January

Books Read
The Cause Within You by Matthew Barnett
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Places Visited
Ikea at Milton Keynes
The Lyceum in London – The Lion King

Films Seen
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The Iron Lady

The Month In Bullets

• Got a HP Laptop to review which was really exciting – unfortunately it didn’t beat my MacBook so I’m still a MacGirl.
• I met up with an old school friend – I think I worked it out that I’d seen her three times in the past 5ish years since I left university but it could have been longer than that. We spent 3.5 hours chatting in Pizza Hut – I’m pretty sure that the waiters wanted to get rid of us but given that it wasn’t quite the dinner run and lunch had been over for a quite a while it wasn’t the end of the world for us just to sit and chat.
• I retook the plunge and set up a FB page for my blog again (having deleted it in a hasty moment). You can find it here - Like me while you’re there please.
• I’m working on tidying the house – I stood in the kitchen and cried at one point during January because I just felt like I was treading water against the tide – I think I still feel that way a bit but I’ve talked to Chris about the home stuff and to my manager about the work stuff and hopefully somewhere the two will meet and balance out a bit.
• I went to see The Lion King in London again – it was awesome.
• I ended up being tour guide for my little group (of 3) getting from Bedford to the restaurant where we were meeting for dinner – it was kinda exciting being in that position of responsibility lol.
• We went out for dinner with the Elders and Deacons from church – it’s Chris’s last one this year as he stepped down at Christmas. We went to Riverside Grill in Castle Quay which was really nice (but a bit pricey – nearly £40 for two of us – then again maybe I’m just used to a large pizza between three of us fro like £15 or something lol)
• Still working on losing weight – I’m around 72kg (I did weight myself one day in the bedroom rather than the bathroom and the carpet upset the scales – it was pretty cool weighing 71.2kg for a little while but then I figured I couldn’t pretend to be lighter lol.)

I spend yesterday evening at dinner and the night before I watched The Young Victoria while babysitting and writing my appraisal for work.

I’ve also been playing alot with Pinterest. You can click on that clever big p and it will take you to my profile if you’re on there. I’m part of two shared boards which is interesting as you then have two or three (or more) pinning ideas for different things.

Well I need to go and finish up some bits and head bed-wards.

Source: etsy.com via Anna on Pinterest

Prompts from The Little Things We Do.

1. The last thing I ate was Coronation Chicken and Sweetcorn sandwich for lunch I think then again it could have been Polos.

2. The next thing I’d like to eat is my tea please? I think it’ll be Fish and Chips because it’s Fish and Chips Friday at Rickie’s. First I have to catch my train to Birmingham and remember to get off at the right stop (especially as I might see if I can get off one early and go for a wander round the Bullring)

3. The best things come to those who wait – it’s cheesy I know but how many times does something get better if you just wait (or wait out the bad stuff).

4. Something that makes me supremely and utterly happy is hanging out with friends and going on adventures – I think I get worried about the adventures and then I’m fine – like today I was really worried this morning that I had forgotten something – I think my actually forgotten feeling was to do with not taking my chipped nail varnish off my fingers but I can sort that when I get to Birmingham so that’s all good and I think I’m chilled again now.

5. Sports are okay but not my favourite. I’m half following the Tennis at the moment because it would be really good to see Murray get to the Men’s Final. I was about to write how it would be really good if Laura Robson beat Sharapova but it turns out she lost. On the other hand it’s like Laura’s first or second time in the actual Women’s competition rather than the Juniors competiton so to play on Centre Court against a previous champion deserves a hi-five anyway!

6. I miss Kewey! I saw LB and Serena on Monday but haven’t seen Kewey since I popped in on the way back from Stockport at the end of April. Miss her loads!

7.Right now I am in the car with my Mum. She’s taking me to MK so I can catch the train. I could have got the bus but there would have been no guarantee whether I’d be able to catch my train in time.

Your Most Enjoyable Journey

This is a hard one – there’s Turkey because it was the first time I went on a plan, Amsterdam because of the epic train trip right through the Dutch countryside or Corcieux/Strasbourg because between me and Chris we drove all the way and all the way back (and not the most direct route because it was cheaper than toll roads!).
Well actually Corceiux/Strasbourg would have been better had it not been for the near accident outside the ferry terminal – we were still getting used to French roads lol.
Okay so I’m not really sure which would have been most enjoyable out of the three so I’ll doa little blurb of each. (I can change the rules right?)

Turkey

Well I was excited before I’d even left the house to go to the airport – I was 19 and had never been on a plane (my family always went away to a cottage or in our caravan growing up – my friends went to Spain or France – we went to Wales or Yorkshire or somewhere with a campsite lol.). It was my first proper without parents trip. Okay I’d been away with school in the past and was going with my Aunt and friends from church but there was something about it that made it my proper without parent’s trip. We headed off from Bedford about 4am and caught our plane from Heathrow; I have strange pictures taken from the gangway and out of the window including random ones of clouds and the wing of the plane – I was too excited to take proper pictures! Lol.

Amsterdam

I keep talking about Amsterdam but it’s one of the most recent holidays I’ve had lol. We got the ferry from Harwich in the UK to Hoek Van Holland. We then caught the train from there across to Amsterdam -I think our return journey came via Rotterdam and we had to change trains but the going journey was a straight run. It was lovely to see the Dutch countryside and try to spot Windmills and things like that.

Corcieux/Strasbourg

So Corcieux, I think it was 2005 or 2006 that me, Chris and his sister went camping in Corcieux which is down the road from Strasbourg. It was one of the first times I went away with Chris and so it had novelty value lol. We had gone in May so it was still early in the season. We were quite near the Germany border and the guy who was in charge of the campside told as that over the border at the same altitude in Germany there was snow -which was funny because the night before I’d had a whole dream about waking up to inches of snow outside on the ground.

It was the first time that I drove on the continent. Chris drove off the ferry and the first leg, as we came out of the ferry terminal we went to turn right but Chris was slightly distracted and nearly pulled out in front of a car because of it being on the other side of the road and things like that. We then went to a store and I asked in my (broken) attempt at French if there was a petrol station near by. The french lady was really grumpy and rude. We headed from Calais northwards towards Dunkirk and then on to the Belgium border.

It was an epic car trip but was so much fun once I had the hang of continental roads. The scariest bit was on the autobahn but it was okay in the end.

This is me and my Dad at my Aunt’s wedding a few years ago – I think I get my brains and my craziness from him (my crafty side comes from my Mum I think!)

Happy Father’s Day Dad. Thank you for all you do for me. Love you

(I posted this post as part of Saturday Snapshot on Yellow Songbird but forgot to link oops! The link is here.)

Bullet Points are the way forward for now. Starting with a negative.

Earlier this week I was reading Web Time Wasters on Yes and Yes. I clicked on a link about Child Brides. It broke my heart! It’s so sad that there are girls who are as young as 5 or 6 getting “engaged”. There are girls as young as 13 being married. It kinda boggled my brain – My friend’s daughter is 5 – I can’t even comprehend her getting engaged/married at that age – to her marriage is when a mummy and daddy love each other – or Prince Charming meets the Princess and they live happily ever after. My “little sister” is 12 – (she’s not really my sister but she’s as good as a sister so I look at her that way). She’s sitting her end of year exams this week and again I can’t even imagine that in those cultures she’d be getting married.

I’m not trying to dismiss it because it is serious and it does happen. Let’s move onto the positives.

Next weekend is Birmingham Vintage Fair. I’m going which is really exciting. You can find out more information here, pop by if you’re in the area.

I’ve been knitting loads and at some point this week will be making candles. It’s the first craft fair I’m going to as myself rather than helping out my Mum. I’m not sure which of the things I’ve made will sell the best but I’m hoping to make enough to cover lunch lol.

My Mum got me two DVDs for my birthday and somewhere along the line Mum had put them in a safe place and forgot to get them out again for my birthday. She found them on Thursday, so in the last few days I’ve watched a whole season of Pushing Daisies (Well 9 episodes it’s not loads) and Long Way Down (Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman go on a road trip from John O’Groats, Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa) while knitting and things like that.

This evening I went to see my friends Suzie and Alex do a concert. Their album is available on iTunes and through their website (I think if you go through their website then more money goes to the two events they are raising money for rather then iTunes where Apple take a chunk.)

So I’m sure i had more to write but I’m not really sure.

The idea behind this is that readers of For The Love of Blogs send in their questions and then the readers answer them. You can then share the love by commenting on other peoples responses.

So these are today’s questions and the members who asked them:

King Corvid -
“What do you do when you run out of things to do on the internet?”

Is it possible to run out of things to do on the internet? If I run out of things I start commenting on as many friends’ FB statuses or Twitter messages as I can. With Twitter you can tweet as much as you like but it’s about connecting so it’s good to talk to other people.

Delaney -
“How do you gain and keep followers?”

I don’t actually know lol. I guess you go through seasons so sometimes people are in your life for a reason and then they go away again or they stay. I think that’s the same with blog followers. Also talk to them – make them feel welcome – respond to the comments that they leave on your blog.

Emma -
“What are your blogging inspirations?”
My day to day life is a huge chunk of it. That’s where I start writing and then I see what happens after that. The blogs that inspire me include LacyLike, Life in Technicolour and Today’s Letters.

“Do you edit your posts?”
Sometimes – I might go back and realise that there are mistakes or things that need tweaking and then change them. Also I might want to add bits but there isn’t enough for a whole post so I add a few sentences on the end.

“How much time do you spend blogging?”
It can vary, I can spend a whole Saturday on writing lots of posts to spread out over the next few weeks or so – other times I go for a whole fortnight and write like two posts.

So this is all I feel the brain power to do. It suddenly dawned on me at the weekend that the Birmingham Vintage Fair that Rickie is organising is in two weekends time (well it’s not this weekend coming but the one after) and we’d discussed about me taking some of the bits and pieces that I can make and see how well they go down (and the bits that aren’t used can be put onto Etsy and I can open my store). On Saturday we went shopping for some bits so that I could kick off two of my ideas (well actually we were going for the first idea and Chris sprung up with another idea – I think he secretly choose it because it would involve melting things and pretending to be a scientist for a bit! We started Part One yesterday because it only took a few minutes followed by cooling time. Part Two might be this evening – between knitting Part Three. Thankfully they are all reasonably small bits so I can carry them in my overnight bag on the train.

Greatest achievement? BA (Hons) Degree
Hometown? Bedford, Bedfordshire
Innermost fear? I have no idea. Erm I think being lonely is possibly up there.
Just finished reading? Virals by Kathy Reichs
Kindle? No
Love to read? Yes, lots and lots
Makes you laugh? My friends and brother
Number one movie? The American President or Amelie.

One wish? A cure for cancer or alzeimhers.
Pizza topping? New Yorker or Quattro Formaggi
Quote that describes you?
Reading now? The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Siblings? Richard
Texted last? Tubi (that’s Too-Bee) I think.
Understands you the best? Mummy Steph – she just knows lol.
Vanilla or chocolate? Vanilla
Worst habit? Procrastinating
X-rays you’ve had? Teeth and ankle
Your favorite song? At the moment or like ever? At the moment I’m really liking Rolling In The Deep by Adele – then again KT Tunstall – Tiger Suit has been on repeat for a few days in the car.
Zodiac sign? Taurus – but I don’t pay attention to them.

Found at Emerging Em

{one} How many times have you been a bridesmaid/maid of honour?
Once, I was about 2 or 3 and it was for my auntie and uncle.

{two} What’s the last thing you do before you fall asleep at night?
Read or check that my alarm is set.

{three} You just won your dream vacation, all expenses paid. where are you going?
Australia and/or New Zealand. I’d go to Melbourne and see my friends who emigrated out there in 2004, I’d go to Canberra/Woolongong and meet Rubyam and Brandroidattack (Along with all their friends that I’ve been introduced to via Twitter including Emma and Nathan).

{four} what is your favorite outdoor activity?
Playing on the trampoline – well it’s good fun to hang out in the garden anyway.

{five} as a child, what did you want to “be when you grew up”? did you end up there?
I never could make up my mind. I wanted to be a lawyer, then a doctor, then a vet, then a paramedic. Even now at 25 I’m not really sure I know what I want to be when I’ve grown up. I do my day job and my “5 to 9″ job is kinda coming together but I’m not sure how much I can do at the same time as doing my day job (and ultimately for now the 5 to 9 can’t impede on the day job.

{six} what are 3 things your dream home would have that you don’t currently have?
A spare bedroom/study (then again it would just gain rubbish at the moment), a dining room, that’s two I can’t think of another.

{seven} what’s for dinner tonight?
I have no idea!

{eight} if someone stopped by your house unannounced on a typical Saturday night, what would they find you doing?

Watching Doctor Who or working through some DVDs

{nine} what’s your average monthly water bill?

I have no idea lol. Our Water is quarterly I think and our gas and electric is a set amount per month and that covers what we use.

{ten} what do you do to relax?

Hang out and watch movies. Also knit lots.

Joining in with Lauren from The Little Things We Do.

1. If I could get away somewhere for the weekend I would go Paris – it’s just far enough away to feel like a holiday but on the train it’s like 3 hours so it’s not too far for a weekend and I would bring would you like to come? I guess I should take Chris but at the same time having a girlie weekend would be so much fun.

2. Something I often rant about is work probably.

3. One item I need to have in my fridge at all time is milk because you can’t make a cup of tea without it and you can’t have a bowl of muesli without it. Then again I don’t drink that much tea so that’s mainly to feed Chris cups of tea when he’s being grumpy lol.

4. My “life-saving” product is hair spray or dry shampoo – if you have the time to wait for the shampoo to take etc then dry shampoo is awesome for those days when you don’t have time to wash your hair – if it’s a bad hair day and there’s no time then put hairspray in your hair – if mine is tied back in a ponytail then hairspray just works and somehow makes my hair look at least semiclean lol.

5. A friend is someone who who replies to your email asking a really dumb question because they know that the answer could be the difference between you sleeping or freaking out (Thank you Becca and Ruby!). A friend is someone who drives the extra 5 miles to go via your house just to say hi (I did this at the end of April rather than going straight down the M1 to home I drove the 5 miles to my friend’s house near Nottingham to say hi and then drove those 5 miles back to get on the M1 to come home).

6. If I could write my own blank it would be “If you could be a character in a book who would you be {blank} and why? {blank}”

7. My favourite kind of art is pop art like Lichenstein or photography. I also like Monet and Da Vinci.