (little did we know we'd eat at MANY). This one was called O'Neills.

We took a 2 hour bus tour through London our furst day. Here is London Bridge- it's very big in person.

This is a little out of order but....we rented 2 tiny European cars and drove to Edinburgh, Scotland!! After an 8 hour car ride we were excited to get out and explore the city! Here is Edinburgh, Castle......beautiful.

This was before the very thrilling 8 hour drive to Scotland....we waited forever for Budget to get our cars ready....and froze in the meantime!! Temperatures for the whole 9 days were 30 and below! It's a very damp cold in Europe.

Our first night in Scotland we ate at Deacon Brodies- which is named after Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. This was where the tale began. It was delicious dinner!

We also took a pub tour of all the famous historic London pubs. We had two very strange but quirky and fun tour guides! Six pubs in 3 hours....it was a blast!! Lindsey and Rob's friends Megan and Brady were also visiting when we got there- so we all took the crazy tour together!

I'm not sure what pub we are at in this photo....but we're having fun!

The girls at one of the last pubs.....we were exhausted when we got back to our flat. It made for a really long night but it was so much fun! The tour guides even bought us a round of drinks!

It seemed each night while searching for dinner, we just wandered and wandered!!! All of us starving, and cranky. Needless to say we all walked ALOT during the 9 days. But this is a photo of Justin and I at (of all places) a chinese restaurant! This was one of our best photos of the trip, believe it or not. It was a great meal, and filled us up right before heading to Chicago the Production!

This photo belongs with the Scotland pics. This was also taken at Deacon Brodies pub.

Yes, we are still young enough to have a "kids table". Rob, Justin, Linds, and I at Deacon Brodies.

Last time our families took a trip- we made the big mistake of not taking group photos!!! So this time around we made sure to take care of that. :) Here we are at Deacon Brodies again!

A very drunk frenchman insisted on taking our photo after dinner....so we let him. His friends seemed to sneak in as well....it was hilarious. The frenchman also told us a very long story which nobody could understand, so we said "cheers!" and went back to our hotel.

Our one and only day in Edinburgh, we took a 3 hour walking tour (free!). The guys weren't too keen on the whole idea but the girls loved it. It was freezing and almost all of us lasted the whole 3 hours. We saw many cool sights along the way. This was taken by our tour guide (she was Canadian!).

We saw two shows while in London....on this night it was Chicago. An amazing production!!! Lindsey, Rob, and I had the 2nd row....let me tell you, it was in your face!!! The guys and girls didn't have much on :) But if you've seen the movie, I highly recommend seeing the show....the songs will stick in your head for weeks! "He had it comin'!"

This was taken at the Dominion Theatre. We saw We Will Rock You. A musica/production of Queen's famous hits. It was extremely loud, colorful, and amazing. The performers had the bst voices i've ever heard in my life. London has more shows going than New York City.....it's definately a must if you go there!! We got tickets 1/2 of the day of the shows....a great way to go.