Posts Tagged "Wisconsin"

Flashback Friday: Home is where the heart is

Posted by cafebebemama on Jul 29, 2011 in American Mum Me, Blogger Love, Flashback Friday, Little Miss Adventures, Motherhood, Travelling Adventures | 4 comments

This is one of my favourite pictures of Ella. It was taken in December of 2008 during our first visit back to the US with Ella. She was 6 months old and is sleeping on the shoulder of my Dad, Ella’s Grandpa. This visit was a special one for us. First of all, we hadn’t been back to the US since 2005. I had gone back to the US in September of 2005 to settle my life there before moving permanently to the UK to be with Mark, my then-fiance. Mark joined me for 1/2 of my visit and got to meet my family and see what my life was like in Wisconsin. We journeyed back to the UK in October of 2005 and didn’t go back until November 2008 as a family of three.

Ella had a WONDERFUL time on this adventure to my homeland. Everyone adored her and she succeeded in charming everyone she met. It was a bit of a bittersweet journey for us as my paternal Grandpa had passed away in March of 2008, prior to Ella being born and Ella also met both of my Grandma’s who may not see her again due to their increasing age and our lack of funds to travel back and forth to the US whenever we like. But everyone got to meet her at least once and that was the important part.

People ask me what it’s like being so far away from “home”. Well, for one thing, for me now, HOME is where the heart is. England is my home but America (specifically Wisconsin) is my homeland. Being away for 6 years now makes it difficult to feel that I belong in the US because I’m not there experiencing it on a daily basis. I have no clue what is going on in the US. Politics, celebrities, television shows, fuel prices, shops…not a clue. And because I’m not there on a regular basis, I don’t see a lot of point dwelling on it.

I miss my family, no doubt about that. Particularly now that I have a family of my own. Having my inlaws a 5-minute car ride from our house makes me painfully aware of the fact that I can’t take Ella to Grandma’s house for the afternoon or ring up Grandpa and Nanna Janna to see if they’d like to meet us for lunch somewhere. Ella misses out on valuable time with her Grandparents and that does make me sad. But what are you going to do? Our home is in England. Their home is the US. An ocean apart but never out of touch.

Skype is a saviour (when the connection is good) so at least the relatives can SEE Ella and she can establish a connection with them that does seem to carry through until the time that we finally meet again. But it is hard. For them and for us.

There will be no trips back to the US again this year. The last time we were back was October of 2009 when we attended my only brother’s wedding. More than likely, we won’t be traveling back to the US until Summer of 2012 at the earliest when we hope to take our family of FOUR back to enjoy friends, family and a Wisconsin summer. Until then, we’ll Skype and ring and hopefully have Wisconsin come to us when Bebe #2 joins our family.

Today is Flashback Friday! Take a memory from your past (any past…last week, last year, 10 years ago), write your “story”, share a smile with us and link it back for others to venture back in time to. Simple. No theme, no stress, no strain! Thank you, in advance, for sharing your life…it’s a pleasure to be invited!

Flashback Friday-The 70′s

Posted by cafebebemama on Mar 4, 2011 in Blogger Love, Flashback Friday | 9 comments

I’ve gone back to the 70′s for this week’s Flashback Friday. This photo was taken in the Summer of 1974. I was 3 1/2 years old and the location is our family cottage on Sand Lake in Northern Wisconsin, USA. In the background you’ll see half of my Dad in a rather funky green tank top and my Grandma looking on. I’m stationed on the dock with table, chair, blanket and cereal for my morning breakfast. Enjoying the sunshine and what was probably Apple Jacks cereal which I usually had the pleasure of having at Grandma’s only.

We still have the cottage only I don’t get to have my breakfast on it’s dock very often any more. In fact, the last time I was there was in 2009. This makes me sad but such is the life of an expat! The dock has been replaced and the cottage has been converted into much more of a home but everything, ultimately, remains the same. The cottage is a place of very happy memories for me. I only wish Little Miss could have the same experiences. But she’ll have her own here as well.

I used to make mud pies on the dock, go swimming in the lake, race around on the lawn and go for pontoon rides around the lake. Of course, I never appreciated the cottage properly when I was young. It was only when I was old enough to realise how special it is that I began to truly understand. It’s a place of refuge; a place to recharge; a place to enjoy. I miss it but it will always be there for us whenever we visit.

For those of you who are new to Flashback Friday, here’s how it came about and how you can take part:

I love old photos. I’m quite fond of old photos of me or my husband or other family members when we were kids. I also love dipping into Little Miss’ archives and finding old memories and comparing her then and now. I get all nostalgic and smiley.

I wondered if other people might feel the same way? The Gallery and Silent Sunday have galvanised the blogging community and got people to dust off their cameras and smartphones and even put those all-in-one printers to use! I would never dream of reaching their heights but if you’re interested in trawling back through the photo archives, then come on over to Cafe Bebe every Friday for Flashback Friday.

For now, let’s just get the ball rolling. Look back in your photo archives. It can be a picture of you as a child…your child in the early days/months/years…your house before a makeover…a winter photo…a “one year ago today” photo…The sky’s the limit. Just take us back in time. Share some words to take us there and we can all get nostalgic and smiley remembering “when”. Then come back here every Friday to link up your post to share with the rest of the blogosphere!

My Nostalgic Favourite Place

Posted by cafebebemama on May 5, 2010 in Blogger Love, Gallery | 19 comments

This is my nostalgic favourite place…Sand Lake, Wisconsin, USA.  It’s my family cottage on a gorgeous lake (sand bottom strangely enough) in the middle of nowhere in North-Central Wisconsin.  My grandfather built the original cottage well over 60 years ago now and it now belongs to my Dad.  My Dad and Stepmom have made what was a summer home ONLY with very few amenitites into a year round home with (gasp) satellite tv!  It’s an amazing location filled with family history and I adore it.  I miss it.  A lot.  And as I now live in England permanently, I won’t be visiting for quite some time.  I hope that it will always be able to be kept in our family but that will eventually fall to my brother unless we happen to be in the US as well.  It’s a place of peace and love and family…I hope you enjoy one of my nostalgic favourite places.

This post was written in support of Tara Cain’s Sticky Fingers Gallery…thank you Tara!   The theme this 10th week is “The World in which we live”…I thought I’d give you a glimpse into where I come from.  All the way, 4000 miles away, in north-central Wisconsin.  Like it?

MUK LUKS- A Vlog Review

Posted by cafebebemama on Feb 23, 2010 in Clothing, Product Reviews, Vlog Posts | 7 comments

The world of Twitter can be very small indeed.  In December, I stumbled across someone tweeting about MUK LUKS.  I clicked on the MUK LUKS profile and found out they were based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Wisconsin is my home state and my brother happens to live in Milwaukee!  Weird.  I tweeted with Amanda from MUK LUKS and she offered to send me two pairs of MUK LUKS for review on Cafe Bebe.  I received them right before Christmas and had great weather in which to test them.  We’ve had tons of snow and ice and rubbish cold here in England this winter which greatly assisted in the testing process.  I bring you my video review of my MUK LUKS experience.  Below the Vlog window you’ll find links to MUK LUKS…do check them out if you’re looking for stylish boots and slippers that will keep your feet warm and your bank balance intact.

MUK LUKS- www.muk-luks.com

If you visit the MUK LUKS site linked above you’ll find links to different stores where you can purchase your own pair of MUK LUKS.

Changing Bag Dilema Solved

Posted by cafebebemama on Aug 25, 2009 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

The lovely postman made a delivery this morning!  I love it when the postman rings!  He came bearing two gifts:

1) A SnugBaby sling from the lovely Claire.  She is one of my Mumpreneurs featured on my main site, Cafe Bebe, and asked me to trial one of her gorgeous slings.  I’m quite intrigued to do this as Little Miss is nearly 15 months and has never been “worn”.  We’ll have great fun trying this out.  A review will follow on Cafe Bebe.  Thank you Claire!

2) A SkipHop Duo Deluxe changing bag!  For a second I thought, “Hey- some wonderful company out there read my Changing Bag Dilema post and sent me a Skip Hop!  But then I realised from the label, addressed to my husband and myself, MY MOM sent me the Skip Hop!  My Mom, who’s all the way in Wisconsin in the US.  How wonderful is my Mom?  So thank you Mom.  We’ll put the Skip Hop to good use and will show it to you when we come to the US in October.  Love you!  A review of the Skip Hop will follow on Cafe Bebe.

What a great way to start the day!  Any more presents are more than welcome.