The House...

On Friday 26th May, Amy & myself attained the largest acquisition of our lives – a mortgage!! Things just fell into place (or did they?!) and we purchased Amy’s family home from her father, John (who recently moved out with his new wife). Two female flatmates then joined Amy and will be keeping her company until the end of the year, when I move in! It’s a three bedroom house in a nice area of Christchurch, down a Close. John is also Mr DIY and has been renovating the house over the past few years and had also got Council approval for an extension to the lounge area. So we bought the house on the assumption the extension would be completed and he would also oversee the new kitchen – which is part completed too! By completion, we’ll have a completely new looking house – and one we’ll have picked our own colours, furniture and features for. It’s so exciting! We’ve already bought a second hand piano for our new home, which needed a crane to move from its old owners house! I will add photos of the renovations as the work continues. It will be fully completed by the time my family arrive at the end of the year – won’t it John!?! :)

Wedding Preparations...

Things are ticking along nicely. We spent part of our holidays looking at photographers, videographers, wedding ceremony locations, dress material (well Amy and the Bridesmaids did) and honeymoons. We nearly chose Christchurch Central Cathedral for our ceremony, but the 22nd of December is already booked – for the animal service! Our most recent portrait has also convinced us to enter Bride and Groom of the Year!

Germany '06...

Such anticipation! Such excitement! Such expectation! Such disappointment! A month of erratic sleeping patterns, waking up at 3am to watch important games and joining my fellow English patrons to sing and cheer in the bars of Christchurch. Amy also got caught up in all the excitement – wearing her England jersey when appropriate! Even though this is a traditionally rugby country – there are a lot of soccer/football supporters. We arrived at the largest sports bar in Christchurch at 7am for the Sweden game, to find hundreds of people (many in their work uniform and even school uniform) cheering on their country! Even in the month I made my first steps towards NZ residency, I’m still proud to be English! In evaluating England, I give credit to the English defence, persistence of Crouch and nobility of Beckham. I do however blame Sven for his defensive formations and Rooney must also take some blame. Bring on South Africa 2010!