Every teardrop is a waterfall

Me & Ross aren't native Leeds folk. 

I think they call those kinds of people Loiners.

You know, like Mancunian, Scouser and Brummie.

The Leeds version is Loiner.

Or so google tells me.

Anyway, I'm from Sheffield and Ross is from Cleethorpes, so when we moved here we had to somehow learn to navigate our way around. 

I came to Leeds as a student.

So I did it by memorising where all my friends lived and then trying to figure out everything in between.

Because of Ross' job he learnt to navigate Leeds by churches, cemeteries and crematoria. 

So today when we didn't know how to spend our Saturday, we got into the car and just drove.

With Ross driving, we naturally ended up in a graveyard.

It might seem like a very morbid way to spend a mildly sunny Saturday morning/afternoon, but I loved it.

I loved seeing all the neat, well-kept graves that had flowers planted all around them.

I loved reading all of the heart felt words that were inscribed onto the stones as eternal dedications of how their loved ones felt about them. All of the 'treasured memories', 'eternal loves' and 'beloveds' made me a little bit weepy.

I loved seeing some of the crazy old-school graves that have massive angels stood on top of them. Granted, some of the them gave me the creeps. Especially this woman in the next photo, with her freaky glazed over eyes. But most of them were beautiful.

I loved seeing all of the white graves of the brave men that had died during the war. I love that they had written on them their regiment and rank. Just that little bit of extra information made it feel so much more personal.

I loved seeing the small white graves that were in the shape of teddybears, but the thought of what they marked broke my heart. I actually shed a little tear as we walked past a man, woman and little girl tending to the grave of two twin boys that had been born asleep. My mind and heart can't comprehend such love and loss.

And finally, I loved this... "Is life a dash between two dates? I think not."

I think not.

I crave peri peri

I will not deny the fact that I have cravings.

Not pregnant cravings (mainly because I'm not pregnant), 

but I-know-what-I-like-and-I-want-some-now, kind of cravings.

You know what I mean, right? 

Right.

Well, one craving that I have pretty much constantly is for Nandos. 

Send some Nandos chicken (lemon and herb only please, I am a spice wimp, but it's what I love, so don't think less of me please) and chips with peri peri salt my way and I'm yours. 

Seriously.

Well, not seriously. 

I'm kinda already eternally with someone else.

But I would really appreciate it and we could be friends.

And a friendship based on a mutual love of Nandos is surely the best kind there is.


Ross decided that we needed more Nandos in our life yesterday, so we went and ate and it was gooood.
Let me share with some of the reasons why I love Nandos...


1). Erm...the food.
Obviously.
(You can tell that I didn't take this picture because the chips are peri-peri less and I would never order medium hot chicken.)

Source

2). They have awesome lights and paintings.
I'd like to have a light like this in my house one day.

3). They play music that makes me feel like I'm in a Zumba class.
And we've already spoken about how my hips don't lie.
Remember, I look like a young Shakira that's just eaten Beyonce but is still shakin it.
Ring any bells?

4). The stuff that it says on the uniforms & napkins (for the bits your tongue can't reach, anyone)
 and the Nando's story.

5). Nandos is a magical place and magical things happen there.
Otherwise, how could you explain this......

MAGIC.

This is important

Do not ever, EVER cut chillies and then put your fingers anywhere near your eyes.

Bad, bad, bad things will happen.

And I'm not even joking.

I learnt this lesson the hard way.

While we're talking about important things, a word of advice for any butterfly/mothy creature haters in the Leeds area.

Never go to Tropical World. 

Well, by all means go, but avoid the butterfly house.

The butterflies just fly around all around you.

They come close to your face and if you have paranoid or dramatic tendencies you will constantly think that they are on your hair.

Even when they're not.

It is kinda cool though.

And when your looking at them through a lens and they're not flying towards your face or even moving at all, and even when they're brown, they're beautiful. 

It boddles my mind that they are so symmetrical. 

Seriously.

I admired this guy safely behind a nice, thick glass panel.

He's kinda funny looking. 

And has a hole in his head. (Why?)

But I don't judge.

Mainly because his head is covered in spikes and he has claws, (CLAWS)

and he could probably hurt me.

The meer cats where more my kind of thing. 

Granted, they're still not the prettiest of animals, 

but they were funny and not scary looking in the slightest.

In yet more important news, our friends Devin & Stacey had their baby today!

Baby boy Hudson Wayne Turner was born at 12:17pm, weighing a juicy 8lbs 12oz 

and we can't wait to meet him.

CONGRATULATIONS.

Driving range

Seeing as Monday night is family night and my family consists of me & Ross, we decided yesterday to go on a little date. Why not, huh? Because I am a sweetbomb wife, I let Ross decide that we were going to go to the driving range. Let me tell you, that would not have been my first choice. I am horrible at golf. Seriously. I can barely hit the little suckers. And when I do hit them, they misbehave really badly and don't go in straight lines. 

Oh, those few balls you can see about a yard in front of Ross' feet...they were mine. So when I say I suck at golf, I'm not being a drama queen or even exaggerating, it's just the honest truth. Ross was awesome. Even with a bad arm he still sent those balls rocketing. 

So Ross was blates the bomb dot com at the golfy stuff and I wanted some photos I could use to make one of these little moving things I'm quite obsessed with, so before we went home I made him take pictures of me. Trying to be cute. I think I failed. You can look at the nice scenery in the background instead of at me if you'd prefer though. I won't be offended. 

Don't let me have fooled you into thinking I didn't have a good time. I laughed at myself so much, it was cheap as, we had one of those cheesy movie moments where Ross stood behind me and taught my how to swing properly and we ended it with ice cream. What's not to like? It was a freakin blast! 

I love to think about why they had to put number 5 in their list of rules...

Notes on a Busy Weekend

Ok, so I've been busy. Could you tell? I've been trying to write (an awful) 3,000 word assignment on (the most boring subject ever) research methods, whilst still having a life. It's been kinda hard, but don't feel sorry for me, I have rather dramatic tendencies. Anyway, for me to keep some kind of a hold on my sanity, something had to give, and unfortunately, it was you, dearest blob. But I'm back now, so all is well. I've missed you. 


So here's a quick little update. I'm sure this is an obvious thing to state and the more astute among you might even go as far to say duh, but each point relates to the pictures above. In the same order. Altogether, duhhhh. 


♥ I like to whip my hair back and forth. Willow style(ee). 


♥ Let me tell you the (random) story behind this picture. I was doing some of the washing up on Friday (you have to know that there's a window right in front of the sink that looks out onto the shared gardenish of my apartment building), minding my own business, and this little boy pops outside and presses his face right up to the window. I've never even seen this boy before, so it was really weird. He stares at me for a few seconds and then bobs down out of sight. I carry on washing up, slightly bemused and then up he pops again with a dandelion in his hand. He reaches up to my open kitchen window, not saying a word or smiling at all and pushes the dandelion through into my kitchen. And then he ran off. I wasn't sure if he was trying to be annoying or sweet. Or weird. 


♥ This is Ross showing just how obsessed with COD he is. (A LOT!) He even pretends to use the hoover attachment as a gun. Also, he obviously has the imagination of a seven year old. 


♥ A random photo from our little date down by the canal yesterday afternoon. We walked past the place that Ross proposed to me and had a very cheesy, lovely moment. 


♥ Photo from the same little canal date. I caught Ross right at the pinnacle of his turny, leapy, jumpy trick that I ask him to do at least once every three days because I love it so much.


♥ An old picture of me & the hubs before we were even engaged. Also a photographic dedication to my well missed long hair. We found this little gem while we were preparing our little workshop for a fireside last night. Actually, we found a few old pictures. They were all too embarrassing to share. Sorry!

Orange

The day that Orange announced it's 2-for-1 cinema deal was a blessed day. I wasn't even an Orange customer back then, but I still knew that it was a blessed day. I celebrated by only eating orange coloured food every day for the following week. (I hope by this point in our friendship you know that I'm joking.)


The day that Orange announced it's 2-for-1 Pizza Express deal was an even more blessed day. I'd never even been to Pizza Express back then, but I still knew it was a blessed day. I celebrated by only eating pizza every day for the following week. (Joking again, but more believable I think.)


Today I went on a little (double) date and for the first ever time in my existence I made the most of the blessed Orange 2-for-1. That's right. We went to the cinema and to Pizza Express. In that order. 


I enjoyed the film. The Adjustment Bureau if you're wondering. It took a while to get going and had quite an undramatic ending, but it was an enjoyable 106 minutes of my life. Pizza Express was the highlight. Correction, the dough balls from Pizza Express were the highlight. Their dough-y ball-y goodness has enriched my life tremendously. Especially because when you have a 2-for-1 code, they give you two lots of dough balls for free. FOR FREE. Its that important it needed to be capitalised and put in it's own sentence. Seriously, try the dough balls. And tell them that I sent you. Also, as another little point to note, if you don't like gorgonzola, don't get the Da Morire Romana, (it is not to die for...you will only understand the hilarity of that comment if you understand Italian - Google it) its covered in the stuff. Just to state, I didn't know that I don't like gorgonzola before today. Although it is a fun word to say. Gorgonzola. You can't help but feel like an authentic Italian when you say it. Altogether now, gorgonzola. 

Anyway, point of the story is, if it's Wednesday and you want to go on a typical date (dinner and a movie) the only way to do it (cheaply) is go with Orange. Blessed Orange. I might celebrate by only eating orange coloured pizza for the rest of the week. Is that going too far?