2016 – a year in photos

Posted on January 2, 2017 by livingtheturkishdream

So, as the clock stuck midnight last night we bid 2016 a fond goodbye. While many people were glad to see the back of the year, on a personal level it was a good one for us, and definitely the most eventful of our lives! Berkay finished the army, we planned a wedding, got married, had TWO weddings, applied for Berkay’s visa, he moved to the UK and we spent our first Christmas as husband and wife together. For the past 3 years I’ve done ‘a year in photo’s’ recap posts, so here is this years!

January 2016

On 18th January Berkay completed his 12 month army service, which was a huge relief. It was like a huge weight lifted. His army service had kept us apart for most of 2015 so the start of 2016 when we knew the end was imminent was very exciting. A week after he finished his service I travelled to Turkey to meet him, it was the first time we’d seen each other since April 2015 – 9 months, the longest we’d ever spent apart. I spent 10 days in Calis/Fethiye with him and love these photos from those few days – all bring back lovely memories. Of course I had to watch a few sunsets while I was there, and take part in our favourite past time – playing backgammon and drinking tea in seafront cafes! The weather was unusually warm too, it was definitely interesting to spend a January day on the beach fishing in a vest top!

February 2016

By February I was back in England, but we had celebrating to do – after I got back we decided we’d get married that year, and I started planning things with my family. Me and mum went wedding dress shopping, which was the most bizarre experience, I wasn’t at all intending on getting a big, white, wedding dress but after trying one on, that is exactly what happened, and we celebrated with champagne cocktails!

March 2016

After only having been back in England for 5 weeks, I found myself boarding another flight to Turkey mid-March, this time only for 4 days. They were a very busy 4 days, spent running around offices to hand in our marriage paperwork and book a date. Berkay even had to have a blood test, but once it was all handed in we had the date confirmed – 27th April. Amongst the 4 days of rushing around, we managed to enjoy a bit of time together.

April 2016

April was obviously the best month! At the beginning of the month things became to feel real when I had my hen ‘party’ afternoon tea. A few weeks later, I flew to Turkey with a suitcase full of wedding-related things, met Berkay, and started to prepare mentally for the week ahead! Slowly over the week other members of my family flew out to join us – my nan, grandad, dad, stepmum, brother, sister, mum and step dad. Just having all of us in the same county was lovely, especially with it being Turkey, as that was the place that I called home for so long, yet some of them had never been to, or hadn’t been to for a long time, and never ever all at the same time! Having everyone there, being able to show them things and places and for them to meet some of our friends and Berkay’s family was nice. On the day of the wedding, 27th april, we first drove around Fethiye, Calis, Kayakoy and Yaniklar for a pre-wedding photoshoot. At 6.30pm, My dad and little sister bridesmaid, walked me down the aisle where I was greeted by a crowd of our friends and family, and my mum bawling her eyes out!

May 2016

Unforuately, just 4 days after getting married, on 1st May I was on a plane back to England. It was tough getting back to reality, but I had plenty to keep myself busy with!

June/July/August/September

The summer months were the most boring, I just worked, worked, worked, and when I wasn’t working I was sitting at home gathering piles and piles of paperwork ready for the visa application. I remember sitting at home every night watching the Olympics on tv while writing visa letters and scrolling through 5 years worth of Facebook messages trying to collect and organise them as proof of our relationship! Eventually, it was all ready for the application.

October 2016

1st October, bright and early, I flew to Dalaman again. The first day was spent driving 4 hours away to Berkay’s village in Beyagac, Denizli where we had our 2nd wedding party. Over 5000 people invited, with well over 1000 actually turning up. It was an experience, that’s for sure, and pretty traumatic for a shy girl like me! The best thing was that I was reunited with Boncuk, albeit temporarily. I hadn’t seen her for 18 months and thought she may have forgotten me but she hadn’t at all, she was so happy to see me and smothered me in kisses! Towards the end of the week, we drove to Antalya to apply for Berkay’s visa. Handing in the application was a huge relief and we anxiously awaited the result, our fate in their hands. To relax a little, we checked into the 5* Titanic Lara Beach resort hotel for a night and absolutely loved it – I’d never been in a 5* hotel before and it was definitely exactly what I needed after a week of stress!

The last week of October deserves it’s own little section – after nearly 3 weeks of frantically checking the tracking website, finally the ‘decision made’ box turned green and Berkay got his passport back in the post – we opened it on Facetime together, and inside was a great big shiny visa! What we’d been working towards for years was finally a reality! As it happened, me and mum had booked into a spa the weekend after, so we used that as an opportunity to celebrate.

November 2016

After what felt like a very long month, 18th November finally came around and Berkay arrived at Gatwick airport, greeted by balloons, banners and a lot of my family. Such a surreal moment, knowing he didn’t have to go back.

December 2016

Always a month for fun and festivities, Decemeber didn’t dissapoint. I’d spent the previous two Christmas’ and New Year’s without Berkay, so having him here to help celebrate our first as husband and wife was lovely, even if he doesn’t totally understand the madness of Christmas, Santa and all that goes with it. Last night as Big Ben rang out, me, Berkay, my dad, stepmum, sister, brother and his girlfriend all spent the evening together, celebrating the end of the year but also the start of 2017.

Berkay is still adjusting to life here in the UK but we’re working on it.
Who knows what 2017 holds but I hope it’s kind to us all. I hope all my friends, family and blog readers all have a happy, healthy new year.

Hos Geldin 2017.

2015 – a year in photos.

Posted on January 6, 2016 by livingtheturkishdream

A year ago, when Big Ben chimed for midnight, I was dreading 2015 and the inevitable things that came along with it. I had just moved back to the UK, I was trying to find a job, Berkay was heading off to the army and everything was very uncertain. Now, fast forward a year and things are looking quite different! I’m looking forward to the year ahead, but also reflecting back on 2015 and how far we’ve come so far, with the help of some photos!

January

January was mostly spent worrying about February. Berkay had 4 weeks before he was due to enter the army and we made the most of the time speaking on skype as much as possible. At the end of the month he sent me a package of goodies from Turkey, with some of my favourite Turkish treats and two pairs of baggy village pants. His little note ‘I love you honey, going to army but coming soon, wait me’ is now sitting framed on top of my two countdown jars.

February

February marked the moment that I’d been dreading for YEARS. The inevitable military service that Berkay had been putting off for years finally began. I can still remember this as if it were yesterday, sitting at home with my little sister watching Peter Pan after our last ‘goodbye’ skype with Berkay from outside the entry gate to the Izmir base camp. It was horrible. A lot of tears flowed that day! He didn’t know when he’d be able to contact me again so when I saw an Izmir phone number pop up on my phone later that day it was a huge relief! “We’re just waiting to check in” he said from the base camp phone, making it sound like he was just off on a little holiday! Those first few weeks were the toughest.

March

In the middle of March, 6 weeks after his start date, Berkay had his passing out parade to mark the end of his first stage of training in Izmir. His mum, brother, uncle and cousin went to watch and got to spend a couple of hours with him. His brother sent me photos as soon as he could and it was the first time I’d seen Berkay in his uniform! He looked very proud. He even managed to skype me from his brothers phone, and it was the first time I’d seen him since 4th February, I love this photo his uncle took of Berkay and his stepmum waving to me on skype, look at those smiles!

April

April was probably the most exciting month of the year. Berkay took 10 days leave in between training and starting at his new base in Kayseri. He went back to Fethiye for the week and I got a flight out to see him… It was the first time I’d seen him in person since December so it felt like a long time. We stayed in an apartment in Calis and had a lovely week together, I also got to spend my birthday there with him. Of course we were both reunited with Boncuk too, and she was very excited to see us! We picked her up from our friends house where she was staying, and rented a car so we were able to take her everywhere with us, to BBQ picnics, to the beach, to Oludeniz, and at the end of the week we packed up all her things and took her 4-5 hours away to Berkay’s familys village where her new home was. Spending a couple of days in Berkay’s village was hard, I don’t think I will ever get used to that place, but it was different for sure, and leaving Boncuk there was difficult! While we were there it snowed, so driving back to Fethiye through snowy roads and then 4 hours later ending up in the sunny, warm, Fethiye climate was very odd too!

May

After spending time with Berkay in April, adjusting back to the UK was hard, even after just a week away. But he kept sending me photo updates by sneaking me some photos from his friends phone. I’ve heard people say that their Turkish partners sent them photos of their names in bullets, Berkay sent me a photo of my name in flowers instead! I thought it was really funny, big, hard soldiers in camoflague picking and arranging flowers! Bless.

June

June was a big month. Finally, after 6 months of looking, I got my first full time, long-ish term job through an agency. Initially on a 3 month contract. The job was at Canary wharf, on the 33rd floor of the tallest building there! It was surreal at first, and very overwhelming. The first week or two I was there it was horrible, going out at lunchtime was a real struggle as there were thousands and thousands of people all outside going in all directions at the same time, a real culture shock compared to the relatively quiet areas of Turkey I’d been used to. It didn’t take long to adjust though, and I fell in love with the job. I love the view from our staff room window where we can see the whole London skyline. It’s so beautiful, and made me find a whole new appreciation for London!

July/August/September

Apparently, these months were really boring because I don’t appear to have many photos! I was getting used to full time work again, and adjusting to that. August was a big milestone because it meant we had hit the 6 month’s to go mark! Berkay had been in the army for 6 months and only had 6 more to go. Every day I put a marble in my ‘days down’ jar and seeing equal numbers in each jar felt like a real achievement!

October

October saw the arrival of autumn here and marked another month off the calendar. Berkay’s brother kept his promise of regular Boncuk updates by sending me the cutest photos of her. I remember sitting on the train home from work when he sent the photos and just smiling, look at her little face!

November

November was one of the toughest months of the year. Turkey held an election and emotions in the country were increasingly tense. The expectation of trouble in certain areas meant Berkay was transferred to one of the more dangerous zones in the South Eastern part of Turkey – Diyarbakir. This is an area known for terrorist activity and not a good one to be doing your army service in. I was very worried, and despite what he says, I know Berkay was too. He ended up spending about 5-6 weeks in Diyarbakir and he actually liked it more than his base in Kayseri, we got to speak a bit more on skype through his smuggled in phone, too! Oops.

The best part of the month for me was being told I definitely had my job until the end of the year at least, because by this point I loved it and knew I really wanted to be kept on. The earlier evenings meant I got to see the London skyline at night through our staff room window and it looked even more magical all lit up!

December

December was THE best month. I had to interview for my position at the company I work for and I was successful. I got the permanent job! This was more than just a job to me. It meant I could prove people wrong, people who were so judgmental in the past. Most importantly, it meant I earn well over the income requirement needed for Berkay’s visa to live in England. This is what I’d been waiting for and it seemed like it was never going to happen! After my manager told me I had to sneak off to the toilets for a little dance around (entirely true!). It was a huge weight lifted and another big obstacle out of the way. Such a relief.

Of course December also meant Christmas, and I had a lovely few days with my family, made even better by the knowledge that my job meant 2016 wouldn’t be quite so uncertain and unsettled (hopefully). The marble jars looked even better, with less than 40 days to go, and when Big ben chimed at midnight on 1st January 2016, I was filled with excitement about what the new year would bring, instead of being filled with dread.

It was a very emotional year, in one way or another, and definitely my most testing! Army life has not been easy for Berkay, or for me, and it’s certainly tested our relationship. After living together for 3 years, not seeing him for 8 months hasn’t been easy. By the time I see him again it will likely have been 9-10 months, but at last the end is in sight. Who knows what this year will bring, but I’m sure it will throw a few surprises our way, I’m just glad everyone I know and love made it through 2015, safe, happy and healthy.

I hope 2016 is kind to all of you, and us!
P.S less than 28 days to go!!

2014 – a year in photos – part 2

Posted on January 5, 2015 by livingtheturkishdream

Continuing on with my look back at 2014, here’s part 2…
click HERE to read part 1 (January – June)

July

July was a busy month! We celebrated our 4 year anniversary together and had lots of days out, making the most of Berkay’s pay rise and driving license! We drove to Marmaris for the day as I wanted to see what the fuss was all about, the first photo was taken on the beach there – I much prefer Fethiye, though. A couple of weeks later we went on a boat trip for the first time in a year which was lovely, I love being out at sea, I think I should have been a pirate 😉 The blue sea, clear skies, sunburn… oh I miss it.

The second half of the month wasn’t as busy, and we took time to enjoy walks together during the afternoons before Berkay went to work. One of the best hidden gems we discovered was the amazing view at the far end of Calis beach, behind Şat restaurant, there were little benches overlooking the water and the mountains formed the perfect backdrop. We also visited our friends who had escaped to their village (Kizibel near Uzumlu) to get some cooler air. It had been 8 weeks since I’d seen their twins who had grown a lot, they couldn’t be more different – one small with no hair and the other a giant baby with long locks, they’re still the same now!

August

In August we visited Kalkan, Kaputas and Kas for the day, the coastal road between them is so beautiful and driving along listening to some music with the amazing views of the sea outside your window is just perfect.

Of course it was another hot month, even poor Boncuk found it hard and needed plenty of evening walks along the beach and ice cream to cool her down – twister lollies are her favourite.

We went to the first Fetiyespor game of the season, which was disappointing but a good evening spent together before Berkay headed off to work. The sun began to set earlier in the evenings as the month went on, and I had plenty of sunset photo opportunities, it’s my favourite thing to take photos of!

September

As soon as September arrived, the weather started to cool slightly and it was clear that Calis was starting to wind down for the winter months as the beach became emptier. We went on lots of walks and discovered beautiful places we’d never been before like the Lycian way with this breathtaking view of Oludeniz.

One of the things I miss the most is sitting out on my balcony eating or playing backgammon and that is something we done everyday over the summer. One September morning Berkay came home from work and made this adorable Turkish breakfast for me, who wouldn’t smile at this? So sweet. September was also the month that a stray cat found our balcony and decided to come and visit every single breakfast, lunch and dinner time, I often found her curled up on our garden chairs waiting for us or as soon as she heard the plates she would climb up the tree to see us, she carried this on til the day I left in December!

We carried on exploring areas a little off the beaten track, one being Yesil Vadi in Yuvurlakcay, where we had fun swinging over the river – until I fell in fully clothed..oops!! As always, we finished our day out in the car with a BBQ, but this time we bought Boncuk along. This was one of my favourite days, so simple but so relaxing.

The 3rd and final look back at 2014 in photos coming soon…

2013 – A year in pictures – Part 2.

Posted on January 11, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

To carry on from part one, here are the rest of my favourite ‘moments’ of 2013 captured on camera.

July

July marked our 3 year anniversary, although it feels like we’ve been together so much longer. The first photo was taken on July 8th, our actual anniversary, and the second was taken a few days later when my Mum and aunt came to visit. This is one of my favourite photos of us ever.

The first is a photo of my aunt, me and mum during their holiday. I stayed at their apartment the whole week and it was great to spend time with them. Me and Berkay enjoyed making use of the pool again!

I don’t know why, but I really love this photo of me, I look so happy. This was after a freak summer rain storm and the clouds made for a pretty sunset. The second photo was taken after my family had gone home and me and Berkay had gone to the beach for a picnic. We were surrounded by half dressed tourists sunbathing and we rocked up fully clothed with our pots, pans and plates.

The height of summer was tough for Boncuk too, she was far too hot and enjoyed ice-lollies every once in a while to cool her down, such a spoilt little doggy. The photo on the right was taken during one of our long walks where we let Boncuk run off the lead and have some fun with her ball, she was more interested in giving us hugs though.

August

The little fella on the left was my little buddy. Whenever I was alone in our house at night when Berkay was at work, he’d come out and I’d see him running across the walls, he even slept in my shoe once. He was a little scary, but quite cute, too. The photo on the right is me with our friends little boy who was 10 months old at the time, we quite regularly went on barbeque picnics with them at little bays around Fethiye.

These two photos were taken in Dalyan when me and Berkay had a rare day out. I’d always wanted to go and when we decided I was moving back to the UK, we thought we best make the most of our last few weeks together. The lake was so calm before the rush of tourist boats arrived. It was beautiful. I had some fun in the mud bath, Berkay wasn’t brave enough to cope with the smell and jump in though!

Look how tanned we are in these photos! Both photos taken during one of our daily dog walks. I miss just spending time walking with them both.

Whenever we’d sit down for a rest during the walk, Boncuk would come straight over and jump on us for a cuddle. Soppy little thing ❤

September

September was tough. These photos were all taken before I returned to the UK. We took photos at every opportunity when we realised our time was running out together. They were all taken during our daily walk with Boncuk. We’d go up to the top of the hill and sit down and look over Calis and our house. Boncuk would play with her ball and come and give us hugs and it was so lovely to get away from the busy tourist areas or the noisy roads. It was our special place and it was so peaceful.

Sitting on our balcony playing this game ‘tri-ominos’ was another of our favourite things to do, such a simple thing, but something that I really do miss. The second photo is one of the last photos I have of the 3 of us and I love it to bits. This was a couple of days before I returned to England.

These two photos were taken during our little minibreak to Gumbet, Bodrum. They were the only 2 days Berkay had off during the whole of the summer and we wanted the time away together before I had to return to the UK. It was lovely to get away for a few days and forget that I would be leaving soon. The view from the rooftop terrace of our hotel was beautiful.

This is another of my favourite photos of myself, I was just so happy to be in Fethiye right at that moment. When I realised I was leaving I really did realise how much I took for granted about Fethiye and appreciated it so much more.

The photo on the left shows just how much Berkay and Boncuk love each other, a dog really is man’s best friend. The photo on the right is special too, one of the last walks we went on together and we just sat down on the beach watching the waves, even Boncuk looked like she was looking out to sea with deep thoughts going on in her head.

October

The best thing about coming back to the UK was being reunited with my 2 year old sister, Abbie. She’s just adorable and we’re really close. I love looking after her and we’re like best friends 🙂 The photos on the right are in a frame right above my bed. Dad put the frame there purposely so that all my most favourite memories could be above my head while I’m dreaming. ❤

October meant Halloween, and I spent ages carving this Peppa Pig pumpkin, I told myself it was for my sister but I got a lot of enjoyment out of it, I think it turned out pretty good for a first time effort! The second photo is my mums dog, although he’s not nearly as lovely as my Boncuk, he’s a good second best, and a real funny thing.

November

Only one photo needed for November, after weeks of planning, panicking and worry, Berkay got his visit visa to the UK so that we could spend Christmas together. It was such a relief.. Knowing when I would see him again made being apart just that little bit easier.

December

By far the happiest moment of December was this first photo. This was literally 2 minutes after Berkay had appeared through the Gatwick arrivals door on 16th Decemember, it was the first time I’d seen him since September 26th. The second photo was taken around Christmas.

The last two photos of 2013, taken in London a few days before the end of the year. I love how these photos turned out, how good does Berkay look standing next to Big Ben? Personally I think it’s proof he belongs in England! (;

2013 was a good year, lots of memories, good and bad. Here’s hoping 2014 will be full of the same.
I’ll keep my camera by my side at all times and do my best to capture all those precious moments.

2013 – A year in pictures – Part 1.

Posted on January 11, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

The start of a new year always has us reminiscing about the previous one doesn’t it? I was looking back over all my Instagram photos of the year, and realised I had captured a lot of special moments. People are always commenting about how ‘snap-happy’ I am and that I take far too many photos of pointless, trivial things…but, if I’ve learnt anything this year it’s that sometimes those pointless trivial things mean the most.
It was hard to narrow it down to just a few photos for each month, but here are my favourite moment-capturing photos of 2013.

January

How cute and smiley does our little Boncuk look here? Such a happy puppy, and she was so tiny back then. I love the photo of us purely because of how cold we look- notice my hoodie and coat.. It was freezing.

Love both of these photos as it reminds me how quiet and peaceful Calis Beach is during winter when no tourists are around..lovely calm seas and beautiful sunsets.

February

Two stunning photos of the beach. The first is my favourite, winter is definitely the best time for beautiful sunsets in Calis.

This was the view from my balcony on a very cold winter morning, just look at that snow on the mountain, when Babadağ gets snowy, you know it really is cold. The photo of Boncuk makes me smile, I love her flappy ears. Can’t believe how much she has grown.

March

The first photo was during a Fethiyespor game, we got free tickets and really enjoyed it, and the team won too! Look at the beautiful backdrop of mountains, it was such a beautiful place to watch a game of football, the first real hot day of the year too, and I got a totally sunburnt face. The second photo was from a really lovely Spring day, we went to the beach and had a little picnic, then went for long walk and on the way back home bumped into these gorgeous baby goats who belonged to my landlord. Being a big animal lover, I couldn’t resist picking one up for a hug!

These last two photos are sad, as they were from one of the last times I saw my rabbit, she died when I was in England in April. Poor little bunny<3

April

We both visited England for a month in April. These two photos were taken on my 21st birthday (as if the hat didn’t give it away), we celebrated with all my family and a few close friends. My cake was lovely and had photos of all my loved ones around the sides.
The first photo makes me laugh so much, me & Berkay took my little brother and sister to London Zoo, and as you can tell, Berkay was less than impressed by the pigs. Classic photo. The other is me and my sister just after her 2nd birthday, no wonder saying bye to her everytime I returned to Turkey was always hard, look how adorable she is!

May

Our two good friends got married in April but had their wedding party in May, it was my first time attending a Turkish wedding, it was interesting to say the least, but the bride looked beautiful. The second photo is one of my favourite photos of us, look at those smiles and happy eyes.

I love how happy Boncuk looks playing with her ball here, bouncing along after a long walk and a swim in the sea.

These photos are what I mean by ‘everyday trivial things’. Both taken on my balcony, the first is the beautiful view I had when I would sit outside at 5am watching the sun rise, the silhouette of the mountain.. just stunning. The second is one of the things I really miss the most, just sitting on the balcony having a barbeque. We used to have at least one a week, often more. Such a simple thing, but something that I really, really miss just doing together with Berkay.

June

Lots of happy moments in June. The first photo is just one of those moments that always makes me smile, it’s my little dog chasing two huge camels.. bless her, she likes to act hard but when the camel turned around to look at her she came running back to us. The second is from a lovely day when we had breakfast along the seafront in Fethiye town. It was an open buffet with everything you could ever want as part of a Turkish breakfast, it was delicious and the glass of cay finished it off nicely. What better place to have breakfast, so close to the sea and beautiful scenery.

These two photos were taken during a Sunday picnic with our friends at a quiet bay in Fethiye. We had a barbeque picnic and a lovely swim..the view on the way back to Fethiye town was stunning.

One of the reasons we have lots of lovely memories from June is because my Nan and Grandad came to visit. I spent a lot of time at their apartment with them and made full use of the pool and aircon, luxuries that we didn’t have at our house. I love the first photo of us all on their last night in one of our favourite restaurants in Calis, look at all those smiling faces.

While my grandparents were here we visited Yakapark (left) and Oludeniz (right). We have some lovely photos there, but these two of me and Berkay are my favourite.