Spring is here!!

I'm really trying to keep our blog updated with things we're doing. Spring has arrived. Here the weather has been good and bad. We had a nice week of warm weather where I was wearing shorts, then next week I was off work and it rained the whole time- what are the chances! It warmed back up and this past weekend, we got together with a few church friends and played some kickball and soccer/football. It was fun.

A Permanent Resident!!

Rach has finally become a permanent resident in the US of A. She had residency but it had conditions and was only valid for 2 years. Now, since recieving her permenant resident card, she has a visa to stay for 10 years with no more visa forms or issues, unless we leave the country more than 1 year. What a relief! This has been such a blessing to us.

3 Year Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 3 year anniversary. We both had the day off. We went to Solihull to do some shopping and in the evening we went to a nice Indian Restaruant in Reddich (pictured above). We had a nice day together.

We're coming back.....

Sorry if it seems like we never update this. Rach used to take care of it all but since we moved here, it's been up to me and I don't do it very often. The last little bit we've made the decision to come back to the US and live on the east coast. School for me hasn't worked out like we planned- the costs and lack of money made it impossible to go to university. I'm doing a distance learning degree right now, but with the way things are going, it would take me about 6 years to complete. We figured if we came back it would take us only 2 years, I'd go through the summer and finish as soon as I could. The plan would be to come back to the UK after I'd finished where I could start teaching in primary schools. I've applied to 5 different schools. One in Florida, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia. If we came back to Utah we'd have to pay out-of-state tuition fees, plus we want to see a different part of the US, so we chose the east coast. We hope we can come see our friends soon.

Rach's 21st Birthday

Finally I stop looking so perverted when people find out our ages!! I tried to make this day special for Rachel, since her 18th wasn't that good. She had 21 presents to open and could only open one per hour, starting from midnight the night before. So when she wakes up at 9, she has 9 presents to open. Not all were big, some were small like a candy bar or a can of pepsi, and others cost more. After waking up, we went for a walk around the lake close by, and then we went to see the film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. We came home, where Rachel got a hour massage and then at night we went to a Greek restaurant with her family. We ordered several mesas and got to try all different sorts of greek dishes. It was lots of fun. Durning the dinner she recieved her last presents of spending the next two days down in London, where we'd going to the Zoo then that night we'd go to see the Lion King on the front row in a Theatre and the next day do a little bit of shopping and come home. The Lion King was fantastic. The atmosphere, dancing, costumes, way the people moved like animals, and singing was so cool to see. I can't describe how awesome it was. I'd recommend going to see it if you could.

Chad's 25th Birthday!

I can't believe that I've turned a quarter of a century old!! Rachel made the day special for me. I got presents I wanted, had breakfast made for me, we went out for lunch, I watched football in the afternoon and had a good meal with family and friends that night.

Man U

My father-in-law, Rob, for my birthday took me to a Manchester United football match! It was sweet. We took a coach up to the stadium with other supporters. We got there and realized were on the 3rd row, right where all the players come in and out of the pitch! I saw famous Enland footballers Ferdinand and Rooney and also Roanldo from Portugal. Even though they won 3-0 to Fulham, it was an amazing experience. I'd go back anytime to see them play again.

Snow.....

This is the first snow of the year and the worst. This much snow shut businesses and schools down for several days, but Rach and I still had to get to work...how annoying! It's the worst it's been in the UK for about 15 years. Usually it happens on one day and maybe an inch, so it melts by noon. It snowed a lot more in other places, but nothing near what you'd get in ares, like Utah.