Alien in Northern Ireland: Leave of absence

Everyone has been asking when I'm going to blog again. Truth is, I wasn't even sure if I was going to blog again. As you know, a very good friend passed away suddenly in August. I was so shocked by her death, and the big hole she has left in my life. Wendy read my blog EVERYDAY! And when I didn't write, so would bug me until I did. Within minutes of each blogpost, she would either mail or bbm me to comment/criticise/get a recipe off me. I knew when I wrote my blog, that she would read it and respond ASAP.I am so glad my mom was here when I got the news, I think I would have been on the first plane back home if she wasn't. I'm still in mourning, but I do realise that I need to write to be able to heal, I can't keep running away from it. This has been the most difficult year of my life. Leaving my home, friends and family to start up a new life here in Northern Ireland. There are days when I just want to pack up my things and come straight back home. But, I know its not fair on Karl, he gave SA his best shot, and I owe him AT LEAST that much. I know a lot of you know that I'm struggling to decide what to do. But after many tears, prayers and advice, we have decided to give it another year. We are moving into a place of our own next month, and putting the building of our house on hold (we will still save towards this) until we know where we are going to be. I am still applying for jobs in my field, but I must say I am happy in my current role (not the work, but the people and the social side of things) so that helps a lot.

I became very withdrawn after Wendy's death. I hardly spoke to or reached out to many of my friends, and I am now trying to be a better friend. No excuses, but I just felt that I didn't have anything to give to anyone emotionally over the past few months. I realise this is not true, but tragedy affects all of us differently. That being said, we have been keeping quite busy over the past 2 months, so here is a quick photo update. I will try to blog more, but it might take some time. Thanks to all of you for all your texts/emails/calls and bbms. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.