I Got The Blues....

Not much has changed since my last post. I was really homesick/down the day before yeterday. I was just having an off day. I was bored out of my mind with no one to talk to, no family, no friends, nothing. I realized that it wasn't so much not knowing anyone that was getting to me but the fact that I have become so dependent on Matt for everything.f

I am not familiar with my surroundings, I can't drive, I can't do much for myself and THAT is driving me insane. I have lost my independence in way I never thought I would. I know that once I get settled in and get familiar with the area, the customs, etc it will change but in the meantime I am miserable. I love Matt, I really do, but sometimes I wonder wether leaving everything behind and moving here was a good idea. I have done this many times before and I t think it sucks that I have to go through it yet again.

To top things off, the weather has been total crap. Just rain and more rain. It's really bringing me down! I know that I have to get out there and make friends but that has never been easy for me. How am I supposed to make friends exactly? I mean, you don't just walk up to people on the street and ask "Hi, do you want to be my friend???"

When The Going Gets Tough.....

The last few days have been crazy to say the least. Friday evening we signed the lease for the flat and got the keys. We went to the flat to look around for a bit, turn the fridge on, etc. We were going to go to dinner next and then to Ikea to walk around the showroom and pick out a bed to pick it up the next day with the rented moving van. That was the plan anyway. Just after we got into the apartment Matt's phone rang. It was the last company he worked for. Turns out they had messed up terribly and Matt was the only person who could fix it. They offered to pay him big bucks if he came in that night. He did. This threw our next day's schedule totally out of whack so after getting a bed at Ikea and assembling, we didn't actually started packing up at the old place until late afternoon on Saturday. We did some more moving on Sunday as well. It took entirely too long but we sorta needed the money.

I called Matt today to ask him something or other and he says "Oh, by the way, the company doesn't have any money to pay anyone so chances are we won't get paid" Oh by the way???? WTF??? They are waiting till tomorrow to bring some investors in and persuade them to, well, invest, only then can they pay their employees. I was just beside myself! What sort of company takes on employees when they fully know they can't pay them??? Well, what it boils down to is that if these investors don't wanna fork over the cash, Matt, and some others, just don't get paid for the work they've done so far. The thing is, without that money, we don't have enough to live on for the next month. I was completely speechless. I mean, we're not talking about a couple hundred pounds here, we are talking about several thousand pounds.....and that is just Matt's pay! He has started job hunting again today (he just found out too) and I think I just may have to do the same. This is just unbefreakinglivable.

As if life wasn't hard enough as it is, I am just going out of my mind at home all day with no internet, no tv, no anything. I don't know how much of this I can take. I don't even want to think about what's going to happen if Matt's company goes kaput. Ramen Noodles anyone???

Just When You Think....

....you have SOME things figured out, you take another blow. This morning I was feeling a bit down to the fact that I have been actively persuing photography work for a while and I haven't been able to find anything so I thought I'd post a bit of a rant on a forum I frequent. I was so much ranting, what I was truly looking for was to hear other wedding photographers' start up stories, mostly for encouragement.

I mentioned that it has been a painfully slow process for me that sometimes I second guessed my decision to become a full time professional wedding photographer. It seems some people have a hard time remember how THEY started and admitting that at one point or another they too second guessed themselves.

Then somehow my business name came up. Photos By June. Apparently, according to my fellow UK photographers, sounds like a granny name, naff, and just inadequate. Some even went as far as saying that if they looking for a wedding photography, they'd stay away from any business named Photos By June. I am torn because I like the name but I also want to "fit in" They recommended I just use my name with Photography at the end, but to me that sounds very impersonal, I don't know why. I wanted a more intimate name, which is why I chose Photos By June. Then someone decided I should milk my Cuban heritage by incorporating it into my business name somehow. So now I am left with a domain name, a handful of people who I have given my photosbyjune.com email address and some shattered ideas. I am trying to come up with different names but I am not sure what I'll do in the end.

On a more positive note though, I have been "booked" for a wedding on September 16th! I am very excited about this and the bride sounds very nice. I hope this is just the first of many, many more to come. So, if you live in the UK and need a wedding photographer........I'm your woman! ;)

Rules Are Rules

Today has just been "one of those days". Nothing tragic, nothing bad, just bizarre. It was all peachy until the afternoon when I returned from having had lunch with Matt. When I came home, I logged on to one of the sites that I usually frequent. Someone has posted a question about whether a specific procedure was allowed in the site or not. I responded in a very civilized way that it wasn't I even quoted the site rules, etc. But what do you know, someone goes on a tells this person that while it's not technically allowed, he should go ahead and break the rules because his intentions are pure. WTF??? Mind you, this is a site where we compete against each other in contests so breaking the rules isn't just breaking the rules, it's cheating.

Well, this thread evolved into much more than the original poster ever had intended. I obviously have very strong views on this cheating issue but what bothered me the most was that someone would actually say that it is OK even though you are fully conscious you are breaking the rules and cheating.

Then somehow I got sucked into another controversial subject. I really felt like a bitch after a while but these things just get to me. I need to learn to just let stuff like this bounce off. But then again, I have always been one to fight for what I believe in till the end.......which isn't always good.

Sore Mother's Day

Yesterday was our UK wedding reception. I was actually a nice lunch with some of Matt's family and a couple of our friends. There were 14 of us so it was very small. At the beginning of the lunch, just before I sat down, I went to the restroom. All was well in there but I almost fell coming down the stairs. I was only on the second step from the top and somehow my legs just turned into Jell-O and bent forwards. My entire body went along with it but I managed to hold on to the railing with my left arm. If I had actually fallen, it would not have been pretty. The stairs were pretty steep and I was at the top, I would have at least broken a leg. Not a great start to any social event if you ask me. Luckily I didn't fall and no one saw it.

The rest of the day went great. We ate good food, drank good wine and just had a jolly good time, as the Brits would put it. After a very long lunch, it last well over 3 hours, we went to Matt's parents' house for some cake. The cake was very pretty. It was made by one of my mother in law's friends. It was white with blue ribbon around it. The icing was fondant and it had a picture frame made of sugar with a picture of us from the wedding in it. it also had a camera on tripod and a camera bag next to it, all made of sugar. It was very pretty. The only downside was that it was a fruitcake, which is traditional English wedding cake and I don't like fruitcake. Luckily, there was an alternative to it, a lovely sponge cake with jam filling.

This morning I woke up and I realized my right leg and my left shoulder blade were incredibly sore. So much so that it makes it very difficult to walk, not to mention going up or down steps. At first I couldn't figure out why I was sore and then I realized it is the aftermath of yesterday's stairs incident. I have been limping all day and Matt has had to carry me down some steps. While I do like the attention, I do not like the pain, it sucks.

It is Mother's Day in the US and I have been trying to call my mom all day and I haven't been able to get through. I just sent her an email, I hope she gets it today but i really doubt it.

This evening we met up with a couple of friends and two DPCers from Spain for a meal at a Chinese restaurant. We ate A LOT of food and had a good time, it's always nice to meet new people and to get out of the house and talk to someone other than Matt.

Score!!!

After looking at several apartments, or flats as Matt would make me call them, and one false hope, we finally scored a place. The one I mentioned on my previous entry fell through but this place is even better, it is MUCH bigger. It is on the second floor (first European floor), the master bedroom is huge with big built in wardrobes, the second bedroom is decent sized for American standards which is big for UK standards. The kitchen is fairly big as well with brand new appliances, the fridge is hidden behind cabinet doors and the stovetop and oven are digital. The living room is huge too with what seems to be a working electric/gas fireplace. The right side of the living room is dominated by a huge glass window and the balcony is on the left. On the back side of the living room another space which would hold the dining room. We even have a decent sized private garden which WE are supposed to maintain......the horror!!!

Two things I have noticed about houses/flats/apartments in the UK are the bathroom and washer/dryer "issues". For some reason, a lot of places have a room for the toilet and a room for the bath/shower. They are almost always next to each other but still. All that is separating the two is a wall.....why not just take it down??? The purpose of this arrangement is beyond my comprehension.

The other thing is that most places have a washer.....but no dryer. What exactly am I supposed to do with a wet week's worth of laundry? Is it really that more complicated to install a dryer when you install the washer? Some places don't even have a balcony or anywhere else where you can string a line and hang dry your clothes, which by the way is not very good for your clothes. I guess it's all about what you are used to but it still doesn't make sense to me.

Tonight we have the deposit and we expect to get the keys and make it official next Friday. The place is unfurnished so we have to buy at least a bed before we can move in. It's been a good day :)

Short And Sweet

So, the apartment hunting hasn't gone as good as I expected. We've seen a couple places that were nothing special. Today we saw one that looked great and I think it is the one we are gonna take. We are going to see another one tomorrow and then decide. Matt got the job and starts on Monday so that went great. Other than that, there is not much going on here.

Searching...

I have spent the better part of the past few days either looking for apartments of designing the wedding album. The task that seemed the most difficult to accomplish is done......the albums are ready to be ordered. We can't afford to get them right now so I'll just have to wait a few weeks, maybe months to get them done.

Apartment hunting, however, isn't going so well. I have browsed through countless listings but nothing seems right. The places we can afford do not meet our minimum requirements and the ones that do we can't afford. It's a catch 22. I didn't realize did would be so difficult. The better places are either not close to a transport link at all of are on main railway lines as opposed to the underground and Matt doesn't want that. He says he'll consider it but I know deep down he really doesn't wanna have to use the railway for going to work, he prefers to be close to the tube. This isn't easy because being close to the tube pushes the prices up and we are on a somewhat strict budget.

Another thing that is holding us back is the amount of space we need. At first we thought we could do with a one bedroom place but we've concluded that it's just not possible. We have too much stuff to fit into a one bedroom apartment. So, technically, there are many places that are nice and we can afford but they are just not big enough for us. We've already seen one place that is just a few doors down from here but that was a dump. We are going to see another place tomorrow and I hope it goes well.

On a much better note, Matt had a job interview today and it went very well according to him. He thinks he's pretty much and that's very good because it is a VERY good paying job and we can definitely use the money. I'm crossing my fingers that he hears good news from them soon, otherwise it's back to job hunting and interviews for him.

Ah.....the joys of newlywed, newly relocated life! (sense the sarcasm???)