Friday Highs

Happy Friday friends! It's been such a beautiful sunny day today, warm enough to bust out a sleeveless top and open the window at work. Spring is coming and it couldn't be more welcome! As usual though, the weekend is set to be rainy but i'm praying for sun anyway so man and I can go sailing tomorrow.

Highs of this week?

1. Wedding invites are being designed and I couldn't be happier about it. For some reason the wedding stationery was massively stressing me out and I was reduced to tears on more than one occasion! I found so many sets I liked but couldn't afford them from places like NotOnTheHighStreet and Minted. Cue graphic designer. Can't wait to see the proofs :-)

2. I stuck to my budget. I know, I know, my life has become that of a boring adult who has to budget. But seriously, this month has been hard. I have paid out £720 on my car alone so needed to find cuts elsewhere. Much to my fiance's grief I turned the heating off yesterday to save gas. Now where are my jumpers?

3. My friend hit the big 3-0 and threw a Barn Dance to celebrate. Naturally I dressed as a cowgirl and tried to do as many of the dances as my booted feet would allow. It was so much fun, thanks Em!

4. My diet is right on track and I'm losing weight like a pro. I haven't even had to go running yet which makes me want to do a happy dance. 5k Park Runs are looming though and there are only so many invitations to them a girl can turn down before she has to cave and prove herself. I'm that girl who if you say "bet you can't" will defiantly say "yes I can" and go do whatever stupid thing is being thrown at me.

5. Coffee. I've had two coffee dates with friends this week and they've been lush. Enough said.

And because I don't have any pictures for you this week (I've been a bore and worked a lot) here is a picture of a teeny tiny Shetland Pony

Dorset weekend

In May I'm marrying a Dorset man (so he says...he's actually from Portsmouth but he denies it). So what better way to spend a weekend but to get to know his County a little better. Thanks to Emily who organised the amazing farmhouse accommodation for all 11 of us, we spent last weekend cozied up in a huge farmhouse eating, drinking, watching the rugby and then feeling guilty so going to long walks!

Saturday morning (after a long lie-in) we decided to go on a walk which was supposed to be an hour long. Easy right? Well we went the wrong way...but 2 hours later we ended up on the South Coast Path along the Jurassic Coast. The views were stunning!

All of the mud, the slips and falls, the windy hair issues were worth it to walk along the coastline with friends and my man. 

Sunday we had an immense pub lunch and headed out to explore Swanage and Corfe Castle. Not much was in either really but I'm glad that we visited even just to walk around and relax. 

Found a giant teddy bear...

This is Corfe Castle...not much left to look at

So I've seen more of Dorset now. It's kind of a nice place so you should probably do some exploring of your own. Highly recommended. 

Adventurers

I'm calling on you guys today to help a girl out a little. This is a great problem for my fiance and I to have but one all the same: where should we go on our honeymoon in June?

Here are some amazing options we've looked at so far...

Italy / Mauritius / Thailand / New York

There's some variety there right? We can't decide if we want a beach holiday to lay about, drink cocktails and read or a city break to immerse ourselves in food, art, nightlife and theatre. What we do know is we both want a holiday we couldn't do when we have children. 

So, any thoughts friends? 

Images are not my own. All images taken from Google. 

Relax and unwind

I've been MIA lately and for that I apologise, though I've been having a blast so I'm not that sorry!

The past week was spent in the middle of a forest in the Southwest of England, in a lodge with family, no cars in sight, birdsong and duck quacks galore. The lodge was at least 20 minutes walk from any of the cafes and Matt and I spent lots of time cycling up and down the ridiculously steep wonderful hills to get around. I don't think I've had that much fresh air and headspace for a good few months and it felt great.

The sub-tropical swimming paradise (disclaimer - it wasn't paradise that was just the name) was kept at a constant 28c and the steam rose from the outdoor pools which made it quite pretty really. When we weren't relaxing in one of the 3 hot-tubs we were throwing ourselves down the outdoor rapids, jumping the waves in the wave pool, hurtling down the flumes and bumping into numerous people in the lazy river. I think it was also the only time i've been in an outdoor pool in the snow too, pretty magical!

Here's a complete photo dump of the week!

Chatting to the ducks

Channelling her inner artist

Just a little waterfall

Kayak on the sub-zero lake anyone?

Starbucks smiles 

I'm not actually taller than him, promise

Pretty yellow flowers 

A line of ducks, seriously they were everywhere

Okay okay, I can hear you asking where this was! Hit up this link to find out more.

Wedding catch-up

Source

A few people have been kindly asking how the wedding planning is coming along. After all, there is only 4 months to go! 

• Ceremony venue 
• Legal ceremony venue
• Celebrant
• Dress
• Shoes
• Bridal party wardrobe (I have the dresses not the shoes!)
• Licence to marry
• Catering for reception
• Save the dates
• Flowers
• Cake
• Invites
• Order of service
• Band for reception
• Photographer

This is a shortened list. Partly shortened because I got so overwhelmed I delegated certain jobs to my fiance (who thought he was getting away with doing little - not a chance!) and partly because it scares me to write out everything I haven't yet done. But as you can see, bit by bit i'm getting there! We did make it harder for ourselves by not marrying in a licensed venue, so we're still deciding where to do the legal ceremony. 

We're going on holiday next week and apart from discussing worship songs we'd like and order of service, we're taking a step back from the planning to just enjoy time together. I don't want this wedding to define our time together for the next 4 months, we want to have fun too! 

Engagement is yours not hers

via

When we got engaged weeks before Christmas kicked off we were elated and anxious at the same time. Why anxious? Because we didn't want to steal the Christmas spotlight for others, especially those in our family. There were toasts to our engagement and future together but we didn't push it. We weren't the reason for the season after all.

So planning got pushed until after the New Year. This suited me especially because I found the whole adjustment period i.e. being a girlfriend to being a fiance, particularly stressful. See, I don't cope well with change in my life at all. Going on holiday? Stress. Change to daily routine? Stress. So naturally becoming a fiance and faced with lots of well meaning comments such as "let the planning begin, you won't know what's hit you!" didn't go down too well. On the outside I was smiling, on the inside I was wanting to crawl into the nearest hole. When we were together as a couple and enjoying our relationship as we did before, and without we had without constant comments from others I was fine. The holidays didn't give much couple time to us though.

Into middle of January and after really seeking God's peace on the change and I'm starting to really look forward to the whole shebang and elopement is quickly disappearing from my mind. We've started to get quotes from venues and some nights I toss and turn with excitement about it all.

I guess the lesson here is that your engagement is yours. It's your emotions, your plans, will go at your speed and will be best shared between you, your partner and God. Don't be sucked into a make believe world of what you "should" be feeling and "should" be doing at any particular time. Reading other blogs has both helped and hindered in this regard: I love reading about what others have done for their weddings though often only positive emotions are written about and none of the stress, anxiety and nerves are laid down.

And don't get me started on the battle of budget vs. dreams (read: Pinterest)!

Do you have any wedding planning tips for me?

New Years 2014

Not my photo but found through Google from The Daily Mail news website

This is late. In fact, not just a couple of days but almost a full 2 weeks. That's just me really, once a procrastinator always one. I will try harder blogging world I promise.

New Years eve and both my man and I were struggling with exhaustion from the holidays. We'd had a week off work (well, almost) and yet had crammed more in than we would in a normal working week. I'd booked tickets to the London New Years Eve Fireworks display back in October because you see, standing on the banks of the Thames to ring in New Years had been a dream since I was a child. Tickets in hand, lolling on my sofa at home, I just couldn't muster the energy to move let alone drive to London.

It was my boyfriend fiance (I love that) who persuaded me in an entirely easygoing way. Go to London together or stay home and not bring in the New Years together at all. It was harsh love that got me off my butt and into the car.

After a couple of hours with family, a delicious roast dinner and hours of queuing, we were in the compound by 10pm. Boy was it worth it!

 This was our view for the fireworks! My photos didn't turn out too great so i didn't take many and just enjoyed it with my man.

After the fireworks there was singing, dancing and frivolity. Then a long journey home with thousands of others which was made better by a McDonalds breakfast at 2am and friendly people on the Tube.

Would we do it again next year? Man says no. I say, not the fireworks but definitely into the city to an event if we can. It was definitely worth it and would recommend it to anybody who can make it to London next year!

Info on all London events can be found at: http://www.london.gov.uk/