Goals for 2010

Projects to finish this year:

* interior design course

* patchwork quilt

Projects to start

* learn to sew well (rule my sewing machine, make dresses, household items etc)

* learn to dance

* do some serious Bible study

* work out where I fit in church

* play more flute just for fun
* build up a design portfolio while decorating our house

Things to see and do
* Have a go-away holiday, we're thinking Centre Parcs in September as a good solution for my need for relaxation and Ben's need for being adventurous!)
* Read Julie & Julia and watch the film, I'd like to cook much more too (learn more varity for dinner type cooking)
* Have a day out in London: arrange a visit to Ronnie Scotts for my budding jazz pianist husband, go on the London Eye, see some inspiring design shops

Light film we made for Cringleford youth group.

Life has been busy - as well as getting the house sorted we've been getting involved in church (oooh), church study group, been roped into helping with the youth group and the band, we've watched a lot of our box set of Jonathan Creek, I've nearly finished module 10 of the interior design adventure, I've discovered I'm not very good at being an Avon lady, we've met three week old Caleb, I've started lobbying Ben for a baby (let me know if you want to sign my petition), he's started getting annoyed with me, we've had the last week off which has been really cool, getting to know our house and new neighbours. Back to work on Monday, but off on Wednesday for my birthday, hooray! That's about all. A whirlwind adventure indeed. We like Cringleford :)

New house new house new house new house new house!

Diary of a weekend

* Started with a Pizza Hut takeaway (note to self: stop eating Pizza Hut food, it's rank)
* Watched Harry Potter 3 (way better than I remembered)
* Went to work agaaaaain (sigh)
* Went everse shopping (second note to self: stop buying things only to take them back)
* Sleeping (need more of that)
* Finished Harry Potter 6 (didn't cry this time but still cool)
* Started Harry Potter 7 (awesome!)
* Read Module 10 (excited about this one)
* Fruity smoothies (yum)
* Went interior design window shopping (felt like I was in a different city today, we went to so many previously unexplored shops - Perfect Pad, Wesley-Barrel, Mark Elliot)
* Had tea and scones in John Lewis (is it a sign of getting old when you start to love department stores?)
* Cycled to our house which finally has internal walls (woop!)
* Watched House (up to series 2 now, still loving it)
* And Top Gear (actually got bored and read Easy Living during this episode, weird)
* Had ides about fabric and dress and peg bag ideas and thought about how busy my sewing machine is going to be when I've saved up for it.

Yay for weekends. Four working days now until a long weekend in Wales (on Ben's birthday again!) and the rest of the week off.

Things in my head

Sorry I haven't blogged for so long. Working lots of overtime lately which is going to make an awesome July pay cheque but not good for keeping up with superfluous extras.

House purchase is going okay. We're getting a bit lost in all the legal jargon and stuff but we have a pretty nice mortgage broker and have instructed a recommended solicitor now. There's a pile of paperwork building up on the dining table that I keep meaning to read through. Urghh.

Florence and the Machine's first album is coming out on 6 July. I don't normally keep up with modern music, not being very cool (MySpace describes her/them as "Grindcore / Acousmatic / Tape music / Melodramatic Popular Song", I don't really understand any of those terms) but Florence Welch's amazingly powerful voice caught my ear.

Ben's birthday is coming up in next month (it's all about July today which seems weird, June has flown by without me realising) and he said he'd like to go on the London Eye. I was looking up ticket prices for trains and other things to do and thought it would be cool to see Harry Potter 6 at the IMAX cinema in 3D - I don't know WHY that hasn't occurred to me before! Mega excited :)

I've been thinking about lots of things lately including reading the book How to Win Friends and Influence People and how to improve my people skills especially at work, wondering if I really want to stick out church boringness, and other things. It's all such hard work and my brain is tired. Oh, and I'm supposed to finish my never ending interior design course by the end of July. Thus as per normal a month after our holiday I need another one!!

The exciting news

Our weekend tale starts a few weeks ago in my unassuming mind, when I had a bizarre dream about looking round a new estate. There was a show house and flags, a hill with new houses and lots of people around. The bed in the house we saw was sunk into the floor like a swimming pool but that's beside the point...

Two weeks ago Ben went to see a financial adviser to find out about setting up a pension. In conversation he happened to mention that we were trying to save up for a house deposit. The adviser just happened to be linked with a broker who deals with a shared equity scheme for Bovis - a scheme I might add that is pretty cool as you don't even have to pay rent on the part of the property that the developer retains, you just need to pay them back within 10 years (so selling the house would cover that).

Hmm, we thought.

Last Sunday we cycled over to this local estate and had a look at the block of four flats available on this scheme. And what do you know? As soon as the lady handed us the key we walked up an inclining road (I can hardly use the word hill in Norfolk!) And there were more people around than we expected. But thankfully there were no sunken beds in sight.

A sunny day, French doors from the bedroom to the south facing garden, an open plan kitchen/dinner/lounge and it being on "Lobelia Lane" were all we needed to fall in love!

Today we went to see it again and put down our holding deposit so it's ours! We're waiting for some legal details before we can start the process and it won't be complete for another 10 weeks or so, but this seems to have fallen into our laps in some divinely inspired way.

Lazy weekend activites

Lack of spare cash and inspiration have stopped me putting our wedding album together for a shocking year and a half now. But I was inspired when I spied a couple flicking through a photograph book on an old episode of Relocation Relocation last week. They look really good so I've been using Bob Books this afternoon to create my own. Let's hope it turns out well...

The other thing I wanted to mention was The Narnia Code, a programme on BBC iplayer about the book Planet Narnia. The author, Dr Michael Ward, suggests that there is a hidden code behind the Narnia books, that CS Lewis intended for each one to be based on the seven planets from the ancient understanding of the universe. It was only a little bit hyped up when it said this discovery could completely change the way we understand Lewis' view of the world, but interesting nevertheless.

Lent update

I very nearly caved yesterday - I still haven't got into a Spring routine yet and finding it hard to shake Winter-esque tiredness in the mornings. In my sleepy state I forgot Ben's key had broken in the lock the day before so managed to lock him in the house. Felt very stupid and miserable when he called me up at lunchtime, late for work because he couldn't get out of the house and I couldn't rescue him in time. Felt rotten by the end of the day, left work early and browsed the shops, but forced myself to leave before finding anything I liked. Bad day!

My work gives out 'VIP' awards if you get enough nominations and I was presented one last week in the shape of £30 of Next vouchers!!!!! Determined not to spend them til 13 April. 20 days to go...

I hate lent in a childish way :(

This morning I had a clothes crisis. It happens every so often... I experience a feeling of complete and utter despair about my wardrobe and hate my curves and have a little strop in front of my mirror. All this takes about an hour which means my flex time suffers and this morning I woke Ben up prancing on squeaky floorboards between the wardrobe and mirror.

Normally a morning like this would bring on a guilty shopping spree at lunch but as it's a week before pay day and I'm doing this STUPID lent thing I couldn't spend a thing. Plus the winter to summer season change is the one I find most exciting and want to embrace as soon as possible. It feels wrong wearing winter dresses!

I guess this is all part of going cold turkey from a bad habit - it's just my inner child needing to have a strop until I get over it and feel mentally ready to complete the rest of lent with a smile. As my dad would say, it's character building (GRR) and maybe this will have more of a spiritual impact than I first thought.

Talk of the lillies in the field and starving Africa will have to come later. I feel so immature!

Credit Crunch Part 2

It's affecting us all which makes everyone want to talk about it, especially when the share price at work fluctuates so much every day and people are becoming fractions of civil servants. Which means people strike up conversations with me about the economy or buying shares or whether we'll have jobs next month, and I just want to say: learn my limits!! I don't understand such things and my poor brain is scrambled enough as it is, especially living with Ben's lenten abstinance from everything thick.

But I still don't like kittens because they make my throat sieze up, so don't talk to me about them either!

Lent and life update

It's the end of the 8th day of lent. I felt my first pang of serious temptation to go shopping today. Luckily I've been too preoccupied lately to have any time for shops. Only 38 days to go.

I've discovered Thai Wellbeing in the city, the big purple gym and beauty place opposite Debenhams. They run classes which normally I find at gyms are really full, out of my way and intimidating places to be. But this place is very friendly (and purple!) and on my way home. I went to a 20 minute abs session yesterday which only had 3 other girls attending. I'm aching now but looking forward to go back next week.

Other things keeping me busy have been finishing my third interior design module. I'm working on my fourth now which is all about floor plans and space. This is the first module where the assignment feels true to life - I've been given the floor plan of house with the client's brief and need to come up with a solution.

I've also landed my first proofreading job - a whole novel! And had a request to help the author and his wife with their house decorating project in the next couple of months. Exciting times - my CV is going to look even more awesome by the summer!

Resolutions for 2009

This post is overdue, not being quite the new year anymore, but here are my resolutions for 2009:

• Finish interior design course in good time
• Lose winter weight - helped by having weekly weigh-ins with a group of people at work!
  
• Be more groomed, have regular hair cuts (I hate hairdressers), don't go to work with wet hair etc - I did this on a regular basis because sitting under a hair dryer for 10 minutes (long hair) is just too boring. But make more effort I will.
• Spend more time with God and get involved with a church

That's it for this year and I'm pleased to say I've made a start with all of them. I still have my patchwork quilt to finish from last year's resolutions and I'll post pictures as soon as it's done. One more square to go.

I signed up to 43 Things which is handy for keeping track of goals and cheering each other on, although it doesn't always seem that active. I got an email from my past self yesterday asking me how things were going with God - handy nudge!

Making my new year's resolutions coincided with starting a new diary - I've kept a diary pretty consistently since I was about 14. I have a bit of a thing about stationery and was pleased to discover Laurel Burch's artwork through picking up this blank book in Waterstones. Keeping a diary is always more satisfying when writing in pretty books.

I think I can, I think I can

I have a headache, withdrawal symptom of no food I think. Day 2 of the post-Christmas diet, I CAN do this!

On better news I'm 4/5ths of the way through my second assignment... roll on 21st century architecture.

Awesome homemade present from Ben

Preparation

I love setting tables, something about the anticipation and prettiness. This is for Christmas breakfast tomorrow morning.


Happy Christmas everyone!

Ode to country living

These are pictures from our walks around Suffolk (which is a really pretty county). And thus our dream of owning a little country house of our own was born.

So we're moving back to Norwich instead!! Which SUCKS!! But we'll be able to save a tonne (well maybe just enough) money to get a mortgage on a little patch of England.

When we get fed up with the noise of the traffic and not being able to go on country walks by stepping out of our front door, and when the bin men wake us up and the neighbours bang on our terraced walls these are the pictures that will be in my mind.

We're moving back to Norwich

Is all decided and deposit paid for our new rented flat off Dereham Road.

Woe for leaving Diss :(

Our Welsh holiday

Thought I'd blog about what we've been up to recently. Back in July we had a week off and went to Wales, our first road trip and camping trip together!



We drove to Brecon for the first few days and got close to nature at Priory Mill Farm where we camped. The silence was bliss - apart from the roar of the River Honddu a few metres from our tent! The Welsh name for Brecon is Aberhonddu - on the Honddu.



We made friends with the guy in the next tent who was on a fishing trip with his dog. He caught us a brown trout one night. We had a real campfire every night and toasted marshmallows. It was really nice to enjoy the peace and be away from the busyness of life.



We visited Brecon Cathedral and climbed Pen Y Fan -the tallest mountain in the Brecons:



We didn't take in any scenery because we were shrouded in mist bt the time we were on the ridge and couldn't see a single thing over the edge when we got to the summit! It was a nice gentle walk despite the horrid weather, only took about 4 hours to get up and down.


For the next few days we went to Cardiff to see brother-in-law and fiance in their new house. Ben turned 21 and we had a barbeque with our new extended family. We also had our first ever trip to IKEA which was AWESOME!

Week 26ish

I made a few new year resolutions back in January and as it's half way through the year I've been thinking about how I'm doing and what's still left to do. They were...

* Read the Bible and pray alone more often
* Continue going through our Marriage Course Book with Ben and have regular us time
* Lose weight
* Finish my proofreading course before September
* Pray with Ben regularly
* Join a group/activity
* Read some quality books

The one I ticked this week was to finish my proofreading course! My diploma is hopefully in the post now. I'm really pleased to have finished it with 2 months to spare! The next step will be thinking about what to do with - I could in theory build up a freelance business but I think I need some experience first. I'd love to build up a client base in the next few years and be able to work from home by the time we have children.

Praying and having 'us' time with Ben is half getting there. We're getting into the habit of having a 'date night' about once a month where we'll make an effort to go out for dinner or do something fun together - last month Ben found out about salsa at the Forum and surprised me! This week we went to Pizza Express and had a nice leisurely dinner and talk. I hope this is something we keep up throughout our married life. Praying is up and down as we're still trying to build up a habit and find a time of day that works for us. We've finished the Marriage Book by Nicky and Sila Lee - I would recommend it for any couple getting married, it covers most topics and was great as a discussion tool.

Reading the Bible and praying alone more often is not happening in the way I'm used to. I think my faith is taking a different journey now and I'm glad about that in a way. My silent faith post pretty much sums that up for now.

Losing weight and joining a group or activity have gone hand in hand so far. I've nearly lost 2 stone and would like to lose one more. Weight Watchers has been a huge soure of motivation and there are some really amazing people there who constantly inspire me. I have so much more energy and confidence now.

Reading good books... I seem to rarely find the time! I'm arguing for getting rid of the television license again when ours expires this summer, so please throw any recommendations my way!

What's in a name?

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

~ Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet


I've been toying with the idea of taking on a middle name when I get married. 'Laura Brown' is just plain boring and 'Laura Foster' only slightly more exciting (in terms of a name that is; it's real meaning to me is much more special and thrilling than I can express).

I've been thinking of possibilities...

Laura Ella Foster? I like Ella because it was an adopted name made up with a friend when on a church weekend away. We had listened to a talk about how Daniel and his friends all had God's name in their names, and when the Babylonians changed their names it was like their identity being spoiled. We wanted God to be fully part of us and made each other nicknames containing 'El' and 'Yah' - two of the Hebrew (?) names for God. According to www.thinkbabynames.com 'It is of Old German origin, and its meaning is "other, foreign"', which seems almost appropriate to the story of Daniel! http://www.babynamesworld.com/meaning_of_Ella.html says it's of Greek origin meaning torch or bright light, which would be nice to live up to. It's also the name of one of my favourite singers, Ella Fitzgerald. Having been my forum profile name for years it seems more part of me than any other name picked out of a names dictionary.

Ben favours Jane. Jane sounds very English and reminds me of Jane in Pride and Prejudice - far too angelic a character to ever live up to!

I'm not even sure how this would work legally - I think it's okay to do judging by clients' birth and marriage certificates I see at work, but I might need to check before setting my heart on a new name! Part of me thinks it would be a bit weird to give myself a name - naming seems to be a parent's job, not mine.