Over the past 3 years (is it really that long?) it doesn’t really feel as though much has changed – but I guess it has. In precis my time since last posting has gone as follows:

-I met a lovely american boyfriend in Oxford and called him Brett

-I got to wear a silly hat and was given a piece of paper saying that I finished a degree

-I moved to London town with the bf

-I got a job in London town

-I decided to move to the USA with the lovely boyfriend

-Decided not to move the the USA after they said they didn’t want me *sniff*

-My mum got married and moved house

-Brett got bonked on the head wearing a silly hat

-I met the bfs american parents

-My sister finally moved out of mum’s house

However, it essentially feels as though I’ve spent the last 2 years sitting in the flat or at work doing not much really. I have an okay job as a researcher for FremantleMedia – though I have to involve myself in horrible things like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent and American Idols (Oh, and Take Me Out, eurgh). I have a…pension?! How did that happen?

In bigger news my mum got married!!! Yay! And the wedding was lovely – I walked her down the aisle and everyone cried all day with joy… So much joy! She got married in Beaconsfield registry office to the sounds of non-religious music. Apparently if the original intent of the music was religious then the state cannot use it in a wedding service (what bollocks!), so having no back-up we frantically had to search for alternatives. I walked my mum down the aisle to what sounded like backgroundy lift music. Maybe that’s why people were crying?

I’ve just returned from the big ol’ US of A. Me and Brett went for Christmas and I got to meet his parents for the first time. They are lovely, his brothers were lovely, his aunts and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews and step variations thereof were all lovely. And my stomach is now the size of a small air ship.

And…finally having lived together for two years and with Brett’s visa soon to expire we will be applying for a non-married partner visa so he can stay in the UK, with a view to naturalising. He’s got himself a training contract with the silly law firm Slaughter and May so we are pretty set to stay here now – although this involves me being the only breadwinner for 12 months whilst he does his GDL! The selfish arse.

Maybe the US will happen another day.

And that’s a selected version of my life for the last three years. If anyone feels like visiting do just pop on over above the World’s End pub Camden Town.

Ta ta.

Hope you’re all ok. I’m amazed I haven’t been blown away yet, it’s so windy here! Just a quick note to introduce you to a new jewellery website, www.daysiechain.co.uk that a friend of mine has just launched. Everything on there is handmade and one of a kind. There are a few really pretty things on there and she’ll even take requests if you have a few ideas of your own!

It’s well worth a look!

Ttfn

xxxx

Seems we are all getting too busy to think about blogging! Again, months have past since the last time I told you anything new so here goes…

Just trying to think of things that have happened since I last posted and then putting them in chronological order is far too difficult for my cold-filled head to deal with so I’m just going to write things as they come to me! This week, I’ve been ill and I’m really hoping that’s me done for the winter. Wishful thinking, maybe? But the week did start well. On Monday, while I was at work, about 4:45pm, I had a phone call from a colleague’s boyfriend asking me what I was doing later that evening and offering me two tickets to the O2 arena to see Djokovic vs Berdych at the ATP World Tour Finals!! (tennis). So we (my brother in law came with me as Damian isn’t too bothered about tennis) just about managed to get there in time and it was brilliant! It’s completely different to Wimbledon which I think is a unique tournament anyway. Although I have seen it on tv before, it’s really weird sitting there live while they play pop songs during warm up and change of ends. But getting the chance to go (and for free!) was brilliant as only the best 8 players in the world even enter the tournament so you’re pretty much guaranteed a good match.

Another ‘first’ will be next week as I’m going to one of Raymond Blanc’s restaurants, Brasserie Blanc in Oxford next Friday! I’m very much looking forward to it. It’s not quite as refined as ‘Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons’ but I’m still very excited. We’ve already chosen our menu and I’ve opted for the most traditional French cuisine I could find! Boeuf Bourguignon here I come!  Wow, a lot of exclamation marks in this paragraph!

Damian has booked for us to go to Barcelona for our anniversary next year! I can’t wait! It’s only for two nights but a little weekend away will be really lovely- yay for Groupon getaways! At least this way, I don’t have to think about what to buy him. Looking forward to trying real Spanish tapas bars and sight-seeing. It will be a pretty crammed itinerary as we won’t be there for long but hopefully, it will be long enough to see some of the city at least. I’ve wanted to go since reading ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ but have been warned about pick pockets in Las Ramblas- so hold on to your handbags!

In other news…we have signed the lease for our house for the third year. We still can’t really afford the deposit for a mortgage so we’re continuing to rent but we’re happy where we are at the moment and will just have to wait and see what happens. Damian is hoping for a sizable end of year bonus so maybe that could help!

We’re already planning another trip to Poland. We have recently found out that our friends there (Damian’s best friend growing up and his wife) are expecting a baby next summer so we’re hoping to go out late summer time to visit. I was hoping they might come to England next year but the baby’s thrown all our plans out the window! Still, it’s happy news.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten several things but that means I’ll have to blog again and not leave it so long!

P.S: Any wedding gossip from all you loved up couples?!

P.P.S: Anyone watching Strictly (I’m looking at your Jemima!) and if so, who are you backing to win?

Robyn

xxxxxx

so, things that have happened to me since my last blog post:

- started back for my final year at warwick
- it was the christmas holidays. snow, champagne, new years fun, etc.
- I completed two TEFL courses (teaching english as a foreign language – the second was a booster course that specialised in teaching english to young learners. I passed with full marks yay =])
- I quit my job at the library
- I moved into a different halls of residence at uni to be with a close friend. this was probably the best thing that happened to me in the university year
- I applied to be a teaching assistant on réunion island and got the job, hurray =]
- it was the easter holidays. chocolate, coursework, revision, more coursework.
- it was exam period. my final year was fairly crappy for lots of reasons and work suffered as a result, so exams did not go so well and I didn’t get the results I had hoped for. but nevermind eh =]
- I graduated, despite the rubbishy exams – hurray. got to wear a silly hat etc.

things that are coming up over the next few weeks/months:

- going on a little caravan holiday in wales with uni friends. this has become an annual thing in the past few years, should be good fun =]
- family holiday to the norfolk broads
- hopefully some kind of summer job, no luck so far though…
- moving to la réunion, EEEEEK

so another reason for me writing this blog was that I’m going to be away for a pretty long time, chilling on my tropical island, and I would love to see everyone before I go. I’m planning a kind of mega-super-duper-hyper-massive london meet-up of both home and uni friends, which is going to happen on a weekend at some point, date undecided as of yet. it would be loooovvvvvely if you could all make it, especially those of you I haven’t seen in over a year!! I’m going to do a facebook event for it eventually which will have more details, but for the moment please could you let me know which of the following days would be best for you =]

Sunday 21st August

Saturday 27th August
Sunday 28th August
Monday 29th August (bank holiday)

Saturday 3rd September
Sunday 4th September

I’m thinking it will be a hyde park based gathering with games and picnic and drinks, and then moving on to a pub or going for a meal if people fancy it (or just sit in the pub all day if it’s raining). so yeh, please let me know if you can do any of those days, and which ones! =]

I think that is all the news/announcements I have! hope everyone is fine and dandy and enjoying life.

much love, s
xxx

Damian and I celebrate our first wedding anniversary this weekend. We are going back to the hotel where we had our reception, for a meal, which I’m looking forward to very much as I was too ill last time to enjoy it! Can’t wait to have a quiet weekend together, exchange presents and enjoy each other’s company.

We have also booked a holiday in June. We’re off to Poland! We will be staying in the same town where Damian grew up with some friends. They live in a log cabin outside of town so I’m looking forward to campfires and barbeques. Damian is very excited to be going back and showing me his home town and I am looking forward to seeing all the places he’s spoken about. There are also lots of people to meet. Damian’s best friend growing up in Poland has also married and he has not met his wife and I haven’t met any of his friends out there.

As with previous years, I entered the public ballot to win tickets for Wimbledon at the end of last year. I recently had a letter back from them and unbelievably, we were offered tickets to see the men’s final!! We’ve booked and paid for them now and I’m so excited! Everyone is very jealous and I’ve had lots of offers from friends and family wanting the second ticket but will be going with Damo. We may have dinner there but we haven’t decided yet (it’s costing us a fair bit already, as you can imagine!) We couldn’t have said no though as it’s probably once in a lifetime and I will hopefully get to see two of my favourite players!!

Other exciting news- Damian has recently got a new job. He was headhunted from his previous job by an ex-colleague and now works for a small, but cosy, company in Chinner where he is the fifth member of staff. Quite a change from being in a huge international company!! He is still working with computers, partly doing support (as he was before) but now he is officially a software developer. He loves it! And he seems to really get on well with the people he works with- they took him out for a long lunch on his first day! 

Damian’s cousin is pregnant with her first child- the first addition to either of our (fairly immediate) families for over 10 years! His grandma made me laugh when we found out. She’s a very devout Polish Catholic and told me that she’d been praying for a baby in the family but for Damian and me instead!! -as he’s the eldest grandchild and married. Unfortunately for her, that’s not likely to happen in the very near future!

That’s about all from me at the moment. I’ve decided- everyone needs to make an effort to blog more!!

Hope you’re all ok anyway.

Robyn 

xx

• Finished uni, this got me a certificate and opportunity to wear a funny hat.
• Had a brief time to relax. Went on holiday to the USA. San Francisco, LA and Las Vegas. San Francisco is very pretty had has good food. LA is a bit of a dump but the beach was lovely and Las Vegas is so tacky that it becomes amazing.
• Found a house to rent, moved into it. It is in St Albans. Close to town centre and station. It is lovely it has a patio/balcony type thing and two whole bedrooms. Unfortunately it is rather chilly.
• Started work. This was quite scary at first but everyone is really nice and I am all settled in now.
• Did some exams, passed.
• Did some more exams, have not received the results yet.
• It was Christmas. The first time I have not spent Christmas with my family. I spent it with Laurence’s family. It was great, a lot less arguing than a normal Christmas at mine.
• New Year!!!!!!!! Didn’t do too much. Played with a blender making alcoholic smoothies.

That was my year in summary. We should meet up some time soon. Some organisation is needed. Maybe people could comment with dates/places that are good for them.

I moved back home after finishing uni, but slowly realised that the job-potential in the homelands was somewhat lacking; so I started looking for jobs in Cambridge again, as well as at home, and the grass looked a lot greener on the Cambridge side. And indeed it was, I was offered a job as a student supervisor at uni, like a teaching assisstant for undergrads (an odd concept, but I wasn’t going to complain!)

So I moved back to Cambridge and am living in a shared house again. My room is fairly broomcupboard ish (I don’t have a lens wide-angle enough to photo it to show you…) but at least it’s cheap and warm! And.. humid, since my washing dries above my bed… Still! Cheap!

I worked one day in my supervisor job but then got offered something better, so I’m now working as a web developer / photographer type (mostly the former) for a Cambridge college! I have my own office, (which is bigger than my bedroom) and my computer and my desk and whatnot. I suppose it’s not a bad working environment really (see photo)

Well that’s a very condensed version of the past 6 months, but I have to go and sleep now. I hope the rest of you all are enjoying your last years of uni / working life! I trust we’ll meet up around Christmas at some point for fun and games and merriment! Yesyes!

John.

so peru was awesome :] I was basically helping out on a conservation project that was running lots of different research projects in biodiversity, mammal studies, bird studies, insect studies…etc. I learnt a lot, including a teensy bit of spanish which I’m hoping to improve by starting spanish lessons at uni this year. I’m hoping to go back to south america at some point to live there so I’m gonna need it :]

there’s a cute photo of a frog from a night walk in the jungle. :] it was an awesome place. the project centre was a ten-hour car journey from cusco along a mountain track, then a boat ride down the river. it was on the edge of the amazon jungle so you’re constantly surrounded by the sounds of monkeys and birds and all sorts of awesomeness. it still feels really weird being back in quiet little amersham.

monkey ^^ at the end of the volunteering time, we went on a four-day expedition and stayed for a couple of days with a native community. they told us all about their customs and traditions, showed us all the medicinal plants they use, we did an archery competition (I came a close second ) and then went rafting down the river on this traditional raft which was basically just a few planks of wood and you just had to cling on through the rapids then the next day we went on a proper rubber raft. so so so much fun.

so yeah, it was the best month ever. :] it’s nice being back though, and I’m looking forward to getting back to uni (though it would be nice to have another couple of months for more travelling…).

so that is my life currently. :] how is everyone else? if you wanna see any more peru-y photos then there’s lots more on faceyb and a few on my dA page.

over and out! S x

what are everyone’s plans for summer? I think we should have some kind of a gathering, so write on here to say when you’re free. :]

I’m working weekdays at the mo as a cleaner at a school in penn, which is as fun as it sounds. howeverrr, in two weeks the school breaks up for summer so no more cleaning for soph. :] then I’ll be going up to warwick to sing at the graduation ceremonies (rosie, this means you get to hear us chamber choir lot singing the ‘warwick fanfare’ – it’s horrendous and has fake latin in it, so enjoy that!), then I’m free for a week again, then I’m going caravanning in wales with a group of uni friends, thennnn I’m free again, and thennnn I’m going to peruuuuu!

which is VERY exciting. :]

I’m going over there for a month (catching three separate planes to get there, which is the part I’m most nervous about currently :S), to do conservation work in the amazon forest. should be pretty great. :] I also get to do a little nip over to machu picchu while I’m there, which is equally exciting. so, I guess I’ll do a blog about that when I get back! I’m sure there will be lots to say and squeal about. like monkeys and parrots and pumas and things.

in the meantime, I’m keeping myself busy reading about a bazillion books for next year, and doing this online course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (ie. TEFL). I’m hoping to be able to use the qualification I get from that to go and teach abroad after uni. fingers crossed. :]

so, that’s all my news really! let’s do summery things like picnics and barbeques. discuss.

over and out x