Mommy

Sometimes in life you meet a person with whom you just 'click'. 

You have tons in common and friendship between you is easy to fall into. 

At other times, it's not so simple. 

Things get in the way. 

It might be distance apart or an age gap or personality differences. 

I imagine that when I was minutes and hours old, though she loved me, my mother couldn't really consider me a friend yet. Fortunately, time has been kind to both of us and though the twenty-four years (flip - I'm 24 now!) between us will always be twenty-four years, I've managed to get through my childhood and trying teenage years with a strong relationship with my mother. 

In fact, it's probably because of those years and those challenges that I love her so much. How can you fail to give credit to someone who has laughed with (and at) you, cried with you and called out words of encouragement along the way? I know it definitely hasn't been easy!

Mothers are heroes, and no mother is ever as heroic as your own. I can honestly say that the closeness Mom & I share is one of my most prized possessions in life. There's nothing like being able to rely on someone to give you a solid opinion, great advice and also correction when needed.

I remember more than one occasion while I was growing up when I was told, "I'm not your friend. I'm your Mother." It was a reminder that she wasn't always going to say what I wanted to hear. And, ironically, it was because of that that my mother is way, way up there with my best friends.

There are a lot of people in life who will say what you want them to say and take the easy road in order to be agreeable. But there are very few people who will see your struggles, tut at your situation then grab an oar and get stuck in to help you find your way out. That is real love. 

So, this Mother's Day, let's celebrate Moms that have the integrity and courage of conviction to say "No" when they know something isn't right for you; Moms that leave you flowers as a pick-me-up; Moms that will never ever give up on you - even when you're not being particularly loveable; Moms that believe in you and do everything to facilitate your success in life. 

I owe an awful lot to my Mom. <3

Happy Mothers' Day!!! 

Stand Up for the Saracens

Just after work finished on Friday evening, I received an ominous-sounding message from a friend: "Call me when you can, mate".

When one normally receives messages like this, one often wonders a few things: 

1) Have I done something wrong?

2) Have I forgotten something?

3) Is he going to ask me to do something?

Thankfully, when I plucked up the courage to call him back, the news was much better. A free ticket to a rugby match at Wembley beckoned and was mine if I had tomorrow free. Suffice it to say, it was a good decision to call him! Permission from "the boss" (read: Harriet) was granted and it was on.

The following morning started early. There are few things I will give up my Saturday morning lie-in for: 

1) Competitive Sports

2) A fun activity of some kind

3) I have also been known to be lured out of bed by bacon sandwiches (*cough* *Harriet, listen* *cough*)

Seeing as though the day involved two of the above (unfortunately I had to 'compromise' on the bacon sandwiches), I decided that it was definitely worth it, manned up and made the journey to Wolverhampton to meet my friend and the others who were enticed out of bed by such a great offer!

The drive down was spent surreptitiously learning snippets of information about what I was about to witness. Sure, I understand the nature of competitive sports, but my speciality is Football, with Rugby in the box marked: "Must get into more". I have just watched the six nations with Harriet and each time I watch rugby, my opinion and understanding of it has grown. I have always wanted to know more about rugby, so this was a great opportunity.

Feeling more clued up, we arrived at "The Home of Football" (Wembley Stadium), today the host of a match between Saracens and Harlequins - two teams based in or close to London. The purpose of having the match played at Wembley was to beat the world record for attendance at a club rugby game, which stood at 83,000 (Wembley holds 90,000).

We arrived about 3 hours prior to kick off, so naturally we ate then checked out the pre-match entertainment. We were lucky enough to see Oasis, Elvis, Whitney Houston and Elton John perform on a make-shift stage in the centre circle in the half an hour or so prior to kick-off. I'm not 100% certain they were the real ones, considering two of them are dead and Oasis broke up years ago, but it was fun anyway.

The match itself was brilliant. Most of the action was at our end of the pitch and the team we were supporting (Saracens) won convincingly. We were even treated to the (in)famous "Swallow Dive" from Chris Ashton after an interception and a 40-metre run and try (the main picture on the above link shows it).

This match reinforced my belief that any sport is enjoyable when it's live. I already really enjoy watching Rugby on TV, but it is so much better live. I've been to other sports that I just do not like at all on TV and enjoyed them when it's live - Baseball for example. Boring on TV, but great live. I got into American Football when I lived over in Utah because a friend took me to a few live BYU games. I've even been to a couple of 0-0 football matches that were fun to be at! There's just something about live sport that gives me a massive buzz.

The rugby was great, but one of the best parts of the day was spending time with friends, doing something that we all enjoyed and generally getting on. We even bought a Saracens Fez each to show our allegiance - I must say, they are quite the fashion accessory...

Lego House {Me&You March 2014}

It's that time again that we post a "me & you" photo from our recent adventures - and adventures they have been! We took a trip down to London last weekend to spend some time with our friends who are living there (inside Zone 1 - I was impressed!). We hung out, laughed a lot and watched England spank Italy in the Rugby. It was so great.

The picture above was taken on the train on the way back. Now, if you know Ben and I you will appreciate the successful smiles on our faces in this picture.

We are not good at trains. We have something of a reputation for missed trains, misreading tickets, having cancellations and generally not ending up at the place we thought we would be at the time we thought we'd be there (though sometimes that's not due to trains). Generally I get annoyed by such instances, especially if they were preventable. I'm a "destination" person - I like the achievement, I like getting it right and often I lose sight of the joy of the journey.

At church on Sunday, this fact about myself was on my mind when I heard a speaker mention Lego. Obviously at church we don't often have people speaking about Lego so my ears pricked up. The man who was speaking confessed to be an A.F.o.L. - Adult Fan of Lego. He talked about how when you're building Lego it's not just fun at the end. It's fun when you're doing the building. It's fun on the way.

It made me think about our marriage. We've got some bricks in place. This weekend we even put the "ability-to-catch-a-train" brick in place. When are we going to be happy?

When we have a house?
When we have a high enough income?
When we have babies?

President Uchtdorf cast some light on this by telling the following story:

"My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don't pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders. 

However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife. 

Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, "Dieter, it's not a race; it's a journey. Enjoy the moment." 

When we build Lego, when we go for a bike ride and when we learn together in our marriage we have to enjoy the moment. Sometimes those moments aren't perfect. One of those moments might be the moment we miss trains together, the moment we scrape for money together or the moment we face our trials together. But I need to remember, we need to remember, that life isn't just great when we come through those moments but even in the facing of them.

I know that I need to commit to doing this. It's not about monthly pictures together, it's the process of spending time together to get those pictures.

March Birthdays!

Without ever realising it was going to happen, we have become a family full of March birthdays. In my immediate family we already had two: Mum and Jonathan... but over the last two years we've accumulated.

At the beginning of this month we decided to have a joint celebration of March birthdays so that Mom, Jonathan, Spencer, Lawrence and Granddad were all not forgotten. Life is busy, so it was going to be hard to fit in all of these special days but it was fun to be able to have a birthday gathering: it was kind of like Christmas!

If I'd have thought a bit harder about it I might have gathered my best friend and my father-in-law into the mix as well just to increase the number of people we could fit into one party - but that would have made the song just that little bit more difficult so maybe it was a good idea to spread out the birthdays a little.

Anyway, here are some photos of our frivolity for you to enjoy.

That moment when Brother-in-laws both have hipster-wannabe glasses!

Because it's important to get every last crumb: Check out the concentration!

Giggles all round :)

Time for the cake!

The queue for the candles...

I love Holly's face in this one - she's so excited!

 Have a lovely March: especially if you have a birthday this month!