Grow Your Blog Party

Today I am taking part in a "Grow Your Blog Party"

Vicki over at 2 Bags Full knows many people via her blog and has some wonderful friendships because of this, well electronic friendships anyway, and they are sometimes great ones to have.
So she is holding a party to enable others to find some new friends and followers, maybe even some new interests in crafts, books, places and even tips on how to blog and what to blog about etc.
The main purpose being to Meet-Greet-Grow your blog.

So today is party day and welcome to my place.
Please don't worry about your shoes as you come through the door, I am not fussy, although I have just been redecorated however the carpet is old!
I like to keep my blog background up to date with the time of year, although here in New Zealand it is summertime so I have just changed from my Christmas background to something a little more suitable.
If you like this background then you can check out more free ones over at Leelou Blogs, she is always happy to share a few freebies with friends.

If it smells nice that is because I am cooking some chocolate brownies to take with us tonight to a dinner date with some friends.
I can offer you some tea or coffee however due to the gorgeous weather we are having I thought maybe some peach ice tea with ice cubes would be better suited to the day....help yourself.

So who am I?
I am a wife and mother, oh and in my spare time I get to play nurse at the hospital.
I have been married for 4 years although we have actually been together for 13 years.
We are very lucky to have 2 adorable sons who are 7 & 9 years old.

I am English and moved to New Zealand just under 15 years ago, on my own on a one way ticket!
I decided that I had a one year visa and if I didn't like it here then I had to work hard at my nursing job to raise the money for the ticket home.
15 years later and I am still considering raising the money to go home!

I started blogging in 2005, although I only managed a few posts. I got back into it in 2006 and I haven't looked back since.
I started blogging to keep all my family overseas up to date with what the 2 little bundles in our life were up too. I didn't want to keep writing out separate emails to relatives with heaps of pictures attached, which in turn would take up time and space on their email (we are talking pre broadband, so most were on dial up at the time!)
Since then, several of my family have moved from England to New Zealand and so now I blog as a memory of life and what the family are doing. Even though my mother only lives 1 hours drive away we still manage to keep up with what the other is doing by checking our blogs!

I like crafts and have been cross stitching since I was 7, however along with most craft things, it has been on hold for a few years whilst I grew the 2 young boys in my life. Although I am suddenly gaining more time for myself and can now get my stitching out for at least an hour before someone interrupts me for something, so hopefully there will be more time for it coming my way soon.
I have also just started getting myself organised to do digital scrap booking.
I am working my way through the pictures on the computer, organizing them and also getting to grips with the scrap booking programme I am using. Layouts are very few and far between at the present moment but I am learning and hopefully more will start appearing as I get better at it all.

So this is me, this is where I can be found and I am so glad that you dropped by.
I would love you to come back and visit anytime you feel like it.
You may find I will be sleeping when you visit due to the time difference (New Zealand is so far from anywhere!) but feel free to look around and make yourself comfortable whenever you feel like it, just remember to turn the light out when you leave.