Skydiving 2014

For my 30th birthday Lloyd gave me Skydiving vouchers and we didn't get a chance to use it until Aug 2014.  The town we jumped from was called Salisbury (and no, they don't know what a Salisbury steak is...I asked!) and we took the train out, planning to spend the day there.  The beginning of the day had lots of clouds so we just sat around reading and hanging out then in the afternoon the sun came out, the clouds parted just in time for us to get suited up!  Funnily enough Lloyd had gotten us the 'deluxe' package, which meant that we jumped from an additional 5,000 feet higher (total of 15,000 feet) giving us additional time to freefall, which is apparently the exciting part that everyone loves the most!

It was really scary being strapped into our instructor and then getting in a rickety old plane with nothing to sit on inside but benches.  The folks from 10,000 feet got dropped off first so we got to watch the whole process from the door opening (terrifying in mid-air!!) to each person jumping out.  Then they closed up the door and flew up for another 10 minutes to get us to our desired jump height.  The minute they opened the door my heart was pounding and I knew there was no turning back since I was literally strapped to someone.  The instructor has you keep your head back as we edge towards the door, probably to keep people from looking down and chickening out, and before I knew it we were tumbling out of the plane!  At first it was disorienting because I saw the ground upside down and rightside up and it felt topsy turvy, but it was such a rush of adrenaline and as soon as I realised that I was in the right position and we were stabilised and free-falling, I was able to enjoy it.  Both Lloyd and I had a cameraman photographing us with the GoPro and unfortunately Lloyd's video cut out a few seconds into his freefall.  This was disappointing because his cameraman was holding hands with his instructor rather than jumping out separately, so they got a few seconds of awesome footage of his face as he was jumping out.

Once we pulled the parachute we were able to just fly around and glide as we came down and our instructors gave us control of the handles to do some spins and turns.  My instructor told me he had never jumped with anyone who screamed the entire time, all the way through, haha.  The English countryside looked beautiful and our instructors pointed out castles, ancient ruins, fields, and all kinds of lush greenery, making for a relaxing journey back down to earth.

When we landed we were still feeling the rush and promised each other that we'd do it again, except next time we want to skydive over the beach!

Until next time...

Santorini, May 2014, Island Paradise (Pictures fixed!)

One of the advantages of living in Europe is that sometimes we get the chance to meet our friends in an exotic location.  Lucky for us our friends had the great idea to let us crash their honeymoon and join them in Santorini and we decided that was a great excuse to make the trip!  We headed to Santorini in late May, right after the wedding of Chris & Chelsea and after a treacherous flight into Athens we landed on the island right when as the sun came up.

We ventured out a few days early and Barramie and Lloyd and I stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Oia, a city towards the edge of the island, and the place affording the best sunset views.  The city is perched on the edge of the volcanic island which is curved inwards towards the caldera, the cauldron-like volcanic feature formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption.  Derived from the Spanish word caldera, meaning 'cooking pot', Santorini is an active volcano but it is also dormant.  It was beautiful looking at the cities perched atop the volcanic rock, and the sheer cliff views were just stunning.

The steps down to the water were numerous & treaturous, but the local transport navigated it with ease.  

Wind-y steps down to the sea 

One of the days we took a long walk down to a winery near the coast on the opposite side of the island from the Caldera, the side that our apartments were on.  We had a lovely wine flight in a calm, peaceful scenery and were able to relax and take in the clean air and relaxed atmosphere. 

Lovely day at the vineyard

One of my favourite parts about Oia was the food, we had delicious kebabs and mediterranean fare and we loved the rich feta cheese and delicious Mythos beer!

A few days later the rest of the group arrived for a weekend of fun in the sun!

The newlyweds and Matt & Jenny were staying on the other side of the island, about 10 minutes away from us and they had beautiful Caldera views, although to get there you had to navigate steep steps down to their cave rooms.

Newlyweds eating their first Bakclava! 

One night during the trip we booked a dinner at a fancy restaurant with some of the best sunset views in the island.  The food and wine was amazing and we had a really fun dinner.  We decided that May was a bit early to go to Santorini, as the sea breeze in the evening was still a bit chilly. 

Lovely Mediterranean fare

One of our favourite parts of the trip was an afternoon catamaran cruise around the island.  It was still a bit chilly but we got to swim to some hot springs and see several picturesque small islands.

One sad thing about Santorini was the large amount of stray cats and dogs, but some of them were friendly and used to being fed by tourists, and very cute.

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful full moon on one of the nights, which illuminated the cliffside towns and cast a beautiful shine on the ocean at night.  

This spinning wheel was spooky & reminded me of Sleeping Beauty!

We're so thankful for the opportunity to crash Chels & Chris's honeymoon and can't wait till the gang can get together again!

Sing it Together Clapham, Spring Concert 2014

This next post needs no introduction...I'm happy to present the Sing it Together Clapham Choir singing in our Spring Concert, 2014.

Enjoy!







PS - the crowd TOTALLY loved Barry's intro! :)















Toast & Marmalade is one of our warmup songs, such a cute & funny British nursery song!

Texas visit

Way behind again...After my Global Sales meeting in Orlando in 2014 I took a short trip over to Texas.  The goal was to get as many wedding-related things done as possible and after just 6 days we had picked a reception venue, bought a dress, booked the caterer, and booked the ceremony venue!  

Bride-to-be and MOB before dress shopping! 

FOB & Bride-to-be

Len & SuDonna drove up for a few days and Len graciously took great family photos of all of us.  Grandma looked happy & radiant and it was a good day for everyone, we enjoyed our time being together.

Mom, Grandma & Jen

Grandpa is a lucky man!  Always surrounded by beautiful women

Len & Jennifer 

One fun part of the week was when we got out Mom's wedding dress to try on.  It's sort of a rite of passage, and Jamie was only allowed to see it before she got married and so it was finally my turn to play!   It had a high collar with long 'pajama sleeves' as mom called them, and was pretty & flowing.  We even put it on Grandma, and they recreated their wedding photo, Grandpa in his sailor hat.  So cute! 

Jen & Grandpa 

Grandma & Jen

'Newlyweds'

I was super sad to leave as usual but thankful that I was able to spend a few days with family and friends!

Fun with Mary Kay Makeup 

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

Istanbul'a hos geldiniz! (Welcome to Istanbul)

In April we met Tara & Cody in Istanbul, Turkey to celebrate their 5yr wedding anniversary & Tara's 30th birthday! We were drawn to Istanbul after reading Dan Brown's Inferno which was a main setting in that exciting book (definitely worth a read if you haven't already!).  

One of my favorite things about Turkey was the food...I absolutely love Mediterranean food and had my fill of tabbouleh, dolmas, and all sorts of other yummy dishes.  Of course Lloyd's favorite food was the kebabs (not kebob),he had about 2 per meal and was a very happy man for the duration of the trip.  

Dolmas & tabbouleh salad

Another notable excursion was the trip to the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest markets in Istanbul, and one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world boasting 400,000 visitors per day. Amazingly, the Grand Bazaar was originally constructed in 1455/56, shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.   Sutan Mehmet II had a large building constructed to facilitate the trading of textiles and today spans 61 streets and contains 3,000 stores.  

Lloyd photobomb in the market 

Fresh, aromatic teas at one stall 

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to a restaurant near our apartments, recommended by the local owner.  We were the only Americans/British in the place and had to just point to what we wanted to eat on the menu and the food was cooked in front of us at a long, rectangular charcoal grill.  The kebabs were meaty & juicy, the salads were fresh and we even tried 'raki', grape brandy flavoured by anise (mom would call it 'rocket fuel!').  The meal was amazing, the locals warm and friendly and only a short walk back to our apartments.  

şerefe! 

Istanbul was such an interesting city, with a mix of Christian & Muslim architecture dotted around.  The mosques were really exotic-looking, and the craftsmanship of the mosaics & gold leaf work were really top notch. 

 In front of the Blue Mosque 

Still lovebirds after 5yrs

Istanbul at sunset

The bridges across the Bosphorous River were hubs of activity with lots of fishermen, seagulls, pedestrians, vendors selling fresh fish sandwiches, the atmosphere was electric and vibrant.  I was advised to avoid stepping in the puddles - rather than leave their poles to urinate, they would simply walk a few steps to the other side of the walkway and relieve themselves right there!!  So besides that the bridges were lovely, interesting places.  

The high street close to our apartment.  There were riots on this street the day after we left over the price of football tix!

One of the days of the trip we scheduled a bike tour.  Despite my friend's urging that no one rides bikes in Istanbul, we insisted that it was one of the best ways to see the city.  It turned out that the bike tour was one of the highlights of the trip!  We saw so many different parts of the city and even got to experience an Istanbul traffic jam.  

Part of our bike path along the sea, look at all the different types of fish on offer at the restaurant!

The Blue Mosque 

Bike tour crew in front of the Blue Mosque 

Best friends since the early days! :) 

Camera war

In front of Hagia Sofia mosque 

Amazing mosaic work on the ceilings 

One of our favourite excursions was a trip through Gulhane Park, a large expansive Urban Park dating back to the early 1800's located near the Topkapi Palace.  The gardens were lush and filled with flowers and we enjoyed strolling through and taking lots of pictures.   

One night of the trip we had a fancy dinner planned at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus and got to see a gorgeous sunset.  The views were the stunning and the food (and entertainment!) was great.

We spent one of the last days at the Hagia Sophia, A former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basillica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum.  Constructed in 537 it was an Eastern Orthodox church until 1261 when it was converted to a Roman Cathedral under the Latin Empire.  Then it was a mosque for the next 500 years until it was secularised and reopened as a museum.  It was fascinating to see Christian art intermixed (or sometimes painted right over!) Muslim art & architecture.  

Gorgeous gold leaf work 

Another day of the trip we took a relaxing boat ride along the Bosphorus and along the coast of the city, in the Sea of Marmara.  The boat was pretty packed so we couldn't wander around and give up our seats, but it was a nice windy day and we enjoyed the rest as we were on our feet walking around the whole weekend!

We were sad to leave Istanbul and really enjoyed spending time with Tara & Cody...here's hoping it's not too long till  our next adventures together!