Holidays are coming...

Well, it's been a very busy few months since I last updated my blog.

James has started a new job, closer to home and nicer hours, which means no more having to wake up at 5:30am. He seems to be enjoying it. I certainly am (sleeping in later, that is).

The diving course is finally over which means we have our Sunday afternoons back. James had to go and do his 4 qualifying dives on 2 separate days up at Stoney Cove in rather cold weather. We're now looking forward to doing some diving at Sodwana while we're on holiday in South Africa in January.

My aunt, Sandra was staying with us for a few weeks. She has moved out to the UK from South Africa and we have been helping her out until she finds her feet, so to speak. She moved into a nice place, sharing with 2 other ladies, last weekend. It's quite near where she's working in Enfield which is convenient. Hopefully she'll be happy there.

My Dad arrives in a couple of weeks time. He's coming over to join us for Christmas. It'll be great to have him here.

Well I guess it's time I started some Christmas shopping!

Scuba diving course

James and I started a scuba diving course last Sunday… James is doing his PADI Open Water One and I’m doing a refresher because it’s been over 2 years since I last went diving.
The course is down at our local Leisure Centre (gym) every Sunday afternoon for approximately 5 weeks. The guy who runs it is South African and was apparently one of the founders of Coral Divers in Sodwana Bay (where I did my course). It’s a small world…

Career changes

It seems quite a few people I know are changing careers, or looking into it. Lisa (my sister) is starting a new job on 10th September as a trainee Veterinery Nurse.

James is looking into doing a Web Design course (part time) at the moment, with the aim of changing career down the line. He’s tired of the service industry and wants to do something that he enjoys and will allow him to be creative.

A friend is on maternity leave at the moment and is thinking of starting her own business from home instead of going back to work...

... it's all got me thinking...

The bank holiday weekend...

Last weekend was a bank holiday weekend, so James and I (along with half of the UK) headed for the beach. Well sort of… We went down to Newton Abbot (in Devon) to visit James’ younger brother, Matt, and family and to just chill out.

We left home on Saturday morning just after 4:30am (madness!) to avoid the traffic on the way down. We met up with Matt & family at their place and they took us into Torquay for lunch. After wandering around the ‘English Riviera’ for a few hours, James and I went and ‘crashed’ at the B&B where we were staying. Later in the evening we met up with Matt and family and headed back into Torquay for fish & chips.

On Sunday James and I headed off armed with maps and brochures and did some site-seeing.

We stopped off at Canonteign Falls , Britain’s highest waterfall.

After climbing to the top of the falls, we headed back down to the café at the bottom for some cream tea to the tunes of ‘hogwash’, a local ‘folk’ band (for want of a better description).


We spent most of the afternoon driving around and ended up back in Torquay where we stopped off and walked
down to Babbacombe beach.


Monday morning we headed for home, stopping off at Stonehenge on the way back. Maybe I’m just stingy, but I refused to pay nearly £7 each to go a few meters closer (it’s all been fenced off, so no-one can get really close) and look at a bunch of rocks, so we took photos from outside.

Eleanor Ann Milford-Jones (8 November 1950 to 18 April 2007)

It's been 3 months since my mom passed away. In the midst of dealing with the emotional upheaval and coming to terms with our loss, there is also a sense of needing to do or say something significant in remembrance of her.

Here is a short speech my sister, Lisa, gave on behalf of herself, my brother and I at my mother's memorial service.

I think it sums up our feeling very well...


Mom...

One of the hardest things for us 3 children, Julia, Brett and I has been to find the words that will do justice to our mom and what she has meant to us. Even now, words don't seem to be enough.

A while ago I saw a sign outside a restaurant that said, "God placed angels on earth to walk amongst us, and he called them mothers", I thought of mom and felt how true this was of her. Mom always put others before herself; she was kind, compassionate, caring and never sought the limelight or attention for all the good she did. Mom spoke of how proud she was of her family, and how proud she was to be a part of it. She was the peacemaker, the strong bond that held us all together and she continuously put so much time and unconditional love into those close to her.

As a mother, she has led by example as a truly good person, and given us the strength, wisdom, understanding and maturity to live our lives to the best of our ability being the best we can be. Mom never hesitated to help those in need, she always thought about what was right, and lived by that. In a world where so many marriages seem to fail, we have been so blessed to see our mom and dad stay together through the good times and bad times, showing us true commitment, love and partnership.

Mom hasn't just been a mother, a wife, a sister; she was a friend, a confidant, counsellor, companion and so much more. She had a way of lifting us up, encouraging us, finding the positive in all things and spurring us on towards a future that would make us happy. We are so proud to be able to call her our mom.

In this time of great sorrow, it has been the words and thoughts that mom has shared with us before, her special way of comforting and reassuring us, that has come to our minds. Knowing that mom would want us to find the joy and happiness from the time we had with her, has given us some strength. And it's our love for mom that allows us to find some peace in the knowledge that she is in a better place, being rewarded for everything she has so selflessly given for us.

We will dearly miss mom, and cherish every special moment and memory we have of her. She is in our hearts, a part of her will forever be in us and we are thankful for this gift she has blessed us with.

No more working shift!!

Woo hoo! My days of working shift are nearly at an end! :D
As of Monday I will be moving to a different section/lab within the respiratory laboratory and I will be working days.

It has all come about so quickly. I only went and spoke to the lab manager on Thursday last week about not wanting to work shift any more.

It's an answer to prayer!

Weekend away.

James and I went on a church ‘weekend away’ at Ashburnham Place this last weekend. It felt like the first time in a long while that we’ve been able to just stop and relax. I think it was a much needed break.



We went down on the Friday morning, making a bit of an outing of the trip there.


We stopped off at Leeds Castle (in Kent) for a picnic lunch and then on to the town of Battle in the afternoon. We did the tourist thing and went and checked out Battle Abbey and walked around the site of the Battle of Hastings.


The weather was fabulous on the Friday ... a bit of a 'heatwave' by UK standards and by Sunday we were back to normal again with the rain moving in.

There was a strong emphasis on socializing over the weekend and we had quite a bit of free time to park off and relax... so that's just what I did... a bit of reading and a fair amount of walking around the wonderful surroundings.

Carrying on...

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote on my blog. I haven’t felt motivated to do much of anything the last month or so. It’s been an emotional roller-coaster, but things are starting to reach some semblance of ‘normality’. We’re finally at a place where James & I can start enjoying our life together, looking forward and planning for the future.

I’m so thankful to have James in my life. Things have been a bit of a nightmare since we got back from honeymoon, but he has been such a support to me - a veritable pillar of strength. When my Mom passed away, just over a month ago, it felt as though the world stopped. Everybody else carries on with ‘life’, but for the family, time stands still.

It’s strange how we seem to think that things like this happen to other people and other families and never to us or ours. There are all the unanswered 'why?'s and emotional upheaval ... and then, eventually, we pick up the pieces and carry on ... left with the memories. Good or bad, we decide.

The most wonderful Mom in the world...

I have been trying to update my blog over the last couple of days, but it all feels pretty pointless at the moment.

The most important woman in my life is no longer with us.

My Mom passed away just before midnight on Wednesday last week.

I'm really going to miss you Mom!

Our Wedding

James & I got married on the 10th March 2007.


It was a lovely day and we will have many happy memories of it for years to come.

We wanted our wedding to be a 'community' wedding, involving the church and we felt incredibly blessed by the many friends who helped to make it such a special occasion. There was a wonderful atmosphere and a good time was had by all.

We were so pleased that my parents were able to make it over to the UK for our wedding and that we were able to spend some time with them while they were out here.

It's snowing!!

I woke up on Thursday morning to the sound of children shrieking. One look outside and the reason for all the excitement became obvious... everything was covered in snow. It's all very nice and beautiful for the first 5 minutes... until you need to go out...

New house... new car...

Well, I've moved into James and my future home... :-)

We've rented a 2 bedroom fully furnished house in Cheshunt. Really pleased with it. I only discovered how disorganised I am at the moment after moving in and suddenly realising I had no pots or pans and no plates... so we're juggling between James' place and the house until James moves in after the wedding.


James has also got a new car: a really cute Pepper white Mini Cooper.

4 weeks to go...

4 Weeks to go 'til the Big Day!!! We have been so busy, the time has flown by.

Towards the end of January, James, Lisa and I went to Paris for the weekend. It was the easiest way to organise a multiple entry visa that would cover me for our honeymoon... it leaves us free to drive around Europe without having to specify where we're staying.


Paris was great, but exhausting. We went over early on the Saturday morning on the Eurostar ...did the run around tourist thing, walking most of the time - next time I'll wear better shoes and use more public transport. We went to the Sacré-Coeur (a few minutes walk from where we were staying), walked up the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triumph and then to the Eiffel Tower.


We also managed to fit in visits to the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral on the Sunday before heading back in the evening (sleeping/dozing most of the way).

The year so far...

It's been a hectic start to the new year... what with James starting a new job, house hunting, car hunting (for James), helping Lisa move... and next on the agenda is my move on 1 Feb into James and my future home :-)

We're renting a 2 bedroom house in Chesthunt... watch this space for photos down the line...

It's apparently been a fairly warm winter here in the UK this year. That ended a couple of days ago with some really cold weather and snow.

I walked out of my front door at 5:30am to head off to work.

I was astounded to see snow covering everything. I didn't quite know what to do... so I took out my camera and took photos :-)