Apperciation

The rain finally let up today, and Nathan, Jessie, and I were able to walk around downtown for a while. We ran some errands and went shopping and what not. I was happy I finally spent under 5 GBP at Morrison's today!! Yay!

I went to the library and officially got my library card. There library is incredibly big, and they have books in a TON of different languages! They have entirely different libraries for adults and children... and then they have a HUGE media center. It was really cool. I finally got the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I have been wanting to read these books for a really long time so I'm excited that I finally have a chance to!! I'm sad that my bus pass is going to be running out soon :( It was such a good investment! I used it all of the time.

After we went shopping tonight Jessie and I decided to make dinner together. We both have limited cooking skills and we seem to like different things to eat... so we were a little nervous at first about cooking dinner together, BUT our creations together were SO good!!! We bought two steaks for 1.49 and then I made potatoes, and carrots in the oven, and then warmed up some corn. The carrots were AMAZING after we let them sit for a while. We ate some on our plate first and then went back for seconds and they were SO good. We couldn't believe how good they were. And I bought some spices today for like 19 pence a piece... so our potatoes and meat were really good!! We were super excited about it. It was probably the best meal either one of us has had since we've gotten here. We kept talking about how happy were about it all throughout the meal, and Jessie took several pictures of us making the food! I wish I would have now too. Maybe when she puts them up on facebook I'll put them on here so you can see our awesome meal!! :)

I saw that Morrison sells a bag of yams for 2 GBP and I was thinking about getting them and making candy yams. My only problem is that they don't have marshmellows here :( and I'd have to buy a bowl to cook it in along with some sugar. But I'm thinking about just going ahead and doing it. Jessie and I are planning out next meal night haha. It was really exciting. It took me forever to peel all of the carrots and chop up all the potatoes! Phew! It takes a lot of hard work to make a decent meal. But then again I only have a butter knife to work with... so that's kind of limiting. I'm thinking about just buying a better knife, but I feel like I'm not going to be here ALL that much longer, and I think I can make do with the one that I have haha. But chopping potatoes and carrots would be sooo much easier with a legitimate knife. I'm so happy that I've slowly started to accumulate things at home. I never realized how much stuff you in a kitchen. I thankfully have a baking pan, pot, a frying pan, and one small bowl to store stuff in here at my disposal, but it is really difficult not having essential items like a decent knife... or spices, a peeler, a measuring cup, or a toaster... the list just goes on and on! Everytime I go to the store I see this cheap stew kit, and I always think what an awesome idea it would be make a stew, but then I remember that I don't have anything to cook it in! I definitely think that I have a much greater appreciation for a fully stocked kitchen! I was spoiled in Orlando! I'm soo glad that I have accumulated a pot and pan set, storage containers, and other things like that at home! Here I have two plates, one set of silverware, and two cups! It's crazy! I know what I'm asking for Christmas this year!! Haha. I'm already starting to realize how soon I'm going to be living on my own. It seems like it's not going to be very long at all!

I think that is probably one of the greatest challenges of adjusting here. It's just obscure things that I never knew that I needed/depend on until I got here and realized I didn't have it anymore. And it's not only with cooking... It's not having a cell phone that I can use to call home, or having an reliable internet that always like to connects, or having heat in my room at night, and other things like that. I think people take a lot of things for granted at home, or at least I know I did.