Parents in town

This past weekend my (Annelies) parents and little sister were in town. I took friday and monday off and it was 'brilliant'. We did various touristic activities and tried out some great restaurants, including a typical 'pub' lunch (my dad needed to eat fish-and-chips!).
We even went to the British Museum (my dad and I gave in since it was raining outside anyways!) and the two virgos were fulfilled and happy (Jason and my mom share the same birthday in August)!!!

I was able to prove the point that I did not move to England for it's weather (it was rainy, windy and cold) but there were several beautiful tulips, daffodils and various trees blooming (it's spring) - it was just 'lovely'!
My little sister has moved to Belgium and will be coming to visit more often, she will even come over Easter weekend and take care of Vinny while we'll be in Spain!!!! Liesbet is doing great and is learning flemish very well, she is also fluent in english! I am so happy to be close to her and share all the fun and excitement of going to vet school!
Jason will post some pictures later tonight.

Here is a picture of Fanny and Herman at the Tate Modern museum.
















Annelies and Liesbet:



















What it's like to be on a tour bus on a rainy day:



















Olaerts family on tour:














London's gargoyle (the city emblem):



















London trees in winter:



















1:05 at London's Royal Courts:

Finally Back...Online!

Whew! We've finally just gotten our internet connection set up at home! No more "borrowing" other neighbor's DSL connections thru wireless connection! Now we can surf away, and most importantly, update this blog and keep in better communications with everyone!

We're essentially unpacked and have found the best ways to use our limited London space (one trip to Ikea and 2 trips to London's equivalent of the Home Depot--B & Q--helped out with that one). We got a few pieces of build-it-yourself furniture to store linens, books, and clothes. And using a trick Jason learned back in college, we put our bed up on a few bricks (elevated not more than 6 inches or so); now we can store our luggage and various other items under the bed. Voila!
The last few weeks have been very busy. Both Jason & Annelies are busy with work; we're making our mark and trying to come up to speed quickly! But we're both enjoying the challenges. Plus, our co-workers are a bunch of great people.

Vinny is totally settled now; he's figured out the new routines, smells, sights, other pugs. The funniest thing that he's done lately has to do with the elevator. We live on the 7th floor of a building and take him out in the morning and the evening. There is an LED-light indicator at the top of the elevator, above the buttons. Vinny is just *fascinated* by those lights as they tick off the various floors! He'll stand on his hind-legs trying to get closer to the lights. Strange, but quite hilarious.

So as promised a few pics! Here is Vinny & Annelies on the day that Vinny arrived; they were both quite stressed that day :)











These next few pics are the view from our London "flat" (aka "apartment"). Enjoy!

We hope that everyone is doing well and in good health. Write us when you get a chance!

Almost Spring

It's already March!!! This year is really going fast. We are looking forward to the spring (any weather is better then winter!!!). We are looking forward to seeing everything greener (and warmer)!!!!
Monday, George, my old roommate was in in town! We had a great time and he was officially our first 'guest'. We are trying to convince him to move to London!(the cold evenings did not really help our cause....)
Our house is really coming together! It feels like home and we are almost 100% settled.
In two weeks my parents will be coming to Belgium to help my little sister settle in to her new country. My little sister, Liesbet, is coming to start college. She is going to become a Vet (just like me!! ;-) and we are very excited she is going to be closer by and I get to see her more than once a year!!!! Both my parents and Liesbet will come for 4 days to London and check out our new 'home'. (mom, dad, make sure to bring warm cloths...)
As Jason mentioned, we still don't have internet at home... (he'll write some more about that whole 'adventure') reason we have not been able to add pictures.