I watched a girly chick flick tonight too “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” and that made me cry and miss Alex even more. All very much my own doing, I know. During this ‘alone’ time, I do realize how much I take Alex for granted. I suppose that’s one aspect of the famous quote “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. When Alex is with me, I don’t really see so clearly how much he loves me. When we are apart, we make more effort (well, we need to make the effort) to talk to one another and to really treasure the little time we have to talk with one another. And we make the effort to say the little things that we don’t say as much normally on a day-to-day basis, like “I love you” instead of “how come this huge dining table is filled with books??” Yeah, I know that I nag too much (sorry dear!). I just pray that I will remember these times of absence so that my heart will always grow fonder, regardless of where the both of us are

1. Betty made a ‘terrible’ mistake in befriending a competing magazine rival. She was betrayed by that person who impersonates her and steals something precious from Betty. Okay, this does unfortunately happen in real life.

2. Betty and colleague go and basically steal that precious thing back and are praised for it by their boss. What’s with that? I know, once again it’s TV and I suppose it’s entertaining but still! I wonder if this would happen in real life.

3. And then all these affairs happening, not exactly affairs and I suppose relationships have all these layers of issues. But this part, I was not as surprised by, which makes it even more sad because now I’m numb from hearing/seeing people basically betraying their loved ones.

Maybe I’ve been a little sensitive today. I’m just sad to find the state of our society’s morals… albeit in the virtual world of the television.

So my friend Christina and I went off to the Peak District for two days this week, visiting historic homes like Chatsworth and staying in a quaint village hotel called The Maynard. As we finally made it to our first stop, Chatsworth, we were both quite in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. When we drove upon the estate, we spot this rather large herd of deer! I had never seen so many deer together. It was too bad my camera couldn’t capture them very well, but that truly was a scene of British countryside that I shall not forget easily.

Upon entering the historic home, I easily slip into my imaginary world of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. In fact, this was the place that stood as Pemberley in the latest movie version of P&P. My heart still loves the BBC version best, but the new one was pretty good. There was even a movie exhibit inside Chatsworth, because the latest film to display this home was ‘The Duchess’.

I’ve always wondered what life would be like 200 years ago, living in such a surrounding and lifestyle. There certainly would not be any modern conveniences that I love now, like indoor plumbing and central heating. But there’s something intriguing about the lives people lived back then. A little simpler, in some ways, where people had their roles determined by class/status/female/male. Very elegant, I imagine, but a very hard life too.

So anyways, back to the countryside, did you know that back then, people feared travelling because of highway robbers and thieves? It just was not safe on the roads back then. And for that, I am thankful I can take my time on the roads now and just enjoy the peaceful nature and beautiful of the English countryside.

Happy new year to all who reads this I often wonder who I’m writing this blog for, whether it’s my personal reflection and in a way, a journal. I hope I won’t ramble on too much. 

I should be sleeping by now, way past my bedtime on a “school night”. But I’m wide awake. My hubby is downstairs working hard. 

So what is ahead in this year of 2009? So much happened in 2008. I’m pretty sure I won’t ever have another year quite like that one. To be honest, I’m a person who likes to look ahead and to make plans, or at least have an idea of what may be likely to come in my life. For example, ever since I was young, I would think that one day, I will meet someone and get married. As I approached the age at which I always wanted to get married by (27), I would think in more detail how I can perhaps make this ‘dream’ come true. Of course, things didn’t happen how I planned it. Life turned out even better. I’m so thankful to be blessed with my husband. I really am. Now, I just hope my heart will be open to new dreams awakening. 

So now, I shall dream… off to sleep I go.

We are finally here in the UK, finally here in Birmingham. It’s been a long journey, leaving Vancouver on September 1st and embarking on an 18-day journey here to Birmingham. God has been very good to Alex and myself. He has blessed us with so many wonderful memories that we will treasure forever with the friends and family with whom we met up with along the way. Of course, we remember and treasure the dear friends and family we left in Vancouver too!

So how does it feel to finally be here in Birmingham? I can only speak for myself, Alex will have to share his thoughts in his blog entry. I have already been asked many a times why I would return to such a country as England, always so wet and so dark in the winter and so gloomy here. I have been quite surprised actually by all the negative comments I hear about this island. Perhaps many people are fed up, for whatever reason. The only thing I want to say is that grass is not always greener on the other side.

It’s true that I left a country and a continent with an abundance of riches… in natural resources, in material goods, in choices of many excellent eateries and many other things. But along with all this abundance of “stuff”, I found myself yearning for more connection with people around me. Perhaps I did not use my opportunities wisely, but for example: I was physically close to my family. But I felt like I was not communicating as well with them as I can now, from afar. And though it’s only been a few days, I do feel like the skype conversations that I’ve had with my parents since arriving here have been more substantial than many conversations I had with them when I was at home. 

So upon arriving here in Birmingham, it’s been really lovely staying at my friends’ Ros and Bok’s home and re-connecting with many old friends from church and work as well as making new friends too. The thing I’ve felt most blessed by is that I feel the same welcome and sense of community from my BCEC church family here as I did from my past years.

With any place, there’s always good and bad. At present, my struggle has been about securing a job. I’m trying to get work back in the lab where I used to work at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Though I had been communicating via email with my old boss here in the UK, I’m still going through an interview process at present. I know that God will provide something good for me and Alex here. I just need more faith in really believing that and trusting with all my heart, without worrying too much. Easier said than done though. 

That’s all for now from me. Hopefully, I’ll have more news soon to share with everyone. Until the next time… love, betty

So it’s the last few weeks before we leave Vancouver now (well, a month and a half still, I suppose). I’ve never been good with transitions. Especially the times before the change, when I know the change is impending. My last physical move was about two years ago, and that was a short transition time. I secured my job in Vancouver, gave one month’s notice with my UK job and then left England. The time was so packed. It didn’t feel like I had enough time to say good-bye.

But this time, it feels different. I am now a “we”, so it’s not just myself who is going through this transition. We’ve also been saying that we’ll be moving to the UK for a long time now. Even though things were not always decided yet. Even now, with less than two months to go, things do not seem to be so decided. And me, with a small faith, often have trouble getting used to everything. It is, of course, through these times that I can recall all the moments in my past where I believe God had been so faithful to me, when I didn’t know what was to come. I do remember these times, but it’s still not so easy sometimes. 

Though now on such a day, I can look around me and remember. And know that if God can create and take care of such a beautiful natural world as I see here, then how infinitely more will He care for us!

Anyways, a lot of people have asked me how married life is. For me, I’ve found the transition to married life with Alex to be quite smooth so far, praise God. It is definitely very different from living with a housemate. At first, I thought moving in with Alex will be like my experiences with living in shared houses and with housemates. But it’s been a very different experience. Perhaps it’s also living with Alex that makes a difference ( you know I love you!) but I also think it’s been myself who’s entered this new lifestyle with some expectations of my own. I hear the first year of marriage is a lot about figuring out our ways living with one another and hopefully, with God’s grace, we’ll have more good times than bad ones by the end of the year.

Aside from the ugliness of a bad commute on a snow day, I really do love snow. Especially watching those big snowflakes slowly drift down from the heavens… it’s like everything is in slow motion, and for a moment, I can just pause and daydream a little. Thank you God for these moments…

It’s pretty interesting… this world of weddings. Did you know that some brides buy a few wedding dresses and a few wedding veils and a few sets of accessories before they decide finally which one is the ‘perfect’ ensemble for their wedding? As a result, many of these “rejected” dresses and veils and other things are put on ebay/craigslist/other bridal internet forums for other brides to buy at a much reduced price. It’s great for bargain-hunters, of course, but I just don’t understand why brides would spend so much extra money in the first place? I guess I don’t know all the stories behind each item for sale. Actually, there was one ad on craigslist that said the wedding was called off and because of that, the bride-no-more wanted to sell her wedding outfit. That is sad, of course.

I don’t think I’ve become anything like some of the “bride-zillas” that we see on these wedding TV shows. But I can see how one can easily get sucked into the wedding world black hole where the details can be never-ending with that mentality of wanting a “perfect wedding”. So please, if anyone sees me spiraling into this world, please give me a strong pinch and bring me back to the real world!

So for Christmas, my parents wanted to get my brother Alan the Wii but it was so in demand, we haven’t been able to get one until now. Alex and I just happened to come across all these Wii’s for sale at Costco last week and bought one for my family. I haven’t properly played yet with my whole family. But just watching my mom play is quite amusing. She and I are similar in many ways (scary thought for me at times ) and the way we play video games is one such similarity. We get very ‘involved’ in the game, so to speak. I know for myself, my hands get all sweaty and I let out these shrieks of excitement whilst getting caught up in the whole situation. My mom is just like that. Tonight, I was sitting in a different room when I hear these shouts of exclamation coming from the living room. At first, I thought my mom was watching a scary movie on TV, but no, she was playing tennis on the Wii.

Anyway, I wonder how many sets of parents are now hooked on the Wii too