Quick Update

So,  we have yet to put up a Halloween update--which is pretty important since Liam won a costume contest at the local shop.  He dressed as a spider.  I'll post these photos ASAP! 

We had a whirlwind month in November.  We moved out of our house in England, and traveled home--me, Jeremy, Liam, and Marley on the plane.  Traveling for 21 hours with a 19 month old is more than a little difficult. 

Our friends and family greeted us at the airport when we arrived, and it was fantastic.

There was a perfect coming home party on Saturday, December 5th.  There are some photos floating around, which will find their way here as soon as I collect them from friends and family. 

I had a job interview on Thursday, December 10th.  It went really well.  It was with a financial planning company called Waddell and Reed.  A very nice gentleman named Bert interviewed me.  I had to take a standardized test to ensure that I'll be capable of passing the Series 7, Series 66, and a Texas licensing exam to sell life insurance and annuities.  The test also determined whether or not I have the right personality type for sales . . . I'll get the results when I go in for a second interview tomorrow . . . BUT

I think that either the climate or the pollutants in my dad's house are making me stuffy.  I've had some killer congestion.  This morning I woke up and my voice was completely gone.  You can imagine how worried I've been all day knowing that I have this very important interview tomorrow!  I've been resting my voice all day and bought some Mucinex at Dad's recommendation, which seems to be working. 

Jeremy starts school at UH on January 19th.  He registered for classes/attended orientation on Friday.  I think he's really excited. 

Saturday night we ate at Floyd's for my Birthday.  Then, we took Liam to the Christmas parade in Friendswood.  He loved all the lights and music.  He danced and waved to everyone on the floats.  When the firetruck went by he made the sound of the siren.  It was so cute!

Liam spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa while Jeremy and I went to Hugh and Jeff's in League City to celebrate my Birthday with some choice crew and music.  Mama Tried and John Evans Band both played.  It was such a wonderful time!  I'm so happy to be home! 

The icing on the cake was Sunday, when (with a crippling hangover) we dragged ourselves to the country club for brunch with Jeremy's family so that Liam and his cousins could see Santa.  I have video of that on my new HD Flip that Uncle Steve bought me.  Liam gave Santa a high five.

I'll put some more interesting info up soooooooon.  I promise.  We've just been extremely swamped.

Cheddar, Somerset and the West of England

We left Saturday morning and drove 220 miles to Cheddar to stay at a Bed and Breakfast called Tor Farm. The room was beautiful, the bathroom was big, the breakfasts were delicious, and the location was perfect.


That night we ate at an Indian restaurant in Cheddar where the service is great, but the food is not that good. It was called Shahnaz. If you are picky about quality, avoid it at all costs. The stale poppadoms should have been a warning. I think Jeremy liked his food, but I did not think it was very good.


Sunday was wet and foggy all day! That was our only full day there. We went to Nyland Hill Farm Shop in the morning, which is well worth a visit if you ever get the opportunity. We had lunch at a pub that was directly across from the Cheddar Company. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE PUB! I don't remember the name of it, only that you climb stone steps directly up from the road to the beer garden. The food was terrible. The place was filthy. And, I think the WC was probably in the top five dirtiest in the country. If the ladies' was that bad I can't imagine the gents'.


We went to the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. That was a nice experience because you can go on a tour to watch them make cheese. I never knew so much work went into such a small amount of cheese. No wonder good cheese is expensive!

We drove to Glastonbury and saw the hippies and the tor. Then, as we were coming back to the B & B the sun started to shine. Unfortunately, it was time for us to find a place to eat and get ready for dinner. We went to Wells, the smallest city in Britain. It's a city because it has a cathedral, but there are only 10,000 people. Our reservation was for a place called Rugantinos. It's in the Ancient Gate House, which has a garden view of the Cathedral. The food was not bad at all!

The next day was Monday, our last day, and we knew we couldn't stay long.  We got up early and had breakfast and checked out of our room.  We drove into town and took some photos of the village and the gorge.  Then, I strapped Liam into the backpack carrier and carried him up 274 steps of Jacob's Ladder to the lookout tower.   Jeremy carried Liam up to the top of the tower, down, for about a one mile hike, then back down Jacob's 274 step ladder.  As we were going down there were all these people stopped, sitting out of breath, and I heard a woman say "Look at them!  They carried that big baby all the way up!" Little did she know, I carried him.  I was proud, but my legs felt like jell-o.  I'm really out of shape. 

For lunch we stopped at Derrick's Tea Room.  The people at Derrick's are really friendly.  It also has a nice garden and the hike to the WC is hilarious.  They do great teas and a delicious Victoria Sponge cake.  However, their hot meals are bad.  Living in this country, where people LOVE chips, I would expect them to have really good chips.  Chips in this country usually look like this:

And they taste about as bland as they look.  I got addicted to the chips (yes, fries) at the Bedford Lodge in Newmarket because they are more like seasoned wedges than chips.  So, given the quality of everything else at Derrick's I had hoped that the hot food would be delicious and that my ham, egg and chips would be super tasty.  I asked the waitress "What are your chips like?" She gave me a confused look and said "Well, they're chips." Jeremy thought this was the funniest exchange he'd ever heard.  I was somehow embarrassed.  And, went ahead and ordered the meal, with which I was extremely disappointed.  Jeremy also did not like his overcooked burger.  Stick to sarnies, cream teas, scones and cakes here.

Now that I've rambled on and on about Derrick's . . . We had a fantastic drive home (and I think Jeremy will agree) except for the traffic queue we were stuck in on the M25.  But, I got a chance to take a photo of my favorite British graffiti which says "Give peas a chance." They sure do like their peas here.  Oh, and on our way we passed Stonehenge.  It isn't very big and you can't get very close to it.  The mystery is more interesting than the actual locale.  There are better places to visit besides Stonehenge in Britain. 

Farm Shops

One of the things I'll miss about England is the great Farm Shop. We visit many farm shops. They have produce grown on that farm and some stuff from other local farms. They also have cheese, meats, meals, and other food products made locally. Our local farm shop is La Hogue in Chippenham. While we were in Cheddar, we visited the Nyland Hill Farm Shop, but they don't have a website . . .

If you ever visit Britain, work a farm shop into your schedule and you won't regret it. If you're visiting Bath, Glastonbury, or Stonehenge, you might as well drive just a bit further and check out Nyland Hill Farm Shop. Or, if you're in Cambridge, check out La Hogue in Chippenham.

We love farm shops. Some are better than others. The two we've mentioned here are especially good. All of them are different and special in their own way. La Hogue offers a separate wine shop and a seasonal Christmas Fayre, and Nyland Hill Farm has open days where the kids can see the animals and learn about where their food comes from.



To locate a farm shop near where you live in the UK or near where you'll be staying, you can put the post code in on this interactive map:


http://www.farmshopping.net/map.htm

Mr. Independent Eats

Liam insists on feeding himself. It's the only way that mealtimes are peaceful. Bibs are a futile effort. We even have some that cover his entire torso and arms, but those still don't save the lap. We often completely undress him for meals.

The Family Art Project

Our handsome little boy loves paint. He's also just entered this really independent streak where he wants to do everything himself, but still lacks the ability to carry out these tasks. One of them is opening containers and screwing lids back on.

Throughout our art project, he would occasionally realize that we weren't letting him do these things and he'd get angry. We'd try to divert his attention by singing his favorite song, Row Row Row Your Boat, or by making him say "Boo!" Unfortunately, he doesn't ham it up for the camera and makes Mom and Dad look like asses. Here's our fantastic project.

The Fig Newton

Liam's favorite snacks are fig Newtons.  He says "Mmmmm . . . !"

Liam's Artwork

I'm pretty confident that sending Liam to daycare while I'm at work is the best thing for him.  He makes scones and cakes, paints pictures, learns about the world, and plays with his friends.  He get's to do a lot more than I'd be able to provide for him all those hours during the week.  And, every minute we have at home is quality time.  

Jeremy and I decided to make a book of artwork from Liam's first year at daycare.  They have helped him with all kinds of great projects.  Some are mixed media, some are seasonal, one was painted to raise money for a school in Malawi.  He always enjoys himself.  

Liam's First Haircut

Liam's hair was getting a little unruly and Jeremy and I came to the conclusion that it must be cut. We made the decision to do it at home, which as most people are aware, does not usually go to plan. However, Liam was relatively well behaved. We started off with the longest guard on our clippers--a 4. We clipped all the sides and back. Then, I took off the guard and trimmed around the ears. He got angry. We decided to put him in the tub to blend the top with the sides and back. I just used a comb and scissors. Here are the photos of our highly successful home trim.

The Three Churches Walk

This past weekend, we had a three day weekend. So, on Saturday we packed a lunch and printed a map and directions for the Three Churches Walk.  We parked at the parish church in Moulton, and did the walk backwards for a little adventure.  Not literally backwards.  We walked forwards.  We just went in the reverse of the directions.  We loved our hike.  But, ended up getting lost at one point and logged a total of about 7 miles.  This slideshow is of our hike and all the sites and friends along the way.  The churches are Dalham, Gazeley, and Moulton, respectively.  However, there are multiple photos of each one.  This slideshow is large, because we thought it was extra special.

Champagne Picnic

On August 22nd, we spent the day in Bury St. Edmunds.  We had a picnic with delicious food and champagne.  We were celebrating my graduation and the end of Jeremy's summer term.  But, it was mostly an excuse to have a nice day out with the family.  Here's our slideshow:

How We Met--From Jeremy's Point of View

26 August 2009

The Night I Met My Future Wife

I believe it was late January or early February of 2002. Me and my friends, JT and Adam, decided that we would go to a party out in the oil fields in Friendswood, Texas. I did not know very many people that were attending the party, except for a few here and there. Adam had made friends with this crew known as the “Rednecks”, which were the people that were having the party. Despite only being eighteen years old, I had been drinking a lot around this time. Even though I always surrounded myself with people I cared about, and who I cared for, my life felt very stagnant and I was hoping for something that would change everything.

Before I get ahead of myself, I feel that it is important to explain the environment that I was in. I remember it being sort of cold that night, I don’t remember exactly how cold, but I remember that the guys at the party had some sort of propane torch running inside of the workshop that we were in to keep it warm. I think that we brought some beer with us to the party, but there was one guy who kept passing around a bottle of Southern Comfort, which I gladly partook in. Its amazing that we didn’t get sick more often in those days, passing around bottles of alcohol. After a while the inhibitions began to fade away, not that I was wasted at this point, but I began treating everyone as if they were my best friends. I met a lot of new people that night, and it was surprising how much I enjoyed hanging out with them all considering that I rarely accepted new people as my friends.

I was having a conversation with JT about how he should listen to the Clash because they were an awesome band. I was going through kind of a roots punk stage, and I had started listening to a lot of older punk rock. Right as I was explaining how kick-ass the Clash was, a few girls walked up and one of them said, “You like the Clash?” I was very surprised by this because thus far, I had never met anyone who liked the Clash. I went over to her and immediately hugged her, and I believe I lifted her off of the ground. I usually would not act this way around a girl that I had just met, and to tell the truth I was usually pretty nervous around girls. This one was different. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen; she had short hair, liked punk rock, and had an amazing body. But there was something else about her, something that cannot be explained by physical attributes. It was as if something clicked, and I realized that I had just met the girl of my dreams. I could not keep my focus off of her, and I continued talking to her as much as I could. Since she had just gotten to the party, she had not been drinking, while I was already in fairly deep. I’m not sure exactly how I was acting, or what sort of impression I made upon her, but she continued talking to me and taking interest in our conversation. She took me over to her huge Z-71 truck, which really impressed me and started playing some different bands for me. I had never heard of most of the music that she was playing, but I do remember that it was her that first introduced me to Swingin Utters. It was getting fairly late at this point, and all I could think about was how amazing this girl was. I don’t remember how I got her name, whether it was from her, or if I asked someone because she interested me, but the important thing is that I remembered it.

My friends and I decided it was time to leave the party, which I drove to. We got in my rental truck and began to drive off. I had this rental truck because JT and I had been driving around downtown Houston after a party when my Honda Civic hydroplaned into a pole. So another night of drunk driving began. I had never been out to this area before, and the lack of lights out in the fields and road led me to driving through someone’s back yard. I ended up with my truck stuck in a ditch, and the “Rednecks” ended up having to pull me out with one of their trucks. I ended up arriving at my house safely, and in the morning I was surprised to be awoken by my Mom staring angrily at me. She said “You need to get up, you start work today, and you need to get that truck cleaned up”. I thought, “What’s wrong with the truck?”. The funny thing is that at the time, I could not remember anything that had happened the night before. It must have been the community Southern Comfort, and I’m sure that is what the headache was from as well. I did remember the girl I had met though. She was so amazing, and all that I could think about was how I was going to find her again. I asked my sister if she knew who this girl Erika was, and after describing her, my sister knew exactly who I was talking about. She ended up getting me Erika’s phone number, and after a few days I decided to call her. Surprisingly, even though I had made such a fool of myself with the truck incident, she was willing to see me again. From then on I was hooked on her. We had a couple of rough things to get through at first, but we became infatuated with each other, and spent every evening together that we possibly could.

I think that my life would be very different if I hadn’t met Erika. She was the spark that changed my life. It was love at first sight, and at that moment I knew that I would do anything to have her. It is kind of strange that I can say if I hadn’t been out drinking, then I never would have met the most influential person of my life. Erika is still the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, and I am lucky that I have been able to have her by my side through the good times and the bad. I will love you always, and you are my savior, my sanctuary. 

Plans for the week of 24 August 2009

We have a "bank holiday" weekend coming up.  For all of our friends and family at home, that's a three day weekend.  The problem is that in Britain they always get the last Monday of the month off.  So, I'm off on Monday.  The military is giving everyone Friday off.  So, Jeremy is off on Friday, but he's decided to take Monday off too. 

I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do for a three day weekend . . . The problem is that on three day weekends the Brits all get in their cars as soon as the sun shines.  So, the traffic will be terrible all weekend.  I need to find something to do close by.  I'm running out of ideas.  We had a champagne picnic last weekend.  I should have saved that one for this weekend! 

Tomorrow night I'm going to an Ann Summers party with Kay, but it's hosted by Marion.  For everyone at home that's a party where you can buy lingerie and sex toys.  It's an excuse to get drunk and buy things you wouldn't normally buy.  The first one I went to we played a game.  My name was drawn and the cards said I had to act like a duck getting humped.  I'm a good sport.  So, I did it but I was bright red and laughing only out of embarrassment. 

Jeremy has his first night of Macro tonight.  I'm excited to find out if he likes it.  I looooooove macro.  Macroni and cheese right? 

Speaking of Macroeconomics:  I picked up a British version of The Economist today.  It's a lot like the American version, but they add a few more facts about the UK and change the spelling and lingo.  Loved the bit about Stephen Hawking and the NHS.  Jeremy and I have had our own experiences with the NHS which we'll tell you about eventually.

We are all caught up on our laundry and the down stairs of our house is clean for a change.  I made Jeremy invite his co-worker and his wife over for dinner on Sunday, because I knew if we were having people over we'd be forced to clean . . . and I missed his wife's baby shower because I was in class.  I made crawfish etoufee.  It was pretty awesome, I must say.  I really miss cajun food.  Now to tackle the upstairs.

I'm trying to plan a date for this weekend.  Jeremy really wants to see Harry Potter.  I must admit that I do not "highly anticipate" Harry Potter books (I've never read one) or films (I've seen all of them), but I end up entertained.  Jeremy, on the other hand, loves the films.  But, he has a very vivid imagination.

Liam bit me for the first time.  He did it yesterday.  I decided the best course of action was no action.  So, I did not react.  We'll see what happens now. 

I'll post again at the end of the week to let you know what we actually accomplished.

Erika's Update--Aug. 17-23

Busy!

I just finished the last set of lectures for my MA on Sunday. I have one paper to write. Then maybe OU will send my diploma!

Jeremy's Birthday was Monday. We never have free time and I didn't get a chance to bake a cake. :-( We went to Nando's in Cambridge, because it's a great place for families. It was a nice evening, but could have been better if I had time to plan something. Jeremy has been wanting to start yoga with me in the morning. So, I got him a yoga mat and a DVD of John Oliver doing stand up. I have ordered him another gift, but I don't want to put it on here and ruin the surprise.

For some reason, in Britain, their plumbing sucks. They came up with this plumbing system where a pipe just opens up into a drain to dispose of all of your waste water under the house and then it flows to the mains. There are two problems with this: 1) The drain has a U joint, much like the pipes under your toilet or sink; 2) This system was invented to install plumbing in existing houses that did not have plumbing to begin with--and it's used for new houses too.

Our landlords suck--they are poor and live in Spain. They won't pay for anything and flip out over their house, though we take VERY good care of it. I knew they wouldn't pay for the drain to be cleared, so I just scheduled a company to come do it and pay for it. Guess what was blocking the drain? Their dog's toy. Must've been there backing it up for years! It smells awful and this weekend I have to clean out the area under the patio.

Jeremy has yet to write something for the blog, but was supportive of putting it together. Typical man. Says it just because it's what she wants to hear. We'll see if he actually does anything.

I'll try to add some more stories about how our family came to be ASAP.

In the meantime, we have listed one of our lots in North Carolina. 3.5 acres with walking access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and range views for $89,900. For more information call my mom, Denise Harris--our agent--on 828 421 3261. If she doesn't answer, leave a message and she'll call you back.

We listed it because we found a house that we looooove and we really want. I have a feeling it will be gone by the time our land sells. That will make me very sad. It was built in 1979, 2000 sq. ft. +/-, on 1/2 acre lot in League City, TX for $209,900. Here's the link: http://www.har.com/39484986

I've calculated and if we bought it, I would have to have a job paying no less than $36,000 within 6 months of purchase for us to be able to survive. If I can ever get a job, I have no doubt it will pay enough. The problem is, the only fields hiring are engineering, medical, legal, and accounting/finance. There's always insurance sales, but there is no way in hell I'm selling insurance.

Liams morning

The exchange below is a sample of emails sent back and forth between me and Jeremy to discuss Liam's morning. There are exchanges like this when Jeremy and I are both working and one of us has something else going on, preventing that person from seeing the rest of the family for a few days. For Jeremy, the case might be deployment. In this case, I had lectures every night. We have to keep each other up to date, or we start to seriously miss our kid and each other! Read these from bottom to top.

Merci. Oui, tu es mon mari, mais pourquoi nous sont-ils parlent-ils en
français?

Je t'aime aussi!

Erika Jensen
Assistant to the Town Clerk

_______________________________________________
Newmarket Town Council
King Edward VII Memorial Hall
High Street
Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8JP

-----Original Message-----
From: Jensen, Jeremy N
[mailto:
Sent: 14 August 2009 12:56
To: 'Erika Jensen'
Subject: RE: Liam's morning

Erika,

We have had such little time with each other the past couple of nights, that
I forgot to mention the thing about the light sockets. He has figured out
how to flip the switches on the socket, last night he got angry with me
because I kept telling him not mess with them, and when he wouldn't stop, I
just sat in front of the socket, which caused him to get very angry, but he
eventually got over it.

Sorry about the ironing board. I completely forgot to put it up last night.
I did iron the wetness out of his "NAVY" and white striped pants, but then I
decided that it was taking too long, and I should let nature take its course
overnight.

Je t'aime, and I will see you very soon!

-Jeremy "Le Mari"

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Jensen [mailto
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 9:52 AM
To: Jensen, Jeremy N
Subject: RE: Liam's morning

I thought it was funny that E Eats Everything because E is like me!

I had to iron his pants to get them dry. It's a good thing I went in the
living room too because I didn't know the ironing board was out with the
iron on it and he was about to pull it over on himself! I got a shirt out
of his room. You'll have to watch him closely because he was showing great
interest in the wall sockets this morning.

I was super exhausted this morning. Marley was too. He gets so tired. He
did come downstairs and dance with us.

Erika Jensen
Assistant to the Town Clerk

_______________________________________________
Newmarket Town Council
King Edward VII Memorial Hall
High Street
Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8JP

-----Original Message-----
From: Jensen, Jeremy N
[mailto:
Sent: 14 August 2009 09:57
To: 'Erika Jensen'
Subject: RE: Liam's morning

Erika,

Thanks for the lyrics. I'm glad that you found something to keep him
occupied. Were his clothes all dry this morning? I felt one of his shirts,
and it seemed to be dry, but I wasn't sure about the pants.

I also keep thinking about last night. You must have been really worn out,
because you seemed so tired this morning. I look forward to seeing you after
work, and I can't wait until you get home for good tonight. Two more days
after this, and you are done.

Love you,

Jeremy

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Jensen [mailto:
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 9:36 AM
To: Jensen, Jeremy N
Subject: Liam's morning

Liam is dressed awesome for school in his designer duds. He polished off
his bottle this morning and went crazy when he saw the Fig Newton box. So,
I gave him one of those. I bought him a cd on iTunes by They Might Be
Giants, which is a really cute rock band that does children's songs about
the alphabet, numbers, rules, the word "no." We got the alphabet one which
has really funny songs like the Alphabet of Nations, E Eats Everything, LMNO
Are Four Letters Not One. He loooooves it and he danced around to it all
morning. It was hilarious. You'll have to listen to it with him tonight to
see if he dances to it some more. The other cds they have are really good
too. There's a song on the number themed album about 12 Crazy Monkeys who
wreak havoc and befriend a little girl. She names one Larry. It teaches
about the number twelve and things that come in dozens.

E Eats Everything:

A hardly has an appetite and pokes at food too long
and B can barely bother because all the food is wrong
C likes only candy and chocolate by the box
D is just disinterested in anything you've got

But E eats everything
yeah E eats everything
E eats everything
yeah E eats everything

so toss it on a plastic plate or stick it with a fork
serve it on a shovel or serve it on a spork

yeah E eats everything
yeah E eats everything

F is far too fussy and only eats with fancy wine
G eats only gourmet but never can decide
H burns food so horrible
all I tastes is smoke
J just likes drinking juice
and K drinks only soda

but E eats everything
yeah E eats everything

he's eating in a moving car
he's eating upside down
he's eating on a space ship
he's eating off the ground

L and M and N and P won't start till O arrives
Q and R and S and T are wearing clothes much too tight
U and V and W are worn out from this song
and X and Y just will not share and will not get along

but E eats everything
yeah E eats everything

but look out now here it comes that final letter Z
now Z's not like the other letters Z's only eating Es

yeah Z eats Es
yeah Z eats Es
Z eats Es
yeah Z eats Es

I love you and hope you are having a good day. I keep thinking about last
night! Aaaahhhhh. I love you.

Love,

Erika

Erika Jensen

Assistant to the Town Clerk

_______________________________________________

Newmarket Town Council

King Edward VII Memorial Hall

High Street

Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8JP

Erika's "Lifeline"

This is a list of events, arranged by year, that have shaped my life the most and stand out in my memory the most. Notice as I get older, my experiences are progressively more positive. I'm not exactly sure why this is, but my theory is that it has to do with how happy family life has made me.

1983 - Born in Texas City, Texas. Family lived on FM 518 in Kemah, TX.





1987 - Family moved into a house on Misty Cove Court, just off of FM517 in Dickinson, TX




1988 - Sister, Jordan, was born. Erika started Kindergarten


1989 - Dad graduated from University of Texas Dental Branch-Houston


1990 - Brother, Ashton, was born.




1991 - Family moved into a house on West Viejo, just off of FM 518 in Friendswood, TX.





1992 - Grandad died.





1993 - Grammy died.

1996 - Moved with Mom to White Oak Mountain in Waynesville, NC for 5 months.

1996 - Moved back to Texas. Whole family back in Friendswood.

1997 - Best friend abducted then found dead. Parents divorced. Moved back to NC. Had first kiss. Started High School at Tuscola in Waynesville.

2000 - Moved back to TX to live with Dad. Broke Mom's heart. Selfish teenager. First car--Toyota Celica.

2001 - Second car - Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71

2002 - Mom gave birth to twin boys, Dayne and Dawson. Met Jeremy. Started dating him seriously. Graduated from High School and entered Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. 

2003 - School changed its name to Texas State University. Moved into first apartment.

2004 - Moved in with Lindsey. Got a dog--Marley!

2005 - Moved in with Jeremy.

2006 - Jeremy went to Air Force basic training. Erika worked at Village of Wimberley Town Council. Graduated from Texas State with Bachelor of Public Administration. Married Jeremy. Got first tattoo. Sold Truck. Moved to Bury St. Edmunds, England, UK. Bought third car--Volvo S40 (an old one). Started grad school with University of Oklahoma.

2007 - Starts working for Newmarket Town Council. Ashton has surgery.  Marley arrives in the UK. Jeremy and Erika visit Crete, Greece. Positive Pregnancy Test--oops! Paris, France for Christmas.

2008 - Moved to Newmarket, England, UK. Needed to live close to work. April 22--something wrong--hospital. April 23rd-Liam born at 32 weeks and 5 days. I'm a mom! Bought first real estate - 7 acres in NC.

2009 - Baltic trip. Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden. Frankie dies--I miss you. Liam starts walking everywhere. Graduated from University of Oklahoma with Master of Arts in International Relations. **Ends Aug. 09

Future plans: Quit work on Sept. 30, find a job in Houston, move back to Houston in December, buy house, live life, be happy, wait a couple years and have more kids. Grow old with husband. Raise honest, hard-working citizens.

How We Met--An Account from Erika's Perspective

I was 18 years old and a senior in at Friendswood High School in Friendswood, TX. I had been at Mardis Gras in Galveston with my best friend Denise. We got an invite to a party in the oil fields in our hometown of Friendswood. When we showed up, there were some people we didn't know--which was rare. I recognized one (turned out to be Jeremy) and I knew his friend Adam.

Jeremy (who had been a grade ahead of me in school but was only four months older) and I ended up talking music, and sat in my truck listening to The Clash.

Later that evening, or in the early morning hours of the next day, Jeremy and his friends left the party to go home. Jeremy was driving a rental car--a Dodge pickup--because he'd wrecked his Honda Civic. He had too many beers on this particular night, and drove his rental through someone's front yard. All of my friends were out with their tractors and trucks trying to get his truck out of these people's yard. Needless to say, my friends were pretty angry that he'd driven through their neighbor's yard.

From what I understand, Jeremy's mom came in to wake him up for work the next day and she was as mad as a bull! She could tell he'd been up to no good in that truck. Jeremy didn't remember what had happened, but he says he remembered me.

I had a shaved head the year before. Jeremy couldn't remember my name. So, he asked his sister to look for the girl that had the shaved head and give her his number. As it turns out, Jamie knew me because she ate lunch with me every day!

Jeremy and I became friends fast and within a month, we were officially an item. The first time we spent time together, we had dinner at Hooters with Emily, stayed up late talking, then Emily and I picked him up the next morning to go get some huevos rancheros. Mmmmm . . . I miss huevos rancheros.

Emily has photos from our first days together. I need to get these from her and post them on here. Will do as soon as we go home . . . which means you have to give me a few months.

The Jensens--An Introduction

We are Jeremy, Erika, Liam, and Marley Jensen. Jeremy and Erika are Dad and Mom. Liam is the 16 month old son. Marley is the Bull Terrier (aka NaNa, to Liam). We're really far away from our family and lifelong friends right now. So, you'll find that if there's a photo of all of us, chances are we took it ourselves.

Welcome to our blog. I hope we can keep up with it and tell our story. You may or may not find it interesting. We've been through a lot. Probably the most difficult thing we'll chronicle is the birth of our son, who was premature.