Mormons in Britian.

Today is Sunday. Today we went to church. Today we realized that LDS people in Britian are far and few between.

It's actually quite unbelievable! There are SEVEN Young Women in our ward.

S E V E N.

According to the leader, 6 of them are active. (Though admittedly, she said that when they all show up it's a miracle)

Chandler and I are a novelty. They're all sooooo excited. The moment we walk in a door, they're saying, "OH! You must be Corinne and you must be Chandler. You guys are from Texas right? 15 and 13?" To which we replied, "Uh.......yeahhh." What can I say? We're cool.

twas time to do the dancing.

The dancing was done today.
And I'm afraid I have to say it stunk.

Okay. Well to be fair, the first class was called "FUSION FUNK!" so we can hardly have expected something amazing and inspiring but the second class was a contemporary class. And I was so SO excited to finally be dancing again that I didn't even pause to think that we would do arm waggles (a technical term apparently) and reaches to the heavens and hug ourselves and learn how to roll on the floor.

We even practiced.... (don't get too appalled)....donkey kicks! (AHHHHH!)

I can only imagine what my former dance teachers would be saying right now as they have instilled in me a great appreciation of choreography. And also a great UNappreciation of donkey kicks in dance class. It was unsatisfactory to say the least....

and actually quite funny. The teacher just adooorreeed Chandler and I. We immediately got recommended for a level upgrade. We must have our donkey kicks perfect, eh?

We'll try some more classes I guess....I think that maybe if I can find a good dance studio, I can survive this year.

PS. I got told I sounded English today. When I was talking in my regular voice! So either that person was crazy or I am AWESOMEEEE.

procratinator? nahhh...

Today our shipments arrived!
At first we believed this to be a happy thing.

We were deceived.

One of the helper guys smelled like (in Chandler's words), "A Mexican restaruant/smoky/BO smell." It was awful. Maybe there was some truth in Dad's observation that Europeans have their own special B.O. smell.....

After we unpacked everything, Mom and Chandler immediately got to work. They were unpacked in minutes. I, on the other hand, put my bulletin board up against the wall and proceeded to slowly put every single tack I brought around the edge of the board....Frustratingly enough, there were NOT enough tacks to go around the entire board. So then I had to rearrange them of course.

But we're basically done and it finally feels like home! (or at least a home.)

Cotswolds

Last weekend we went to the Cotswolds. I'm still not sure exactly what that is. But in my eyes, it's a bunch of quaint little cottages, villages, and gorgeous landscapes. I'm sure there's some kind of significance...I wouldn't know. We rented a little cottage and went exploring.....

Gloucester Cathedral.

A statue that behind the church....Chandler and I found it rather amusing....

Inside Gloucester Cathedral.

This is after we realized that this hallway was used for the filming of multiple Harry Potter movies....

We discovered that I was rather good at b-a-a-a-ing. The sheep had a certain fondness and there was one who just could not take it's eyes off me. We named him Hercules. Needless to say, Chandler was jealous and Dad scared him off.

This is our cottage! Even prettier in real life.

Behind our cottage, there was this huge magnificent garden complete with the cutest playhouse I've ever seen.

This is an honored Saint. In case your wondering, this thing is HUMONGOUS. For a while, we got very lost and we became very doubtful of Dad's sense of direction. As we came across this thing Mom asked, "ARe you sure this is the way honey?" To which Dad replied, "Yeah look! It's that little old man!" Only dad....

making progress

Okay.

So after a full year, I finally convinced Mom to invite people to read this blog. (YAY!) I am no longer writing to nobody. (SUPER YAY!) Now, posting on this blog seems satisfying instead of a job given by my mom.

Things you should probably know if you're going to read this blog:

1)Corinne is rinny. (A.K.A, I am rinny and also the only one who ever posts on this blog)
2)Chandler is chanchan. (she also has her own fascinating little blog if you would like to check it out...)
3)Mike is Mike. Guess you guys probably could've figured that out on your own, huh?
4) Marcee is Mamacita. Also pretty obvious. But I don't think she'll EVER post.
5)David is David. Ashlie is a.dancepants. They live elsewhere and rarely have anything to say about us.
6)It's not that interesting.

At this very moment, I am sitting in the most quaint little cottage at the Cotswolds. We'll be here for the remainder of the weekend but as soon as we get home, I'll be posting pictures and whatnot.

One thing I would like to say before I forget....

Tonight, we went to eat at this little pub and somehow, we happened to sit by an old, friendly, and slightly drunk man. Dad, of course, instantly started up friendly conversation and as we listened to and watched him talk, he reminded me very strongly of someone awesome. I could NOT for the life of me figure out who! Finally, Chandler saved us all with a stroke of brilliance. She leaned over and whispered, "IT'S PROFESSOR SLUGHORN CORINNE!" Now, before you get too excited--it wasn't actually Professor Slughorn. Just someone who talked, looked, and acted JUST like him. From that point on, the conversation was immensely enjoyable.

And for all of you who don't know who Professor Slughorn is--GO READ HARRY POTTER NOW.

goodnight friends.

lemme see your funky chicken.

Bad news first?

Well, we got here two days ago. Yesterday, mom freaked out over what brands of laundry detergent to buy, told me repeatedly to make my bed (a single blanket at the moment), thought we were all being kidnapped, and.....*pause for effect*... lost her wallet in London's biggest, fanciest shopping mall.

Today, we walked home for 15 minutes in the pouring rain and cold. (without jackets, scarves, hats, boots, etc.). We still haven't received our shipments, have yet to begin unpacking, and we have to park three streets down from our house.

So while Mom and Dad stressed and stressed (as they had a right to do), Chandler and I practiced our dance moves. Our favorite was the funky chicken. First, you put your hands behind your head (create wings), then you go into a average sized lunge (creating a more believable chicken posture), and finally, push your head in and out to the music (like a chicken), cluck super annoyingly and loudly (like a chicken), and slowly deepen your lunge (just because). I hope you ALL just tried that. (Because Chandler and I certainly would have.)

Oh, and we all had a family dinner of fish and chips last night. I know it sounds fancy and all but it's really just breaded, greasy cod and soggy french fries. Though I actually ate it happily until I realized there was skin involved....

I do think we entertained the waiters and cooks greatly by singing an A capella version of Supermassive Black Hole (a wonderful Muse song that we don't really know the tune to...), and speaking in either Texan or Mexican accents while providing a very negative commentary to Twilight as it played on the TV. Chandler and I certainly thought it was funny.

And still, I get a jolt of extreme excitement every time someone British speaks to us.

In summary, we've made every Londoner we've seen think Americans are crazy.

SCORE.

arriving in style.

We're here!

Things that happened yesterday.

Chandler completely refused to smile for the duration of the flight. She was mourning the loss of her home and friends.

Mom lost it a little towards the end...

Yes. That is all our luggage.

Why do they not have keys like this in the US?

our home!

our front door! (take note of mail slot...)

Our back patio. (and two very attractive young ladies...)

random car and vespa that i want.
everyone congratulate dad on not killing us all while driving.