I have finally completed my last OU course, took my exam on Monday and think it went ok, should get the results in August, so I’ll find out then if I passed or not. Fingers crossed!!

Also this week our shipment from the states arrived and we now have even more crap to sort through and unpack! However on the plus side we now have our bed, yay!!! You wouldn’t believe how amazing it was to sleep on that on Monday night, in fact this week I have slept better than I have in months! It’s amazing the difference your own bed can make. Our Ikea stuff arrived last week too, and we now have the biggest sofa in the world in our office/spare room, it folds out in to a huge bed, which is actually really comfy. We also got our shelving units, so we have some more storage for all our bits and bobs. The only thing we are waiting on now is some bedroom furniture as we have no where to put our mountains of clothes at the moment, so they are just stacked up on the floor, which is annoying.

The third piece of news, I am sure you’ll agree, is the most exciiting, Jasper and I went to the Floren gallery opening tonight on Parkstone Green (Jasper’s photos) and I finally got to wear my Donna Ricco dress. I have to admit I did feel a tad self conscious, but then I always do, but the fact I even left the flat with my legs on display must have meant the dress was doing something right. It’s definitely the most flattering and funky dress I have ever owned. Myshape.com certainly did their job in providing me with an amazing item of clothing that fitted me perfectly and Donna Ricco did an amazing job of designing a really funky and unique dress.

As promised I have some photographs of me in the dress…brace yourself! (coming soon!)

Peace out peeps

Fi

xxx

Jasper has been in the states for the past 2 weeks and it has been horrendous being without him, I’ve told him already he’s not leaving me for that long again!

I have just about managed to catch up with most people and have spent a lot of time with my closest friends.

I am begining to realise though that living in California wasn’t all that bad, it just sucked that I had no social life.

But that shouldn’t be an issue back here, I have been really busy since coming back and have so many friends down this way it’s fab. Not only that but as I plan on going to Uni full time in October I am hoping I will meet a fair few new people then too.

I am going to go to Bath Spa University, which I am really excited about, ever since I went to the open day last year I knew it was the right choice for me. Jasper and I are looking at buying a place there, hopefully before Uni starts.

I have almost completed my last OU course now, one assignment left, due in next week. Then the exam next month and I am done.

Can’t believe I have actually stuck at it and managed to keep myself motivated, I must admit there were some touch and go moments, but I pulled through in the end.

I went down to the beach last night at about midnight with James and we laid under the stars chatting and it made me realise that not only do I have some fabulous friends, but I have missed being here so much.

I am very glad we are back, and hope that Jasper will be feeling the same when he returns.

He flies in to Heathrow on Thursday morning, I can’t wait to see him, I’ve missed him hugely. Thank God for skype  hey, don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t been able to talk to him.

The flat we are renting in Westbourne is cool, 2 big bedrooms a nice big lounge/diner with a balcony, bathroom and shower room and a fab kitchen that was recently done. It’s pretty big, which is handy as we have absolutely shit loads of stuff!!! I couldn’t quite believe how much crap we have managed to accumulate between us. And we still have more of it coming from the states next week!!

We’ve got all of our furniture from Tom and Fiona’s and it all looks fab, I kind of forgotten how nice it all was. We’ve ordered a new sofa bed from IKEA as well and a couple of shelving units. Which also arrive next week. It will be good to have a spare room so people can stay, as I plan on doing a lot of socialising! It’s been so hard spending 18 months shut in a flat on my own! So now I am going to go wild!

I’ve decided not to go to any festivals this year, partly because the Glastonbury line-up looks shite this year and partly because Jasper and I just really want some time to spend together and seeing family and relaxing, after what has been a relatively difficult and stressful time.

My brother, Ian, is all settled in Hiroshima, Japan now and is enjoying the culture. Can’t wait to go out and see him, but to be honest have kind of had my fill of flying for a while. I have flown 10 times in the past 6 months, 6 of those were trans Atlantic, so I think I am owed some time on the ground.

Well, that’s about all the news I have for now I think.

I promise I’ll post a pic of my dress soon, I have just been so busy I’ve not had a chance to wear it yet.

Love y’all

Peace out

Fi

xxx

I never thought I would feel sad about leaving here at all, after all as Andy put it the other day ‘we have been living in a car park for over a year’. But today I am feeling pretty sad about leaving the beautiful weather, wonderful scenery and cheap shopping behind. Not only have we been lucky enough to live somewhere where it doesn’t rain 80% of the time, but we have also had the opportunity to see a lot of amazing things. We’ve been over the Golden Gate Bridge (more times than I can remember), we visited Alcatraz, we’ve driven Highway 1, we have been to LA and seen the Hollywood sign, we have spent Christmas in Las Vegas, we have visited Monterey Aquarium and San Francisco Zoo (and didn’t even get attacked by a Tiger!). But not only that, Jasper has had the chance to work with so many people whom he has respected and admired for many years. Sun is to Jasper as Man Utd is to a Bournemouth player! All in all our time in California has been well worth while and is something I certainly don’t regret in the slightest. Had the immigration policies of the US been a tad more Fi friendly then I doubt I would be writing this blog! However the fact that I can not work here despite being allowed to stay for as long as Jasper is here, is absolutely ridiculous. I can’t think of a more frustrating situation to be in, you’d think having the opportunity to live in sunny California would be something anyone would jump at, but when it is coupled with no social life, no way of meeting new people and no income, it suddenly loses it’s appeal.

So, today is a day of mixed emotions. I am looking forward to being back home, seeing my friends and family more often, to having a social life, to being able to walk to something other than a Starbucks or a Subway. To working again, going to uni and everything that comes with it. But I am also sad to be leaving such a beautiful part of the world. I certainly wonder how different things would have been if we had lived in the city, or if I was able to work, or in fact both. It is incredibly frustrating that in order for us both to be happy we have to make such huge sacrifices. I know that’s what marriage is all about, making sacrifices to make each other happy and to enjoy life together, but I wish our situation was more like the norm, like agreeing to watch the football instead of Eastenders or going to the Apple store even though it’s full of geeks!!!

Anyway, I know we all feel hard done by at times, but I guess I just feel like whichever option we choose it won’t be ideal.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we come back at some point and live the American dream again, but for now it’s back to good ol’ blighty for us.

I certainly feel grateful for having had the opportunity to experience living abroad, but it will be nice to talk to people and a) have them understand my accent and b) not ask me if I am Australian or attempt to mimic me!

Peace out

From a mixed emotioned Fi

xxx

The moment of truth arrived, all of 20 minutes ago, Mr FedEx knocked on my door and there it was a dress sized box! I opened the box and folded back the tissue paper, thinking ‘gosh, this feels quite special’, and then I got to the gold mesh bag, fantastic. A wonderful idea, it certainly made the experience far more special, than the usual plastic wrap. I pulled out the dress and was immediately surprised by how beautiful the fabric felt and how well constructed it was. Certainly felt like I had got a bargain at the price I paid. I ran through to the bedroom, took off my trousers and t-shirt in record time and slipped in to the dress. I stood there for a moment almost in a state of shock, the zip was still undone and yet I was thinking ‘this might actually fit, this might actually be exactly what myshape.com claimed it would be’ I did up the zip, with a little difficulty, as most women can appreciate I am sure, it is never easy to do up the zip on the back of a dress! I stood there looking in the mirror almost in awe of how flattering the fit of the dress was, it did all the right things, cinched in my waist, flowed out from there and then hung straight down, so as to accentuate my waist and draw attention away from my huge hips, as for my boobs, they looked fab! I couldn’t quite believe it, there was a wave of shock followed by a wave of joy, I actually own a piece of clothing that makes me look pretty hot! In fact, dare I say it, this dress even fits me better than my wedding dress did, which was supposedly made to my measurements!

Absolutely fantastic, a beautifully designed and constructed piece of clothing that actually fits and flatters me, and makes me feel a million dollars!

I will definitely be shopping at www.myshape.com again!

I’ll post some photo’s shortly!

Peace out dudes

Fi

xxx

Please feel free to leave me comments or ask questions!

We’ve been selling all our stuff this week in preparation for our move, I advertised everything on craigslist.org (a kind of free ads site) and managed to sell every item I added within a few hours! All that is left to go now is the TV and the car. We have sold the sofa, so I am currently sat on our air mattress, which is super uncomfortable to say the least. But I guess it’s better than the floor.

Anyway, back to the original reason I decided to write this post. Today is Jasper’s birthday (31, shhhh) and in order to make it special I planned a cool weekend of surprises.

We started off with breakfast in bed on Saturday, I made coffee and we had fruit juice and a danish each. I then gave Jasper his birthday present early, a remote control helicopter (Rachel!!!!), so that he had a chance to familiarise himself with it all weekend.

Then we drove off to San Francisco and parked in Golden Gate Park. I organised a picnic and we sat in the Rose Garden. We checked out the de Young Legion of Honour Museum, an art gallery in the centre of the park. Jasper took some cool photos and we bought a funky bag and vase in the gift shop. Then we put the roof down on the Beetle and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, which was windy, but fun! We drove to Sausalito again and stopped for a coffee and found a really cool photo gallery. Both of us were completely amazed by all of the photos, they were taken with a film camera, with which the negatives are A4 sized, so you can imagine the detail. We bought a couple of abstract prints from places in California as a keep sake of our time here. After Sausalito we drove to Mel’s Drive In and had a burger and shake for dinner, topped off a perfect day.

Today we had a long lie in and then drove to Palo Alto for lunch in the Coupa Cafe, which is always good. Somewhere we’ll miss. We came home at about 5pm and Jasper finally got a chance to play properly with his birthday present.

Oh and I got Jasper a cool chocolate fudge cake too!

I am currently in the process of cooking steak, roast spuds and carrots. All in all it has been a wonderful weekend.

Just need to sell the tv and the car now.

Peace out dudes!

Fi

xxx

Final weight after 11 days - ??6lbs, a total of 13lbs weight loss in 11 days.

I am aware I was probably just lucky to lose so much, but am hoping that next time I will lose 8lbs maybe, which would be brilliant. I am on a mission, so as long as I don’t put on too much over the next three days, I am on track to reach my goal weight in 2008, fantastic!!

So in conclusion, this diet really works and the next 2 weeks will be the real test, whether I can get down to ??8lbs, which would mean a total loss of 21lbs.

I will of course be writing a blog for the second 11 days, so keep your eyes peeled.

Lots of love from a slightly lighter Fi

xxx

Lunch - Salad

Dinner - Tuna salad

Snack - Peanuts

No photos today I’m afraid as I had a rather hectic day, what with my husband passing out on the bathroom floor in the morning and then having to take him to the hospital in the afternoon. I was a bit preoccupied with looking after him, so didn’t get round to taking photos.

So today’s food was ok, have to admit I did feel quite hungry as all I ate was salad all day basically, but none the less I stuck it out and this was my last day!

Weight today was ??8lbs, so no change from yesterday but a total loss of 11lbs so far. Tomorrows weight will be the final weight and I will tell you how much I lost on my 11 day diet.

Fi

xxx

Lunch - Red and green veggies

Dinner - Green veggies

Snack - Hard boiled eggs with cheese

Today was quite hard, I was starving by the time it came to dinner and green veggies wasn’t that appealing. But I managed to resist the pizza in the freezer and made some nice veggies, which once I ate them didn’t actually seem to bad.

Weight today ??8lbs, so now a total loss of 11lbs in 9 days.

Fi

xxx

My aim was to lose 9lbs in 11 days, I have completed 8 days so far and lost 10lbs, so it’s definitely working! I have 2 more days to go and on Tuesday morning will be able to tell you exactly how much I lost on my 11 day challenge.

The diet itself hasn’t been too tough, I have been eating plenty of salad and fruit which is always good, and have even had a fab banana milkshake a few times (1 banana, 1/2 glass of milk and a tsp of vanilla essence)! I have to say I am definitely looking forward to eating a normal meal or two from Tuesday onwards. The idea is for me to do 11 on the diet, 3 days off. That way I don’t have to stick to a pants diet for too long, and on the off days can eat normally and have small amounts of the bits I have been craving. One of the key things to this diet is eating 4 times a day, I am going to try and continue this on my off days, so that my body doesn’t get too confused.

Other news in the life of me is that it’s only 18 days until Jasper and I come home for almost a month, I can’t bloody wait! I aim to see as many people as I can when I am back, but things are being booked up so quickly. Jasper, myself, Ian, Lorraine, Jon, Curtis and Mole are off to Prague for a long weekend in Feb, which is going to be fab, probably our last chance to all get battered together before Ian heads off to Japan for a year.

Also, it’s only 3 months until we move back to the UK permanently which is a huge relief, to be quite honest the US hasn’t been the most fun for me! I am really looking forward to being back where my mates and family are and where I can actually have a good social life again and work!!

Talking of work though, I don’t plan on doing too much of that as I have had some good offers from unis in London, so plan to complete my degree full-time from October, then go on to do my post graduate doctorate straight after. The plan so far is to live in London for 5 years and then when I am qualified and we have earned some good money in the city we can move to Bath, Oxford, Bournemouth or somewhere else that would be better for bringing up kids

Anyway, it’s a busy time at the moment for us as we are organising our move home and I have lots of uni work to do. I handed in one assignment this week and have another due in in February whilst we are in the UK. So lots of reading and note taking going on alongside organising everything and looking after my poorly husband who has the flu :(. Just hope I don’t get it, because that’s the last thing I need!

That’s about all from me for now, don’t forget to keep up to date with my diet blog if you are interested.

Lots of love

Fi

xxx