Engagement Ring

Well, I thought I should probably post a photo of this here ring:

And the potential band:

100 Things

I have decided to follow the suit of some of my favourite blogs and count down the

100 Best Things Ever.

There's a lot of greatness in this world. It's going to be hard to narrow it down....

100: Homemade cake

99: The *adorable* babies of faraway friends - thank goodness for Facebook

98: Weekends (Although I hated cycling, it was time spent with the love of my life)

97: Quirky Youtube videos

Breakfast Interrupted

96: Friends (literally...I love my two episodes a day)

95: Fascinators (I am so Ascot ready)

Best things ever... xx

Recovery: Update

I stayed home again today to focus on "re-feeding." Eating like 5,000 calories a day is exhausting. I'm very tired and somewhat achey - but the good news is that I am drinking plenty and taking it easy.

Rich prepared pasta sauce, tomato soup and a vegetarian cottage pie - divided it up into different meals and then froze them off in my freezer. I don't have to cook anything - just need to make sure I eat six meals a day.

I think I can handle it.

xx

Stomach Flu: Almost a survivor

No idea where I got it from, but I somehow contracted the Stomach Flu. We had a lovely weekend - went to Kent to see Rich's family. Lovely day shooting on Saturday followed by a gorgeous meal at Topes in Rochester (the location wasn't fantastic, but once inside- wow.), and then Sunday were treated to The Lion King in the West End from Rich's parents. It's not every day the big guy turns 30, right?

So what's his first duty as a 30 year old?

Take care of his sick girlfriend.

Monday morning we woke up and I was feeling a bit groggy - left it to hayfever. By lunch time, I was feeling rather nauseated and didn't want to further upset my stomach by eating. I went straight home after school, shaking uncontrollably, and climbed in bed. By the time Rich Skyped at 8:00, I was sobbing, shaking, burning up, freezing, feeling sick and hurting everywhere. He decided he was going to come to me straight from the hospital on Tuesday.

Didn't make it to work on Tuesday. The fever wouldn't go away and the shakes wouldn't stop. I went to the doctor and he said "This is the start of the flu. You're going to get a lot worse."

....I didn't actually believe him. Silly me.

By the time Rich arrived I was vomiting with a fever of 39 degrees and still shaking uncontrollably. He made the executive decision that I would not be well enough to return to work for the week and took me back to Leicester until the weekend. His theory was that at least in Leicester, someone could look after me.

....I didn't actually believe him. Silly me.

It's now Saturday and I only last night ate my first meal - a child sized portion of tomato soup. I still can't stand up on my own. A lot of feeding and recuperation is needed.

Not only did Rich drive two hours to look after me and then drive two hours back to his with me in tow, but he also ensured I had plenty of fluids, held my hair back, held the vomit bucket, helped me walk (as I look like a 99 year old when attempting on my own), washed all of my dirty laundry, made me homemade tomato soup, did a weeks worth of shopping and cooking for me so that I don't have to do any upon my recovery, gave me a bath (washed me while I attempted to wash my hair), and put up with my general vacant stares or groans of pain. And lets face it - no one looks good when they have the flu, but he still told me he loved every day and gave me a kiss.

Best boyfriend ever? YES. I could have cried just from how nice he was. He's just brought me a homemade banana milkshake (a whole tub of cream in three glasses apparently) - the next few days are a recovery mission. Mission: Fatten Jen up.

xx

Yorkshire Dales

Rich and I had a fantastic time in Yorkshire. I survived the walking - what's better - he survived a full week with me. I still can't believe I climbed.

One thing I will say - as much as I kicked off about not wanting to buy walking shoes/hiking boots -- they are actually necessary. I'll have to get them if I plan on doing that again. I think I can pull off "outdoorsy." Maybe. xx

So I've been learning how to play the ukulele...

I'm not saying I'm great, but I'm learning. For someone as awkward and clumsy as me, this is pretty fantastic. I'm getting there. Really Struggling with the E though. That, and I second guess myself pretty much all of the time. Lighting is pretty nonexistent...I couldn't be bothered to turn on the actual light!

Weekend Sunshine!

It was certainly a weekend for suncream. We went for a jolly jaunt along the River Great Ouse. Blue sky - green fields - glistening river. What more could you ask for?

A perfect start to a two week Easter holiday. Too bad I will be spending the first three or four days in work trying to catch up on all of the assessment marking!

xx