21 Months in London

I've always wanted to be a "blogger"- wished I could take inspiration from some of my friends who have great stories, pictures, and events to share about. Trouble was, I never really had any great stories, my camera wasn't the greatest ( when I remembered to take pictures) and life in suburbia was either already captured on Desperate Housewives, or just not that funny.   I now find myself in a new predicament. One where I will no longer be a 5 minute drive from friends and family to show them my newest "look at what Avery can stick up her nose" kid trick, so I need to start a new communication platform.

As a brief description as to what the next 21 months is all about, here we go:

Who: Lane, myself, Avery ( will turn 3 in January), and Stella ( recently turned one). I could have simply said "our family", but there would be the obvious assumption that with that would include our beloved dog Brody. Due to his older age, and the fact that he is fearful of all rain, he will be staying behind, keeping an eye on Columbus Ohio in the comfort of Dublin suburbia that is in the shared custody agreement of our parents' houses ( I may develop a case of ombrophobia myself just to be able to be as spoiled for 21 months as "the grand-dog").

What: A 21 month rotation for Lane's company ( KPMG - he's an auditor, a.k.a bean counter), in London. England that is - although I've often asked myself why we aren't going to the Ohio London as it seems more logistically appealing.

When: November 3 - July 31, 2014. ( but planning a trip back home next Summer for a month or so... should I rename my blog 20 months in London, 1 month in Dublin? I'm new to the blog world, are they fact checked?).

Where: Yes, I realize "London" is a very broad spectrum of where we exactly will be. The (scary) truth is that we have no clue where within the city we will reside. We are "winging" it, and will use a company-provided relocation assistant when we get there, putting all of our trust in hopes that they will guide us to a great location - all 700 square feet of a "flat" we expect to be able to afford.

Why: Because we are crazy  Lane has a great opportunity to get financial auditing experience with the largest bank in the world which can help build up his resume for his career- and let's be honest, what's good for his career is good for us girls in the long run (so we will repeat to ourselves continuously as we cry good bye to our friends, family and four legged pal and squish into our above mentioned, extreme downsize of a flat).

So, here it starts, My blog. I will be shocked at myself if I don't give up on it within a matter of weeks. Don't expect daily posting cause it's just not going to happen. Being that none of us have ever been out of the country ( Lane's spring break excursion to a Cancun resort and our honeymoon at a Sandals in Jamaica don't really count in my opinion), it could get pretty interesting here in a few weeks as we take our two small girls to a foreign city - did I mention that British children are known/expected to be pretty well behaved and respectful.... we may be deported in a matter of days.

Back to packing,
Lauren & Family