Date Night

 Well I have got to say my Husband is awesome and very hansome!

Last week was a bit tough, nothing too drastic I just felt a bit down and he knew just how to cheer me up.

First he sent flowers to my work. Unfortunately he forgot that I had a training day so I was not in the office when they arrived but it was still lovely. 

Then as you may already know my favourite restaurant is Artichoke Jamie booked us a table for Friday night so I could get all dressed up and we could eat AMAZING food and drink yummy wine.

What I wore...

Shoes and Cardigan: Newlook, Top: Fat Face, Tights: H&M, 

Necklace: Accessorize,  Skirt: I made out of my friends bridesmainds dress.

 Belt: a gift

Chirk with the ladies

This weekend Myself, Luci, Rachel, Jen and Abbie had a weekend away in Chirk.

We stayed in Newhall a beautiful house owned by a lovely guy called Mark who we know through Church.

I took this photo of Newhall at about 6am Sunday morning. It was beautiful.

The weekend was about relaxing, laughing, baking, encouraging and drawing close to God.

 Rachel (or Shanners as we call her) made some awesome pancakes for breakfast on saturday. This was our digesting phase of the morning.

We walked to Chirk Castle and after having a look around the house we wandered around the garden and stopped for a photo shoot.

 I mentioned that we encourage each other, well we also like presents...

We bought presents for each other and wrapped up a huge pass the parcel. 

Abbie organised for each layer to contain a promise from God.

Needless to say it was really fun.

 

This is Jen, she is beautiful.

We also had a bake off, watched a film, chatted lots, ate really good food and saw lots of really cute new born lambs. 

Somehow I didn't take many photos, but you have to believe me the cakes were awesome!

I absolutely love spending time with these ladies they are all so special and have enriched my life greatly since I joined the house group nearly 4 years ago.

Rode Hall farmers market

Last Saturday because of my job as the Community Fundraiser for 

The Neuromuscular Centre (find out more here) I had to go and hold a collection at Rode Hall farmers market. 

Often collections days are less then glamorous and generally centre around supermarkets so this was a treat!  

I took along Jamie and Alison my two willing volunteers to help man the stall.

We didn't need all three of us to be there but it did mean we got to enjoy the farmers market. It has to be the best I have seen, a large number and selection of stalls and a huge amount of people.

 By the end of the day over half of all of the stalls had completely sold out!

Towards the end of the day I managed to take a few photos...

It took an hour to drive to from Chester as it is nearer Stoke

 but it is well worth a visit.

Especially as there is a stall dedicated to mushrooms... It was magic. (oh so cheesy)

 Needless to say Alison and I bought a punnet and ate them for dinner - Delicious.

If you would like more information about Rode Hall Farmers market check out their website here

Lent

So lent is a pretty big deal in the Christian calender. The purpose of lent is two-fold; 

1. To remember the time of fasting that Jesus went through in the desert, He gave up earthly things like food, human company and showed through the series of temptations that he faced that he also could withstand greed, pride and other sins.

2. It is a time of preparation and reflection a time when we think more consciously of Jesus' human life and divinity. We not only think of the miracles and wondrous acts he performed but also his friendships, earthly hardships and of course towards the end of Lent His inevitable death and glorious Resurrection. 

Reflecting on all of these things leads us naturally to be more mindful of our own lives and actions.This is why many Christians give up or take up something during lent.

Christian Aid have a great resource for individuals or families who would like to be more purposeful in loving others and remembering how blessed we are.

Have a look at their calendar its not too late to start.

This year as well as going out of my way to bless others around me (either through buying someone a drink or making sure i am being kind etc.) 

I have given up buying clothes...

For some people it is not a big deal not to buy clothes for 40 days or so. And in some ways it isn't huge for me (I have gone more than 40days before) but this is different because it is a positive decision not to and a change in my attitude towards my appearance and self worth. I am not saying for a second that i get my self worth from my clothes, but if i am feeling down, shabby, low in confidence buying a new dress or pair of jeans can really help!

That is exactly what I would like to change. If I'm feeling low or that I have nothing to wear because my confidence has taken a dive. I should look to Jesus and be reminded that He thought enough of me to come to earth in human form and die, taking my sins and the rest of the worlds on to himself, and after descending in to Hell (complete separation from God and all things good) He rose again, proving his divinity and purity. 

No amount of clothes, or praise of my appearance could ever live up to that.

Wow this was deep, I wasn't expecting to preach so much. but it is something I feel passionately about. So it is right that I talk about it.

On a slightly lighter note I have been giving myself some great temptation!

This jumper, this dress, these shoes oh and this dress. Not that I have been looking or anything!

Iceland

I found my camera lead! Wahoo!!!!

It was on my dressing table, shows just how messy my dressing table is. 

First let me say we saw THEM. Them being the northern lights. To get to see *THEM* we had to travel around in a crazy 4 coach group, chasing bits of clear sky away from too much light pollution for 5 hours!

It was worth it though because we saw *THEM* they weren't bright green and red but they were most definitely *THEM*. It started as what looked like silver lining around a cloud then as we watched, we realised that there was no cloud, then they morphed there were lines reaching up in to the sky at a 90degree angle to the original 'cloud'. We stood and watched in the freezing cold for over 45minutes as they moved around the sky infront of us, then suddenly they were gone. 

The trouble is I think I could become a bit obsessed over finding them. one day I would love to watch and them look something like this...

Anyway back to our little holiday, after the jump there are lots of photos!

Our honeymoon on the Neapolitan Riviera, Italy

This post was meant to be about our little holiday to Iceland, but I can't find our camera lead. 

Tres annoying! So instead I will treat you to some of our honeymoon photos.

I know I should show you our wedding first but I can't find the digital versions of the photos so for now we are starting with our honeymoon.

For our honeymoon went visited the Neapolitan Riviera in southern Italy.

This was our view every morning at breakfast.

 

We visited Pompei, It was amazing to walk through this huge ghost town.

The Colosseum was unbelievably huge. 

There were beautiful sunsets every evening.

We took a luxury day cruise to Capri. 
So many times whilst on honeymoon 

we found ourselves saying "We will never get to do this again"

So we had a lot of treats!

We went for lovely meals and wandered through beautiful Italian streets.

 

We also explored the beautiful Amalfi coast.
This is Positano my favourite place on the Amalfi coast. 
Steep steps wind all the way down to a little beach with crystal clear water.

Much to Jamie's delight we climbed Mt Vesuvius 

The view is astonishing. If the volcano erupted again the whole of Naples would be wiped out.

Look at all the ice cream!

Sorry for unloading all the photos  hope you don't mind!

I promise to give you the Iceland post soon!

DIY Green Jeans

Sorry its been a while since my last post. Things have been pretty busy here.

Anyway... I was bored with my really old grey jeans,

( I got them second hand from my friend Amy in the first place.)

They are stained and show every bit of dirt so I decided to dye them a darker and more exciting colour.

What you need... Dylon or some other clothing dye, Salt, marigolds, an old washing up bowl, a jug for measuring and newspaper. This isn't the first time I have dyed clothes, the first time I got little specks of dye on the work top. not very noticeable but they are there so newspaper is essential!

Mid dye, it looks very dark. 

Don't panic,  I do like that colour, but it is not what I was going for.

It is OK though Dye looks a lot darker than it comes out.

A couple of hours soaking, a rinse in the washing machine and a day drying =

An awkward and cold pose wearing GREEN JEANS!!! They are a little brighter than this in real life but you get the idea. the stains are now hidden and they add some extra colour to my wardrobe.