A Matter of Choice

You may have heard that I turned 40 last week,   I believe I might have mentioned it? I had a fantastic birthday day,  and a brilliant birthday party, but not being one to pass up an excuse to celebrate I continued for the whole week.  I *had* to, of course as my bestie was over from the UK and it would have been rude not to. Aaron had basically 'given' me a free pass to do whatever I wanted for the week (cashflow permitting!) so we did! A cocktail filled evening out in Protaras, at Zodiac, followed by Rockafellas watching the Ska Man . Followed by late night snacks and chocolate cake at gone 2am - well done for making cheese and ham toasties Nic and for my rose! Recovery day followed with a huge lunch in one of my favourite restaurants followed by back massages by the sea.  Friday continued with a chilled evening, nice home cooked dinner (thanks Aaron!)  and no alcohol in preparation for the big party day coming ...

My 40th birthday fell on a Wednesday so it made sense to delay my party until the weekend,   which of course was good as I got to have an extended celebration! It was a brilliant evening with a great crowd of people,  and a good number considering so many unable to make it due to work commitments (the problem with any event in the summer season).  The party was at St Thekla,  a restaurant right on the beach and a really good venue for a party - plenty of space,  2 bars and a DJ box - everything you need.  Despite battling with a really painful knee I was on the dancefloor for most of the night, helped no doubt by a few drinks taking my mind of the pain! As you probably know I have a big love of photos so I don't need to explain how awesome I thought this slideshow was that Aaron created, and played on the big screen.  I'll let the photos do tell the rest of the story,  I was amazed and...

As the clock struck midnight on 1st January 2017 I was standing on my balcony with Aaron, Mum & Dad and the boys. As we raised our glasses and wished each other a happy new year,  Aaron turned to me and said.... 'You do realise that you'll be 40 this year' This set the tone for the following 10 months, and it spread - everyone, even the boys joined in (except my 39 year old friends that is,  I think they were sympathising with me, and realising it would be them very soon!) I found it funny and not funny in equal measure, I opted for not caring realising it is stupid to be bothered by it after all, it would happen anyway and sulking about it would change anything.  (Actually I was kinda enjoying the fuss but ssshh don't tell anyone)  I decided that the more he went on about it, the more I would celebrate when the time came. I was like a big kid leading up to my birthweek,   yes I had a birthday week, a whole week of celebrations and it was..... EP...

When I was a child I remember working out that I would turn 23 in the year 2000. It seemed such a long way off and I couldn't imagine being such an age, presumably all grown up and sensible.  I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone over the age of 20 that of course I wasn't all grown up and sensible at all,   when I reached that age I assumed that would come a bit later,   at 30 perhaps? I approached my 30th birthday with excitement and a bit of trepidation, I had a big party planned which was the cause of the excitement but every now and again I would stop and think '30!!!' I had been married for 3 years but was working in a job that I didn't enjoy and always feeling that I should be doing something different,  always waiting for something, I just wasn't sure what. I received a card from a friend (whose birthday is the day before mine) saying 'Inside every 30 year old is an 18 year old wondering what the hell happened!"  I remember smiling at ...

It's back to school day today! After almost 3 months of lazy days, lie ins and not much of a schedule to stick to it was time to set the alarm and get the boys out of bed again.   It was a bit strange this morning,  it's actually the first year where I have to really use an alarm. They were always such early risers that it was never needed before,  always set but more as a back up in the unlikely event of us sleeping in.   Towards the end of the school year I did have to wake Leo a couple of days,  but it was mainly due to his reluctance to get moving than sleepiness.  But for the first time, we have had a school holiday where the boys haven't been up at the crack of dawn,  in fact their average getting up time was between 8am and 9am.  Something I'd never have been able to imagine in the days of broken sleep and 5am starts. Of course it's good but it meant I felt like I was getting up in the middle of the night when me alarm went ...

Happy Birthday Louka mou! You are five years old!  I know you have been looking forward to this day for such a long time,   I think you were talking about it even before Leo's birthday this year! I'm writing this post for you on the 24th,  and you've just gone to bed full of excitement that it is just one more sleep.  As I gave you a cuddle,  I said I was cuddling my 4 year old Louka for the last time, and you asked me if I was sad.   I replied,  of course not because tomorrow I can cuddle my 5 year old Louka, you gave me a big smile and said 'yes that's 'much more better'. Every year when I write these birthday letters to you and your brother I try to think back over the year and how you've changed. It kind of sneaks up on me as it seems that when it happens it's a very sudden thing,  and I hadn't realised the little things that change along the way. You are totally crazy,  I've said many times over the years that Leo is...

In 2014 Aaron and I started our photo booth business, Klik Photo CY.   We started with one photo booth, a retro style enclosed photo booth  (enclosed -  as in an actual booth you go inside, rather than the 'open style booths' you see advertised that aren't actually booths!)  a few months later we took over an existing company 'Wedding Booth Cyprus' and added a marquee style booth to our portfolio. I absolutely LOVE our work,  it's so much more than 'just a job' to us.  We take a huge amount of pride in our work, and always try to do the best we can.  Aaron of course is a total perfectionist so he has spent a lot of time making sure the prints the booth produces are studio quality, and every little detail is 110%.  As we always say,   if you are going to do something,  do it properly! Last year Aaron (king of the random suggestions - remember ' Do you want to move to Cyprus? )   came home one day and said 'I've had an idea'....