Christmas Gifts

CELEBRATING FAMILY TIME

Christmas always seemed to come around too quickly, at least that's what I thought since my mid-late 20s. The magic had seemingly gone. I'd find the whole gifting thing to be a massive stress and the religious part was totally lost on me. 

Fast forward to 2015. I've been really looking forward to the festive season this time around and in particular, spending some quality time with my family. 

It often takes a tragedy to inspire us to make a change, hence the death of my colleagues have driven me to take these daily steps for my own personal growth. Just as a cold slap in the face can wake us to take in the harsh realities of life, a reminder of death will motivate us to seize what we have and enjoy it will we still can. 

August last year was one of those moments when reality stared me in the face. I didn't fully understand it at the time, but as Christmas loomed, it became clear to me that time for us all, is finite. Thankfully, on this occasion, it's not been a tragedy but a stark reminder of how short our time is on this planet. 

The moment I fully realised that time is so precious, was while watching TV with my sick father. He had cancer. There was a moment in the film where someone said 'Christmas is going to be the last one'. I don't recall the film, but I distinctly remember that moment thinking 'This might be my dad's last Christmas'. This could be the last happy family celebrations we have together. It turned out to be a great few days, like an oasis of respite for fun in a sea of discomfort and pain for my poor chemotherapy-drained dad. 

So now a year has passed, the illness appears to have gone (we hope for good) and tomorrow is Christmas Day. My nan and granddad (pictured above) are sadly no longer with us, but my mum and dad, brother, sister in law and niece & nephew are. So, I will enjoy being with them as well as my lovely girlfriend, Cathy and fully appreciate the good fortunate of having such a lovely family.

May we all be more grateful for our family, no matter how quirky, odd or potentially annoying they can be and instead, by truly thankful for the precious time we still have to enjoy life with them.

Merry Christmas!

Hola!

VIVA ESPAÑA

Spain is a great country with so many beautiful cities all with an abundance of culture, yet most of us Brits will usually only fly in to an airport near the coast and head straight to the beach.

One such city that I visited recently, Seville, had fine architecture and a vibrant river front full of great bars plus a fantastic food market. Usually, I feel that Spain is a nice place to visit for sunshine and beaches but on this occasion, I could see that Seville as a city could be somewhere I would like to live.

Spain not only has a rich culture steeped in history but the people really know how to enjoy life. The amount of festivals that Spain has on offer, including all those found on the islands, truly is amazing. There's practically a festival or event happening somewhere in Spain every week - and these are just the well known ones. With flight costs being so low, it's now so easy to take a long weekend break to Spain. Plus, with Air BnB, it's also really great value to get some sun, immerse in the culture and enjoy celebrating great food & drink at one of the many festivals throughout the regions of Spain that get overlooked.

Mum & Dad

ANNIVERSARIES

Today was my mum and dad's 43rd anniversary. That's a long time sharing a life together, bringing up kids and ultimately looking after each other. Having a stable family environment means so much - especially for the sake of the children. Studies are showing that children from broken families have a higher chance of becoming involved in crime or can suffer mental disorders throughout their life. 

Who knows where I would have ended up if it weren't for having decent parents and a stable family life. So it's thanks to them for being so strong together that I'm able to be the person I am today. 

It's also why spending as much time with them as possible, particularly celebrating their success on making such a monumental occasion, their anniversary, happen every year. Because what are we without our mum & dad. It's a day to be truly celebrated.