Kita and I have had something of a busy Christmas seeing all the families we could and fitting in her work commitments as well. I guess next year is likely to be harder as we’re both that little bit further away but that can wait ’til then.

’08 has been a pretty darn busy year itself with many firsts. First time living with Kita, first full time job for me and all the interviews that went along with it, first proper rented house with bills, council tax, Sky!. There are many more but it’d get quite obscure, I’m guessing rented house and bills is as well really?

I haven’t really got time to post much, I’ve just done the ironing, about to finish off the kitchen and am getting ready for heading down to Exeter for my Grandma’s 70th/New Year party. Should be good and I haven’t been down there for quite some time. Since ‘flying the coop’ I’ve seen a lot less of my family in Devon so it’ll be nice to catch up. Just hoping there aren’t any wedding politics going on…

Anyway, goodbye 2008 you’ve been a very good year to me and as Kita’s Grandparents put in a card:

“Merry Christmas and happy 2009 (a v. special year!!)”

Looks like 2009 is going to be a good one!

Happy New Year,

Dan

Originally we had to decline them as we unfortunately didn’t have anywhere to store them  but now somewhere (my Grandparents garage) has been found and tomorrow my uncle and I are moving them there for the next 6 months or so.

It’s pretty sweet news really, it means Kita and I can get an unfurnished place in Portsmouth now (we’ve a bed and enough other bits already) which should be somewhat cheaper. We’ll still need a couple of things when we head back south, desk and wardrobe spring to mind but they’re not too expensive, especially when compared to a couple of sofas!

So that’s my plan for tomorrow,

Dan

We all met for drinks yesterday evening at a bar in Oxford (neutral ground) with Zach (Kita’s brother) as a mediator basically so Kita and her Dad could talk through their differences. A fair bit of it revolves around the wedding but I think the wedding has really just highlighted problems that exist regardless.

I felt/feel a lot of it is down to communication, specifically a severe lack of it and that seemed to be what most of the talk centred around. We’ve all agreed to meet up more often, starting as soon as possible. We’re meeting up on the 27th for a late Christmas and I’m hopeful that things can begin to pick up again. I think my part in it all is going to be largely taxi but if that’s what is needed then that’s fine.

Don’t really know what else to say. It’d be nice and I think beneficial if and for Kita and her Dad if they could get along well, it’ll be interesting to see how the next couple of months go and I’m guessing that should give a better indication of where things are at and what the wedding will look like.

Dan

Also, we asked my sister to sing for our first dance. Whilst I’ve more-or-less moved out of home now her singing has come on incredibly well. If I remember rightly, quite possibly wrongly, she has now passed her Grade 5, it’s possibly higher, I can’t remember! I’m not positive as to what the song will be yet, Kita has one in her head that I need to listen to, to form an opinion on. All being well the plan is to ask Chris (brother) to form a small band to start the evenings entertainment at the reception and have a DJ/PA equipment, depending on what we can afford going on later into the night.

That’ll be quite nice and cool to have my brother and sister both in the same band for my wedding dance

Anyhow, it was a great evening, really enjoyable but then on the way home I hit a large-ish muntjac deer. It was really gutting, I could see it in that slow motion kind of way but just couldn’t shurg off enough speed or swerve enough to stop the inevitable. It’s a strange kind of thing, you do all you can (there was nothing else on the road) and yet the collision still happens.

The deer wasn’t on the road as we left, no doubt limped off into the night, not that there is a lot we could have done for it. Kita’s a nervous enough passenger at the best of times, something I far too often forget and so that didn’t really help and me. Well, just the sound of screeching tyres, the slow motionness and crunch of the hit, yeah, it bought an awful lot of memories back. Been quiet all this morning.

Gutted.

Dan

I’m quite looking forward to him being back although nowhere near as much as his girlfriend and Mum are, no surprise there!

It’s a little odd, until I went down to Portsmouth we got on but I think it’s probably safe to say we weren’t the best of friends etc. It’s probably down to us both needing some space and me going to Uni has more than facilitated this. Since going to Uni the time we’ve spent with one another has been good and enjoyable. Perhaps it is just that I value it now and when we lived together, sharing a room I took it for granted that he was there.

Whatever it is, I’m looking forward to Chris coming home, seeing how he’s changed (and I’m sure he will have, from what I’ve heard he can now cook!), catching up, spending some time together before he goes to Uni. I would say I’d give him some advice but in fairness he’s plenty smart enough and we’re different enough that he can learn his own way. I know I’ve changed significantly since at Uni, far more independant and worldly and it’s been good learning these things. Sure I’ll be here if needed for some advice but like I said he’s smart he’ll work it out I’m sure.

So that’s the plan for tomorrow, welcome back my little brother.

Dan

Like I’ve said before I really do enjoy heading home, seeing loved ones, family and friend and so that’s exciting me.

Second, I have my first real works do this evening with Chris Lewis Security and that’s exciting, actually I’m really looking forward to seeing friends that I made  over the summer again. Whilst I speak on the phone and email occasionally it’s not quite the same, so that’s exciting.

It’s Christmas, goes without saying that is exciting!

Finally it could and hopefully will be an exciting and eventful Christmas. It’ll be my first Christmas with Kita which I am looking forward to but at the same time it will be my first Christmas away from my family :S Kind of a weird feeling that, I think I’m in a transitional stage of life. Things are changing month to month, but I guess, one day, soon I hope we’ll have our own place. Home will be our place, a settled place that doesn’t change month to month and one day Christmas will happen there, that is an exciting thought, very exciting, time to get the balls rolling and gears in motion

God bless,

Dan

In all honesty I ought to be getting on with writing a more engineering based CV and covering letter for Cisco but alas before I left I forgot to download Ben’s as a kind of template following Frank’s (lecturer) grilling of them. I must admit I thought my CV and letter were both fairly good but didn’t appreciate that actual engineers were going to look at them, in all honesty I was expecting HR to look at them. So I think I’ll get home, copy and paste this, press Post, then set the alarm for 7:30 and hit my pillow, well that’s the plan, if it happens I’ll let you know!

This weekends been good in many ways but I didn’t accomplish a few things I wished. I am really enjoying going to ‘proper home’. I like seeing my parents, it feels more like visiting friends, very good, very special friends and I really like that, in fact I cherish it. I love the way I can share jokes with my Dad and chat about things with my Mum. I even got roped into moving drums on Sunday but it was ok, haven’t done it in a while and it so was kind of cool being a ‘roady’ again!

On the accomplished side, I managed to pick up my old laptop that Ben and I are going to turn into a file/web server for development back at 31 Stansted Rd. I imagine it will be more web rather than file as it does have a rather tiny 30GB disk in it but it should work fine and it will be ‘cool’ in a very geeky way and surely worth it’s own post when it’s done! Managed to spend a really good evening with Kita and enjoy each others company, a really nice date, good meal, fairly decent restaurant, although they could have done with just one more member of staff when it got busy. Now I think about it, wish I could remember the name of the place, just in case any of you are looking for somewhere to get a good steak in Banbury. Talking of which, Kita’s new place :o, my chin hit the floor! My word it’s a nice place. I really should have gotten some photo’s but I’ll leave that up to her, after all it is her place, reminds me, still need to do some of mine! Also her flat mates seem really nice and I hope that she has now found a home for the time being. Finally got Kita’s Christmas present, but shhhh!

Stuff I didn’t manage to get done. Didn’t make it into the loft to look for Christmas decorations to nick for Portsmouth but I think that is now just an excuse to pop up early December for them and hopefully nab a mince pie or two! Didn’t manage to get my Cisco specific CV and covering letter attacked/finished so that will be tomorrow morning now, which could be worse I guess. Finally didn’t get to chat about some stuff with Mum as I kind of chickened out a bit, don’t know why really, guess I’m just a bit of a wimp :S. I can’t put any more detail than that, sorry, one day it will all make sense, I hope!

So it’s been a good weekend, nice to see people from Church and get to chat to Toni a bit as well.

See you all soon,

God bless,

Dan

Moved back Saturday with help from Mum, Dad, Kita and Frankie. Kita and Dad re-arranged my room, I’ll take some photo’s once it’s all finished and in place, which created a surprising amount of space! It’s quite a nice room actually, has an annoying bump on the ground but other than that it’s pretty great. Also met up with some friends from the IoW (Isle of Wight), Eddie & Teresa which was great and had lunch in Gunwarf Quays.

Sunday, I somehow got up about 4:30 for a cracking Grand Prix. Went back to bed then get up about 9:30 and made it to King's for the morning meeting. In all honesty I would have probably just gone for the evening service but Kita was down and really wanted to make it as she was getting on a train at 6:30 :’( It was good and I felt at ‘home’, met a few people whom I hadn’t seen for months and really just enjoyed the catch-up.

Sunday afternoon, met up at Blade’s new house to meet the ‘Freshers’ who had met him through Fusion. I met up with a girl who I’d already exchanged email address’ with at Soul Survivor over the summer and lot’s of others, actually now I think about it there did seem to be a lot of new faces, which can surely only be a good thing for the Uni.

Sunday evening, :’(. Said goodbye to Kita, was hard actually, I think I was possibly more teary than her. We’d spent 16-17 weeks together not dissimilar to before I first came to Portsmouth. It was hard to see her leave on the train I’ll be honest but encouraging at the same time. Last year was a huge test of our relationship and it lasted, it survived and it strengthened. I’m getting a stronger feeling day after day that it really will work in every sense.

Sunday evening continued, turned up at King's later, but understandably late for the evening service. Following the service a fairly large group of us students went to a local pub and exchanged names, numbers, MSN etc and two Sarah’s even came back to 31 Stansted Rd to watch a movie. There are plans for us to meet up on Wednesday already which is all good. I think we’re helping a lot of the Freshers feel more comfortable in this strange new place and I must admit I’m enjoying helping them get their feet in Portsmouth.

Monday I got a new toy, but that’s for another post :P. Also Ben, Ruth and I bumped into some Mormons which needless to say started some interesting theological conversation but that’s worth a post on it’s own, besides this one is too long already!

Hope everyone back home (Oxford etc) is ok, thank you all for a great summer, see you soon!

Dan

Thankfully, I have my job back at Jamocha’s, so I can support myself etc at Uni, that and I enjoy working there and even now I’m looking forward to hanging out there, enjoying great coffee and great company.

Actually now I think about it, it’s all a bit weird. I’ve got used to the ‘shire. I’ve slotted into a family group with BCC and I’ve got back into BCC. Ok not as much as Kings church but there are good reasons for that.

I wasn’t at BCC long enough and by the time I was comfortable in my new found ‘Christian-ness’ I was whisked away to Portsmouth. Where things were just catered to me being where I was/am in the Christian path. Now I’ve settled into BCC better than before, it’s sure going to be hard to leave, especially family group but then it’ll be great to come back to.

Then there’s my heart, my love, it’s going to be hard I’ve no doubt but we’ve made it through a year. Distance didn’t break us and whilst we grew apart a bit we’ve grown closer again, much closer

It’s all a bit weird at the moment, looking forward to things to come, not looking forward to things to come, going to be hard/weird/fun (I hope!).

This place will be much busier

God bless,

Dan

Last night and this morning she couldn’t really move her back legs and so Mum took her to the vets today, Candy’s not coming back :’( It turns out she had arthritis in her spine and her kidney’s were shot as well, couple that with the couple of strokes she’s had and it’s no surprise she had to rest.

Miss her now, don’t really want to go home and just be able to smell her and find her fur on the floor.

15 years though, that’s a good old age and she had a good life I hope.

I’ll post this in the family category, seem’s appropriate.

Bye bye Candy