Public Footpath to Sille Bliss

RIP BFF ❤

Posted by Sille Bliss

Today a best friend of mine was laid to rest. My continued prayers go out to her daughter Brooklyn and her family. 🙏

Because I couldn't be there I wrote this for her to be read at her funeral service today.

❤❤❤

What can I say about Ruth that people don't already know? Not much really, she was an open and honest person towards everyone. Besides the fact that she was my BFF, she was a best friend to a lot of other people too. She was lovable, caring and gave you that feeling like it was OK to open up to her and share your feelings without any judgement at all. This is why everyone loved her and she had so many friends. This was Ruth.

She could never end friendships or relationships on bad terms. They always had to be on good terms, always. I could never understand that about her. I think I use to be the one to get mad and hold the grudges for her most of the time. But that was who she was. Never holding grudges, always forgiving, always positive, always Ruth.

You knew if you were going to be hanging out with Ruth, you were going to have fun, guaranteed. There were so many, too many, and not enough good times Ruth and I had... And she loved to reminisce. That was her thing - talking about what happened in the "Summer of 1992 or Fall of 1996". If I wanted to remember what happened during a certain time of the year, she was the one to go to. Who am I going to go to now? Who am I going to reminisce with now?

I met Ruth when we were 15 years old. So she is my family, she is my family's family.... She is my heart and according to her we were soulmates. I hope she knew I felt the same way about soulmates. I thought I would have a lifetime with Ruth. I thought she would always be there until we were older and gray'er. But life doesn't work that way. God doesn't work that way.

I do know she is resting in peace and she is pain and worry free in heaven. But I admit, I'm selfish and I wish she was still here in my life and with us right now. I'm sure gonna miss my BFF. I Love you Ruth.

Ruth Chavez

🥀

1975 - 2022

It's been over 2 years!

Posted by Sille Bliss

Two years since I last published a blog here! At one point I decided to try something new and I did/am. But this is where it all started yeah? Well even though my last blog was in 2018 it was only one blog, and before that it was another one in 2016. All I can say is during that time, there has been a lot of travelling around England and a few new countries too. It has been a blast. Thank God during this time we have all been healthy and He has been watching over us.

2019 was a bit of a stand still for us. I did take up swimming back in early 2018 at our leisure center. I love it and do it as much as possible. Unfortunately right now I'm not swimming at all because everything has been closed since the beginning of this year, so I'm missing it a lot. I applied for my ILR which was the next and last step after my two visas, it was a slow process. When applying, you have to mail in your passport and with that goes all the travelling. So we waited, we waited for almost the whole year. Even though we couldn't travel and I feel like we didn't go anywhere, we actually did. We just did it all in our own country. There was a lot of beach and park visits, touring castles and state houses.

Towards the end of the year, I received my approved ILR and passport back from the Home Office. This was a huge deal. Having been approved for my ILR meant that I was done and could stay in the country indefinitely (as long as I wasn't out of the country for no longer than a certain amount of time). I no longer had to keep applying every 2 years. This was all great, but we were just more excited and focused on getting my passport back so we could book a much needed holiday somewhere out of the country before the year's end. We loved Morocco the last time we went, so we decided to come back to more glorious sun for the winter. 💓 December 2019.

Then there was 2020. Need I say more? Covid hit and that was the end of traveling for who knows when. I was OK with that. I did not plan on putting myself in harms way, especially being so far from my family. We all had to stay safe and healthy... and that is what we did. We stayed put and followed government advice and rules.

It was a worrying and scary time, but we had to stay positive and have faith that we would all overcome this. It was hard being away from my family more than ever (still is). Not only because everything was so horrible out there, but it has also been the longest I have gone without seeing them. October 2018 was my last visit and I am feeling the separation. But all I can do is try to stay positive. That was and still is number one right now. As sad and horrible as 2020 was for the world, it was honestly one of the best years of our family's lives. God has been great and IS our saviour. I constantly thank God for his blessings and I pray for all the people in the world who have lost so much during this time.

So we had our 1st lockdown from April thru June, and it was long. But because of that, coronavirus cases were extremely low. This meant we were able to spend the summer months and early autumn free! We could get out and do things. We still had to be careful and social distance of course. We were able to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary at our favourite restaurant on it's actual day! We were able to relax in the garden of our fav pub and eat on the harbour. We spent time at the beach and rode Poole ferry - this one was a first for me and long over due.

Oh did I forget to mention the afternoon tea?! Come on, you know we can never go too long without one. 😛 Now my highlight from it all was us deciding to do the double decker sightseeing bus tour in our town. It was so fun and amazing learning more of our history. I felt like a tourist on holiday! 😊

Spending time out there was a little nerve wrecking at times, but we almost felt normal. There was still that little voice in the back of your mind, telling you not to forget to sanitize and not get too close to people. Even with all that, we really needed this; everyone did. But as always and even more so now, all good things can't last forever and as fast as we were let out, we were back inside for our 2nd lockdown from November to the first week of December.

2021 today is even a better day, for not only my family but also the world. We have a vaccine! Things should hopefully get better out there. We've been in our 3rd lockdown since January and still here. I am trying to make the best of it but after 11 weeks not being able to do anything, it's getting really old. Now beginning next week people are no longer required to stay home legally but everything stays closed until the 12th of April. So for me, that is the day my lockdown is over. So there are 3 more weeks till we can feel somewhat normal again.

So, the positives and why today is a better day - My family is healthy. We are all getting through our vaccine jabs. Most importantly, I am closer to God now than I have ever been in my life. I've always had God in my life for as long as I can remember. I have all my sacraments, I went to Sunday school and church every Sunday. My siblings and I all went to Catholic school. So He has always been with me, but I seem to have lost myself somewhere along the way for a long time now. Praying every night has always been my constant throughout the years from a little girl until now, that never stopped. But for me, that was no longer enough. God is my EVERYTHING and deserves more time in my life than just a prayer every night. I still struggle every day and pray to be a better person. It's hard, I've been me for a very long time. But I know with Jesus within my hear every day, I will be a better me.

So with all this extra time I've been doing a ton of baking. I'm in my learning phase but I enjoy it, especially my husband and FIL. 😛 I've done a few online courses to keep my sanity and I might start another. I also have a sewing machine and have actually made a couple of things, no clothes yet and probably not anytime soon. 😉

My biggest accomplishment is that I have finally become a British citizen. Soon after receiving my ILR during lockdown, I decided to apply. This would mean I could live here like I lived in America - with no worries or evening thinking about things I needed to do or couldn't do while just living. You don't think about these things in America because you don't have to. You just live. So after 7 long years, lots of paperwork, money and being stressed out during each application process - we've finally completed the journey. I am a British citizen and can "just live". It's a huge load off our shoulders. No lingering thoughts about it in the back of my mind; I'm just as much a citizen here in the United Kingdom as I am in the USA. It's a great feeling. It's done! I'm finished! I'm so relieved. I can breathe. I'm a British Mexican-American now! 😂

So life during this pandemic has been as good as I can make of it. I know I'll be able to see my family again soon. There's a light at the end of the tunnel for us all and all we can do is patiently wait and pray. In time we will all be able to be with our loved ones and do what we love to do again. It's patience, you got to have it and I usually don't. It's not one of my greatest qualities so I have to talk myself through it every day. But it has been working with God's help and I just gotta keep at it; also lots of meditation, which is another thing I've taken up during this time apart from the world.

Let's just all thank God for all He has done for us - big or small during this time and keep pushing forward to more better days and positivity in our lives and in the world. We always need more of it. x,s

And I think I'll go ahead and leave this here...... 😛

The Great British Heatwave

Posted by Sille Bliss

For the past 5 years I've always loved and looked forward to the English summers... jotting down a list of outside activities, places to visit, parks and pubs to sit out at with a nice cold pint of cider. Feeling that hot sun on my face with the perfect breeze just enough to cool me down, I could sit in the sun all day in England. But then, this year happened. It was freaking HOT; I mean like Houston-hot, a-holiday-abroad hot, and not exaggerating hot, it was hell HOT. And it lasted months, not a couple of weeks which I probably could of managed, probably... probably not. But still, a good 2 months hot. And it would of been all fine and dandy if it was Houston because I could of hid inside the house with my blasting AC. If I needed to go somewhere, well you know how we do - we go from house AC to car AC to store/shop AC, and we're good! Summer? What summer?! But here in England, there was nowhere to hide.

Check out this photo of Dorset last year vs Dorset this year during the heatwave and no rain. You can see how serious this actually was.

As I said in the past, a lot of places in England do not have AC; and our home, like 99% of the homes in Britain do not have AC either. What for? We only have a mild 2-3 months of summer, a standing fan does the job just fine. But nope, not THIS summer, our fan was crap! It was like that time all the electricity went out in Houston for a couple of days because of Hurricane Rita and all we had to cool us off were old album covers that we used as hand fans. OK, it might have not been that bad because there is no humidity here, but at the time it sure did feel like it.

So instead of my little list of outdoor activities, I was online searching for shops where I could order another standing fan to put in the bedroom because the one we already had was worthless. Obviously everyone was feeling the same as we were because no stores ANYWHERE had any more fans in stock. The ones I did end up finding were sold for stupid prices that I refuse to spend money on, same for the air conditioning. So my hard-headed ass chose to suffer and wait out the horrible uncomfortable gross nights.

Now don't get me wrong, the days were OK. It's OK if you are outside, it's actually quite lovely. The beaches were packed with sunbathers, the quay was full of holiday makers, parks full as well. But if you had to be inside - forget it. The double glazed windows do not help the situation either. So we did manage to get out a few days and they were always nice - windows down, AC on, that's how I do. I must say I did and for now still do enjoy going swimming and not have to worry about blow drying my hair after because it's too cold and I might get sick. That has really been nice and something I was really looking forward to this summer (hashtag thelittlethings). Wearing flip flops, tank tops and shorts, having ice cream cones on the quay... some things you just have to do and will always love. It's especially really cool seeing all the excited tourist enjoying themselves, knowing they chose to spend their summer holiday in the town where you live. Sorta makes you feel blessed and proud.

Poole Quay

One of the biggest highlights of the summer and maybe the only highlight was that Steve and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Yes! Five years, just like that! Where did all that time go? I have no idea. I've been a married woman in love for 5 whole years! Still pretty damn happy, still feeling like newlyweds... honestly, who said married life was hard? I'm not even being funny about that question. Steve and I talk about it all the time and don't get how people say marriage is hard work. What??? How?? *shrugs* Who knows, who cares. I'm just so happy and pray that we have another amazing, healthy 5 years and more together.

5 Years of Sille Bliss! <3

Because it is such a special anniversary - the big 5 - we decided to celebrate all year long (because we're silly like that). We started off with the first month we met - April. We planned a very romantic and relaxing holiday on the island of Zante in Greece and what a memorable holiday that was.

Zante Greece 2018

For our official day of marriage in July, we celebrated with a romantic weekend out on the town doing what we love - afternoon tea (of course), the cinema and food. We also spent one evening on a cruise from the quay to Wareham which was so fun. We've done cruises around Poole harbour before but this was territory we've never been by boat which made it all the more exciting.

A romantic movie for the most romantic day - The First Purge

We can't have any celebration without an afternoon tea!

Poole to Wareham cruise

And the year is not over yet, we still have November to celebrate the month we were married in church. That will be another destination celebration! Location TBD.

So all in all, yes I've complained a lot about this summer's heatwave, and if you know me well, you know I do love a good rant. But the fact is, if you ignore all the sweaty hard to sleep nights, I really did love it just as much as everyone else did. It was much needed after our coldest snow winter ever back in March, which I must add, was pretty freaking amazing in itself as well... and with that and everything else that has gone on, not only has the summer been pretty unique but so far it's really been an amazing year and I'm just ready for more! x,s

My love and hate relationship...

Posted by Sille Bliss

I hate when winter starts to slowly creep in for the season... you start to instantly feel the cold in the air. Just when I'm getting use to wearing my sleeveless tops and flip flops, even running outside barefoot, suddenly all that is gone. I start to dread it, thinking about how long it will be when I'll be able to wear and do these things again. Now once I've gotten over that sadness and I'm dealing with it, it's a whole other story. I begin to embrace the coldness, the shorter days and extremely longer nights, I start getting excited to wear my cozy jumpers and my many jackets & coats I've now accumulated since living here, as well as my many cute scarves and hats. So then I start to enjoy the winter... but then after about 4 months of the blistering cold, constantly having to layer my clothes just to run to the shop, wearing double the socks and leggings under my jeans, I'm just soooo ready for spring and I'm back to hating winter all over again. That's my love and hate relationship with winter since I've been here, and so here we are once again with another long cold winter.

December 1st - yes, really.

I think this is a start to a very cold and long winter.... I hope not though.

That's probably as much sun as we will be getting for the next 3 months :P

Stocking up with books at the library... we plan to hibernate for the winter. ;-)

Heading to Exmouth, Devon - 12 Dec 2016

Holy Trinity Church, Exmouth - 12 Dec 2016

This was one day in somewhere in Dorset heading to Devon

Another photo I do not remember where we were coming from. But the sun was setting and we were just passing Salisbury cathedral. This was a lucky shot and how amazing it was. The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the UK.

Salisbury Cathedral - 14 Dec 2016

Spending time at home right where I belong...

But not on this day, we had to go out to Reading. My first time here and did a little shopping and walking around but I was too cold and a bit sleepy so I headed back to the car ASAP.

Reading, Berkshire - 21 Dec 2016

Saw this van in Reading, loved it! :)

Back home, relaxing... :P

My first taste of mulled wine for the winter!

Soon we were back out on the streets, the busy streets of Poole a couple days before Christmas in the town center... sounded like a bad idea but we had to go and it actually wasn't that bad at all and quite festive! :)

The day before Christmas eve we were in Weymouth to drop off some things for a client and OMG was it packed!! People everywhere, cars everywhere, it was nuts! I didn't want to get out of the car but our favourite little baker is there and we had to get something for breakfast.