A Matter of Choice

We are about to spend our 5th Christmas in Cyprus, and I love it!    Many people go back to the UK for Christmas or would like to, and while I do admit it is different here I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  (Of course, it is different having my parents here, I'm sure if I had a big family in England I'd be hopping on a plane if I could!) I can't really remember the first sign of Christmas in the UK,  only that it was probably too early. I LOVE Christmas, but I love it in December (or maybe towards the end of November, but ssshhh don't tell anyone).  Having worked in retail for many years in the UK it does dilute the excitement a little. Aaron and I have slightly different views on Christmas - he is adamant that Christmas is a DAY, whereas I argue that Christmas is a 'season'  -  well it says so in the song!   I actually prefer the build up to Christmas now more so than the day itself - decorating, going to Christmas events, seeing Santa, writing le

This month we will have lived in Cyprus 5 years, it's not that long in the scheme of things but it feels like a lifetime ago now that I was living in England and would have once dismissed the whole idea of moving here as just a ridiculous dream. I've been blogging only slightly longer than the time I've lived here, having started the blog with the idea of recording the move. Back in the early days I posted short posts and I've often regretted not elaborating on how it all came about.  I'd only written 2 posts before we actually left the UK and then was left without internet for 3 months while CYTA attempted to locate our apartment on the map. I'd never been to Cyprus before we thought about moving here, and I suppose that makes it a slightly strange thing to do. I touched on how it all came about in my very first blog post but I didn't consider myself a 'blogger' then and I don't feel like I really captured the story, so I thought I'd pl

As exciting as the first rain after the summer is, I'm still not a huge fan despite the long hot summers I've experienced over the last few years.  Many of my friends here love the winter and relish the novelty of snuggling up with pyjamas and watching tv,  but I'd still rather take the long summer balcony evenings given the choice! I do love my duvet though, and I do get very excited over sausage and mash for dinner - Aaron refuses to eat anything like that over the summer so winter does have some plus points! Unlike living in the UK, there is a distinct difference between summer and winter - never in England did I pack my winter wardrobe away completely for the summer months and change my whole lifestyle as the nights drew in. I find over the summer I get lazy with what I wear - it seems so much easier then!  Get up, pick some shorts and a top, or a dress, flip flops - sorted! In winter, leggings, jeans, skirt or what?   Does it still fit?   Which shoes go with

People have asked me why I blog and it's a question I still struggle to answer, I like to create a record of things we've been up to, but of course I could have started a scrapbook or even just not hit publish and shared it with everyone. Maybe it  because I like to think that maybe I can make a difference, that is the reason I have run the ' Discovering Cyprus' , ' Birth in Cyprus and ' All Greek to me ' sections on this blog, and why I love running the FPN - I hope it can do some good for the area and help people along the way. I spend a huge amount of time online, between the two blogs, and the other places I write for,  as well as the other things I seem to get myself into to - being on the social team at Slimming World, setting up facebook pages, arranging coffee mornings and fun days, and nearly all of it is of no financial benefit to me  - considering we need to eat and stuff it's sometimes a wonder why I do it all.    But I do, and I love

I am a huge fan of Christmas, I always have been but since having kids I love it even more.  I've always said that Christmas is a 'Season' not just one day - well it says so in the song 'Tis the Season to be jolly'!  and most of the enjoyment for me comes from the run up to the actual day. Christmas in Cyprus is a lot more low key than in England, and that combined with the usual blue skies and sunshine means that I like to work a bit harder to create the 'Christmas magic' Last year the boys and I thoroughly enjoyed December, starting with the ‘Advent box’ – containing the advent calendar’s, Christmas themed books and colouring pages, and continuing with many different activities, such as decorating the tree and going to the various events in the area, and of course writing a letter to Santa together.    I remember the excitement as a child of going to see Santa and the thought that he would be soon delivering presents to all the good boys a