How's About A Kiss?

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Originally uploaded by mkdougal.

Paul, Jenni, Ellie and Rhiannon came over to our place yesterday for a visit. It was lots of fun entertaining them in our home.

I cooked up some spaghetti bolognaise for lunch (my little speciality), and we all had some chocolate cake for dessert to celebrate Liz's and Paul's birthdays.

As you can see, Ellie really REALLY *loves* chocolate cake!

My Two Beautiful Nieces!

Originally uploaded by mkdougal.

Liz and I spent the night last night at Paul & Jenni's place.

It was really nice to catch up, and also grab some pics of my two little nieces - Ellie and Rhiannon. Rhiannon is just 8 weeks old!

Our New Home...

Originally uploaded by mkdougal.

...with our new car parked out the front. The other shot is of our back garden - yes that's a fish pond on the left hand side behind the little fence.

We've been very busy since our wedding, getting ourselves nice and settled into our new place. We put an offer in on the place before getting married last October, completed the purchase when we returned, and moved in on the 20th of November 2006. A pretty quick turnaround so we are told.

So, a little bit of information about our home...

It is a 3 bedroom 1930's built house (20 years older than Mum & Dads back in Oz). It's about a 7-10 minute walk to the nearest tube station, Loughton, and then it's about a 45 minute tube ride either into the centre of London, or to Canary Wharf, where I work. Liz mainly works around the Stratford area, so it takes around 25 minutes by tube for her.

The high road is also around 10 minutes walk away, however there's a convenience store and a few other shops around the corner from our home, which is handy for grabbing the little essentials.

We've started some renovating (just the bathroom - nice and simple to start with) and are enjoying our new place immensely.

Our car is a Renault Megane, that I really love driving. It's a little smaller than what I am used to from Australia, but needs to be to park and drive on the small streets in the UK! It's been over 7 years since I owned a car. Living in London and New York I didn't really miss having one, but now we have one it's really handy. Particularly for driving up to see Paul & Jenni (brother and sister-in-law), and my two beautiful nieces Ellie & Rhiannon (yes, Jenni gave birth to Rhiannon on 27 December 2006).

Let It Snow!

Originally uploaded by mkdougal.

Ok, so a few people have commented that my blog is perhaps not as up to date as it used to be, and would like some more pics posted... (thanks for the gentle nudge F!)

So, here are a few from the big snow fall we had in London in January...

Pineapples & Cocktails

What could be more Hawaiian than drinking a cocktail from a pineapple???!!!

After a few days in Maui, we flew on to Honolulu for 6 more days of our honeymoon. The first night we got there, we watched the sun set over the waters of Waikiki Beach. It was a spectacular sunset, with the sun burning large and red in the sky before dipping below the water.

All The Fish Are Swimming In The Water

On our third day on Maui, Liz and I went snuba diving. Yes, that's not a mispelling - it's a combination of snorkelling and scuba diving.

We wore snorkelling masks and flippers, and breathed through a mouthpiece similar to those found on scuba gear. Instead of an oxygen tank on our backs, the mouthpiece was connected via a rubber tube back to a tank floating in an inflatable raft on the surface. This allowed us to go down to a depth of 20 feet without going through all the rigmarole of learning to scuba dive (which can take a couple of days before being certified).

It was amazing dropping below the surface of the water and still being able to breathe. After a few moments to become used to the experience, we were both going down as deep as possible, looking at all the coral, fish etc. The water was also incredibly clear - we could see quite a distance. It was all a little surreal. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now I am really keen to try scuba, once I get the chance to become certified...

As you can see from the photo - I was having a little trouble keeping the water out of my mask - it was almost up to my eyes!

Sunrise and Bike Ride

Following our wedding, Liz & I flew to the nearby island of Maui, where we spent a few days relaxing.

One morning we were picked up from our hotel at 2am, and taken to the top of Haleakala Crater to watch the sun rise. It was pretty cold up there, but worth the effort - it was a gorgeous sunrise.

Afterwards, we rode bikes down the side of the crater (well, on the road at least!). It was like a kid's dream come true - being able to ride down the biggest hill imaginable - 30 odd miles with almost no peddaling - was awesome! Liz decided it wasn't for her though, and rode down in the van instead. Thanks Stacey for the suggestion - I had a great time!

Additional: It occurred to me today (7 November) that I didn't include a pic of the sunrise - just the bike ride... so for everyone's enjoyment, here is on of the better pics!

The Big Day

Our day was finally here!

After planning for more than a year, the day was upon us.

Strangely, I didn't feel nervous at all - I kept expecting it to hit me at some point during the day, but it never did. I was calm and excited at the same time. The actual moment itself, when I saw Liz in her wedding gown, was one I'll remember for the rest of my life. She looked absolutely beautiful!

Part way through the ceremony, as I was saying my vows and making sure I put the ring on Liz's finger properly, it rained. Just for a few minutes - by the time we were done exchanging vows the rain had stopped. I didn't notice it at the time, however I saw the rain on the windows a little later in the ceremony... According to Hawaiian tradition, rain on your wedding day like that is good luck.

There will be plenty of pics to follow, however for now I've attached a few that were taken by Liz's Uncle Andy (andrewest@aol.com) - thanks very much for the photos Andy :)

Thanks also for those who were able to come to our wedding - we had a fantastic time, and by the looks of the photos everyone else did too!

Our Wedding!

For the latest information and updates for our wedding, please click here!

For those having trouble accessing our wedding registry at John Lewis, please try this link

Mark & Liz

They Call Me Bruce

My Stag Do / Bachelor's Party / Bucks Night was on the Thursday before the wedding. Liz also had her Bachelorette Party / Hen's Night on the same evening.

The Stag Do began at 5:30am, when a bunch of the guys got up at the crack of dawn to go ride ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) around one of the plantations on Kauai. There was lots of mud and dirt involved!

Later that day, we went to try on our suits ready for the wedding. Despite our best efforts (and many showers), we still managed to have a lot of dirt and dust on our necks, which was quickly transferred to the crisp white shirts we tried on! Luckily Jeanne, the rental place owner, had a good sense of humour!

In the evening, we all donned bright red Hawaiian shirts, renamed ourselves Bruce, and spent the rest of the night tearing up the bars in downtown Lihue. Amongst other things, we managed a few songs at a Karaoke bar, presented a lei to a woman at the Dollar Car Rental place at Lihue Airport and met lots of weird people, before heading to Narwilliwilli pub to meet up with the girls. It was an eventful night!