AN INTRODUCTION

I realised that I haven't properly introduced myself. So here goes :)

I am married and we have a 19 month old little girl named Lily. She is the love of our life, the best thing that has ever happened to us. We still look at her each day and thank God that she is ours. My maternity leave officially ended at the end of January. I have been at home with Lily ever since and I am currently looking forward to returning to work once I find a job. 

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa where I lived all my life until I moved to London with my then boyfriend, Andrew (we are now married). We moved to London in August 2008, always staying in the south. 

I love London. I grew up in awe of London, and England too. So once we moved here I couldn't believe how lucky I was to live in such an amazing city!! I still pinch myself today that I am fortunate enough to live in England. It was in London that we made some amazing friends and had some of the best times ever. We seriously had so much fun, perhaps too much fun ;) London is the kind of place that you can live in for years and you'll never be able to do it all or see it all. There's just too much and it changes all the time.

Not only do the places change in London, but your friends do too. Many of our friends moved on to other countries, either returning home or following their loved ones across the ocean. And all for the better. As wonderful as London is, it tends to suck you in and keep you stuck. Not everybody mind you, but certainly a lot of the people we knew. And it did for us. Everyone knows it's no secret that it's darn hard to get on the property ladder, but it's even harder in London! So if you're not living in a house share then you're lucky enough to live on your own. But at the expense of spending the majority of your salary on rent and bills. So it's hard to get ahead financially in London. It's fine while you're still in your partying days, sharing digs and thinking about the next party as opposed to planning a family and your future. For years Andrew and I dreamt of living in the country. We wanted to live where the pace is slower, the air is cleaner and the space more, well, spacious. We always said we didn't want to raise our children in London. As time went on we started feeling too cramped in London. This is probably also thanks to the tiny flat that we lived in. Once Lily arrived our flat got even smaller. And as Lily grew (alarmingly fast!) the even smaller flat started to swallow us. We knew that once we moved out of that flat there was no point in moving elsewhere in London. The next move would be out of London. So that's how we came to live here in Lewes. And we haven't looked back.

As happy as I was to leave that grotty, tiny flat we lived in, it was also hard to say goodbye to London. There were so many memories, so many conveniences, too much I still wanted to explore and experience. But I was ready for the countryside.

London will always have its pros and cons (sometimes these depend on a good or bad day). But it will always be there. And I can visit anytime. 

S.