Travelling the World, the Credit Crunch and on the way to creating a perfect life!

As 2007 began I have to admit my feet were becoming more itchy than ever with many travelling dreams at the forefront of my mind. If you know me well, you will know that once I have an idea in my head I rarely rest until I have satisfied it. This is exactly what happened with these returning thoughts about travelling and I slowly began sowing the seeds into James' mind to see whether he would take the brave step of travelling with me for a few months. This sounds like an easy first step, wrong! This was the hardest, as not only was being away from home something James had never done for longer than a month before but trying to gage how he feels about something could easily be compared to getting blood out of a stone! He keeps his feelings close to his chest, unless he's had a few beers then you can't stop him talking!! (note to self, always keep fridge stocked with beers!). There were lots of times when a simple change of subject came into play and others when problems (or obstacles as I prefer to refer to them as) were listed as to why we simply couldn't go. Things like work, our dog, the house etc etc - all pretty valid obstacles but I was ready to find a way to retrieve my old hurdle skills and leap over these with ease - where there's a will there's a way!
Anyway after a good six months of discussing why, how, when, where etc etc etc we found ourselves in a position where we were booking a six month trip around the World, starting Jan 2008! I'd managed to get james to see the light, persuade The Money Centre to let me take a six month sabbatical, James is self-employed anyway so it was a case of just winding up his work prior to the departure and my Brother Karl was suddenly very keen on house and dog sitting for us for the entire six months - nothing to do with the fact that he got a newly converted 5 bed barn conversion to rattle around in instead of his bedroom at Mum and Bryan's I'm sure?!! So it was settled, we were going on the adventure of our lives and I couldn't wait!! James was still nervous and with his family pretty open about their fears of him going it made it a bit more nerve wrecking for him, but it was a new experience for them too as they'd been used to all being nearby and suddenly one of them was flying the nest for six months - whoops, they probably hated me for a little while around when we told them! Now I'm sure they can see how James has blossomed as a person since unclipping his wings and that he's as keen as me to see the World so it's done him good and as I always say life is too short, we have to do everything we want to do - if we don't like it at least we tried!

Cambodia

Vietnam

Rather than talking all about our six month trip I have put a link to the blog I kept whilst we were travelling so you can dip in and out of it as you like to read about our adventures if you are interested . . . Footstops Travel Blog - 'Around the World'

When we got back at the very end of June 2008 there had been a lot of changes and the Credit Crunch had hit - we noticed petrol prices had shot up from about 98p to £1.20 (seems cheap now!!), food was more expensive and most of all work in the building trade and world of finance was slow! James picked up work here and there but it was pretty quiet for a while and my income at The Money Centre was literally 20% of what it had been before I left. I suppose it was quite a stressful time for us financially, particularly as we'd borrowed the money to pay for our six month trip and all bills whilst we were away on the mortgage thinking we'd easily pay it off when we get back - however this wasn't to be the case so we worked hard, cut back where we could and just about managed to make ends meet. Looking back it was actually the best thing that could have happened for me as I'd decided whilst I was away (with all that lovely extra time to think) that it was time for a change and I had plans to break away from being a broker. I'd learned a lot of Sales and Marketing skills through my years working for them and as much as I enjoyed the property and figures aspect of the job for me I wasn't using my creative brain nearly enough. I stayed at The Money Centre as an employee for another 6 months and then opted to become a self-employed consultant from December 2008, allowing me to continue with them but also a bit more time to set up an events company with a friend and colleague Lynsey. We are very similar with similar passion and drive to succeed so we went ahead and held our first event, then got involved in the joint set-up of a music networking website and also both heavily involved in Social Media Marketing etc. We don't do too much with the events anymore, purely because our own personal businesses in Marketing related worlds have taken off and we're both extremely busy. We still work together on some projects and will no doubt continue to do so into the distant future - if you find a friend that you can also work well with you must make sure you remain close because a business associate that is also a friend is hard to come by and for me it's great to have the drive for business in common as you need to have someone to talk to that understands how you think from time to time.

Talking of friends, the saddest part about leaving TMC was the friends that I would no longer see on a day to day basis. However two and a half years on and I still see quite a few of the fab friends I made whilst there and again I'm sure we'll always remain close friends now. I feel so lucky that I still have such amazing groups of friends from school, college, travelling and work plus am always meeting new people who will no doubt become friends more than they are contacts in the future - a life without friends would be very sad and although I don't see some of them that often I treasure them with all my heart!

I suppose this blog post has pretty much brought me up to date with my life - it's been a very summarised version (although may not seem it with all the waffling I've managed to do!) and I'm sure I'll regularly refer to back to various occasions reminiscing about moments I've had and perhaps have suddenly remembered. Hopefully what I've talked about so far has given you a little insight into who I am, why I think like I do, why I do what I do and why my plans are what they are . . . if not, keep reading and hopefully you'll get it the more I publicly unveil myself! I must be mad!!

Since my blog last week I enjoyed a fab few days off over the weekend. Firstly after the stress of technology letting me down I baked an amazing sponge cake, which was even better than the first one which cheered me up and James of course who devoured quarter of it before bed that evening to celebrate that he'd finished the new bathroom and cleaned the whole house, what a star! Then we had a lovely day with our new stainless steel and far too big for us BBQ that we bought Friday and James and I cooked on it for Yazmin, Jacqui and Stephen that evening, just chilling and cathcing up afterwards. On the Saturday we ventured into Holt to show Jacqui and Stephen why we love it so much and despite the crowds of tourists spilling onto the streets I think they understood why we visit a fair amount and would like to live there one day. Following a wander around the shops and some coffee we headed towards Holkham on the coast Road through Cley and Blakeney and then quickly bypassing Wells-Next-The-Sea which was packed. We had lunch on arrival at Holkham and then met Karl and James for a stunning walk on and off the beach, which has just reminded me, Karl promised us dragonflies and we didn't actually see any! Karlos you owe us some dragonfly action when we next see you!! ;-) When Jacqui and Stephen headed back to Herts the rest of us went to Mum, Bryan and Yaz's for a Roast Lamb dinner, followed by laughs, chats and more chilling at theirs for the rest of the evening.
Easter day we spent the morning handing out Easter eggs to our Nieces and Nephews, with cups of tea at each stop - James' parents and both Brothers. After visiting everyone we headed to Barnham Broom Country Club for a delicious three course lunch. I had a white wine and lemonade but had to give it to James after half of it as started to feel tipsy! Uh oh! Well it has been a while!! Anyway, the fabulous three courses soon soaked this up and before long I was so full I couldn't move let alone consider eating the Easter egg treat from Barnham Broom or any others we'd been given! Strangely this lasted the rest of the day and when we got home it was a good excuse to do nothing more than laze about, something neither of us have done for ages and I have to say it was pretty enjoyable! With one day left of the weekend and a promised lay-in from my husband he was up at 7.30! He tried to make it up to me by bringing me tea and crumpets in bed, which was good but nothing beats a cuddle and a lay in at the weekend sometimes! I substituted this with a bit of work whilst his nesting continued and he dismantled everything in the gym and cleared the room completely ready for it to become a nursery - bye bye fitness, hello fatness! ;-) That afternoon, I managed to tear James away from home and any sign of DIY and we went to a lovely birthday picnic at Titus and Sarah's with Mum, Bryan and Yaz for Titus' Birthday to finish off the weekend perfectly - how much fun can you have in four days? Answer = heaps!!

Since the weekend it has been a fairly busy three days getting lots of work done in preparation for a possible four more days with minimal work involved - not exactly a chore!! I worked from home Tuesday, at the council on an early shift Wednesday and then from home that afternoon followed with some business planning with Bryan that evening as I'm helping him set up a property management and maintenance company - watch this space for more info! Thursday was a mixture of working from home and then offering some TLC to the family, as very sadly on Tuesday this week Bryans Brother Trevor passed away, having been suffering for the past 6 months with Bowel Cancer. The fact that you know what's coming never makes losing someone any easier, despite the fact that they are no longer suffering. Trevor was a larger than life character and there will be lots of fantastic memories shared about him forever more, starting with this Friday evening when a tribute evening has been arranged by the Huntsman locally. I shall of course be going to have a drink for him, all be it a soft one. However, am more than happy to dedicated driver for this occasion in particular so that my lovely family can all enjoy a bevvy or two. I know I mentioned it last week but this really does illustrate how life is a gift and can sadly be a short one, however what ever time we are given must be used well so spend every day, hour, minute and second wisely - keep smiling, have fun, treat people like you would wish to be treated and spread your love as far as you can folks!

As far as baby stuff is concerned, nothing new really apart from maybe more kicking this week and now James, Yaz and Mum have all felt it so we're all super excited!! My friend Becky had her baby this week so I've been to see her and new daughter Jessica, who is very cute. Perhaps a little more nervous at the prospect of being a Mum after this visit as it definitely all feels very real now, however still very much looking forward to our new addition. Clock is ticking a little louder in my head regarding how long I've got to get my business more established before the little one arrives and my website is taking longer than I'd hoped with all of these short weeks - next week things must happen more quickly!

Entering the World of WORK & getting together with James . . .

So having left university with plans to get a temporary job to save and go travelling I joined some agencies in Norwich and soon found myself with an admin job at The Money Centre, a Buy-to-Let and Commercial Brokers based in Norwich. It wasn't a career I was after but having always been keen on numbers it was definitely of interest to me, so working here for a few months to save some money to go away again looked to be fine. I started the same day as another girl, Hanna, who I am still really good friends with today. Hanna had an Estate Agency background so during the training knew a lot more than I did about property etc. but I got through it ok and was keen to learn. The small team that was then The Money Centre were a friendly bunch and I liked it. I was still a little unsettled at this point in my life and coming home had brought my memories of what happened in Australia to the forefront of my mind so I was definitely having up and down days with a diet of sleeping pills and about 6 cans of red-bull a day to get me through work! After several sick days I was pulled aside by one of the Directors and my line-manager and told that I needed to up my game to stay working for them. One thing you will learn about me is that I hate letting people down and I can't stand failing, so this was enough for me to turn things around. I suppose I felt like I had something to prove to them and myself and it's safe to say I did it.

Soon after I'd decided to give it a go at The Money Centre my plans for travelling were postponed and I planned to stay at The Money Centre long-term. I'd started dating James in April 2002 which was going really well and then in the August of that year a friend and I bought a house together to get on the property ladder. I was 21 at this point so really pleased to be making an investment for my future already. My life had changed, with my days of being a drunken reckless student behind me, and I was pleased. Don't for one second imagine I was T-total now though! Come on I was 21 and in my partying prime, I just did it two nights a week instead of six and held down a job that I was prospering at as well as a boyfriend that it was safe to say I had fallen for (HUGE thing for me in itself!!). I'd switched from administration to sales at The Money Centre by the end of the first year I worked there, where I did pretty well if I do say so myself. I absolutely loved the thrill of selling and the commission structure was so exciting for me, before I knew it my hard work had paid off and I was earning near to a six figure wage at the age of 22!! This was like a dream come true for me and really helped me to be able to set-up my life well. With my student paid off quicker than I ever imagined I had more money than I knew what to do with, so we lived very well whilst this lasted and why not indeed!

Unfortunately my friend decided a few months after we'd bought the house together that it wasn't for her and she didn't in fact want the commitment at that point in her life, which was totally fair enough. This was sad though and a bit of a headache as we were tied into the mortgage for a while yet but out of a bad situation came good and James kindly offered to move in and pay for her half, even though his name was not put on the Deeds until we were no longer tied into the initial mortgage - a big risk on his part and could have ended in tears for our relationship as we'd only been together for about 7 months. Luckily though it brought us closer rather than drove us apart and we soon outgrew that little house and found a dream project of a barn conversion in a village between Norwich and the North Norfolk Coast. Having been living and breathing Buy-to-Let investments we decided to keep the initial house as a rental property and buy this new project to convert and live in.

We turned the two-bed cottage into a five bed house and we're still here today enjoying all of James' hard work! The Buy-to-Let bug had well and truly got us hooked and by 2006 we had three rental properties of which we were looking at as long-term investments.

Our wedding day

Between 2002 and 2006 some very exciting things happened as well as the work and property investing, so don't worry it wasn't all work no play! In February 2003, James and I went to Amsterdam for valentines weekend and after only 10 months of us being together James proposed!! Me married, this was a strange prospect for me as I had said I'd probably never get married (a bit like I'll never have kids! ;-)) but with James everything just felt right and I loved him with all my heart. He was the rock I needed in my life after losing Debs and I couldn't imagine life without him, plus it has to be said that he's pretty easy on the eye (don't tell him I said that as he'll get a big head!) so why would I NOT marry this man!! We had quite a long engagement and got married in August 2005 - a fantastic day that I will never forget so thank you to all who were there to share it with us and for those that weren't we can promise you that you were missed. Before we got married we got ourselves a new addition to the family - a chocolate labrador puppy who we named Woody and is with us today and the grand age of 6 and a half and get soppier by the day and unfortunately more poorly but I won't go into that now.

Woody

Although I'd put the travelling thing on hold we certainly got about a lot with various weekend breaks in Europe and plenty of holidays. Some of the places that we visited in those four years were Amsterdam, Rhodes, Lanzarote, Seville, Egypt, Venice, Paris, New York, Tanzania for a fabulous safari and then Zanzibar for some R&R at the beach for our honeymoon, Dubai and Australia. I also went back to Australia without James in 2005 as my friend Jody had just moved there and her sister Lou was heading over in the February . . . Lou made that fatal mistake of asking me if I wanted to go? Never put seeds like that in my head, it's dangerous! So anyway, I wanted to go to put some things emotionally to bed before we got married and James was more than happy for me to do it, so I went over for about a week (although 8 nights away from the UK with travelling) to get it out of my system. Great to catch up with Jody and her new friends and I went back to Coogee where we'd lived in Sydney, which was strange. I don't think I particularly liked being back there - I had the first night on my own and just sat on the beach thinking for a few hours. It had changed, of course - no backpacking friends, no sand-fly infested flat and mainly no Debs. I don't know what I thought it would be like but to this day I can't really explain whether it did me any good or not. I suppose it was good to go back on my own before taking James back so I was prepared when we went together the next year and it was a much better trip then.

Me & James at Coogee Beach - 2006

Plus we went with a load of the girls I'd met in Australia originally so it was great to share the memories together and for James to be part of it. One of my goals from 2003 or 2004 was to visit at least three countries a year, so although I hadn't been on one specific travelling journey I made sure I was getting plenty of tasters. Poor James, he's petrified of flying and there's me dragging him around the World! I think he realised early on this was a big dream of mine and now I'm pleased to say he shares that dream with me and are always chatting about the next trip we'll take. There will be plenty more trips I'll cover from 2007 to date on the next blog if you're interested . . .

So what's been happening since last week in the life of Kaori . . .


Well firstly I've got to be honest and say that I've been feeling a little more emotional than normal - on the verge of tears on several occasions for situations that I would ordinarily not be phased by. I'm guessing this is my hormones as it's pretty unlike me, particularly over the last couple of months when I've felt calm as a cucumber about everything. Whilst on the pregnancy subject I don't suppose much else has changed apart from the continuing growth of my bump - it is now there for all to see with no hiding it if I tried! Aside from that the only weird thing was a worrying day and a half when I couldn't feel her move. Now, this is something quite strange as going from never feeling her to feeling her everyday and then suddenly nothing again does make you concerned - perhaps I'm being paranoid? Anyway, it was probably because I had super busy days Monday and Tuesday and was pre-occupied or something, but thankfully when I was on the way to my second late shift in a row at the council Tuesday what started off feeling like a pain in my stomach turned out to be the little one wriggling around and before long she was moving about as energetically as she had been before - phew! The only other symptoms that I'm having is headaches in the morning and nose bleeds, nothing uncontrollable on the bleeding front and no idea why it happens but I've heard it's common in pregnancy - nice!

It's been a crazy week work-wise and because of that I haven't caught up with any friends all week! I did however have a fabulous evening out with my Mum and Yazmin on Friday - we went for something to eat in Norwich at Pulse (a vegetarian restaurant that Yaz was particularly un-keen on going to as she is a meat fiend through and through, however they have a variety of gluten free meals on their menu so we wanted Mum to try it as she has problems with what she eats). Unfortunately, I can't rave about the meal we had there which is a real shame as the place is lovely and I would have loved for it to be somewhere that we could take Mum for a regular gluten free fix. However, the company was great and on from there went to the theatre where we saw Derren Brown in action, which was as entertaining as I'd expected - brilliant show and amazing how he does what he does, even if it does frustrate the hell out of me not knowing the answers of how, why etc etc!! Amazingly I didn't get involved in the show either, which I have a habit of doing at these kind of things - at Paul McKenna I ended up on stage then when James and I saw David Copperfield in Vegas I ended up getting us roped into being part of the show - we had to pretend to be late and to James' disgust we had to walk in with these huge spotlights following us and a close up of us on the big screen on stage so that DC could make a joke about us missing much, when it was just after a massive entrance trick that he'd done! I love this kind of thing and we got to sit on DC's favourite table adjoining the stage when we'd only paid for budget tickets at the back - result!
Anyway, I digress (as usual)! On the Saturday James and I both worked and then that evening had a BBQ at Mum and Bryan's as my step-brother Daniel was staying for the weekend and Bryan's Nephew and Sister-in-Law came over to join us too. It was lovely to get together as Bryan's poor Brother Trevor is very ill with Cancer at the moment, so it's an extremely tough time for everyone (particularly his wife and kids) at the moment. Another reason for us all to thank our lucky stars that we've got our health and we're living! We must always make sure we don't take it for-granted, as I always say 'life is short, so make the most of it'. . . That just leaves Sunday of the weekend, where James was doing his best to finish our new bathroom, which looks fantastic by the way! Then we took Yaz out for a lovely late lunch in Norwich as a little 'good luck' for her revision and exams etc as she's got her GCSE's at the moment and she deserves a little TLC as she works hard bless her.

This week has just been eaten up with work - a couple of late shifts at the council and heaps of cramming to get my own business work done so that I can attempt to have a lovely four day weekend with James. I've worked harder than ever over the past four days but sadly all came to a grinding holt today as the platform I use to organise my Social Media hasn't been working all day so it's created heaps more work and means that I'll definitely have to continue tomorrow (Good Friday) and perhaps some of the other days too. Fingers crossed all will be resolved in the morning though and I'll try and get everything done by early afternoon as then my Auntie Jacqui and Stephen will be arriving to stay for the night, and I've got plans to take them to the World Village Market in Norwich as well as Holt and somewhere on the North Norfolk Coast for a look . . .

On the upside, my website is coming on leaps and bounds and I've got my company emails sorted along with a new phone and number for the business. Also my business cards are almost ready to order so I can crack on with some major networking in a few weeks time to start boosting business - I'm really excited about it all and have had some great feedback from the people that have had a look at my website so far, as well as some lovely morale boosting comments from my existing clients in the last few days - must be doing something right then! ;-)

I hope you've all had a fab week and that you all have a tremendous Easter weekend, I'm sure you deserve it!

Back to the Uni days . . . and now still learning everyday!

The Uni Days


Coming back from Australia on my own was undoubtedly the hardest thing I've ever had to do - mainly because I no longer had Debs with me and facing our friends and families at home was a hideously scary thought - so many feelings were racing around my head at that time I can't begin to try and explain it. On top of this it was because coming back this year was no longer really our plan . . . whilst having so much fun and loving Australia, we had discussed deferring University for another year and doing a bit more travelling, so I was really not ready to be coming home. However, under the circumstances of course I cut the trip short and flew back after spending a few days in Sydney with friends.

When at home I felt more alone than ever before without Debs joined to my hip, as she had been for the previous 7 months. Looking back this was crazy as in actual fact I was surrounded by so many amazing people, two of whom were Jodie and Jody - friends we'd met in Australia, who had cut short their travelling in New Zealand and not only flown back to the UK the same day as me but also then came straight up to Norfolk to stay with me for a few months, despite the fact that they lived in Kent. Now you can begin to gage an understanding of why we remain such close friends . . . believe me folks you don't meet people like this everyday and I totally believe that you don't stumble upon friends like these accidentally! I have regrets about pushing people away a lot during this time and if I'm honest I guess I didn't believe that anyone should be showing me sympathy. I wanted to be there for everyone else to try and make things right, although by unconsciously putting a divide up I suppose I was in fact doing the opposite - I just didn't realise it back then. As for friends and family at home, part of me desperately wanted to tell them all about the fun we'd had in Australia but it never really came up in conversation and I suppose I was as nervous about mentioning it as people were afraid to ask incase I didn't want to talk about it, when in actual fact all I wanted to do was talk about it, well at least about the fun we'd had and what Debs had spent the past 7 months doing etc. It is never too late though and I kept a diary through the whole trip so any opportunity that comes up in the future to chat about it will be snapped up and I can bore my child with all of the stories I've got when they're old enough! ;-)

So I was back in the UK at the start of June 2000 and then by that September it was time for me to move to Sunderland and start my time at University. I suppose having already lived away from home I was eager to get my independence back and starting something new would be refreshing . . . well at least it should have been, but this is Uni we're talking about and let's face it with the amount of partying and alcohol involved in being a student there was not really anything all that refreshing about it! In truth, along with a couple of other party animal friends, I drank my way through my first year and a good way through the North-Easts supply of Jack Daniels, my new best friend! Two friends from home (Charnee and Liz) were also at Sunderland with me so the three of us and a few other girls spent most of our time together, some partying more than others . . . I'll let you guess what I was up to! My theory in this partying was that if Debs was there with me we would have been doing it just as hard, however others thought I was drowning sorrows and perhaps in some ways I was? Despite all these crazy times, and there were plenty! I managed to pass the first year of my Media Production degree with a 2:1 and 120 credits. This was down to the fact that I did absolutely love what I was studying, the downfall being I loved the partying just a little bit more at the time! Ask Boy George!! (a very funny story for another day!)

In the second year at Uni me and some of the other girls moved into a three storey house together - I was determined to get my head down a bit more and wasn't partying anywhere near as much. Initially things were going well but then there became a lot of tension in the house and to this day I'm not really sure what happened but I'd had enough and decided I needed to go home for a bit and decide what I wanted to do . . . this led to me quitting Uni with the intention of getting a job temporarily to save up and do some more travelling. I left in the November of the second year and already had a trip to Thailand with five friends up my sleeve for that Christmas!

Looking back at my Uni days is always a bit strange for me as I was kind of on another planet for a majority of the time and I doubt anyone I knew then knew the real me. I didn't make the life-long friends I'd made when we were travelling and apart from the odd message with one or two of them on Facebook I don't stay in touch with them, apart from Liz and Charnee who were friends before. However, it was another life experience that has no doubt shaped me as a person so I don't regret it and maybe one day I'll finish off that degree . . .

Now forward step to April 2011 and what's been happening here and now . . .

Since last week the biggest change pregnancy wise has to be the size of my bump! The growth has been significant and I am currently struggling to fit into anything, fingers crossed for the maternity jeans that my friend Kerry has just lent me! Also I started to feel the baby move last Friday and it hasn't stopped since! It is the craziest thing to feel - I absolutely love it!! It does seem quite alien to think of this little being inside me, I have to admit but the fact that it's a baby that we created just amazes me everytime I think about it - fantastic!! I cannot believe that I thought I never wanted children - this is the most brilliant experience ever and I totally recommend it folks! Another reason I'm so in awe of it all right now is because it was our 20 week scan yesterday and what we saw was incredible! The eyes, nose, lovely big lips (like my husbands), hands, fingers, legs, bones, backbone, feet, toes and heaps of movement - no wonder I can feel so much.
The great news is that everything they checked was as it should be and despite us always saying we wouldn't find out the sex we couldn't help ourselves and if you can make the most of modern technology then why not! (I love how I'm trying to justify my impatience!) So, now I suppose you really want to know what it is we're having . . . Now this isn't 100% definite so no going out to buy pink dresses just yet (as if I would anyway!) but they said that they were pretty sure it's a little girl! I would have been pleased what ever but there are a few extra happy people in the King, Adams and Godfrey family camp who apparently were all extra keen on us having a girl, including James! Personally, I'm very excited too but the main thing for me is that she's healthy and all seems to be going well etc.

Aside from the baby stuff it's been a majorly busy week . . . I had the usual social media work to do, as well as teaching a new member of my team how I work so that they can start taking over some of my workload soon to free up my time to get new clients on board. Also, following my last blog I have had heaps of people contacting me for advice on how to set up their own businesses etc! I was blown away by how many people contacted me to say how much they loved the blog and were inspired by me - by ME!! That was weird! However, for people to want me to help coach and guide them that was something else and I've loved it, so bring on the challenges folks I'm here to help if you'd like me to. In addition to this I've had a few more shifts at the Council, and I did a three day Property Investment course in Newport Pagnell with my Dad on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which were super long days with very short breaks. However, it sounds tougher than it was actually, because for me with a background in being a Buy-to-Let Consultant and already investing in property myself it was all about things I mainly already knew, so nothing too taxing for the old brain! I was mainly there to support my Dad and to help come up with ideas for him for future investing. I did however also come up with some plans for James and I to build on the small portfolio that we've got so far, so am excited about the prospect of doing this as well - it's all in aid of building a great future for us and our little family and I can't wait! Whilst I was down South as well as spending time with Dad I also got to catch up with my lovely Nan, Auntie Jacqui and her boyfriend Stephen during the three evenings I spent down there, so that was an added bonus as I don't get to see them often enough! It was lovely to see James when I got back Sunday night, although it's fair to say we weren't awake for long but sleeping cuddles are always good! Monday my sister, Yazmin, came over to do some revision for her GCSE's whilst I was working and then she stayed the night and joined us for the scan Tuesday so she could get to see her little Niece - and by the way she was almost eating her jumper whilst staring at the screen I'd say she was pretty excited about it! ;-)

I think that just about covers it, so to wrap up I'll say thanks for reading again and enduring another LONG blog. If you got to this part I guess you must have enjoyed reading, either that or you are a very dedicated friend or family member - either way thanks and if you know anyone else that might like to read what I've been writing feel free to pass on a link as this is open to anyone - weirdly I've got readers all over the World?!! Make yourself known guys, I'd love to see more comments to know your thoughts on what I waffle about - good or bad, I'm happy to hear it all - constructive criticism is after all the key for me to become better at this . . .

Travelling the other side of the World at just 18 . . .

This has been the hardest post to write so far, despite planning it in my head a million times. Thinking about it has brought me no further forward as to what I should and shouldn't include, so I'm going to do what I do when I write and that's erm, well just write and let what's in my mind flow out onto the keyboard and magically appear on my screen. At this point I know it's going to take a bit longer than usual to get it right but here goes . . .

18 and off to Oz for a year!

Bubbling with excitement and probably both doing our best to hide our nerves me and Debs were off on this huge adventure, the trip we'd been planning for so long and it didn't seem real! Being 18 things like the unlimited booze on the Singapore Airline flight were such a novelty and it would be fair to say we probably made the most of it! I remember being amazed by the individual TV screens on the back of the headrests in front of us and all of the films, music and games on offer throughout the flight - something now I am lucky to have become accustomed to with all my travels but back then this was completely AMAZING! On the way to Australia we stopped in Singapore for a few days. I'll never forget how jet-lagged we were, as it was the first time either of us had been on a long-haul flight this way around the globe. We fell asleep in our hotel and when we woke we didn't know if it was day or night as the window in our room overlooked an indoor area. I don't suppose it helped that we spent one evening drinking as much wine from room service as humanly possible, it was fun though!! I smoked back then and can remember us both (even though Debs didn't even smoke) trying to blow smoke rings for hours in our room - why I do not know?? To this day I will never forget Debbie's hilarious Dot Cotton impressions that night; with a long menthol cigarette hanging out of her mouth 'they don't call me Dot Cotton Brown for nothing you know, in fact they don't call me Dot Cotton Brown at all' she said in her best cockney accent, as we rolled around in fits of laughter at the state of us both in this stupidly tired and drunk state we were in. What we saw of the outside of Singapore we enjoyed and the food was great, despite the queasiness caused during our first experience in a food hall with all the smells so alien to a couple of 18 year old English girls (something now that makes me go weak at the knees with hunger due to my love of Asian food). 

Coogee Beach
Nina, Me, Emily, Jacqui, Karl, Morris, Dad, Emma, Jodie, Debs

Arriving in Australia was mad, as we had nowhere booked to stay and no idea really of where to go . . . plus it was about 5am so none of the hostels we were calling were open. Due to this we spent a few hours at Sydney airport, somewhere that would later become a regular haunt to say sad farewells to friends that were leaving to go back home, after their travels had come to an end. Eventually we found a hostel with a twin room spare - we weren't quite ready for dorms yet!! This was in Coogee, right by the stunning beach and not far from the famous Bondi. 
This place was recommended by Debbie's cousin Scott as he was staying there at the time, so a familiar face was definitely drawing us to this option over any other. We got to the hostel and were totally daunted by the fact that people actually speak to you and ask how you are, even Brits who at home wouldn't usually so much as grunt at you! This should have been a good thing and was in the end, but straight away I think we were a bit daunted by it so got to our room, unpacked a bit and then just kind of sat on our beds quietly before braving going to find the showers for a much needed freshen up. Once we got chatting to people in the hostel (an American girl and couple of Irish lads if I remember correctly) and met up with Scott, this apprehension was all soon in the past and we went on to meet some fantastic people and life long friends. Within days of being in Coogee we ended up moving into the flat where Scott lived, where we ended up staying for about 6 months. The best description of this place was crossed between a pig sty and a flee pit (sounds like the perfect Australian dream right?) but for us it was where we had some of the best times of our lives - we were no longer naive 18 year olds and now young adults, the other side of the World from home and we had to look after ourselves for the first time. We weren't lazy and motivating each other both got jobs within the first month to make sure we could support ourselves and save for a bit more travelling around the country. Don't get me wrong though although willing to work we also partied very hard and the jobs we had seemed like a very small part of the whole experience! We loved it here and were having an amazing time with some fantastic new friends (namingly Kelly, Jodie, Jody and Emma as these were the girls we lived with and I'm still in touch with them regularly now, but also heaps of other people along the way, again some of whom I still see. 

Debs, Me, Jodie, Jig, Emma, Cath, Jody, Claire

However this Sydney fun had to come to an end at some point so it got to the end of April, the lease on the flat was ending, the rest of the girls were leaving Oz and we decided we needed to move on, so me, Debs, Nina and Liz (who had both joined us from the UK by this point) bought a car to explore some more of this vast country . . . When I say vast by the way, it wasn't until we were in Australia that we realised how big it actually is! To give you an idea Australia is 7.6 Million Square KM where in comparison the UK is just 244,104 Sq KM - you can fit England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland into Australia 31 times and still have a bit left over! Absurd isn't it?!!

Whilst in Sydney we'd also made friends with a girl called Katherine, who was over there competing in the Synchronised swimming at the Olympics (this was 2000 if I didn't mention it before) and she'd finished her heats so after staying for a couple of days at her pad in Manly the five of us packed up the car and headed out of Sydney, West-bound. Our first stop was Canberra, the mighty capital of Oz! Or in our eyes perhaps not. We ended up camping this first night as had a couple of tents but despite three of us being huddled up in one it was still absolutely freezing so I ended up in the back seat of the car shivering and the others probably equally shivering in the tents. I have a vague memory that by the morning the tent that Liz and Debs were in had collapsed and was simply an extra cover for them, something that gave us all a giggle after a night of not much sleep. It was so early and nobody else was up so we were a bit naughty and quickly threw our stuff in the car and did a runner without paying - whoops! ;-) With the wind behind us, a pact to never camp again and nobody keen to spend anymore time in Canberra than necessary we headed on to Melbourne and then Adelaide with multiple overnight stops in between and dropping Katherine at a railway station en-route, as she had to get back for her flight home. We saw some absolutely amazing sights and had many a laugh on the way - we felt so lucky that at 19 we were getting to explore this stunning country. Once in Adelaide we loved it so much that we contemplated staying for a few weeks, however with money running low decided we should keep moving to our Northern destination of Darwin, where the plan was to find jobs and then take a leisurely trip of a few months back towards Sydney, down the East Coast. 

Looking back I'm sure the others will join me in wishing we had stayed on a bit longer because this trip didn't go quite to plan and a few days into the baron trip up through the middle of Australia, Ayers Rock literally in site, the worst thing ever happened...we had a tragic car accident. For those of you that know these roads will know you can sometimes drive for a day and only see one other car, so this was possibly the worst place for something like this to happen. To make this situation worse, Debbie (by then pretty much my right arm) was unconscious after a blow to her head. Our dream was officially shattered and a cold kick of reality had propelled us into total turmoil - this wasn't supposed to be how things happened! This was our dream! Why had it turned into such a nightmare?! In some ways we were so lucky in that a UK based dentist soon passed and stopped in his campervan and then two Ozzie ex-paramedics, all giving their best efforts to look after our friend and calling an ambulance which when it eventually arrived took Debs and I to the nearest health clinic in Uluru, where I stayed and Debs was flown straight from to Alice Springs hospital. We had to stay one night in Uluru to speak to the police and councillors etc - I was not happy about this as just wanted to be with my friend so the morning couldn't come quick enough when we were flown to Alice Springs and met by a councillor lady who drove us to a hostel and then to the hospital, where I stayed by her bedside all day, night and the next day until they could do no more and we lost her. Her family arrived from the UK the following day so we were all together when saying our pain staking goodbyes to her - a day that will always remain so vivid in my mind. Luckily for me (being the driver when we had the accident) her family were and always have been totally supportive. It is at this point that I would like to mention what an amazing family they are, as not only had they just lost their daughter and sister in this tragic way at such a young age but a year before Debbie's Dad had also passed away. Despite losing two people in their immediate family in such a short time they were and are all an absolute tower of strength and I have so much respect for each of them. Throughout my life I've been around people whinging about things (usually minor things too!) and then you come across people like this who are living their lives and getting on, no moans and groans despite everything that has happened to them - something for us all to aspire to for certain!

Debbie xx

Almost 11 years on now and still not a day goes by when I don't think of Debs. The feelings I have about the situation have eased over time and more often than not I think about the memories we shared together rather than that terrible day. The pain and anger I feel in terms of the actual accident is something that will never leave, although it has softened a little through time healing. However, the pain I (and I know all of her friends and family) still feel when I contemplate her not being here and never seeing her again causes feelings I just can't begin to describe. She was a friend in a million, more caring than anyone else I knew - she would do anything for anyone she loved and if there is a heaven she is most definitely in it. Love you always Debs! 

Stepping back to 2011 (a little more numb then when I first sat down to write this weeks blog)

So that is probably the hardest thing I've ever written, as usually it's never for anyone else to read so I can write anything I think and feel but that was harder than I thought and naturally brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Something that I have learned over the years is that showing emotion is not a bad thing, it took me a while to get to grips with but now I'm almost a fully-fledged hormonal, emotional woman - well I am pregnant so that explains part of it I suppose!

The tragic experience that we had in Australia, aged 19, certainly made me look at life in a totally different way and I'd say that it is definitely the reason that I try my best to live for every moment - I work hard but it's always in reach of a goal (be it travelling or the ultimate of more time with my friends and family - dreams of kissing goodbye to everyday working are a big part of it!). On the whole I've always enjoyed what I've done work-wise and have learned valuable lessons along the way, particularly now being self-employed and building my own business. In my eyes life is too short and precious to follow the life plan of working for someone else until your in your 60's and then retire on a measly pension so when you finally have more TIME you can't afford to do anything - how is that a safe option!! I appreciate that some people work for others for the love of their job and that is super important, if you love it stick at it - smiling everyday is as important as anything else! However, a word of advice if you're in a job that makes you groan each morning . . . come up with a plan, use you're creative brain - we've all got one! Think out of the box at how you can make a difference to your own life - we've all got the same chances folks, don't pass up on any opportunities that come your way and if you want to do something different but don't know where to start I'd be more than happy to help you brain-storm and come up with some ideas for where you need to start. I'm no qualified life coach or anything like that but if I can do a little to inspire you that will do for me - if you are in my life, you are important and I will make the time for you! Wow, hark at me! Who the heck do I think I am?! I know some of you will be thinking that but I just want to help everyone make the most of their lives and don't want anyone I know to be unhappy, so this is me doing my bit...

Since last week I've been quite a busy bee, again a nice split of socialising and working. I've had quite a few lunches and dinners with friends and family, lots of social media marketing, a couple of shifts at the council, an interesting meeting with the BBC (as I help look after some of their music related social media sites), and a great brainstorming and business planning session with my step-Dad, where we managed to come up with a great business idea (related to managing and maintaining buy-to-let properties) that he is going to implement immediately so if you think this may be of use to you let me know and I'll get him to contact you! I even got to spend a day and a half with my lovely husband at the weekend as he's finished the project at our house, which looks fantastic if I do say so myself! All in all a very successful week.

Baby-wise, there has been definite growth in the belly department. I also think I may have felt it move for the first time during a reflexology session from my Mum, although nothing since so not sure? There have been a few sleepless nights, although I'm not sure that is necessarily baby related as lots of other people seem to have been having the same issue - perhaps clock change or temperature being alot higher than a few weeks ago? We've come up with some boys names now too, so I think we're pretty much sorted whatever we have, so long as he or she suits the name when we finally get to see them! We haven't bought anything for the baby yet but Bryans Mum did buy us a cute little baby-grow, which is hanging in the soon to be nursery - very lovely and very tiny. All super exciting stuff! We've got the 20 week scan next week, which seems crazy as then I'll be officially half way through my pregnancy, something that doesn't seem possible - it's gone so quick!

I feel like the bump has got a lot bigger since last week but the photos don't really show it. I feel a bit silly putting them on here weekly when it looks like nothing but I am in my 20th week now so something has to start happening soon! ;-)