Home.

I'm feeling a little homesick.

This usually happens whenever I talk to anyone in my family.

I spoke to my sister a few days ago, on Skype.

We only spoke for an hour, which for some people may be long enough but not for us.

Normally we talk for around 3 or 4 hours.

Seriously.

We can talk.

I am excited because our conversation was mainly centred on my trip home at Christmas.

I will be going home for a month.

I cannot wait.

My sister will be home.

My brother will be home.

My heart will be happy.

Here are some of the things that I am looking forward to.

(in no particular order)

1. My sister picking me up at the airport. I haven't seen her since September 20th, 2011. There will be tears.

2. Seeing my family. It is going to be wonderful.

3. Going on a little trip with just my brother and sister.

4.Snow.

5. Watching Christmas movies by the fire. So wonderful.

6. Christmas baking with mum.

7. Last minute Christmas shopping with my brother because he won't have any gifts yet.

8. Christmas Eve church service.

9. Wrapping presents.

10. Decorating the Christmas tree.

11. Eastenders Christmas special.

12. Coronation Street Christmas special.

13. The Queen's speech.

14. Watching Love Actually, The Holiday, Home Alone, Family Stone, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th street, Santa Claus, Elf...and every other Christmas movie!

15.Spending time with my two sisters.

16. Going for long walks around our favourite places.

17. Making soup.

18. Dancing and singing with my sister in the kitchen while our brother disowns us.

19. Giving gifts.

20. Making new memories.

I am excited.

December will be here before we know it.



Memories.

My brother went back to sea (not even) 2 weeks ago.

I miss him.

We had a lot of fun while he was home, as I have said many times before. 

I spoke to him a couple of days ago and it was soo good to talk to him, and laugh with him.

He is such a blessing. 

I am going to share some photos that I took the day before he left. 

He was not cooperating, as usual.

I look super, duper tired (cause I was!)

But they are fun, and they are still memories. 

...and these are the best that I got! 

One day I am going to get a lovely photo of the two of us! 

Even with all his weird, pretend-to-be-sleeping faces, I sure love him. 

Next week I am going to post photos with my sister, because I love her just as much! 

(She is in Australia this year which makes it pretty difficult to get any new photos with her!)

Linking up with Emily today. 

Tyres and slippers.

Last was my baby brother's last week home before he goes back to sea. 

His 5 weeks went very quickly. 

So he was trying to divide his time between everyone, we all know that is hard! 

His girlfriend started back at Uni so he was driving back and forth to Glasgow during the week. 

This is really his story but we were all feeling it with him so I am going to write about it. 

He was on some back road going to Glasgow on Tuesday and he saw a lady with her car pulled over at the side of the road. 

He stopped to see if she was OK. 

(He really is a good egg)

She had got a puncture and was waiting for the road recovery people to get there. She said they were going to be another hour yet. 

Fin said to call them and tell them not to worry about coming, he would change the tire for her. 

See, GOOD egg. 

She showed him this massive pothole in the road that she had driven through and that was what gave her the puncture. 

She was going to get in touch with the council and let them know about it. 

So all was good, Fin changed the tire and they both went their separate ways. 

Fin was the hero! 

He had a good couple of days in Glasgow with Corrie (the GF)

He was coming back from Glasgow to hang out with me.

I got a call from him to say that he was late in leaving Glasgow. 

He was on that same back road coming home. 

You might see where this is going. 

He hit that pothole and got himself a puncture.

He was so mad, and mad with himself.

He said that as he was coming down the road he suddenly thought 

oh, I better steer clear of that pothole

Almost as soon as he thought that he hit the pothole. 

Poor kid. 

So he changed the tire and went on his way, a little annoyed to say the least. 

He had just got a new car too and this was going to be an expensive tyre to replace. 

I don't know much about tyres, in fact I don't know anything really. Except that they are round and they turn.   OK, I will stop being a girl.

But I do know that it shouldn't look like this! 

I am told that this is buckled. 

(The one below I just put in because you can see my cute Christmas slippers on the left!)

Fin took these photos, in case you were wondering. Not me. 

He managed to find a guy in Crieff that would be able to fix this for him. 

At first he wasn't going to be able to do it because Fin needed it before he drove back to Plymouth on Sunday. 

The guy called back and said that he would do it in his own time. 

He did it on Thursday night and called at 9.30pm to tell Fin that he managed to fix it. 

He was such a good guy. 

So Fin was going to pick this up when we were on our way back on Friday. 

This is not the end of the story...

On Friday, before he set off home, he got another puncture. 

I didn't believe him when he called to tell me this. 

My poor baby brother sounded so disappointed. 

I think he was just done with spending money on tyres and wanted to get home. 

Looking back now we laugh but at the time it was far from funny. 

I don't think I can talk about tyres anymore.

But I wanted to share that story for a couple of reasons.

My brother has such a big heart.

When we were driving home in the snow a few weeks ago there was a car stuck in the snow and this old many pushing the car up the hill. 

Fin pulled over where he could and got out and helped the man. 

He makes me a very proud sister when I see how he is growing up. 

Also I just loved that this man really helped my brother out by working during his spare time. 

I was encouraged that this guy would go out of his way to help someone that he didn't know.

It challenged me to think about how much of my time I give to others. 

You will be pleased to hear that he made it safely back to Plymouth with NO punctures. 

I was almost expecting to have a phone call saying that he got another puncture and that I would have to laugh at that. 

When I told him this he wasn't too happy!

Miss you already, Fin! 

Thanks for a fun 5 weeks filled with lots of laughs and love. 

Love you.

Now, I have told you before how hard it is to get a nice photo with Fin.

This was after a long, busy week and we were both tired.

Fin was no cooperating at all, he wasn't actually sleeping though! 

I have quite a few interesting photos that I will post sometime this week. 

But will leave you with this one just now. 

And I know that you all want to see a better photo of my new slippers. 

They are so pretty, I know! 

1 Corinthians 10:31

Full heart.

I spent the day with the baby brother today.

I had such a great day.

We talked serious stuff, and laughed about some not-so-serious stuff.

We talked about our big sister, who is in Australia just now (we miss you Luce)

We had lunch.

We had a quick visit with Granny and Aunty (Granny's sister)

It was just a great day.

I did get a bit sad when I thought of him going back to Plymouth next week.

But I write this more thankful than sad.

At one point today he said to me

"I've spent more time with you since I've been back than anyone else, except Corrie"

(Corrie is the lovely girlfriend)

"No one else spends this much time with their siblings"

I said to him "You should be happy that we get along so well and that we are so close"

He told me he was.

Yup, my heart was pretty full today.

The Lord has absolutely blessed me with great relationships with my big sister and little brother.

We have so much fun together and I am truly thankful for that.

I love laughing with them.

I am missing my sister just now.

But we manage to speak often.

Skype is wonderful, when it works!

Even when it doesn't work it still makes us laugh.

I printed off a calander from Under the Sycamore

I wanted to look at each day differently this year.

It is easy to get caught up in "pity party" and feel sorry for youself.

There are so many ways that the Lord blesses us and I want to be thankful for those things everyday.

So I will not be sad that my brother leaves on Sunday but thankful that we have had 5 weeks together!

Today I am thankful for a great relationship with my brother, and getting to spend precious time with him before he goes back to sea.

Little brother.

If you have read my previous post you will know that my baby brother is home.

When I say baby, I mean 18 year old.

Not sure when he grew up!

Sorry Fin, but you will always be called baby brother, get used to it.

I wanted to get some photos of us together while he is home.

I will now show you the photos I got.

Try not to laugh.

Now let me explain how difficult it is to take photos with this kid.

All posed and ready for the perfect photo and just before I take it he says something to make me laugh.

Great.

Hello 4 chins and winking action.

When I first saw this I thought it was horrible.

I think it is slowly becoming one of my favourite photos.

I have a feeling that I will look at this when he is miles away from me and really cherish it.

And probably laugh a little bit!

I tried to get another photo...and this is what I got.

Nice face Fin!

It makes me laugh too.

I'm linking up with the lovely Emily today.

You should too.

Have a wee read at why it is so important to take photos with your loved ones.

It doesn't really matter what they look like, they will be treasured.



The Best of 2011

I can't believe that a whole year has passed.

Seriously, that went quickly, right?

I have been thinking about all that 2011 held.

It got me thinking about the best bits.

I could list all of these things..but I'm not going to (not today anyway)

But I think the best part of the year was probably a couple of days ago for me.

My brother is home for Christmas.

He is in the Royal Navy and has been away since July.

As you can imagine I was pretty excited to see him.

I have so enjoyed spending time with him.

Anyhoo, back to my favourite moment.

We were on our way to town the other day and Fin let me pick the music.

FYI - in my family this never happens because I will either put music from musicals, soppy romantic songs..etc. They don't go down well (secretly I am sure that they enjoy this!)

SO...I had picked a few wonderful songs.

Dancing Queen, by Abba, came on.

I was sure that he would as me to change it, but he didn't.

He joined in with my and sang his little heart out.

Ok, he might have been taking the mic a little bit but it was hilarious.

I had a huge smile on my face, and sometimes I couldn't help but laugh.

I thought to myself

" right now, this is the best moment of my year"

There was no time to think about everything else that was going on, no stress, no worry.

Just fun times with my little brother.

I am going to leave you with the music video for Dancing Queen.

Don't try and resist dancing. I think it is impossible.

So dance along and smile as you think about all the wonderful blessings of 2011.

Distance.

The baby brother called tonight.

It was so so good to talk with him.

He is off at ship just now and only has half an hour each week to call.

So we don't hear from him often.

And the big sister came up and had dinner with us.
Perfect evening.

Here are a few snaps from the last weekend he was home, at the beginning of July.

 Precious - my brother, sister and I.

Love this photo because we just look so similar. Both squinty in the sun.

Look at that blue sky! We sure do love him.

Fin let me have a go on his motorbike. Yes, the front wheel is off the ground. If you look really closely at the photo you can see that Fin has a pretty shocked expression on his face. I was very proud of myself - and also feared for our lives.

On the train having a starring contest. So funny. Not sure when we started holding our eyes open. Please note big sister laughing hysterically. Really, we all were. We are a little bit silly.

It was so good to chat with him, but I sure miss times like these.

I am so thankful for my brother and sister.

I am thankful that we get along so well.

My prayer is that no matter where we are we will stay close.

We went out for dinner when Fin was home, just the three of us.

It was lovely and we were talking about the future and our families.

We were saying how crazy it is that we don't speak to all our cousins more often.

Then we got thinking about our kids.

We couldn't imagine them not being the best of friends.

I pray that we are able to keep stay this close to each other, wherever we are in the world.

I love them both so much.



Eighteen.

I can't believe that, today, my baby brother turns 18!!!

I managed to find some cute photos of this little one. Just to warn you, some are really cute. This guy was just the cutest baby ever born.

He was a HUGE baby. He was 10lb 11oz. AH.

Pretty sure that this was his first Birthday. How lucky he is to have 2 big sisters fussing over him!

What was I telling you about the cutest baby EVER? Yeh, I wasn't joking.

I was so excited to have a baby brother because he looked just like by doll, was the same size and could fit into all of my doll clothes! YES.

Swimming in the garden, back in the days when we always had HOT summers.

Check out how sweet he looks here. His sisters sure do love him.

He was SO smart. He could even get his own cereal. Can you see it spilling all over the table? You can't be mad at that face though? This is how I always picture him.

First Birthday again. With Grandpa and big big sister.

I loved holding him. My mum tells me this all the time.



He was full of personality when he was little! That definitely hasn't changed.

He was always busy doing something outside, getting dirty!

He always makes silly faces, making his sisters laugh.



He didn't lose his cuteness as he grew up. Look how angelic he is!!




This kid is SO musical. He is really, very talented. He can pretty much play any instrument you put in front of him. I love this photo because he just looks so happy.

Such a handsome boy.

Look at that smile, and that hair. He has always had the most beautiful, blonde curls.

Did I mention that he is tall and good-looking?

Looking very smart in his uniform. He is in the Navy and it has been SO great for him. He loves it. He has really grown up since joining.

At his surprise birthday BBQ on Friday. Even without his golden locks, he looks just as handsome.

So there is just a glimpse into how wonderful and adorable my little brother is. He is such a blessing and such a joy to be around. He has gone back to Portsmouth today, so we didn't get to celebrate today. But we have been all weekend! I already miss him and it is hard because we don't really know when we will see him again. I am pretty sure that his sisters will be visiting him soon though! I love you, Fin. Thanks for filling our home with love and laughter for 18 years.

 "I thank my God everytime I remember you." Philippians 1:3

The little one.

The little one was home for 2 weeks. It was so good having him home. And the best part is that I don't even have to miss him yet because he is home for the weekend again tomorrow. I made a point of taking some photos of us together.

Sometimes he was being pretty difficult.

Sometimes he was being pretty funny.

Sometimes he was being pretty sweet.



Sometimes he was being pretty werid.

But whatever faces he was pulling, it sure was great having him home. Can't wait to get him home again this weekend for his birthday. How is it that my baby brother is turning 18? This scares me a lot.

Are you having a HAM sandwich?

So here I go again. I get into a groove of posting lots, then I don't...then I do...then I don't! Ah. This has something to do with me leaving the house at 7am and not getting home til 9PM! I really don't like this, at all. But that pretty much sums up my week last week. All my days filled with hours like this. When I have weeks like this I eat really bad, like baaaad. I maybe manage to grab a bowl of cereal before I go to work, but usually it is a banana. Then sometimes while I am at work I manage to steal some toast with banana (my faaaave!) And seriously, that is about it. Until the end of my day when there are left over desserts and we all have a little bit and sit down and chill out together. It is my favourite part of the day at work. We get to enjoy each other's company. I do love the people I work with. Sometimes it is really hard, but aren't we all hard to love sometimes? So there is my big excuse for no posts. I think it is a pretty good one, right?

We have had some fun time rounds here lately though. The baby brother is home for 2 WHOLE WEEKS!! He arrived home on Friday, late. I saw him after work on Saturday. Honestly I nearly cried when I saw him. I miss that boy a lot. I got a big bear hug from him, and made the most of it because I knew that I wouldn't be seeing many of those for these 2 weeks! I have taken a few days off work so that I actually get to see him. I know these 2 weeks will go quickly, so I am trying to make the most of it. I am the emotional sister. I cry a lot. When I'm happy, sad, scared...you name the occasion and I'll be crying. We were all out to lunch one day having a lovely time. A lady was sat opposite us, on her own, having lunch. I started crying. Yup. Everyone thought this was hilarious, and embarassing. I obviously thought it was pretty sad though. Anywaaay.

So. The other day we were out to lunch and I just new that I was going to be disappointed. I just had this feeling that whatever I wanted was NOT going to be on the menu today. And sure enough, I still haven't had a lemon chicken, mango chutney and rocket toasted ciabatta. Boo. So I ordered a ham sandwich. Sounds quite ordinary, right? Well my mother thought this was SO exciting. "a haaam sandwich? Did you hear that, Fin?" "yeah, whatever" - Fin has no interest at all. So wanna know why this was soooo exciting? Because for nearly 12 years I didn't eat red meat. Wanna know why? Well...we grew up on a farm (THE BEST!) and for a while there was a butcher shop down there. This didn't bother me. Until it did. I was looking out my window one day, and there was a delivery lorry outside. Then I saw it. Something that would change my meals for 12 years. I saw a little piggy over someone's shoulder...dead...skinned....still looking like a pig...but dead. I can still picture it and might be off meat again soon if I keep on thinking about it! So off I took my little 8 year old self downstairs to tell mum that I was going to be a vegetarian. She was not happy. So we had a little discussion and came to a compromise. I was going to stop eating red meat and just eat white meat. This meant I would still be eating chicken, turkey and fish. Fine by me. Because chicken was (and still is) my favourite. And this is the way it stayed for all those years. THEN early last year I was over at some friends and we went to lunch with more friends from Church. On the menu was roast beef. And I was being too shy to say no and felt that it would be too rude to not eat anything. So...I had some beef. I was terrified that I would throw up or something. But it was gooooood. And that was that. I am a meat eating girl again. And really, I knew that I would one day. After all, the Lord did intend for us to eat all these lovely things. Everytime I have been to California I haven't been eating red meat, well until last year. I was trying all sorts of yummy things!

I am going to leave you with a wee photo.



Photo from Google images.

There could be worse things to be surrounded by all day, everyday! It truely is beautiful.

A little glimpse of my brother.

My little brother was in the newspaper on Monday. My Dad just sent me this photo. Have a wee read. So proud of that boy. Love him dearly.

p.s. Don't worry, I am still going to be doing a BIG post with the best photos from this weekend. I will be bragging about my brother again soon. 

Coming soon.

I have to post more often. Believe it or not it was actually one of my new year resolutions - need to work on that one! This is going to be a very quick post, sorry sorry. I have LOTS to fill you in on.

But for now I am going to leave you with a sneak peek of my weekend. So proud of my not-so-baby-anymore brother. Isn't he sooo handsome? I know that I am biased but you know he is too! 

Much more to say, and soon.  

O Holy Night.

Merry Christmas (a little late!) I hope that everyone had a wonderful time, ate too much and smiled all day!

My day was just lovely. Every year on Christmas Eve we attend a Church Carol service at our local Church. I have to admit that it has hardly changed since I was little but it is still a joy to go to it! When we were younger, my sister, brother and I would usually be taking part in the service in some way. There are different readings and performances inbetween the different carols. It is lovely to see the different kids that participate now and see how the little kiddies that I used to watch in Sunday School have grown! It was beautiful. I always get emotional during the service because I always reflect on why we are here, and why we are celebrating.

After this my brother and I came back with our mum and spent the evening with her. Lucy came later on, she went out for a few drinks with her friend. I have to say here that it has been a joy having Fin home for Christmas. I love that boy and I love seeing how he is growing up and changing. He is a blessing. We were all sick on Christmas Eve, with colds. It was not nice. I was up late wrapping presents, making yummy truffles and cheesecake for Christmas day. So I was exhausted. I slept SO good. Could of slept all day. I woke up at 8:45am and all was still quiet in the house. I don't remember a Christmas when I have been able to sleep that late. Usually I have a sister or brother in my room whispering to see if I am awake, or doing what they need to wake me up! So I just lay there for a while enjoying the moment where I could wake up on my own. It didn't last long. Soon someone was in the bathroom, I heard the toilet flush and it was like this was an alarm telling everyone it was time to get up. I heard one door open, then another and Christmas greetings being passed around! I knew that I would be next. I didn't do a very good job of being my cheery self. I had a horrible head-ache and stuffy nose.

I finally made it to the living room where everyone was VERY excited to see what gifts they had received. I wrapped myself in a blanket and was ready to fall asleep again. But that's what little brothers are for, to wake you up even when you are not ready to! So he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Great. Just what I was wanting to happen. And just so you know, I am about 6ft tall and my brother is 6ft 4or5 so you imagine how ridiculous this looked. I do find it very impressive when he manages to pick me up but doesn't mean I appreicate it!

I love watching everyone open the gifts I bought for them months ago and hoped that they would love! It was successful. I will share more about my gifts in another post.

We had a yummy breakfast of cinammon scrolls! They are a favourite for all of us! Suddenly we didn't really have a lot of time and we were all running around getting ready and deciding what to wear, well that was more me...I had no idea what I was going to wear! I got there in the end though. I blame this on feeling really ill and not wanting to get out of bed in the first place!

We then headed down to my Dad's house. It was crazy to be going from one place to another, and leaving mum behind...but that is something new that I am still getting used to. Lucy and I were cooking Christmas dinner. It was delicious. Seriously. We had a fun day. Our Granny and Aunty joined us and that was precious. I love spending time with them but don't do it often enough.

Right. Onto why I'm not sharing photos in this post. My laptop is doing something funky. I have this horrible green tinge on my screen and it is driving me nuts! When I look at photos there is like this green tinge throughout the photo. Best way to describe it is that it looks like someone has gone over my screen with a green pencil and rendered it in! So when I am editing photos I really can't tell what they look like and don't want to bore you with terrible photos. I have lots of photos to share from Christmas day from the people and prezzies to the meal. I will try and post these soon. I will probably just use my mum's laptop.

I am going to leave you with a Carol that I have been listening lots this CHRISTmas time. The version I have been listening to it by Natalie Grant. She has a really beautiful Christmas album. I should of directed you to it before Christmas. Sorry. The song is a Medley of Silver Bells, Saviour Came for Me and O Holy Night. I really touches me.

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Curly.

My beautiful, baby brother left for his Navy training yesterday! Excuse me, but when did he grow up and how did I miss it? I honestly can't believe it.

A few days before he left we had a "date night". We went to the movies to see Due Date. I knew that it was going to be good because Fin had gone the night before and loved it! He was very happy to go and see it again. There were a lot of people in the cinema watching the movie. I got a little bit annoyed though. It seemed like there were hundreds of people that were all there together and I think they thought they were on their sofa watching it at home. Every couple of minutes they would turn around and talk to the person 2 rows behind them!! I didn't notice this too much because I was far too busy laughing at the movie. Seriously, if you haven't seen this yet then you should definitely go! I am probably going to see it again.

I do have a few knew bruises after our date though. Aparantly I have an annoying laugh when we are at the cinema, so my sister and brother kindly told me. So, whenever I laughed during the movie he would elbow me in the arm! Lovely. I must have been because it was really funny! Anyway, I had a lovely time with Fin.

Before we left I told him that he needed to get changed into something smarter. And this is what he came down in! He always makes me laugh!!

Fin is such a funny, caring, loving, thoughtful guy and I will miss him. I love you, Curly.

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10 NLT

Smile.

I love my sister and brother! When we are together we are either laughing, arguing, smiling, annoying each other, crying or dancing. This photo below makes me smile. They are such a blessing to me. I love you, Sassy and Fin!

♥