With that in mind I sat down on Friday and planned out a bunch of pages I could make to fit with a bunch of Shimelle’s and Studio Calico’s tasks. I planned to do eight pages on Saturday but then woke with a case of the blues. Feeling very unimpressed with life and just wanting to sleep in bed I only ending getting up when a lovely friend turned up with a dvd, chips and chocolate.

Because of this today I sta down determined to do something about getting my pages done and decided that even if I only got one page done I would still have achieved something.

The challenges I aimed to complete within this page were:

Scrapbooking in Pink
Scrapbooking 4×6 Photos
Scrapbooking with Spray Inks and Mists
An Easy and Effective Way to Write your Scrapvooking Journaling

Give Mixed Media a Try

And this is the result:

And that’s all for now. Time to go and help cook tea since my sister and I are giving Mum the night off for Mother’s Day!

In summary what I am trying to say here…in a long winded and probably quite boring way…is that I have not found what I would call MY STYLE just yet…have a browse through the gallery below and if you see something please let me know!!! I would love to hear what you all think.

Enough talk, now for the pictures…until next time… xxx (Mrs Reeves – yep, married now!!!)

I was having a wee squiz through a few old posts recently and found this post from 2010 New Years and though it would be a great re-hash for this year of huge changes we have had!!!

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes!!! My sister in law (to be) had a darling adorable little girl called Izzy. Pip and Mark are wonderful parents and Dave and I are so excited to be first time Aunty and Uncle’s!!!!

We have also seen the joy of babies in lots of our friends and cousins lives – too many to name!!! (And have several friends expecting too)

Did anyone close to you die?

Unfortunately a close family friend was killed in a tragic farming accident in January of this year. It was terribly traumatic for their family and was tough on me not being there for my parents in their grief. He was a lovely man and well loved all round.

What countries did you visit?

England, Norway, Sweden, Wales, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand!!!!

What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?

A better lifestyle, centered around more thoughtful and healthy eating and exercising for both fitness and fun.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Losing 6.6kg in 6 weeks in a gym competition – diet and exercise met my will power! I came 6th out of 55 women which sadly meant I missed out on prize money but I was still pretty happy with my loss!!!

What was your biggest failure?

Not making enough effort to get out on weekends to visit London and various UK places.

What was the best thing you bought?

Honestly? My phone – my Desire I posted about last time had come to a point of being useless and faulty. So it was time to upgrade. I now own a Galaxy Nexus and love it – even sold an I-phone 5 I won because I love it so much!!!

Credit: http://www.phonegg.com/Samsung/Galaxy-Nexus

Where did most of your money go?

Travel for sure – we didn’t get the opportunity to do what some people do and bring money back from the UK to NZ…instead we came with credit card debt – but a lifetime of fabulous memories that I wouldn’t trade for a few dollars in the account!

What did you get really excited about?

HOMECOMING!!!!

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Much happier. I am content and so comfortable in my life at home. We are planning our wedding – which is 2 1/2 months away!!!! I love my new work colleagues and being home with friends and family is just wonderful.

Thinner or fatter?

Probably in between to be perfectly honest. While I have had a pretty decent loss since moving home and starting to live a more clean and lean lifestyle I probably put on a similar amount in England really…

Richer or poorer?

In money terms, definately poorer…but in all other definitions of the word, so much richer.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Travel in the UK. I so enjoyed my trip down to Devon in between Turkey and Greece, I wish I had seen more of the country side.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Spending money on useless things like crappy food and ciggarettes…

How did you spend Christmas?

With all the family – including my brother who currently lives in Perth!!! It was wonderful. And it was so special to share in my nieces first Christmas too. We missed a lot of first in the few months we were overseas between when she was born and us getting home but we are making up for it now!

The Jervis Family including partners and the Strain Family

Did you fall in love in 2012?

Yep – with home again!!!

What was your favorite TV program?

Greys Anatomy – watched it from Season 1, Episode 1 right up until somewhere in Season 9…

What was the best book you read?

Is it cheating if I say the 50 Shades series??? Just can’t remember the names of other books…there were many!!!

What did you want and get?

A move back home from England.

What did you want and not get?

Money for a house deposit and the wedding from the UK.

What were your favourite films of this year?

I honestly can’t even remember the films I did see this year…I dragged Dave along to the Twilight movie…thats all I can remember! Movies aren’t that important really…

What did you do on your birthday?

Had a huge big Welcome Home/Engagement/Brithday party where people came and went as they could and I had a fabulous time. Was a great birthday.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Whatever…I had put on so much weight and really preferred to spend my money on travel so I didn’t spend much time or money shopping. So it was a case of whatever fits gets worn.

What kept you sane?

The knowledge that we would be home – kind of a repeating theme for me personally throughout 2012.

Who did you miss?

Early in the year I missed friends and family and after leaving the UK I missed my old work colleagues, the scrapping ladies and my friends in England.

Who was the best new person you met?

Heidi was a girl I met when I went with a friend to Greece. We got on like a house on fire! I like to call her my sister from another mister. Unfortunately though she lives in Brisbane – not Auckland…

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012: Live your life with passion and joy. You never know what is around the corner!!!

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

“Big Jet Plane”

She said “hello mister, pleased to meet ya”
I wanna hold her, I wanna kiss her
She smelled of daisies, she smelled of daisies
She drive me crazy, she drive me crazy

Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Hey hey
Hey hey

Be my lover, my lady river
Can I take ya, take ya higher

Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Hey hey
Hey hey
Hey hey
Hey hey

Gonna hold ya, gonna kiss ya in my arms
Gonna take ya away from home
Gonna hold ya, gonna kiss ya in my arms
Gonna take ya away from home

Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane
Hey hey
Hey hey
Hey hey
Hey hey
Hey hey

My own bed…paid for long ago. Its mine once more. creature comforts.

Having our travel bits and bobs out on display.

My parents house… HOME.

Central Otago Pinot Noir…with friends.

The three muskateers reunited!!

Moustachio and general drinking shenanigans…

Self portraits when bored.

Seeing these guys in the flesh! Nothing compares to a real hug.

Familiar skyline…makes my heart sing.

Meeting his niece. She is stunning.

Join in on this months 10 things. For more info check out shimelle‘s blog and link in there.

It goes a little something like this:

“it’s high time i do one of these. do you remember the “rules”?

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.

3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive aggressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don’t be mean. nothing here is whining. it’s me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it’s whining, then you don’t have to read.

4. if you BYH, link back here. I’ll add an inlinkz tool at the end of the post. i always read and comment on every single post.

5. feel free to use the graphic above. just make sure to link back to me.”

So my heart is currently in a happy place. I am home. After an incredible (sometimes good, sometimes bad!!) few years away in London we are back in Auckland, back with our family and friends, and I haven’t been this happy in so long.

I knew coming home would be cool but I never expected to feel this peace and comfort I am feeling. Everything just feels right, even if I am having arguments with family or with Dave, even if I am massively tired after a 4am late night out…I just feel well, healthy.

Possibly the fact that it is almost three months since I finished up at work could be a contributor to this…but I am also eating healthier -got a wedding dress to fit into now!!! And I am going to the gym. Seeing blue skies and sun is such a mood lifter too…

That’s it. All I feel right at this very moment. Feel free to join in if you like – just check out the rules above and hop onto Stephanie’s blog to link your thoughts.

“10 Things: it’s something we started in a class a while back and it happens every month on the 10th.  It’s ridiculously simple: make a list of anything, as long as it has 10 things!”

For those of you who don’t know my Fiance and I have been travelling while being based in London for the last 2 1/2 years. We are on our way home now via Thailand and Australia and having a blast. Although I am really excited to be going home, seeing family and friends and even getting married next March, I am sure I will miss the ease of travelling that living in London afforded us-so in that vein I have summarised a few (10…surprisingly) things I have learnt from the last few years of travelling…

1. Once is never enough – We visited 3 countries twice, France, Italy and Germany.
Paris was our first continental city we visited when touring with Topdeck on our 21 day European Getaway trip and we revisited with my sister and her boyfriend about a year later when they moved over to the UK for 6 months. The allure of France for me was tri-fold: Food, Language and Sight-seeing…and each trip was amazing in it’s own was. I would love to visit again, any time.
Berlin was a favourite of Dave’s when we toured so it was brilliant to get a further taste for it when we returned last Christmas before getting a ride-share down to a villiage near Leipzig to share in the celebrations with a friend’s family.
In Italy – one of my most favourite countries we got to stop in Verona, Venice and Florence both on our tour and with my parents last year while they visited. The first time around was very much the whirlwind of sights and sounds…and just a little too much alcahol for someone who shall remain nameless (Dave…) at a certain wild Toga party in Venice. The second visit was much more leisurely with my parents and while we drove a fair distance and saw probably just as much it was far more relaxing and was a chance for us to make many more treasured memories —great scrapbooking fodder!!!—

2. I could travel for the rest of my life – Somehow at some point along the line, the move to London became my be all and end all. I thought how well travelled I would become and yet, since becoming a travel agent I have gradually realised just how huge this planet really is and made a much larger list of places to visit in the future. The choice of honeymoon destination will not be easy!

3. There is so much more a country than the city you live in – Living in London was a blast and we would always be able to find something free, cheap or expensive to do at the drop of a hat but somewhere along the way I became disillusioned and decided that London was the pits…until a lovely weekend away with a wonderful friend in Oxford helped me to realise that sometimes, a getaway is just the medicine required. England is a beautiful country to travel in it’s own rights and we will have a great time whenever we next come back travelling to places we missed this time around.

4. The beauty in some places is unexpected – We travelled around Egypt with On the Go in May of this year and come July when we arrived in Turkey we were pleasantly surprised. Instead of finding Istanbul similar to Cairo we found it modern, clean and tidy and safe to get around. Further into our tour (with Intrepid – Active Turkey. Highly recommended!!) we saw the beauty of Galipoli where the fallen are commemoratedThe stunning beaches of the coast along the Lycian Way  – yep we hiked 14km in half a day, and the joy for me in wandering through ruins I have read and been taught about since childhood (Ephesus). While we loved travelling in Egypt, both Dave and I agree that we liked Turkey much more.

5. Cultures can be so similar and yet vastly different – Contrasting Egypt and Turkey as well as Morocco, each country has a high percentage of believers of Islam do it’s easy to expect the locals to all act the same but they don’t…

Morrocans speak French and Arabic and hound you to buy from them if you so much as blink in their general direction. If you do decide to purchase from them you get wonderful help and a great smile of thanks, but possibly a smelly piece of leather (in the form of a notebook cover) that will be thrown out soon after getting home when it stinks out the bedroom. (Disclaimer – my friend had a lovely book cover from Morocco but I had the bad luck to not know the difference and ended up buying something from a stall where they hadn’t treated the leather properly so it smelt…bad!!!)

Egyptians in any job will expect a tip for the smallest of things – so just be sure to remember: When you visit any tourist sight, even the security guards will take your camera off you, force you in to a silly pose and take a few photos and then never leave your side until you hand over some cash.

Turkish people are quiet and reserved but will do anything to get a smile. While the majority of the population declare Islam to be their religion, the government has declared themselves a secular country since the constitutional amendment in 1924. This shows itself in simple ways such as the language and signage for example and gives the country a more balanced feel to a traveller from another secular country.

6. 25 countries by 25 years old suddenly feels like not so much at all – When I moved to the UK I had seen a few Asian countries and Australia. By the time I left I had visited Western Europe, Africa and Asia/Australia some more, but we are yet to travel the Americas, Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, Pacific nations, India etc etc so while I feel pretty proud of that achievement there is a lot more to be done and hopefully we will be able to continue to travel frequently throughout life. (Which reminds me, I need to do an update post on my progress and where we ended up!!)

7. Learning the language and respect are the key to getting by – I find that in most countries it is the tourists who respect the culture and people they are visiting the most are the ones who get more enjoyment out of their time spent in that area. I ahve heard so many times about people visiting France and struggling to get a local to speak English but I always found a greeting and an effort for just that little bit more more was always met with a smile and the response in English… ensuring that you try is often all they want, instead of arrogantly assuming that everyone understands the language you are speaking! I know this can be difficult in some places and some people might disagree with my opinion but from my own experience I have always tried and always had a good response as a result.
8. Food is wonderful – I was lucky to be brought up in a household where I was taught to try a little of everything and this has stood me well in many of the countries I have visited. I don’t particularly enjoy lentils or aurbigine but in Turkey when we went to a local persons house for dinner thats exactly what we got served – Lentil soup and stuffed aurbergines and I loved them! Some of the local foods I have enjoyed eating while away travelling are:  Potato dumplings, Swedish meatballs, Souerkraut, Falafels, Gozleme, Gyros, Fondue, Rosti, Gelati, Tagines, Goulash, Belgian waffles, Fava, Tomato balls, Baklava, Dolmades, Tzatziki, Moussaka…but I will stop now since I am making myself hungry!!!
9.Sunrise and sunset truly are the best time to be up and about – Some of my most favourite moments are sitting with a glass of wine in hand watching the sun go down or even the time in Egypt where we got up and down to the hot air balloon field in time to see the sunrise – one word, INDREDIBLE
10.New Zealand will always be my home – No matter where I am, I never get that feeling of peace and relief like I do on the approach into Auckland Airport. While I love to get out there and travel around and I have loved the experience of living overseas for a few years, I can’t wait to be back home.

If you have made it all the way through, well done! I promise not to have such a heavy post for a while…Thanks!!!

Recently I spent a couple of days in Devon where my Gran (mum’s mum) hails from. I travelled in First Class with First Great Western as both a treat to myself and because the tickets weren’t much more than standard anyway. The service on the journey there was impeccable! We had service at our seats and were given complimentary drinks, snacks and offered food freshly prepared by our on board chef. I really enjoyed being spoiled and had the chance to do a bit of blogging on the way down too so felt very rested and relaxed upon arrival at Exeter St. Davids.

Little did I know the  adventures I had in store for me for the rest of the day!!! I decided to drop my bag off at the YHA hostel I was staying at which was out of the city and managed to get pretty lost…luckily a nice Devonian (got told off by my Gran for saying Devonite!!!) man pointed me in the right direction and eventually I arrived at the hostel with vary little energy, busting for the toilet and a nearly dead cellphone battery. Only then did I discover that the main reception door was locked and I wouldn’t even be able to drop off my bags until 5pm when it re-opened!

Frustrated and hopping around I tried to work out a way onto the main road so as to get back into the city centre and while I was walking up to the town my phone battery died. Luckily I had a bearing of where to go and when I saw a bus approaching I got on and minutes later was back on the high street again.

I went into McDonalds to use the bathroom and charge my phone but couldn’t find a power point so ended up crossing the road to the Cafe Nero and found one upstairs where I waited it out as long as I could, having only bought an orange juice (It was only just about lunch time then but thanks to all the snacks on the train I wasn’t hungry). While I was there I pulled out my laptop and researched how to get to the cemetery where my Gran’s grandparents were buried. It was a few years since I made Gran a family tree for her Christmas present and I felt it was a good chance to pay my respects to my family.

After a long walk in the heat (yep – it was actually nice weather in Devon!) I at last found the cemetery but had no way of knowing where the graves were, Exeter Higher Cemetery is pretty big and has graves going back many, many years. With a number to the Civic Centre (like council offices) I rung and spoke to a lovely gentleman who guided me to both graves where I was able to lay some flowers and have a few moments silence. It was very interesting learning about the significance of the placement of the graves etc and I was so pleased to have gotten such a kind and helpful person to speak to. I really wish I had written his name down now so I could have written him a letter of thanks – it is so rare to find someone so helpful these days! He probably spent a good 45 minutes on the phone to me and never once got frustrated or short tempered.

The Wills' plot

The James' plot

After that was sorted I wandered back to the hostel after picking up some fruit and dinner and enjoyed watching a nice sunset as I ate. All I had left to do was plan the next day’s activities and have a good nights sleep!

We had a nice lazy sleep in and wandered up to the Sultanahmet area for one last look at the Hagia Sophia. We had a bite to eat and looked for postcards and souvenirs. I bought some ceramic coasters and Dave found a magnet and I got my postcard (I collect one for each trip we do).

Here are some of my favourite shots of our holiday:

From left to right: Top row – Walking through the ruins of Hierapolis, End of day after Kayaking 8km, Dog resting in the theatre of Hierapolis, Second row – Dave and I on the calcium deposits of Pamukkale, Me in the theatre of Hierapolis, Istanbul by night, Bottom row – Sunflower fields somewhere between Istanbul and Galipoli, Our lovely hosts for dinner in Istanbul on night 1, Oludeniz – Turkey’s most photographed beach

Same again – Top row: Dave and I enjoying a beautiful sunset in Faralya above Butterfly Valley, Views over Galipoli, Kitty cat, Second row: Calcium formation and Pamukkale, oppsss, a repeat of Dave and I at Pamukkale, Ephesus ruins, Bottom row: Anzac cove and the memorial, the group during our Galipoli day trip, Dave and Yener (our leader) on the Lycian Way.

Again, left to right: Turkish Tea – Yum! Taksim square at sunset, Galata Tower at night.

After a wait at the hotel we were picked up to go to the airport. We said farewell to a country that had surprised us both with it’s modern cities and beautiful coast lines and flew back to London, ready for our next adventure!

Don't ask me what Aspava is! Just amazed at how far the 'Keep Calm' craze has gone.

Sleep was certainly easy enough to get but being woken every few hours doesn’t give the body much time to rest and repair so by 8am (ish) when we finally arrived at our terminal in Istanbul I was very grateful to get a shuttle back to our hotel where we dumped our bags and headed out for an energising breakfast.

Wandering the streets in the early evening.

Being able to choose from a menu of options for breakfast seemed so unusual after so long! We have been having hard boiled eggs, olives, tomato, cucmber, bread and spreads for the last 2 weeks. I ordered an omlette with ‘the works’ which ended up being covered in cheese and was very hard to finish and left me feeling bloated and full the rest of the day.

My favourite shot of the trip

As we were due to stay another night in the hotel they let us check in at midday so in between farewells and well wishes to some of the group departing today we moved our bags from the day room they had given us to our room. (I was sneakily happy they had given us twin beds as I knew I had a night where I was guaranteed not to have to fight for bed sheets! Haha.

One of the two famous towers in Istanbul

Later in the day after a nice long snooze Dave and I went out with a couple of the guys also staying overnight to Taksim Square to check out the sunset and nightlife. I was feeling pretty average so I only had 2 pieces of Pizza for dinner and a huge bottle of water. (This was obviously a day where I should have eaten more fresh fruit and veges!!! Lesson learnt).

One last shot on our walk home after the evening out

Today was a full on, long day and I was grateful of a nice cool room and fairly comfortable bed to sleep in. Last day in Turkey tomorrow before our 5pm flight back to the UK. More on that later.

A little blurb from Wikipedia for those wanting to know a little more:

Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. It is located in Turkey’s Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.

The ancient Greco-Roman and Byzantine city of Hierapolis was built on top of the white “castle” which is in total about 2,700 metres (8,860 ft) long, 600 m (1,970 ft) wide and 160 m (525 ft) high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away.

Tourism is and has been a major industry. People have bathed in its pools for thousands of years. As recently as the mid-20th century, hotels were built over the ruins of Heropolis, causing considerable damage. An approach road was built from the valley over the terraces, and motor bikes were allowed to go up and down the slopes. When the area was declared a World Heritage Site, the hotels were demolished and the road removed and replaced with artificial pools. Wearing shoes in the water is prohibited to protect the deposits.