Katya Starkey’s romantic comedy novel My Big Fat Low-Fat Wedding is FREE on all global Amazon websites from Friday May 10th through Tuesday May 14th. Kat’s book is a Chick Lit novel that stars Emily Gillam; a curvy bride-to-be who can’t stop dieting and/or over-eating from one day to the next. Will Emily feel she’s at the right dress size to walk down the aisle on her wedding day? Download the FREE eBook today to read on and find out!

About the Author

Katya Starkey is the pen name of writer Suzanne Korb who is originally from the USA. She’s been living in England for over ten years now and Worcestershire county also serves as the settings for her novels. If you’d like to get in touch with her you can  email her or visit and comment on her blog any time. She’s also on twitter [@StarkeyKat] and facebook at [StarkeyKat].

So go ahead and download My Big Fat Low-Fat Wedding today!

Amazon UK - Amazon USA - Amazon.de - Amazon.fr - Amazon.es - Amazon.it - Amazon.jp - Amazon.ca - Amazon.br

Expats who Rock began when I realized just how many truly amazing expat women I know here in the UK and decided that I would put my blog to use to recognize that awesomeness.

Are you an Expat Who Rocks or do you know someone who is? Would you like to be featured next week? Please contact me via my Contact Form or Twitter [@silentbeauty] today!

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

This weekend I’m taking part in an Itty Bitty Blogathon – 24 hours of working on blogging tasks with the support of others who are doing the same via facebook, twitter & google+. For me this is essentially 24 hours where I make blogging a priority and try to find my groove once again. If you’d like to join in the Itty Bitty Blogathon, please do – virtual cupcakes for anyone who mentions they found it via me!

There’s a list of blogathon tasks I’m going to be taking on in hopes of 1 – making my blog better and 2 – potentially winning a prize!  While this is no longer my only blog, it is the one I’m focusing on until 2 pm tomorrow.

Really perfect weather for it at the moment here in England, with snow coming down steadily still.  I baked bread this morning and have plans to go sledding (or sledging if you prefer) with the boy later this afternoon.

To be completely honest, I’m using this Itty Bitty Blogathon to help me focus on blogging because I’ve had a rather hard time lately focusing on much of anything.   I have a chronic condition that I’ve mentioned here before and lately it’s been affecting me a lot.  I didn’t fully realise how much I’d withdrawn in some arenas of my life until I read the recent Blognonymous Bipolar post.  Mostly because there are so many times over the last decade when I could have written the exact same thing.

Life is what we make of it and I’m choosing not to let things I cannot control stop me.  So, here I go again…

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

This Lent I am abstaining from coffee and all forms of caffeinated soda.  Surprisingly it’s not the coffee I’ve found a challenge, but the soda. One trip to Costco with the boys where I ended up drinking flat orange Tango and I almost caved.  The bigger picture of course is that I regularly consume too much caffeine.  I hope that kicking the habit will improve my overall health by decreasing the number of migraines I get.  I hope that it will lessen the severity of my sometimes bitchy mood swings.

I hope that giving up coffee will help me to be a more patient parent and a more alert and dependable spouse.  It all follows in my mind, as a parent and spouse my health is directly related to my ability to interact positively with my husband and my son.

Do you make Lenten promises?  If so, I’d love to hear about what you’re doing, or not doing this Lent.

My son is giving up his favourite video game character, Kirby.  This means that he won’t be spending time playing Kirby’s Epic Yarn until Easter.  I’m hoping that we can spend some of his free time doing more crafty stuff together.  Do your children make Lenten promises?  Do you help them to form them, or do they choose them all on their own?

I think what I enjoy the most about making Lenten promises is the second chance to set goals and change for the better during the calendar year.  New year’s resolutions don’t always stick, but for some reason Lenten promises do.

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

This week marks my return to menu planning.  I’ve been rubbish at planning meals this academic year. At the beginning of this term I posted about how important planning was going to be. Unfortunately, I failed to take my own advice. There are two weeks left of this term and It feels like I have a million things to do.

It hasn’t helped that our slow cooker died and I failed to find one that I like to purchase as a replacement.  Thankfully, Hubby’s Mother doesn’t use hers very often at all and has loaned it to use for the time being.  I’m happy to be able to chuck stuff in in the morning and have yummy warm food waiting when I return home.  Now I must rush off and return to uni work.  I promise lots of real blog posts soon!

Our Weekly Menu Plan

Monday the 26th: Slow Comfortable {Beef} Stew

Tuesday the 27th: Veggie Egg Fried Rice

Wednesday the 28th: Spicy Lemon Broccoli Pasta – My Way

Thursday the 29th: Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

Friday the 30th: Fish Fingers/Salmon Bites with Chips and Baked Beans or Peas

Saturday the 01st: Thanksgiving Dinner – Take 2

Sunday the 02nd: Ecuadorian Quinoa Vegetable Soup 

You can find more menu plans at Orgjunkie! You can find more meal plans At Home with Mrs M!

What are you serving for dinner this week that takes the edge of this wet soon to become winter-y weather?

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

I’m sure there are many parents in the world who would love to hear their child’s teacher utter those three little words about their offspring. I’m not sure I’m one of them. I spent most of the Boy’s reception year praying he didn’t get bored and become disruptive. Halfway through that year he began to go spend time in the year one class for mathematics (sorry I’m American and ‘maths’ still just sounds wrong to me!) lessons. In the beginning he liked the challenge, but he disliked missing the fun education through play atmosphere of the reception classroom. It wasn’t a success, but it wasn’t a complete failure. In many ways it made the following year a little bit easier as Mrs D already knew what he was capable of.

That’s not to say that he didn’t get bored. I distinctly remember him getting in trouble on two different occasions for having drawn all over his desk. Once again halfway through the year or so he started going up a year for mathematics lessons. Thankfully, this time around it worked a little better. The Boy now had friends in the class above him, so moving up for lessons wasn’t as socially stressful as it previously had been.

Fast forward to the first parents evening of this year where to year two teacher, Miss B, uttered the phrase ‘GCSEs at 11′ to us.  Immediately we knew that we’d reached the point as parents where we no longer felt prepared to handle it all on our own.  Which lead us to Potential Plus (formerly NAGC) who thankfully were holding a Big Family Weekend not too far away from us in the West Midlands.

We went with open minds and although the Boy absolutely loved it, Hubby and I found the sessions we attended a trifle disappointing.  I would have loved the opportunity to network with parents who had children of a similar age and intellect, but neither the schedule of the weekend or the mealtime facilities really allowed for such things to occur.

For now we will continue playing things by ear, making sure that the Boy is challenged where he needs to be.  We will not be *those* parents, you know the pushy ones I mean, but we won’t let the Boy’s questioning intellect die either.  It’s quite a tightrope to walk.

I love to hear from other parents with similar children. What have you done? What do you plan on doing?

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

Sorry if the audio is a bit quiet.  I’m off to overindulge in our excess chocolate.

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

For most of my life the year that has ruled my schedule is not of the calendar variety, but rather the academic one.  For as long as I can remember, barring a few years when I was a stay-at-home mom, the academic year has either seen me return to school or to work as a mathematics tutor.  I’ve written before about September bringing new beginnings, but this year the impact somehow seems more substantial.

I’m beginning the third year of my degree.  For some on my course this will be their final year.  They will earn their BEng and leave.  I plan on staying around to complete my MEng in Chemical and Energy Engineering.  This year it all feels so real, so final.   The things we are learning are actually the things we need to know to have successful careers in our field.  This year also contributes 40% to my final degree classification – quite different from the US system that I’m used to.

A new diary with lecture times & locations, school holidays, and other important dates scribbled inside in ink.  My year is about to take shape and take off at a pace which I hope I can keep up with.  Thankfully after a week and half of hassle Student Finance England has gotten their act together and deposited money in my account.  For some odd reason I find it less stressful to send the Boy to after-school club when I know the money to pay for it at the end of the month is in the bank.

Assignments have been issued and it’s time for me to take a deep breath and get on with it.  I’m thankful for the ability to smile and feel happy and certain that this year is going to be a good one.

What does the beginning of a new academic year remind you of?  What hopes and goals do you have for this year?

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?

Since uni started again last week with the usual ‘intro to year’ lecture and the issuing of the first assignment, it seems like the universe has been against me. First, the Boy brought home a touch of a cold which hit me hard. Then this weekend the Boy experienced what I believe to be his first migraine.

Seeing my little boy complaining that his head hurt and his throat felt slimey was hard enough.  Calpol was given and he was tucked into my bed.  Little did I know then the mistake I was making.  I put towels and an empty basin alongside the bed, so that if he was ill it would be okay.  Needless to say, he was sick in the opposite direction.  Seven to eight loads of laundry later with me completely exhausted, the Boy recovered enough to jump enthusiastically off of the sofa as any good ninja does.

This week I’m making quick meals that hopefully will be enjoyed and will require minimal prep.  I’ve got a six page paper due tomorrow and only about 3/4 of a page filled so far.  This Momma’s got work to do. . .

Our Weekly Menu Plan

Monday the 24th: Chicken Egg Fried Rice

Tuesday the 25th: Spicy Lemon Broccoli Pasta – My Way

Wednesday the 26th: Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup with Freshbaked Bread

Thursday the 27th: Courgette, Sausage & Pepper Pasta

Friday the 28th: Baked Beans, Eggs & Chips

Saturday the 29th: Quinoa Black Bean Salad with Cajun Blackened Chicken Breasts

Sunday the 30th: Some sort of Roast with all the trimmings

You can find more menu plans at Orgjunkie!

Are you baking any sweet treats this week? This year traditional rice krispie treats seem to be our go to lunch box treat.  What’s your go to sweet treat?

This was written by Erin @ American Mom in England - Why not come visit us at our new self-hosted Wordpress location?