Holy Colee!

It has been an absolutely fabulous weekend :) My mom came down on Thursday afternoon. Friday I took the day off and we just spent the day wandering around whatever store we wanted to. We took our sweet time and just... yeah. Today we woke up late... well, I did. Mom was up a couple of hours before me and she is never lazy, so she cleaned my little house while she waited for me to join the living. Have I mentioned how cool my mom is? We had a slow morning, but it was all leading up to a glorious afternoon. We went to the much anticipated "Wicked."
It was amazing, awe inspiring, exceptional... how many more ways can I say awesome?
I have seen the show before, but it doesn't make it any less inspiring. If you ever have the chance - take it. Definitely take it. I love the pieces that tie it into the Wizard of Oz, but even minus those, the story is great, the music is awesome, and the costumes, show, etc... there is a reason the show sold out in 5 minutes.
After the show we went to dinner and now we are kicked back at home enjoying some home time.

Life really is good.

This week I am spending the week in Dingle. I came home on Friday by way of Aaron and Kristen's wedding. It was a lovely ceremony. Saturday they had their reception - it was a full out back yard BBQ. They were blessed with a nice day, except for the wind. But I think they were pleased they didn't have to move it to the back up - in door - location.
Sunday was Easter. I love Easter. What a glorious time to remember not only the ultimate sacrifice, but the ultimate gift that has been given to all of us. A special day set aside to remember that He lives! and because of that each of us will also live again.

It was a good day. After church and a very tasty meal (Thanks Kel), we spent the afternoon learning more about the history of the early saints. It was a book written from the perspective of Emma Smith. We only got about 2/3 of the way through, so I am going to have to find some time to go finish it.

Today was my first day back to work since March 30. All of the big things were cared for very well. What I learned is that there are all kinds of little things that are hard to train people on. You know, the stuff that you just kind of learn as you go, but you forget unless you have to think about it? But I was very pleased with the work my team did. And, I think they are pleased to know that I am not going anywhere for that long again anytime soon.

Tonight we got to spend some time outside - Spring is so fickle - we must enjoy it while we can, in however small or large a dose as it allows :)

Today we went back to Oldham. I am officially done picking up random things to keep the kiddies back at home happy. After an afternoon of searching for trinkets and treats we dropped it all off and went back to Spring Inn. It is the pub, that is just about a 10 minute walk from here. We had a great meal. For starters I had my first pate. For my main course I had steak and ale pie with chips and veggies. For my sweet I went with the Treacle tart. OH MY GOODNESS. I may have to look for that recipe. John's sweet was the Banoffee (banana and toffee) pie. In honor of Dav, today's pictures will be of dessert :)

As promised, we went to church this morning. I had to laugh though. We started at church and ended the day at the pub. In the middle we went bowling. It was a good day. Not very Sundayish, but a good day. I could have talked him into 2 churches, but it's Conference Weekend, so no LDS services. We did drive past the ward house though- if that counts?
Anyway, here are a few more pictures from today.

Today ended up being a pretty quiet day. We've pushed the city onto Monday or Tuesday instead. We ran a few errands back in Oldham and went to Asda (yes, even in England I can find my way to a Wal-Mart). Tomorrow is Sunday and John has promised to take me to church. I am including a picture of the church that is on the end of the street. We took a wander around it yesterday, it's actually very lovely and literally, a 3 minute walk.

Hellooo :) I thought I had better stop a moment to tell everyone what a wonderful week I am having. On Tuesday I got on a plane and came to Manchester to see John. Wednesday morning, h met me at the airport and brought me home to Rochdale. We dropped off my bags and went for a walk down to the garden center, Gordon Riggs. Yes, really the garden center :) Ok, really it was just on our way down to the grocery store. It was interesting. Some things are very similar, some a different. By the time we were done wandering, I was fading fast. (I didn't so much actually sleep on the way over). John let me off easy and we came home.
Thursday, we went into Milnrow. We wandered around the shopping center and ran some errands down to his work and such. When we got back to the center we saw Sean Wilson (aka Martin Platt) from Coronation Street, standing outside the McDonalds having a Big Mac with his kids. Ok, so it really didn't do anything for me either, but apparently he's a big celebrity here. Everyone in the square was pointing and whispering.
Today John and I went to Hollingworth Lake. It is a pretty little lake near the South Penines in the North west of England It was absolutely gorgeous, and the day could not have been anymore lovely. Infact, my face is actually sunburned. I didn't know you could actually get a sunburn in England? We got proper fish and chips and a 99 with a flake and walked around the lake. There were families everywhere, flocking to the lake on such a pretty day. John says it will be super busy tomorrow on a non work day. We also peeked in on a tea room, but since we had already had our meal and our sweet we decided not to stop. I really can't get over just what a lovely day it was.
I've been in England for 3 days and it hasn't rained yet. That is supposed to change tomorrow, which is why we are planning a day in Manchester.

I am including pictures from our walk today. I hope you enjoy them.