It was a beautiful evening and pre-dinner drinks were held outside on the balcony. Some red wine and crackers with camembert were perfect accompaniment to the sunset. I flipped through the pages of a magazine but never got very far, distracted instead by the serenity of the moment. A light, warm breeze was blowing. My husband joined me outside and we chatted about our day. When dinner- lentil cottage pie and a simple spinach, tomato and fetta cheese salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and freshly ground salt and pepper-was ready, we took it outside. We lit a candle and said grace, so very thankful for the moment that we were in.

I made Jonathan pose for some pictures for me last weekend when i wanted to try out my new camera and this is one of my favourite shots.

On Sunday, we’re celebrating our one year wedding anniversary. I can’t believe a year has gone by so quickly. I still remember how stressful the week of the wedding was and how glad i was to be on our honeymoon, having got the wedding out of the way. It was an incredibly beautiful celebration but i would do it so differently now, with far fewer people being invited and cost cutting on things like elaborate bouquets when i would have been happy with a bunch of daisies held by a ribbon.

It is too easy to get caught up in the wedding but we all know that what comes after, is what counts.
We have faced many, many challenges this year and have had to cling to each other even more tightly than ever before. But when he makes me tea just the way i like it and performs silly dances for me to make me smile, i know this is it. The real thing.

Happy anniversary, baby.

The temperature reached 35 degrees celsius (95 degrees fahrenheit) today! It’s 9pm now and it’s still about 30 degrees. The study is boiling hot (and freezing cold in winter). It’s my least favourite room in the house.

To combat the heat this afternoon, i watched a movie (Smart People) whilst packing and then made myself a banana smoothie. I never use ice-cream in my smoothies, making it a very healthy yet tasty snack. I whizz one banana, half a glass of low fat or soy milk, 1 T. of yoghurt and 1/2-1 T. of honey together in a blender and that’s it! Fast and very satisfying. If i have frozen berries in the fridge, i chuck them in too.

I can smell Lisa’s apple streusel baking in the oven. With some caramel ice-cream, it’s the perfect dessert for tonight.

Jon has informed me that it is raining now! And yes, i can smell the rain and hear thunder! And is that a cool breeze i feel? A perfect end to a hot Friday.

My trip to the supermarket yesterday resulted in some swiss muesli being bought. For breakfast today, i had that with some yoghurt, strawberries and milk. Oh, yum! I’ve been having days and days of buttered toast and honey or jam so this was a nice change.

I have also started running five days a week. The first week was quite a torture and my muscles were sore everyday but by week 2, i was keeping a nice stride and that was encouraging. I used to be able to run for an hour without any trouble but considering that i have not attempted that in two years, i was wise enough to start slowly. Also, i live in a hilly place, which really adds to the runs in terms of intensity. My favorite bit of the run is still the end, where i’m going downhill and pass by the house next to mine that has beautiful wisteria hanging off its roof.

It’s my week off this week and it has been so nice. I’ve been catching up on all the television i’ve missed and also packing here and there. Today, i need to clean and pack the kitchen up. It would be so much better packing if if i knew where we were moving too but we haven’t found anything. We have to be out of our current place in 20 days so not too much time left!

Last night, Jon and i watched Wall-E (part 1 of my first year anniversary gift to him) and i must say that i really enjoyed it! The animation was very cool and it was surprisingly a sweet story! Next up, Nights in Rodanthe when it gets released in November. I read the book when we went to the snow and it will be interesting to see the movie. I’m a sucker for those types of movies anyway and will probably love it!

Alright then, i’m off to make a cup of coffee and continue perusing blogs. Ah…days off are great!