Our First Trip Home to Florida

Brian and I just got back from our first visit home since moving to the UK in April. It was so nice seeing our friends and family, but 9 days definitely wasn't enough time, especially since we were coordinating moving our dog here with us. This was the longest either of us had ever been away from Orlando and our families and friends so it was nice to go back for this visit.

Some of our favorite things we did at home that we have missed so much were:

• Going to Aquatica with our friends - It was so nice to lay on the "beach" there and enjoy the sun and water (especially the Raging Rapids Lazy River!)


• Eating sushi - We had a great dinner with our friends at Seito Sushi. I hadn't had really good sushi in 4 months so I was very happy that night!


• Eating more sushi =) - We met up with friends from Brian's work for another night of sushi at Amura. Gosh, what I wouldn't give for another Spicy Bubba Roll... =)


• Gator football. (Ok, this one is more Brian's than mine...) =) Brian had the chance to go to 2 football games with Chris, Sneha, and Kim. He'll get to go to 2 more when we are home again later this season. I think it's amazing that my husband who lives so far away from Gainesville now is still able to get 4 games in this season... Oh, and the games he doesn't go to personally, we are watching here on our Slingbox or traveling to London to watch them with the Gator Club there. Anyone who knows Brian wouldn't expect anything less though.

• Convenience. EVERYTHING is open so late. After dinner, we still had time to run errands around town.


• Space. Our home in the States now seems so big to us! There were times where I couldn't find Brian in the house easily; here we trip over each other all the time. And especially now that we have our dog here, we are really missing our backyard!


• Familiary. It was just nice to be back with everything we know and love. We adapted right back into our lifestyle at home. By the second day, I was eating and talking on my cell phone while driving (two things which you are NOT allowed to do here!)

Thanks everyone for making our first trip home so special! We can't wait to come back and see everyone again soon! (And of course everyone is always welcome to come see us here... hint hint) =)