Goodbye 2011

So, we've come to another New Years Eve. Always seems to feel like the year has gone so fast. But what a year this has been... getting married, finding a job and settling into my life here. Today I find myself looking back with a peaceful and contented feeling, ready for whatever 2012 may bring. Life is good, and may it stay that way for many, many years to come. Looking forward now to whatever comes next :)

Happy New Year everyone, hope it's been a wonderful year and may 2012 get off to a wonderful start!

day after Boxing Day

So, the last two days of fun and festivities came and went, and as always it was a great couple of days, lots of presents, food, and family fun. Santa was pretty good to me too, brought me two Sims expansion packs, the complete set of Heroes Seasons 1-4, the last two Potter films, a couple of CD's, a book that I couldn't get on the Kindle, and enough chocolate to last me for a bit.  Can't believe it's back to work today, I got so used to having this time off all those years of coming to visit here. But first I just wanted to post photos of all the fun.

sleepy after Christmas dinner

coloring with ar Becca at Danny's later that night

presents under the tree, and then burying the Old Man  under the wrapping paper once they're all opened

Adam is full of Christmas cheer...

fun and games

end of the night... one too many pernods for the Old Man it seems :)

wrapping up with one more silly activity... everyone draw a lion

It always seems like these two days go by so fast every year... so much planning and excitment, and then it's over just like that. But then, the way time flies I'm sure when we get to December next year, it'll feel like this one had only still just came and went.

Oh, and one thing I learned this year... Christmas Cake and cheese may sound really dodgy, but it's actually good.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and Santa was good to you! Looking forward to next year already :)

so here it is...

Merry Christmas everyone!! :)

Finally, now the days till Christmas are winding down, the chaotic days at work are finally pretty much over, presents are bought, and I'm more than ready to settle in, get all warm and cozy and enjoy these days of celebration. Today will be a lazy day spent with Adam, remembering how it was a year ago today that I first got off the plane in Manchester and started to make my home here. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I work the 10-6 shift, and then home to get ready to go out for our traditional Christmas Eve pub crawl, spend a few hours having drinks with our friends, then home to snuggle with Adam, listen to Christmas music and eat "dog food sandwiches" before we go to bed. Christmas morning we'll open our presents, and then go off to his parents house for Christmas dinner. And then Boxing Day the next day, where the whole family gets together, exchange gifts, eat a lot of food, and play games. So many traditions that have become so important to me over the years, so much coming up in the next few days to look forward to. And I'm ready to enjoy every moment of it :)

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season. Whatever else is going on in your life, take time out of all of that these next few days to just enjoy the time with your loved ones. This is what's really important <3

one year

It was one year ago today that I had packed all of my worldly possessions into five wheelie bags and was getting ready to get on a plane that night to make my move to the UK. It's amazing how fast this year has gone, so many big events and so much downtime packed into what feels like just a few months. It's been a year now since I've set foot in the USA, and sure, I miss it sometimes. But this morning, sitting here with the Christmas lights on, Christmas music playing and Adam singing along to make me laugh as he gets ready for work, I feel so cozy and content, so at home, like I've always been here. I've done exactly what I wanted to do for all those years... got my visa, got married, found a job here, settled into my new life. I love my flat, I love my town, I love my extended family here. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be :)

next weekend...

Wow, I can't believe next weekend is Christmas! It really shows how fast this time of year goes by. I really hope we can be ready for it, I know we still have some gifts to buy. But once we get through the next week, it's just going to be time to enjoy spending with family, and that's always the best part of Christmas :)

So, work's been crazy of course, and it hasn't helped that I'm getting over another illness that just hit me like a bus earlier this week. Just after Adam and I had spent a fun day off together in Leeds going shopping and then having a nice meal. I'm glad at least we got to have our day together and enjoy it before I was too miserable to do anything. Now today I have stuff to do around the house that I've been neglecting of course, and then tomorrow night is my work's Christmas do at Red Hot Buffet in Leeds. Should be fun :)

I think as stressful as these last few weeks have been at times, now's really the time to start to enjoy it as much as we can. Christmas only comes once a year, even if it does feel like time flies by and last Christmas only just happened. Can't wait for the festivities to begin! :D

the tree is up!

So tonight we put up our Christmas tree. A nice cozy evening at home, spaghetti dinner, a glass of wine, Christmas music playing, decorating and feeling merry. This work week is/will be a bit of a longer one, with a couple of late nights and an early-early day tomorrow, so it's evenings like this that's getting me through in the meantime. Now, before I go and watch the most current episode of Game of Thrones with Adam, here's a photo of the tree and a little Christmas music to make us all feel nice and festive tonight :)

Happy Birthday Adam!

It's Adam's birthday today, and the first one I'll be spending with him in all the years I've known him. What with it being so close to Christmas, and what with me always coming later in December for Christmas and New Years, I was never able to come for a visit at this time before, and last year my visa hadn't processed in time for me to get over earlier in the month to be here at this time. So today feels special, thinking back on all we had to miss out on before, but now will never have to miss out on again. He's still sleeping right now, but in a little while I'll go make him a cup of coffee in a new mug I bought him yesterday and kept hidden in my bag last night, and go wake him up, have some cuddle time, and then get on with whatever we want to do today. Tonight we'll go off to the pub for a meal, and then on for a few drinks. Looking forward to a cozy, happy, fun day :)

Thanksgiving

So here I am, my first Thanksgiving across the pond. Well, it's the morning of anyway, haven't gotten started on the day yet as it's still early, just got up and got on the computer, letting the sunlight stream in (haven't had many sunny days lately, so it's a bit of a treat to see the sun out today!) and reminiscing on Thanksgivings past. Growing up, we always went up north to see my grandparents for a couple of days, time there always seemed to go so fast, but we enjoyed it so much. Or in the last few years, when it was just me and my mom and my brother, even though it was a quiet day it always still was so nice, to smell the turkey first thing, to see the dog get all excited, to curl up and read a book and watch football and start planning for Christmas shopping, to start eating in the early afternoon and just go back for leftovers throughout the day. Honestly, I really would love to be back at my mom's for a few days at this time, especially if Adam were with me this time. But I'm glad that at least my family here wants to share in the day with me, even though it means nothing special to them, and they'll be over this evening for turkey dinner. It will be good to make new traditions. I think that wherever I am in the world, this will always be one of my favorite days.

I could list so many things I'm thankful for... my parents, my brother, Adam, the whole Sturgess clan here, the holiday season and all it's festiveness in the air, being where I am now after all the planning and stress I went through last year to get here, having a job and getting settled into life here, all the things that make me happy, my love of photography and reading, all the wonderful and inspiring stories that have given me hours of happiness, my computer and my phone so I can stay in touch with everyone I know around the world. All the good things that have ever happened to me, all the people I've known who have touched my life in any way, everyone that has ever cheered me up or encouraged me, and even all the "bad" things or things that have gone wrong and that I've learned lessons from. I'm thankful for the beautiful world I live in and this beautiful, complicated, imperfect, wonderful little life that belongs to me. I wouldn't change a thing, and I think that's what I'm most thankful for.

Anyways, now that I've gotten the sappiness out of the way there, time to go finish planning the turkey day menu. Hope all the Americans out there have a wonderful day, whatever your plans are!

Pottsy and Laura's wedding

So yesterday was Pottsy and Laura's wedding, at a little hotel in Halifax on a chilly, misty November day. Despite the weather, it was a really good day, can't say it was a good day for taking photos outside, but a nice day to spend with friends, drink mulled wine, sit by a fire, and have dinner and lots of drinks and dancing. The ceremony was short but sweet, and the bridesmaids gave a lovely reading, I wish I knew what it was so I could find it and post the words. The night do in the evening was good, and I finally got to see Adam go out on the dance floor and show off his moves. Very nice :)  anyways, I didn't take a lot of photos, but here's a few:

Big congratulations to the newlyweds, and may this be the beginning of many, many happy days to come! :)

Getting Frustrated

It's just not possible for me to keep up with things I want or need to do, when I work 8-9+ hours in a day. I'm not going to come home after working all day and clean the house, it's just not going to happen, it will have to wait until I have a day off and have time. I'm not going to worry about cleaning up when I'm poorly and don't feel well enough to be worrying about it, it will just have to wait for another day. I can't worry about washing sheets when the laundry hamper is full of clothes and I have to wash those first. And that's only the stuff at home, then there's how busy we are at work, when we have three different things we need to be doing all at once while it's super-busy, and we're all yelling at each other that we're not getting things done. Well of course, there's just not enough time or enough of us to accomplish all the tasks we need to do all at once.

Fucking Hell, I'm not cut out for all of this. I hate feeling like there's always a ton of shit to do. Keeping busy is one thing, but at a more even pace, and then with plenty of downtime when I get home. Yes, I admit, if I don't get a few hours to myself every day to just sit and read and relax, forget it, some things will have to wait because I need my Me-Time. Is that really so much to ask?

I have to laugh to myself a little, because I sound like a kid again complaining about having to do chores. I guess some things never change, sadly.

Armistice Day

So I hadn't thought about Rememberance Day really, until we had a moment of silence at 11am. One of the first things on my mind this morning when I got to work was the December rotas, and how I got my wish and was not scheduled to work on Boxing Day. Then during the two minutes of silence, I thought about not just the soldiers who have lost their lives overseas during any of the wars within the past 100 years, but also the troops who are there now, serving both the UK and the USA, and how many of them won't make it home for Christmas at all. In that moment it suddenly seemed a bit silly, my concern about having Boxing Day off, when at least I'm here with Adam, at least we'd have Christmas Day together even if I had been scheduled to work, and at the end of the day I still get to come home to him every night. How many people have been called away to spend months or even a year or more halfway across the world, how many families have had to be missing their loved ones, have had to worry for their safety, and spend special days without them? I'm still grateful that I'll have the time off work to spend with the family at Christmas and Boxing Day, but it makes me think of all of those who are giving up so much to fight for our countries, and how sad it is that they have to be there. I've been against the war in Iraq from day one, and I've always had a lot of empathy for those who get called up to serve, and for their families who have to watch them go and can have no say in when they'll be back.

I can remember when I was in 6th grade, and the first war in Iraq broke out back in the early 90's. I remember one of our teachers having a rant at us, about how this was all going on and we didn't care. Well, to be fair I think it didn't really touch our lives then, this was something that was going on half the world away, and we were at an age when most of our family members would've been either too young or too old to get called up. But when 9/11 happened, here we were in our early 20's, having to worry about many of the people we knew and what this might mean for them. I feel lucky that no one really close to me has had to go, some I've been acquainted with have, and some people close to those I know, but I know how scared I was at the time that someone I loved might have had to go. It's just sad that this has gone on for so long, and I don't know that we're really seeing a light at the end of the tunnel ahead. But for today, for Rememberance Day, and for the upcoming holidays, I hope we'll all think of all of those out there who have served their country, or are currently serving, and the family members of those who are there now and of those who haven't returned. I don't have any more words left, but just know that my thoughts are with you.

Remember Remember the 5th of November

So, with this being my first Bonfire Night that I've been in the UK for, I couldn't let tonight go by without going to see a bonfire. So Adam and I went out to Gildersome tonight for the bonfire and the fireworks. Was a good night, not too cold, it felt nice and toasty near the fire :) anyways, since photos usually speak louder than words, here are some (would've been better if I'd brought my proper camera, but alas I left it at home)

the results of the redesign at work...

So, we all went in to work yesterday with no idea of what to expect I'm sure, and I must say they did a nice job, it really does look nice, although I think it'll take at least a day or so to decide if all the changes are practical or not. Some things I know I like, like having a rubbish bin right under the counter where we do milk is so wonderfully convenient. And our entrance behind the counter is no longer right where people are cueing for drinks, so that makes it a whole lot easier to move around too. But we're still trying to sort out where everything is and get used to the changes, which will get easier as we go along, but when we first opened yesterday it was such a hassle, especially since we opened before we were quite ready and were still missing basic things we take for granted, like pens, scissors to open milk pouches, numbers for sandwich orders, coins for the till. It got better as the day went on, but overall it was quite stressful. I suppose it can only get better from here though, even though it's going to get busier now with Christmas coming, and our hours are about to be extended for the holiday shopping season. It may be a rough couple of months ahead, but I guess all we can do is take it one day at a time and do our best. For better or worse, this new redesign is here to stay, so hopefully we'll grow to like it.

time sure flies

How did it get to be November already? Here we are approaching the end of the year, my first year living in the UK. I don't think it feels like it's really been almost a full year yet, but I guess the calendar doesn't lie. Halloween passed yesterday and I barely noticed. By the end of this week, Christmas season will be starting to get underway, especially working in a busy shopping center I'll be seeing Christmas decorations and hearing Christmas music all the time now very soon. I do love this time of year, but I suppose it feels a bit too soon. Thanksgiving will be in a few weeks, and of course I'll be one of the very few people here who will even care. I'm carrying on the tradition of Thanksgiving over here still though, by starting to make new traditions this year, and convincing Adam to humor me and play along, LOL, but I suppose it'll feel like something's missing, with it being just a normal day here while for me it's always been one of my favorite days of the year. I suppose this is a time I'll really be missing the States more.

Anyways, right now I'm having the second of one of my days off while our space at work is being redesigned. If all goes according to plan, we'll come in tomorrow to a nice newly designed cafe and will be ready to open around noontime, but I guess we'll see how it all works out when I go in tomorrow, at this time. For now things are pretty quiet, I'm just setting up our new pc which just arrived this morning, much to Adam's frustration I think since if it had come yesterday instead he'd have had all day to play with it, instead of being stuck at work today while I'm taking over his new toy, haha :) other than that, nothing new and exciting really, work's going to start getting busier and taking up more of my time, especially since the new Christmas hours are starting this week and we'll be open later. Saturday is Bonfire Night, my first one ever so I'm hoping Adam's going to take me out to see some bonfires and fireworks. And Pottsy and Laura's wedding is in a few weeks, I just bought a new dress and looking forward to a fun day with everyone.

And wow, I guess now we can really say that Christmas is next month! It still feels like it's still a little ways away, but when you put it like that I suppose it feels like it's starting to get a little closer as well. And the way time has been flying, I think it really is gonna sneak up on us fast. Hopefully some fun times are around the corner then :)

Falling Together

Sometimes I just have to talk about the book I'm reading, and I think now is one of those times. Marisa de los Santos is the author of this book, Falling Together, as well as two previous books called Love Walked In and Belong to Me, which I've read previously and fallen in love with right from the beginning. She has an amazing way with words, I could try all day and wouldn't be able to describe it properly, but somehow it just makes me smile the whole way through. Her writing feels good, as if it were lighting a sort of inner warmth inside me as I take it in. It's like the feeling of comfy clothes and fuzzy socks, as you curl up in a patch of sunlight with a hot drink on a cold day. And it's so easy to get caught up in the characters. Her last book, Belong to Me, was a sequel to Love Walked In, so we really got to know those characters, and I'd always hoped to read another story about them, but the three main characters in Falling Together have been easy to get attached to as well.

You know, a really cool coincidence, is that Marisa de los Santos is from my old town, and when I read that I wondered sometimes if she ever went to the same places that I did, and I might see her somewhere. Then she started coming into the coffee shop that I worked in. I wasn't sure it was her at first, but as I kept seeing her now and then I eventually knew for sure that it was. I never said anything, that I recognized her or that I love her books, I get way too shy to say things like that, and the two authors that I've met previously at book signings left me sort of awkwardly gushing my happiness at getting to meet them, which although was true just didn't come out how I wanted it to. So I preferred to just admire her from afar as she sat writing on her laptop just a few feet from me, drinking coffee that I had served her. While I'm reading this book, I keep wondering if she'd been writing it then, which is a pretty cool thought that I could've been present for part of it's creation.

“...if you stay in it for any length of time, like anyplace else, a cafe becomes a world.”
                                                                             - Marisa de los Santos

mistakes

"Freedom isn't worth having if it doesn't include the freedom to make mistakes." - Mahatma Gandhi

Came across this quote on Twitter and it really got me thinking back to a time when I was young and insisting on something quite similar to what this quote is saying. And since I talked about freedom on here the other day, seems appropriate to also be talking about the outcome of having freedom and what our choices can bring, which yes, sometimes it does mean that we make mistakes.

I remember being 17, and getting to that point where I realized that my choices were my voice in the world, and I wanted my voice to be heard. Even if that meant that I stumbled along the way, and made mistakes, to me it was better than just doing what I was told and not making my own choices, not letting my voice be heard. And yes, once I had that freedom to make my own choices, I ended up making a lot of mistakes. But here's the thing about mistakes: sometimes they can inadvertently lead to other opportunities, and take you on a completely unexpected path, and sometimes the outcome of that can be a really good one. Honestly, when I look back at the events in my life, some of the worst things I went through lead to some of the best things that ever happened to me. And when I think about it, I don't know if I'd be where I am now if I hadn't made some of the mistakes I did. And when you look at it that way, it really was worth it. Mistakes are just a part of life, and sometimes they're necessary to teach us important lessons. And who knows, sometimes they may even be part of our ultimate destiny.

inevitable, I suppose

So, on Sunday night my throat started to feel a bit scratchy and congested. Sometimes it can be nothing, and go away soon after, or sometimes it's the first sign that I'm coming down with an illness. I didn't sleep very well that night, and yesterday morning I wake up and my throat is worse. Didn't feel too bad otherwise, besides feeling a bit run down, but as the day went on my joints started to feel achey, and at times I felt either quite cold, putting on jumpers and wrapping up in a blanket, and then later feeling quite warm. But then, if my temperature was up a bit, that would mean it was killing off germs so that would actually be a good thing. In any case, I went out early yesterday and got the grocery shopping done before I felt too crappy, and got the laundry done, so I had the rest of the day to laze around (good job that yesterday and today are my days off from work!) and just spent time watching a chick film and reading my book. Drank my vitamin drink, a nice cup of hot coffee, and later on some soup, stayed warm and as comfy as possible. It's never fun to not feel well, but it's good when you have the chance to slow down and give yourself a rest. So far this morning my throat feels nearly back to normal, and I feel a lot less tired than I did yesterday, so hopefully whatever this is I'm fighting it off *knocks on wood* and after I spend one more day today indoors relaxing, I'll be feeling more myself again tomorrow when I'm back in to work. And Adam's finally putting the heat on in here, so maybe having the flat a little warmer in here will help too. This weather and this time of year always seems to make it inevitable that I'll start to feel under the weather at some point. But at least for now I seem to be getting through this one easy enough.

free

The word liberal comes from the word free. We must cherish and honor the word free or it will cease to apply to us. -Eleanor Roosevelt

Just wanted to share these wise words this morning. Freedom is the reason that I've called myself a liberal all of my life... without freedom, what would we have? Too many politicians would take away too many of our rights, if given half the chance... the right for women to have a say about what we do with our bodies, the right to our religious practices, the right to express ourselves freely. Let's not give the people who would do these things any more power than they already have. Freedom isn't something that should be taken for granted.

already?!

I'm starting to see little signs of Christmas already... a Christmas advert was on telly the other night, and I've seen Christmas cards and a few decorations in shops on my street. I suppose it's partly that Halloween isn't a big deal here, and there's no Thanksgiving, so when this time of year rolls around, they jump right to Christmas. But wow, how did it get to be nearing Christmas time already?? This year has really flown by.

The weather is starting to get quite chilly too, which is a bit of a shock after the beautiful weather we just had so recently. Last night we went out to a pub for a meal, and I was freezing in my light jacket. Think its going to be about time to get the winter coat out...

I wish we'd had some nicer weather over the summer, so at least I could feel like we'd had a proper summer and could move on to cold weather now... there are really a lot of things I look forward to at this time of year... the holidays (I'm still planning to celebrate Thanksgiving!) and the "festiveness" in the air, hot drinks, warm clothes, snuggling on cold nights :) maybe we'll even see some snow this winter, that's always kind of fun. There's always something special about each season. But if Autumn could go just a bit easier on us... one thing I'm not looking forward to is standing outside waiting for the bus in the cold, so if we could sort of break that bit in gradually you know...

In the meantime, here's a video that's good for some summer memories. This is the current song I can't get out of my head. Reminds me of summertime and being young and making happy memories :)

feeling like Autumn

Well, after one last beautiful day yesterday, it looks like our Indian summer has come to an end. Today is cloudy, chillier, and the breeze is really making it feel like October. I wonder though if I'd be a bit more in the mood for Autumn if I were back in the States, where by now everything pumpkin-flavored is out in shops, American football season is in full-swing, and Halloween decorations will be hanging everywhere. Here you won't find anything pumpkin-flavored, one or two football games will be on each week, and although kids do go trick-or-treating, Halloween isn't too much of a big deal. Actually, it seems like they just skip right ahead to Christmas here. There's already a Christmas card display up when I went in the card store today. Crazy.

Had kind of a busy day today, nothing exciting but plenty to keep me occupied. Went out this morning to get my brother a birthday card, and to print a couple of my sunrise photos I took last week, and pick out frames for them. Then I've been re-arranging the photos on our walls, trying to find the best spots for each. It's such a shame that we can't put any more nails in the walls, since we have so much empty wall space that could be put to use. If I had it my way, this place would look like a photo gallery. Someday I hope we can live in a place where I can do just that. Really, the photos I take that I'm most proud of need to be displayed where they can be appreciated, not just sitting in my computer files. I may not have a career path or anything else I do that I can be proud of, but I do have my photography, and I want the photos I create to be my creative contribution to the world, so to speak.

Getting off topic though, I have to say I really do love living here. This flat is perfect for us at this point in our life, I love the layout and the big rooms and all the windows, I don't love going up all the stairs but then again I suppose it's good for a bit of exercise. I love how I can walk right out onto our street and have all the shops right here where I can find just about everything I need. People always ask me why I'd want to live here instead of the States, don't I miss if there, etc. And yes, there are things about living in the States that I miss, mostly things that I associate with each time of year that aren't the same here, like I mentioned before. I know I'll especially miss having a "traditional" Thanksgiving next month, although I'm trying to convince Adam to have our own celebration with me. But there are things here that I also didn't have when I lived in the States, that I would miss if I wasn't here. Really, there are upsides and downsides to both places, and fundamentally there's not a whole lot of differences between the two, when you look at it. All in all, I think I'm lucky to be able to call both places home.

when the sun goes down

So, that pretty much covers how we spent the daytime hours, and of course there was also plenty to do when the sun went down. We had some nice meals, on the first night we were there in particular, I had the best seafood ravioli ever. Then there was the night we went for Thai food, and on the last night when Adam got fish and chips for his tea, and I just had a meal when we went to the pub after. After that we hit the pubs, although I couldn't quite keep up with Adam who could've kept going long after the pubs were closing, and complained that I would never be able to handle nights out when he goes to Scarborough with his mates, haha :) but our nights out were fun even if I could only hang in for a few hours. Here's a few of our after hours photos.

Bridlington and Filey

So, we didn't just stay in Scarborough the whole time, since it's easy enough to just hop on a bus or a train and go a few towns over to another coastal spot, we decided to go to Bridlington on Monday and Filey on Tuesday. Bridlington I'd never been to, and there wasn't much special about it, but at least now I can say I've seen it, and Filey of course is one we've been to a few times, and I've always loved the view over the cliffs from Filey Brigg. So these are a few photos from our wanderings.