Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Seven Years and Counting

Seven years ago today, I arrived on these shores to start a new chapter of my life. I had flown through the night from the southeastern United States to this lovely island where I live now.

This is a picture of the beautiful blossoms that I left behind back home in Georgia. They were at the edge of a field that I had played in all of my life. So right before I left I took a picture of them so that I could freeze them in time and remember them just as they were right before I left. I guess it was my way of holding onto a bit of my roots as I was preparing to move so far away. Also, we had just lost my mom so it seemed like I was leaving everything behind and it was a tough time. When I saw these beautiful pink flowers I felt happy and calm because nature can always do its work on me in times of stress. It's hard for me to worry about anything when I see God's beautiful work right in front of my face :-)

I knew that I was setting off on a journey in more ways than one and I was intrigued to see what would come...

***

When I flew over here to England, I left in the dark of night on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and arrived on the other side of the ocean in the light of the morning. I was glad to see Brit Boy and I was glad that I had arrived safely. We drove home from the airport and I walked into our little yellow house here. The first thing that I did was to go and look out of the window and this is what I saw in the backyard.

There were beautiful pink flowers here to greet me on the other side of the world and I smiled.
 
As always, nature brought me peace :-)

It's been an eventful seven years. I can hardly believe that that much time has passed. I've gained some things, I've lost some things, but I can honestly say...it's all good. I can't complain. I'm grateful for life and I can't wait to see what the next seven years will bring and the next and the next...

Friday, March 15, 2013

Bournemouth and The Jacksons


Hello there!

I wanted to share a photo that I took about two weeks ago when we were down in Bournemouth. It's a picture of the pier. I'm so late in mentioning our trip, but I've been doing school work like a crazy person lately so I haven't been able to get here like I want. But soon I will be back here full time again so...Woo Hoo! :)

Anyway, this is a photo that I took on my cell phone and you can see my gloved finger in the upper left corner. LOL. Yeah, I could have photoshopped it out, but I thought that it was funny to leave it because it reminds me of how cold it was that day. I took several photos like that because my hand kept slipping...probably because my hands were getting numb ;-) Yes, it was that cold! I guess that it was extra cold because we were near the ocean, but wow it was cold! It was a gloriously sunny day though. Right after I took this picture, Brit Boy and I hightailed it away from there and went into the town to get warmer.

As you may remember, I posted a while back and shared that we had gotten tickets to go and see The Jacksons perform. Well, we went down a few hours early before the concert and hung out. Bournemouth is one of my favorite places to visit. We did a bit of window shopping in the town centre and then we had an early dinner. Then we went to the concert. It was so great! This was our first time ever seeing The Jacksons and I have to say, they are amazing performers. You can tell that they have been performing most of their lives because they really know how to put on a show! I sang along to every song. LOL. They took us all down memory lane and it was an amazing trip. Brit Boy and I enjoyed it so much. We don't get to do things like that often, but when we do it's always a good time!

I don't have any photos of the concert because my cell phone camera is not that great, so it takes lousy photos indoors. Still, I'll never forget the fun we had so it's all good. And hey, if we get to see them again, maybe I'll have a new cell phone by then ;-)

Have a great Friday!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

A Taste of Home

Brit Boy and I had a good weekend. He got a chance to go to see football/soccer and I got the chance to catch up on some reading for school on Saturday. Then on Sunday we took a trip to one of my favorite places. It's a place called Dobbie's, which is a garden centre, but so much more than that. I've written about this store before. You can check out that post here
 
I love visiting because they have a wide variety of beautiful plants and flowers and seeds and all kinds of outdoor stuff that really appeals to me. It reminds me of a store that I used to visit back home with my dad when I was a little girl. In addition to a wide variety of plants they also have gifts and things for the home. They also have a restaurant and a section with food.
 
Ah, now we come to the real point of my post. I was so thrilled to find the cookies pictured below.

 
I haven't had any Pepperidge Farm cookies in years...probably since before I came here. I've never seen any in the supermarket here, but perhaps I've just overlooked them. Anyway, I was thrilled to find them and bought a pack. They are so good and until I took that first bite I had forgotten how much I missed that taste. As I've written here before, sometimes a taste of home is such a welcome thing when you're so far away from home. It's been a long time...I need a visit back home I think :-)


Monday, March 04, 2013

Happy Birthday To My Blog



Today is an important day in my life and it all has to do with this blog. Today is the 5th anniversary or birthday of my little blog here and I can't quite believe that it has already been five years! Where does the time go?

First of all, starting this blog was one of the best things that I ever did. Writing this blog has been very cathartic especially in the early days and it has brought me such healing. When I started on this journey, I had no idea how much a seemingly simple act of writing a blog could do so much in my life. I can remember myself very vividly on the day that I wrote that first post. And in reading it back today it is like going into a time machine. I remember being in a state of mind where I was still grieving the loss of my mother even though I thought that I was doing okay. Also, I was recovering from an injury that I had suffered in a car accident. And I was trying to work through major culture shock. I didn't write it all out in that first post, but I alluded to it a little. If you'd like to read my first post you can do so here.

Even though I didn't scream it all out in so many words back then, I remember that time very well as I look back and I see some growth. No, I don't have it all figured out and I don't think anyone does, but as an ad used to say back in the day... You've come a long way baby!  :) I haven't really thought about all of this a lot because I've just been living my life, but I guess that's how it is, isn't it? We go forward and take stock from time to time, so I guess that this is me taking stock. Just like everyone else, I'm a work in progress and this blog has helped me immensely!

I had thought about starting a blog for a long while before I actually started. And then one day I just decided that this was the day and even though I couldn't have known what it would bring me, deep down inside I knew that putting my words out there would start my healing. I know it may seem like I'm making a big deal out of starting a blog, but I can't overstate how much of a lifeline it was to me as I started out.

I started this blog on March 4th and as I mentioned in my first post, there was power in the date. When I say the date, I take it into my consciousness and "March Forth" and to me it means to march forth into your life. Words definitely have power! I took a deep breath and plunged right in. And even though it was a simple act, it was my act of going forward in life. I could hear my mom saying to go on and go forward. My mom figures very prominently in the earlier days of my blog and I know for sure that having this blog to write definitely helped me to cope with her loss. I still miss her every single day and I'll miss her, my dad, and my brother for the rest of my days. But I know that writing this blog has given me the outlet that I sorely needed in those early days and I am grateful.

And speaking of gratitude, I want to say a HUGE thank you to you, my readers :) I appreciate your support so much and connecting with many of you through email and social media has been a pure pleasure. I know that my posting has been rather sporadic over the last three or so years. It's been nowhere near as frequent as it was in the beginning, but I thank you for sticking with me over these years. As you may know, for the last few years I have been taking up some university study so my posting has been all over the place and nowhere near what I would like it to be. But with all being well, in about three months (fingers crossed), I will be done with that and I can recommit myself here at this blog that I love so much. I want to return to the much more vibrant posts of old and I hope that you will come along with me as I reboot my creativity and share my little corner of England with you :)

So in closing I'll say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

FROM A YELLOW HOUSE IN ENGLAND
 

Have a great day everyone and hey, have a piece of cake! :)

Friday, March 01, 2013

The Daffodils Are Coming


Happy March and also Happy Women's History Month!

Even though it's still very cold here, like it is many places right now, I still get optimistic when March rolls around because I know that spring is coming eventually :-)
 
Above is a picture of our daffodils which are getting ready to bloom out and that makes me happy and brings about thoughts of spring days ahead!
 
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. Brit Boy and I are headed out on a road trip over the weekend, so I'm excited about that. Whatever you're doing this weekend, I hope that it goes great!
 
Until next time...