Family photoshoot for Sam's parents

A few weeks ago we got together in our garden with Sam's sister, her partner & our nephews to take some family photos for Sam's parent's 25th wedding anniversary! The weather was so good to us. I took the photos mostly & the big one we set up on self-timer. I have to say I think we did a pretty good job getting some good shots in and the boys did amazingly well after #25367 of the self-timer family ones!

We framed a big family one & one of Sam & his sister, Emma for his parents; with the rest we made a photo book. I think it was a pretty special gift and it looked like they loved it. These are the best kind of presents. 

We realised that there weren't many photos of Sam & Emma together other than a few of them when they were little so it was nice to finally get a good picture of them both for their parents.

We celebrated with champagne on their anniversary & then had a big family BBQ over the weekend. It was really great to all be together. 

Here are just a few:

Happy 25th wedding anniversary Sue & Mal!

Celebrating three years...

“..I no longer believed in the idea of soul mates, or love at first sight. But I was beginning to believe that a very few times in your life, if you were lucky, you might meet someone who was exactly right for you. Not because he was perfect, or because you were, but because your combined flaws were arranged in a way that allowed two separate beings to hinge together.” 

I feel everyday that I am learning new things about Sam, figuring out what he's about, who he is, what he stands for. He has an incredible knowledge for almost anything, he soaks up information like no one I have ever known, he has he own type of creativity and experimental nature, his sense of humour is the best, his crazy high pitched laugh that he does on occasion is a joy to my ears, his desire to love people & see the best make me want to be more like him, his willingness to serve is inspiring, his heart for God makes my heart explode with pride. 

I often have moments where I'm like "wow, this is the person I chose to live my whole life with". It's funny to look back at my immature, younger self and remember when I first started dating Sam at the age of 16 (my first boyfriend) not even thinking of 'forever'. How lucky did I get?! We have been together for nearly 8 years and I still feel like I'm getting to know him.

I feel even when we're old and grey I will still be discovering things about him. Everyday I am learning -  I think that is one of the most beautiful things about marriage. It's made me a better person, a better partner.

Thank you Sam for making me better, for standing with me in all circumstances, for fighting with me & making up afterwards, for loving me through my stubbornness and minor tantrums, for making me laugh the hardest, for sharing my pain but also my joy. You are my person. My one. I love you so much! This life we are living together gets better & better all the time! Happy 3rd Anniversary! 

FIRST anniversary & SECOND anniversary

Off to Thailand

Hey Y'all.
We're off to Thailand tomorrow. We're travelling around a little...Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Koh Lanta & Mae Sot for 18 days of pure adventure!

I'll have a few posts scheduled to go out & then I'll updated our Thai adventures when we get back! Hope you all have a good few weeks!

XXX

Currently in June

Appreciating a tidy home. It's been all go this week doing laundry and cleaning up ready for our holiday to Thailand. Nothing nicer than coming back from holiday to a peaceful and clean home knowing there is nothing to do except unpack and grab a cuppa!

Excited for the weekend. We are off for our annual camping trip with our church community although we are not actually camping this time! Too soon before the holiday, but we'll be joining them for a day at Ragley Hall & a BBQ afterwards! 

Hoping for sunshine on Saturday!

Learning to not 'want', 'want', 'want' all the time. I'm generally pretty good though.

Anticipating good Thai food. Most of the reason we travel so much is because we are big foodies and we want to try as much as the world has to offer. I can't wait! Breakfast buffets, street food! NOM!

Feeling nervous about the World Cup! Hah. I have been SO into it this year. I'm into it every time but I've been watching most of the matches this time round and learning about what the results of each match might actually mean for each country. Shame Spain didn't even get through the group stages, what a game changer.

Watching the final season of Game of Thrones. I mean OMG!! It's such a great series, there hasn't been one dull episode yet. Now to wait until April for the new series. 

Planned some activities to do in Thailand. We have booked an eating tour around Bangkok (Sam's idea of course!) and a day looking after and riding an elephant. Think we will book more activities when we are there like a cooking class and more!

Working out all the time! I love my workout DVDs and it's doing wonders for me. 

Enjoying my nephew (my brother's baby) so much at the moment! He is getting so animated and doing some really funny stuff lately. I can't get enough. It's amazing how much extra love you can feel when you think you've got no more to give! Can't imagine how much my heart is going to explode when I eventually have my own!

Ordered a new retro bikini (in black) & swimsuit! (similar). Never felt more confident in these!

Wanting time to slow down still. 

Drinking so much water & feeling better for it.

Looking forward to experiencing a different culture.

Celebrating my parents-in-laws 25th wedding anniversary this weekend with the family & a big lunch!

Snapshots

^^ Drinking green tea all the time & a lot of water. Can't say green tea is the most pleasurable drink to have on a daily basis but the effects have been so good for me ^^

^^ Already preparing for Christmas craft stall. Don't want to feel rushed in the weeks coming up like I did last time ^^

^^ New boots. It was so hard to chuck my old ones away but they were completely battered. Thanks for the good times old boots and welcome you lovely new ones! ^^

^^ Good breakfasts for two. Reducing carbs & sugar has been the best thing I've done! Ok, I miss bread SO MUCH but when I do have it for a treat it's the best! ^^

^^ Nespresso machine. Coffee like this is such a treat. Best thing when I'm having a slow morning and I'm catching up with my blogs & news. Feel like I've just nipped to my local coffee shop only it's better - I'm at home! ^^

Another weekend in Brighton

Last weekend while it was pouring down with rain in Birmingham (haha) we set off to Brighton to see some dear friends and their baby bump and enjoyed rather A LOT of sunshine! 

We took several trips to my favourite ice cream shop Gelato Gusto. That is the trouble with this shop - you HAVE to take several trips just so you can try all the flavours. You need to check them out if ever you are going to Brighton. I made everyone walk to it after the church service on Sunday, since we were leaving at lunchtime I had to get one more! Who knows when we'll go back - hopefully over the summer though when baby is born! So excited! First close friends to start having babies! Eeee! 

We had a lazy weekend full of food and gentle wandering. Several naps throughout the day! Hah, I love friends you can be like "Guys, I just need a quick nap" with! The boys went out one evening to watch a world cup friendly and us girlies got into pjs to watch a film at home. 

love these three!

We went to check out the Lancing College Chapel which was stunning. Set around the college with acres of land, like something out of Harry Potter. 
We ended that day with, you guessed it, ice cream at the beach! Sam doesn't care for the beach or the sea much but I think it's one of my happy places. Watching the water, sitting in the sea breeze, especially with friends; its what it's all about!

Next time we see these guys they'll have a little one!!

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Baby-sized handmade quilt

This past weekend we went to see some friends in Brighton. They are about 6 weeks away from having a baby - I had so much fun watching the baby kicking and moving around. Totally weird but really precious! 

I've been waiting a while for some of our friends to start having babies because I needed an excuse to make another quilt. Although it turned out ok I didn't get along with making a king sized quilt last time - too big! So I couldn't wait to make a baby-sized blanket for the little one to play on.

We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet so I had to try and make it unisex! Even with the florals I think I did alright.

Like last time I used Rachel's tutorial for making the quilt and her tutorials for making and sewing the binding which you can find here and here. I don't think I'd ever use any other instructions - these ones are just so easy. I especially love the way she does the binding even if I can't make mine look as neat as hers.

Anyway, here it is. I'm rather proud of it. Can't wait to meet you baby!!