Amanda

"I take it as a compliment when gay men find me attractive"

No, not me, these are the words of Matt Bevan pictured above having his hair straightened...

Happy Birthday to Claire and Dad and Happy Mothers Day to Mum and Moira for Sunday.

We had a great time last weekend in Manchester. It was great to see everyone. Mia and Miasy have both grown up again! For Claires Birthday we went to Pizza Express and then for a few drinks in Wilmslow which was a really good night. We also went to have a look at our new apartment in Mossley with Orla's Mum and Dad.

We will be back up over Easter and then hopefully see Mum and Dad at the caravan in the next few weeks.

See you all soon,

Matt

Picaza Update: you may remember the picaza mis-spelling thing i did to lure people to this site, well I think I am proud to say that 38% of hits we are getting are due to that post. That means that earnings are now up to $1.51 and we have had hits from everywhere from Santiago, Chile to the People's Republic of China.

Amazing.

Lynx Website

Hilarious! - My brother told me he was on the Lynx website. I went to have a look and found this picture. For those of you who don't know Colm is on the bottom left : ) ha ha ha ha!

Click the link and scroll down to Manchester: http://www.lynxboost.com/

Big Brother Blues

Thought it was about time I finally added an entry to the blog (Celebrity Big Brother has just finished and I'm at a loose end)

Seen as you heard about the RAF Christmas do, I thought I'd start with mine...
We started the night off in the rather classy Benihanas on Kings Road in Chelsea - an amazing teppan-yaki Japanese restaurant. However, the sophistication didn't last long. A few Bellinis later we found ourselves in a seedy Soho Karaoke bar cleverly named Karaoke box. We had our own private booth where I embarrassingly entertained my colleagues singing Christina Aguilera. I was equally entertained by some of their performances... A very good night in all (except for Martin feeling and being a little under the weather in the taxi home, sorry Martin he he!)

A couple of days later Matt and I went to Prague where we had a lovely pre-xmas few days away. It was very cold but a beautiful city. We flew back to Manchester on Christmas Eve where we had Christmas dinner with my family, and then another Christmas dinner with Matt's family on Christmas day. It was so nice to see everyone, especially Mia and Maisy opening their presents on Christmas day.

Thought I would also mention my night out with Hayley, Rachel and Hayley in Manchester. Really enjoyed catching up with the girls and going for dinner. We went to Cloud 23 at the Hilton for drinks which is well worth a visit. I also bumped into my friend Monica from uni in the Living Room that night which was really nice.

I had a quite but really nice NYE with with Claire and Matt Bev in New Mills. It was there I ate my last slice(s!) of pizza and nachos coated in melted cheese & salsa before my New Year diet commenced. Matt was playing with the RAF at the Ritz in London so I drove back down to meet him the next day.

After an indulgent end to 2006 the excess pounds were beginning to show. I woke up on NYD to a healthy new me and have not touched a mouthful of chocolate or even a crisp since. Matt and I have joined slimming world. Not that Matt needed to, but it is great support when we eat the same food.

I started the diet in the same way I start all diets -buying things. Normally its some sort of milkshake mix or exercise ball etc, but this time it was actually healthy food!
I went to Tesco, which unfortunately didn't get off to a great start. I left my handbag in the trolley in the car park (in the rain) and drove home. Luckily some honest people do live on our planet and someone had kindly handed it in to customer services.

That trauma over with, food shopping and cooking have become my new hobbies. I make fruit smoothies every morning and go to the gym after work. Matt was slimmer of the week last week. I was very proud but also wished it was me!

Anyway, just before I go, a few messages...

Colm: Hope you get well soon! Thinking of u : ) xx
Hayley Mitch: Happy 24th BD (31st Jan) !! Have an amazing time in Thailand xx!

Grandma McNeill: Happy 85th Birthday (2nd Feb) Sorry we can't be there xx

Lindsay: Happy house warming!

Eleanor: Congratulations on becoming an Aunty xx

Jo: Happy Birthday! We will spend a Bridget Jones Valentines together when the band are away!

See you all soon,
Love Orla xx

Prague

Well, back in Uxbridge now after an exhausting Christmas and new year. Thanks to both our parents for their hospitality while we were in Manchester and obviously to everyone for the presents.
I've put two new photo albums on the internet, the first is just a few shots of my work Christmas party (cowboy theme) and the other is mainly our trip to Prague with a few extras from over Christmas and new years eve.

P.S. Good luck with Sandhurst Muley