My friends tied the knot this weekend. At the end of April it’ll be a year since I helped Dave (the groom) move up to live closer to his fiancée.

I don’t really do dresses – I go through stages where I think about being more girlie and dressing up more and then through my own laziness most of the time (or I can’t find a dress that fits right) I stick with trousers and get on with the day. I think if I worked in a job where I was meeting with people on a day to day basis (rather than the people I work with I’d probably make more of an effort). While we were filing time between the ceremony and the evening reception do, we grabbed some food and then went for a walk around a local park. I managed to snap this photo while walking along a wall.

On the way back to the motorway we took the pretty way – I snapped away taking a bunch of photos to occupy myself. Thankfully the sun came out and light up the hills amazingly. There are a bunch more pictures of our journey home on my Flickr Photostream.

Look what arrived on Monday – as part of the Kickstarter project that kicked off Chantilly’s project to record her EP I got an envelope of goodies including a CD copy of the EP, a CD copy of her older EP and a postcard – it was very exciting especially given that I got home in a bit of a mood and the minute I saw the post on my doorstep I was so excited!

A while back my friend Adam told me about The Fault in Our Stars being released by John Green and if it was pre-ordered then it would be signed. Well I pre-ordered. The day the books were due to arrive there were rumbles (or shoutings) around the internet that copies were being delivered but they weren’t signed. The following day my copy arrived and thankfully it was signed. Well I finally read it and it’s sad and happy and memorable. I opened the first few pages and read the dedication – it was to Esther Earl. Esther was a fab girlie who was taken way before her time. She had cancer and she passed away from it last summer. I hadn’t ever met her in person but I’d seen her YouTube videos and somehow that made her more real to me (I mean like not just random YouTuber who I’d never meet in person etc etc – I make sense to me!). Some of the plot is set in Amsterdam and me and Chris went to Amsterdam for our honeymoon – almost five years ago!

I like writing with a fountain pen. I have a posh nice Parker pen at home but I tend to use these disposable ones on the go so that if they get lost or misplaced it’s not too expensive to replace them (we’re talking £2-3 rather than £10-20). I have been using this blue one at work for about three weeks and it died on me yesterday.

HUGStronger is about helping college girlies find their place – amongst other things. Kaleigh and her team hosted a similar project to Kickstarter via a website called Indiegogo. I was able to donate to this and received a bumper sticker – well I didn’t want to stick it to the bumper of my car but I decided to stick it to the front of my MacBook.

I think this makes it Book 7 of 2012 – I have caught up need to keep reading to stay on track to read 25 books this year (that’s about 1 a fortnight). I’m now reading Divergent by Veronica Roth after my friend Cat suggested it to me. So far it’s good – I think I’m about a quarter through it. (Actually according to GoodReads it’s 13%).

I grabbed this CD from my post pile this morning and stuck it on in the car this morning – I needed some sunshine giving how gloomy and rubbish it was outside. My favourite track is “Just The Way You Are” although “Escape” is replaying in my head as I write this post. (You can find Chantilly’s blog here).

And to finish, it’s my birthday in 8 days – and yes I am probably going to tweet about it every day between now and then lol. I found out earlier today that I am birthday buddies with Ellefie (which I did already know) and ClareBot (which I didn’t know!). I’m a year older than ClareBot and a year younger than Ellefie.

March

Books Read
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse Book 1)
Heat Wave by Richard Castle
Interrupted by Rachel Coker
The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Films Watched
The Hunger Games

Month in Bullets

• My blog turned 5! The celebrations didn’t go quite to plan but I still had two fab guest posts from Rickie and Mrs GLW – it’s a starting point anyway! Maybe I have a month long blog birthday or something as the other posts appear.
• My first birthday present arrived – and I did a little dance. I’ve been watching Hairy Bikers latest series and after every episode I’m like “I want to make that! NOW!” I’d added the cookery book (that accompanies the series) and it arrived on Friday 30th. I finished work early and there it was waiting for me in the porch.
• Me, Mum and her BFF are going to see the Hairy Bikers on tour when they are in Cambridge in November – I’m so excited and it’s not even my birthday yet lol.
• We’ve been living and breathing The Fountain in our house. We were working towards the opening which happens today. I blogged about the opening at a very late/early hour  this morning when I should have been sleeping (it was like Christmas – it was too exciting to sleep!)
• I’ve got a new notebook that I am hoping will keep me more organised and will keep my blog posts up to date and things like that. Let’s see how it goes.
• Lent is almost over and Easter is coming – I keep meaning to catch up with 40Acts as well.

I started thinking about it – what else can be done?

I then got thinking about CDs. Apart from when I’m in the car I listen to music on my MacBook or iPhone. That got me thinking – what do I do with my CD collection? I love music – I think if I was ever to go deaf I’d go slightly bananas too. Music is part of my soul (I think!). Rather than hanging on to CDs that I might never listen to again – I thought about making a second list of my CDs and selling them on eBay or something that but it takes alot of work but at the same time it then puts money in my pocket to go to other things like a holiday or a trip somewhere, or puts money into my bank account to purchase the MP3 versions through my iTunes or Amazon MP3 account.

How about DVDs? For now I’m not going to clear out my whole collection as I still like to snuggle up with a DVD when it’s cold outside or when I feel under the weather and want to watch a movie (but don’t want to have to concentrate really hard on something like at the moment I’m watching Coco Before Chanel). But when it’s easier to get them on the computer or at least on a hard drive then I might start considering being more drastic with my DVD collection.

Joining up with Megan from Happy Day Blog.

Dear Monday, how did you arrive so soon? I’ve sick for a week and I’m so fed up of it. I need to be better! Thankfully my manager and my colleague have agreed that I can take two days off next week as holiday – add in the bank holidays for Easter that gives me 5 days off in a row – I think that’s enough to relax and try and recover.

Dear Guinea Pigs, do you actually know how cute you are? I got home from work and sat next to your cage – when you realised that I wasn’t going to eat you (although me and Dad do keep joking about what roasted guinea pig tastes like – it’s a delicacy in Peru!) you came to the bars and poked your nose through to see what was going on. I got your food bag and shook it a bit you started squeaking and bubbling lots like you were talking to me. I gave you a handful of food and then moved your cage so I could get on with some chores round the kitchen. You freaked out a little bit when I moved your cage but I think you appreciated the music while I did the washing up.

Dear Chris, by this time next week The Fountain will have been opened officially. Saturday is the official opening and it’s very exciting although very tiring making sure everything is ready – I’ve ticked two or three things off the list that you gave me at tea time but the other two were past my brain capacity at 11pm at night.

Dear Junk Food, I’m surprised that I haven’t started sprouting massive zits – I’ve eaten way too much of you over the last few weeks between not having food in the cupboard/the energy to do food shopping (at one point I sucked it up and got on with it last week) and spending bunches of time getting The Fountain ready – this might have contributed to the lack of wellbeing going on around here. I am thinking of a detox from you and from other nasties that make me bleurghy. Where to start? Some of the diets floating around like Whole30 (and here), Juice Cleanse and Paleo all seem seriously hard core and bit beyond me. (Juice Cleanse looks good but I think I’d need Lacy to live near me so that she could keep me in check each day!)

Dear Our Sidekick, Thank you for laughing with me while I tried to street dance on the way to meet Chris on Sunday. I’m not very good and should stick to contemporary instead. I really want you to be more confident in your talents – you are so good at so many things but somehow believe that you aren’t any good at them. (This gives me a sad face)

Today my blog turns 5 years old. A day under a month to my 26th Birthday – yes I am probably going to mention it a whole bunch more times between now and then just so that you can’t forget or pretend you didn’t know.

It’s had it’s ups and it’s downs. There’s been posts where I’ve been scared by the number of views. There have been posts where I’ve wondered if anyone is actually out there and listening/reading. I’ve shared events in my life like when my Grandma passed away and when my cousin got married. I might have even shared my own wedding (actually it seems I didn’t – but I did post on our First Anniversary).

And most recently how we gained Our Sidekick and Two Guinea Pigs.

I think I’ve questioned why I write and wondered if I’m doing it right or if I’m wasting my time. I’ve gone through different platforms and different themes – thanks to Chris I’ve settled on my latest design (at least for now!). I’ve taken part in different series and themed posts including Travel Thursday, The Friday Read and 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups.

Through blog writing I’ve made friends and acquaintances. I’ve got to know people like Becca, Lacy, Kaleigh, Amy, Danielle and Koree who I would have never met had it not been for a combination between my blog and their blogs (go read they are fab!). Through blogs I’ve shared in big life events like when Becca’s daughter was born, when Amy delivered her third child (a little girl too!) and when Koree went to college. Not only have I connected with people in other countries I’ve got to know people here in the UK too. I’ve got to know Becca – technically this was via Twitter first but I think our blogs were an extension of that. It’s crazy to think that in a world this big I’d get to know Ruby who lives in Australia and her hubby Branden (he moved from the US to Australia to be with her – now that’s love!).

I thought about how to celebrate this event – in the past I hosted a giveaway and had about 5 entrants – so maybe I’m not in the right place to do that again (just yet). I thought about offering a service like a blog design or something like that but it’s not really one of my talents so maybe it’s the wrong idea.

Somewhere along the line I decided that a series of guest posts was something that I could curate. This kicked off with Rickie on Monday talking about living live to the max, I’ve got two more to come (And a few more if I get volunteers – if you want to write let me know – I’d love to have you).

Happy 5th Birthday to my Blog

Five years ago I started blogging – I’d been trying to find somewhere to release my crazy rambles when I found WordPress and got started (I think it was also procrastination from my dissertation while at university). This week marks this celebration and I thought I’d get some of my friends to share about their passions. Here is blog post number one…..

The first question I asked myself when Hannah kindly invited me to write a guest post is I have so many passions; which do I write about?
Everyone knows my love of writing, music, travel, reading, food in particular coffee & cheesecake (not necessarily together). Everyone also probably knows I have a big thing for customer service along with a need to support the underdog, the independent business or anyone that means well but needs a helping hand.

So what do all these interests that add up to?

The importance of being happy

As Oprah would say it Living Your Best Life (she may have that phrase on ©). My main passion is to be happy every day.

I’m unable to see the point of spending weeks/months/years waiting for something good to happen; how about just doing what you want and appreciating every day that we can do just that in the free world, unlike others who are without our glorious array of opportunities.

Firstly, when I say this to people, I get a lot of excuses as to why they can’t live where they want, go where they want, do what they want. A dictionary definition of excuse is: to explain (a fault or an offense) in the hope of being forgiven or understood. If we’re late, we blame the train (although we could have got an earlier one), if we’re unable to paint our masterpiece, we blame lack of time (although we could watch less TV).

A reason is biological or legal but mostly we make excuses. Other than those two issues, the world is there for the taking and I always have and always will be grabbing it by hands, feet and any other way possible, as long as I can healthily do so. If you live in the western world at least, you have the same opportunities as I do, perhaps more.

I’m often told I’m lucky but it’s not about luck (or money). I do feel lucky because of the people I have met along the way, but living where I want to live, doing what I want to do and travelling where I want to go has little do with luck; it has to do with determination!
Over the years, I have spent more and more of each day doing what I love but it has taken time – and a massive realisation to get right here.

Despite being on my fourth career, I’ve always done what I love so hard work isn’t really hard for me, more often it’s rewarding, being creative and having fun!

One of the most heart breaking situations is when I hear people say they hate their job; something they spend a huge part of their life doing. No-one said it was easy but life is most certainly too short to spend every day doing something you dislike. It may not be the dream job but there are still options to do something you enjoy more.

Oh, and I say career, I don’t consider I really have a career now, I just undertake projects that I love, some I get paid for, others not as much. As long as I have enough to live on, money is secondary; I only need spends for coffee & travelling around the world.

So, I’m living proof that you can have your cake, and eat it. But share it.

—

Rickie is a blog writer around her day job. She’s currently writing her first book (which as soon as it gets published will be on my wish list I’m sure!) She regularly blogs about books, movies, music and events that she’s been to near where she lives in Birmingham. You can find her blog here. You can also follow her on Twitter: @rickiewrites.

One week dedicated to reminding us all that the blogging community is an awesome thing to be able to be a part of.

This week is all about celebrating the things we love about the blogging community. Remember and sharing about how great it is to have friends we’ve met through our respective blogs. You don’t have to have thousands of followers to consider themselves a good blogger.

So over to you what’s the best thing about being a blogger and part of this community?

Check out some of these other lovelies – they have all signed up to join in with Blog Positivity Week – how exciting is that! Go say hi and share some love!!

Amanda from Dragonflight Dreams
Amanda from Raising Miss Mommy
Amanda from Royal Daughter Designs
Andi from The Hollie Rogue
Ashley from After Nine To Five
Ashley from Mister G And Me
Alyssa from Ten Feet Off Beale
Beth from Through the Eyes of the Mrs
Cassie from Live Laugh Love
Cate from Sangui(knit)ie
Cuyler from Finding My Way
Dominique from Dominique’s Desk
Evelyn from The Bottomsup Blog
Gillian from Craftzilla Conquers the World
Hannah at Grounded Parenting
Janine from Three Wishes
Jen from Rellas Bellas
Jen from Right Side of the Grass
Jessica from The In-Between
Joanna from Moda Momma
Kayla from Sealed with a Kay
KC from Bits and Pieces
Kristine from The Foley Fam
Leigh-Ellen from Little Waterlily in a Big Pond
Leslie from xo.leslieanne
Libby from In Every Little Moment
Lindsay from Trial By Sapphire
Lindsey from Out of Alabaster
Liz from Blue Eyed Owl
Margot from Newfoundlander at Heart
Marilyn from Pulp Sushi
Nay from Cover to Cover and Everything In Between
Rachael from LOTS
Rebekah from TailorMadeCrafts
Salena Lee from Little Piece of Me
Sam from Wrong Decade
Sarah from The Fontenot Four
Sarah from Walk In Joy
Stephanie from The Knack

I think that describes the friendships I have made over the last few years – some via Twitter some through the blogs I read on a regular basis. I can’t remember how exactly I started reading Lydia’s blog but somewhere along the line I started commenting lots – I wrote this as a comment on her post but it was getting so long I posted it as a comment on her post and then also decided to share it as a blog post here.

You can read Lydia’s original post here.

I do recommend that you read it – it’ll give my post more context and it also means a lot to Lydia.

Thank you

Good Morning Lydia.

I’ve just seen this having started reading your Coraline post.

I AM A NERD. I AM A GEEK you can use whichever you prefer but I am one – I had a reading age higher than most of my class – I wasn’t the brightest when it came to maths but I was probably in the top 10% of the class or something like that. You only have to look at what me and my friends went onto do after school and I wasn’t the brightest – my friend went on to study Biochemistry or something like that and now I’m brainy by association. I am a social media nut, I love sci-fi like Star Wars and Star Trek. I’d rather stay in and read a book then go out for a run or something energetic.

I was the kid who spent every lunch break in the library or the music room – partially to avoid the bullies but also to keep my head down and get on with stuff. At one point I was a student librarian so that I could be in the library as much as I liked! In Sixth Form I’d volunteer to use my free lessons to cover the library desk.

I was the kid with unbranded trainers at school – My parents couldn’t afford branded clothes when me and my brother were young – I think my first pair of branded trainers were for like my 14th birthday and I bought them at a factory outlet store with my birthday money – I wore them until the sole was smooth and the back where my heel was had worn through to the outer leather layer! That’s how long I wore them – Not because I couldn’t afford a new pair just because they were mine and they kinda were an important pair lol.

My Mum used to make me summer dresses and homemade clothes and somewhere around my teens I stopped wearing them (I think also my Mum got busy doing work stuff. I am so excited for when she has grandkids – I think they are going to be having knitted jumpers every Christmas lol).

I really struggled to fit in at school, I was a bit of a teacher’s pet and was always trying to help – I think one of my love languages is Acts of Service so I almost helped out here, there and everywhere because it made me feel needed. I ran the 800m at sports day even though I suck at running and knew I would come last because hardly any of my class volunteered.

When I was about 14 I started watching Buffy and loved Willow because she was the geek and somehow that worked for her. But how would I get my geek-ness to work for me? Well I’m not sure somehow it was survival of the fittest until the end of school – I got into uni by the skin of my pants and met like-minded people who genuinely wanted to be my friend and liked me for me with all my geeky slightly crazy ways.

And that geekiness has now helped me in my job. I had issues when I first started my job to the point that my manager pulled me and I got an epic telling off, in all seriousness I think I should have been fired at that point, my manager didn’t owe me anything yet he saw something in me that he knew just needed to be nurtured. Well it was my IT skills and the fact that I knew my way round a computer that saved my butt I think I was put on like probation and here I am four years later still in the same job. It’s a running joke in the office that I am a geek and that I can recite the most random facts.

The way I see it is that yes Nerds are people too but with being nerdy being a trend it makes me on-trend for the first time ever I think!

I think I am a geek but I’m also a friend, a sister, a wife, a daughter, a granddaughter, a fairy godmother. I am a person.