28.12.06

Christmas in the West Midlands

Every year for the holidays I go to my boyfriend's parent's house in the West Midlands. Its about 2 hours outside of London by train. His parents live in a very old cottage in the middle of the country near Shropshire, Telford and Staffordshire. Its quite fun because as with English tradition we have Christmas pudding for desert and open Christmas crackers (prizes that include a gold crown hat and a joke to tell around the table). The cottage we stay in has two fireplaces and it was very nice to sit next to a fire after a huge meal. Here are pictures from the day:

This is James' parent's house. It is fully functional but the house is 250 years old and in some parts of the house it is 500 years old---OLDER THAN AMERICA!

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

The christmas Table
Sarah--James' sister and her son Alex (7 months)
James' niece-Hannah (2 1/2 yrs old)

James wearing his Christmas cracker hat!















In England--Holly leaves grow all over the countryside. I thought it would be cool to post what they look like in the wild!
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This is the countryside around where his parents live. Its always VERY green!

Countryside houses
Blymhill is a village next to where his parents live and this used to be the old post office. It is now someone's house (they have just left everything this way!)

This is the Village Hall in Blymhill (Like a community center). We sang Christmas carols just outside next to a big tree here and had mince pies and mulled wine.
Blymhill church--this is the church James' parents go to. Some parts of the building date back to the 13th Century.

21.10.06

Engagement Story

When you think of engagement stories--you tend to expect the romantic, the chivalrous offering of a ring on one knee and of course lots and lots of tears. I never expected that I'd ever have anything like this in my life--but of course my life has never really gone the usual route.

I kind of expected this engagement thing was going to happen for a long time. I wondered about the little comments and the "secretness" James was implying for months before that usually only surfaced around the holidays. Little did I know that my suspicions were obviously correct particularly with what James had in store for me.

James planned a weekend break to Nice, France in December 2005, as a birthday present for my 30 birthday. Nice is in the South of France along the Mediterranean or Cote D'Azure. The Cote D'Azure or the Blue Coast as it's called lives up to its name in every way. One could easily see why the South of France for such a long time was (and still is) the getaway for so many rich and famous as it's just incredibly insanely beautiful. The weather was of course fabulous. Although it was in the middle of the winter, you easily could get away with just a light jacket. I can also just imagine what the summer months would be like--how the sun would be so warm whilst you can hear the gentle lull of the waves.

We stayed in a Boscolo Hotel, very "belle epoque" old style french. I had never stayed in somewhere that nice to that point in my life and our room was nearly the size of our flat (apartment)--Ah such indulgence! For breakfasts we were treated to an array of yoghurts, pastry's, baguettes and meats-absolutely everything you could ask for. After sleeping so soundly on a bed nearly double the size of a standard king bed (who knew they made beds that large!)--the breakfast was a perfect compliment.

Our first two days were fabulous in the city. We looked around the sites and had amazing food. Nice is a combination of french, italian and spanish influence in its architecture which is not surprising as its in the Mediterranean and surrounded by all these countries. The old section of the city has red cobbled rooftops which when the sun sets give such an amazing view and aura and when you see this you can understand why painters paint--beauty like this has to be shared.

On the second night we went out for a fabulous 3 course meal consisting of a very nice bottle of wine, filling pasta of penne pasta and tagliatelle and a typical french dessert. After the meal, we made our way slowly to the beach. The Christmas lights were all strewn all around the city including the palm trees lining the beach which made them stand out in the night. We walked down to the beach and I noticed how bright the stars and the half moon were, how the waves were loudly hitting each other and how cold it was getting as well. It was so peaceful and my heart was full.

James looked me in the eye and said how much he loved me and that you could never really prepare for moments like this. He commented on how we had talked about getting married but never had a ring. James then pulled out a small blue box and got down on one knee. I started crying mostly and my heart was beating because I was nervous and I couldn't believe it was happening. He said Christine Jolley , will you marry me? I said yes and we both burst into tears and of course sealed the whole thing with a kiss. The ring was perfect, the setting amazing and I knew for one brief moment what happiness felt like and what it feels like to be loved so unconditionally. I couldn't have asked for anything better and I didn't want the trip to end.

The rest of the trip was obviously amazing and we were sort of floating on the high of the proposal. I am always very sad to leave places when I travel because it's like saying goodbye to old friends. However, I know with certainty that the South of France will always hold a special place in my heart for the memories it holds. I am very grateful for James and of course love him dearly. You never expect to get proposed to, let alone having someone so amazing and decent loves me the way he does. I truly feel blessed. I look forward to the future and although at times it may be uncertain, I know that my best friend will be right there every step of the way.