29

I don't know how but every year, regardless of it I've been blogging constantly or not, I find myself sitting down in the middle of January to review my year. I guess it's become a bit of a tradition, but seriously, reading last year's post back, it seems like no time has gone at all.

So 2019 was quite a big year for me looking back.

Firstly, James & I bought our first home together! I've mentioned previously our journey with properties; which have included renting our first 1 bed flat back in 2017, we then moved in Spring 2018 to a 2 bed house, to now finally being able to say we are the owners of a 3 bed house as of September last year! I do really want to write a full post on our homes & how special they've all been ('cos lets be real here, I get seriously attached to things waaaaay too much) but re-reading last year's post & remembering writing the sentence "We haven't decided what we are planning yet for our next move & if we'll be here a while longer, but everything seems to be moving in the right direction, so watch this space" I genuinely remember typing that as I was scrolling through Rightmove looking at all the amazing houses & setting up viewings, which we started in February last year. It was a complete roller-coaster. I lost count of how many properties we viewed (yes I am picky, but I'm so pleased I was as our property now is everything I hoped for) & I knew it would take time for the right one to come along. Anyway, fast forward to the end of September & we got given the keys & the rest is history. I can't begin to tell you how happy we are here, to have celebrated our first Christmas in our new place was so special, surrounded by amazing friends & family. There really was nothing like it.

Another massive change in our lives is James & I have adopted our first fur baby! I'm actually writing this on Wednesday 15th January & we are picking him up on Saturday 18th & we actually can't wait. I'm not sure when this post is going live, but yay! If you want to see lots of puppy content, head over to my Instagram account. We have also set up a home account, which you can follow & I'll link pup's here too.

Ah so now would be a good time to mention fitness maybe? Start of the New Year, new you right? What a load of rubbish! Haha. However, last year I did discover an exercise that I love, it definitely deserves a mention. If you know me, you know I'm not a massive fan of exercise. I tried the gym (once, hated it!) but I found a class with my work besties that I actually look forward to & feel fabulous afterwards. It's called Bounce. It's honestly so much fun, we do a class once a week (wish I could do more, but just depends on working hours) but I honestly can't recommend it enough. I'm still not there 100% with my fitness, but it's definitely helped me get on the right track. I'm so grateful as well but for my birthday this year, my Grandad kindly bought me a Fitbit, so I'm extremely excited to track my calorie burn at class.

Leading nicely on from my Bounce classes, last year James & I took part in the South Coast Challenge. We walked 25km, from Eastbourne to Alfriston over the Seven Sisters - raising just under £1000 for The Alzheimer's Society in memory of my Nan. It was an incredibly emotional day, for myself & my family, but I was so proud of us for doing it. As we'd been training for the walk, I found some beautiful places in our home town. I feel like it was a year for discovering new things that actually were right under our noses to start with. There's nothing better than walking out your front door & being able to walk to town in 20 minutes, but equally, 5 minutes down the road you find the most beautiful countryside. Feeling so extremely lucky. 

As well as raising money for The Alzheimer's Society, I couldn't forget about the other amazing charities. My work ladies & I took part in the Race For Life this Summer & raised an incredible £1100 for Cancer Research. Sally is trying to persuade me to do the Pretty Muddy this year & as I'm away for normal RFL, I don't see how I'm going to get out of it.. haha! We also took part in Wear It Pink, Children In Need, Christmas Jumper Day, Elf Day & Red Nose Day, where we dressed up as superheroes. I also organised 2 extremely successful quiz nights as work. The most recent one being last Friday where a last minute raffle managed to raise £150 for The National Kidney Federation. I'm extremely passionate about raising money for charity & even though it's going to be hard to top last year I'm going to try my absolute hardest to keep raising as much money as possible for these amazing causes.

So onto a completely different side of the year was all the incredible places I visited. It wasn't a year of big holidays - but James & I managed to spend 3 nights in one of our favourite places, the New Forest. We did this a few years ago & loved it so much, it's the perfect base for travelling to Bournemouth for the day & we also explored the surrounding area. I honestly can't recommend it enough. We were also lucky enough to visit my godparents in Cambridge In September. I used to go & stay with them for a few days when I was younger, but hadn't been to Cambridge for years so it was lovely to explore again. Oh & I had the best few days away with the girls. We booked a lovely 2 night stay in Birdham at the end of October & it was honestly amazing. Highlight? THE ORANGE TWIRLS! Hahaha. I joke, we made some amazing memories & I'm extremely grateful to them all.

Apart from holidays, I was lucky enough to go to London with our family, to see the amazing Phantom of the Opera, as well as recently Dear Evan Hansen with my girls. I would highly recommend seeing both if you get the chance. Dear Evan Hansen blew me away completely as I had no idea of the story before seeing the show & it was simply beautiful. We also saw McFly in November which was absolutely amazing. My teenage self could not contain the excitment, despite being in the scariest seat in the world. Hahaha! 

I also got to meet two new arrivals last year; Gemma had her second little one Harry & Sarah welcomed baby Ella into the world. Both absolutely gorgeous & I can't wait to watch them grow up.

& someone else who has grown up ALOT, is Honey. My little girl celebrated her 10th birthday in October & we threw her a sausage birthday party! Make sure you check out the photos on my Instagram page, she had the best day!

 Oh & I can't fail to mention hosting another 2 events - my Easter Party & Summer BBQ. The Summer BBQ I do every year but the Easter Party was such a success, I'm hoping to do that again this year!

So there we go, these are my highlights. I started this post thinking shit, what am I going to write about?! I haven't done anything this year, but actually looking back at all my photos, I've actually done quite a lot & achieved so much. So how am I going to end this.. Promise to blog more? Exercise more? Adopt more dogs?? Haha, that last one sounds like the most likely to happen. But in all seriousness, my Fitbit is currently vibrating my wrist, telling me to move more, so I'm actually going to walk round the garden a few times & grab some lunch.

Thankyou if you've made it to the end of this post. It's actually felt lovely being able to put all this down & review the year. I have an amazing feeling about 2020, I'm not going to lie. 

Oh & before I forget, here's the link to my last blog post. Honestly, please give Anna's book a read if you're thinking about setting up some goals for this year. It's never too late to start a new habit : )

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28

No waaaaaay am I 2 years off of being 30?! Stop the world.. I want to get off!

Seriously though, where has this year gone? I know I type this most years.. but I'd love to know the answer to that question. Someone actually said to me the other day the world is spinning faster, so time is going quicker & I'm actually starting to believe them..

Anyway! Time for me to look back over the past year of being 27..

We moved.. again!

I mentioned in last year's post we had some exciting news about moving to a 2 bed house last April & I can confirm, everything went to plan & I'm currently sitting in our living room, log fire burning, in my onesie & I couldn't be happier. It was definitely the right decision to leave the flat when we did, even though I cried like a baby on the day we moved out! I get so emotionally attached to things & obviously our first home together meant alot to me, even though looking back, it wasn't the nicest place in the world. The house we are in now has a perfect sized garden; quite small, but I love nothing more than sitting outside in the Summer at our garden table, with my morning cup of tea. I'm counting down the days when it's warm enough to do that again. We haven't decided what we are planning yet for our next move & if we'll be here a while longer, but everything seems to be moving in the right direction, so watch this space!

Holidays

James & I were lucky enough to go on 2 big holidays with family this year; we firstly jetted off to Kefalonia in June & it was honestly one of the most beautiful places I've been to. Definitely my favourite out of the 3 Greek islands we have visited. We also were lucky enough to go to Quimper for a week in July, where we had our own pool & plenty of activities to keep us entertained! I also spotted a wild seal which was amazing.

Events 

This year has been full of exciting things! Here are a few; I met baby Ru, James & I attended Crufts for a 2nd time & met JP the pug, we sat & ate dinner outside in our own garden, we visited Hever Castle, I held a Eurovision party, I took part in my first escape room & went on to do 2 more, I went to Kefalonia & Quimper, I saw Legally Blonde & The Play That Goes Wrong with the girls, I became a gardener, I organised a brunch & Christmas dinner for my work ladies, I held my annual Summer BBQ, I attended my first murder mystery night, James & I attended 2 weddings; Matt & Alice's in Bristol & our best friend's Mils & Craig's, I organised a surprise birthday party for Elisa, read 6 books, went for afternoon tea with Mum for her birthday, went to my first pumpkin picking patch, travelled to Devon for a mini holiday to visit Nicola, dressed up as an elf for charity & went for a job interview, went to Glow Wild with the girls & finally hosted Christmas Day.

I mentioned in my last post it's incredibly hard to put a stamp on the whole year as being 'good' or 'bad'. I had some wonderful things happen last year as I've listed above, but it's funny how one thing can tip the year on it's head.

I lost someone incredibly close to me last year & it was one of the toughest things I've had to deal with. It's still incredibly hard & everyday something will remind me of my Nan & bring a smile to my face. Some days are harder than others & I still can't really get my head around the fact she's gone. Nothing really prepares you for losing someone but I honestly wouldn't have got through last year without my amazing friends & family, so thank you guys.

Here's to 2019; a fresh start & the year of being 28.. here's hoping it's a good one : )

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Fun Things To Do On Halloween

Hi lovelies,

Ok, let's be honest here. I'm not a fan of anything remotely scary. I hate being terrified.. I can't think of anything worse! I know some people love it & I applaud you for it. I wish I had the guts to visit haunted houses & watch scary movies but I get no enjoyment out of it, just a slight heart-attack & feel sick. But, the reason I wanted to write this post, is to prove that you don't have to be into scary things to enjoy Halloween. I absolutely love decorating the house with cute sparkly pumpkins & baking cute spider cookies, so I've put together a few ideas to inspire you to do the same.

Pumpkin Picking
This is something I have wanted to do for years & finally, this year I got to go to a pumpkin patch! I took my mum & we visited Tulleys Farm. They have a PYO section on the farm, where they grow over 75000 pumpkins each year! There was so much choice, from big traditional pumpkins, to small bobbly ones! Mum & I picked a selection, as I find the little ones are perfect for decorating around the house, including our window sills, ledges & bookcases! Tulley's are open until this Wednesday, so there's still time to go along if you're local.

Baking

There are so many mouth-watering Halloween treats that you can bake from the comfort of your own home. You just have to walk into a supermarket & you are transported to confectionery heaven. I've lost count of the amount of magazines I've picked up over the past month & how many page corners I've turned to save the recipes! I made the most delicious Salted Caramel Tart this week & oh my goodness, it was incredible if I do say so myself! I decorated it using white icing to give it a Halloween theme, but I'm definitely saving the recipe for other occasions as it went down so successfully. If you simple type 'Halloween Food' into Pinterest, the most amazing selection comes up & the recipes are incredibly easy to follow. I loved the idea of these little strawberry ghosts, so easy & quick to do.

Movie Night
This doesn't have to involve scary films as such.. any Autumnal / Winter themed movie will do! The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favs, alongside Halloween Town (who remembers this from the Disney channel?!) But even films like Chalet Girl that make you feel all warm & fuzzy are definite crowd pleasers. I would highly recommend one of these over the Final Destinations! You can make up for the lack of scariness with some Halloween snacks & decorations after all!

Walk
Now you can make this as scary as you like! There's nothing I love more than wrapping up in my fluffiest coat, putting on my hat, scarf & gloves & going for a walk at this time of year. I much prefer to go in the daytime.. however if you did feel daring, you could venture out at night for an extra scary experience! (Just make sure you go with friends / family & take your phone!)

Games Night
There are so many fun games I've found online for this time of year! The girls & I are heading to visit our friend Nicola this week & I've printed off Halloween themed quizzes & prepared some games! So far we have 'pin the nose of the witch', 'Mummy wrap' & 'dangling donuts'. All you need for the Mummy wrap, is to be divided into teams & see who can wrap the person of choice in as much toilet roll as possible in a short space of time! & the dangling donuts game I thought would be hilarious to play; you just need to put some donuts on a piece of string & hang them from a door frame or something similar & blindfold the person before they try to eat the hanging donut! Think of a pinata but with donuts & you can only use use your mouth! You can tell we're taking alot of alcohol with us.. haha!



I would love to know what you've got planned for Halloween.

Whatever you're doing, I hope you have a wicked time : )

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Quimper

Hello lovelies,

At the end of July, James & I went on a family holiday to Quimper, in Brittany, France. I realised when I was looking through the photos the other day I hadn't actually written this blog post! Apologies for it being so late.

We stayed in 2 beautiful cottages that shared a massive swimming pool & gardens. It was absolutely perfect as we had a range of ages in our family & the cottages were the perfect place to act as a base for people that wanted to go out in the day, but also for those who were happy to relax at the accomodation.

We had pretty decent weather as well. The first couple of days were rainy, but it picked up & got surprisingly warm towards the end of the week.

Barrie, Louise, Martin, Sylvie & I ventured out on the first full day (in the wind & rain!) to Point Penmarch, where there are 2 lighthouses. We also made our way a bit further along the coast & saw some massive waves coming over the rocks. The wind & rain kind of added to the whole setting & it was very impressive. I also managed to spot a wild seal! Which was extremely cute, bobbing it's head under the waves.

We also had a day out to the most gorgeous beach which seemed to go on for miles. It was the perfect setting for a walk.

We then headed to the most westerly point in France, Pointe-Du-Raz. The walk to the view point was actually quite a way from the car park (just to warn you if you are visiting!) but the view was worth it in the end!

We also had a day out at a gardens which was so beautiful & I got to wear my sunflower dress! (My ultimate dress of the summer!) Perfect for strolling around looking at all the wildlife & pretty flowers. It was only £9 on Ebay!

Did you get to go on holiday this year? If so, where did you go?

I can't wait to start planning our next adventure!

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Life Lately #150

Hi lovelies!

I'm officially back from my 'blogging break'. I really hate saying that, as I'm not actually sure what qualifies for a break anymore.. but I think this has been the longest time period where I haven't blogged & I've missed it. I thought I better start with an update post (number 150!) from this past month as I feel like so much has happened..

As this weather has been so beautiful recently, I've been spending more & more time in our garden. My plants however are not loving it so much.. my strawberry plant in particular! But I have been loving growing my own vegetables & fruit in our garden this Summer. Our onions are currently flourishing & the lettuces we grew were so successful. I've got another post on the sidelines about falling in love with my garden this summer which should hopefully be published in the next few weeks.

James' brother Alex celebrated his 22nd birthday at the beginning of July. Our present to him was a day out to Brighton to do an Escape Room. I completed my first escape room at the beginning of June with the girls & loved it so much, I thought it would be the perfect present for Alex. We completed the room in 58 minutes just in time & then headed to Nandos for lunch. England were playing in the world cup at 3pm, so we rushed home in time for the match!

That evening we headed to Valerie & Barrie's for a Murder Mystery night. I'd never done one before so wasn't sure how it all worked, but it was really good fun. We each got sent our characters a week or so before, so we knew a bit about them & how to dress & act at dinner. The game also comes with a tape & you follow a script to find out who committed the crime. I was Lady Shippe, the widow of Lord Shippe & James was the local vicar who was into drinking & gambling! We thought we would find out the murderer quite early on, but it kept us guessing right till the end. I'd highly recommend taking part in one if you haven't before!

Oh & I held my annual Summer BBQ, which was amazing as ever! It always feels like the day goes so quick, what with all the planning & preparation, but it's always so much fun. I love getting everyone together & playing games as the sun sets. We had the most amazing weather as well.

James & I headed up to Bristol for Matt & Alice's wedding. James was an usher for Matt, so we attended the rehearsal on the Friday evening before the big event on Saturday. It was so much fun meeting all their friends & family & getting to celebrate the day with them.

& finally, at the end of July, we went to Quimper in France for a week with James' family. It was a week full of exploring, socialising & relaxation. The accommodation came with a private pool, which was so nice, as the weather was just as hot as England at the time.

So I think that's about it! I'm currently working my second to last shift before 9 days off from work & I couldn't be more excited. I'm planning on doing a Summer / Autumn clean (is that a thing?) in our house & organising a few days out with my girls but otherwise, I haven't got much on, just going to make the most of the last of the Summer if the weather co-operates!

I'd love to hear if you've been anywhere nice this year? Or still have any holidays coming up? : )

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Kefalonia

Let me introduce you to the beautiful island of Kefalonia..

Kefalonia is the 3rd Greek island I've been lucky enough to visit & I have to admit, it's my favourite so far. The views that we got to experience were breath-taking. I'll never forget looking down on the crystal clear waters below us as the sun set.

There was so much to explore on the island, we could have done with an extra week to see everything it had to offer (well.. an extra month would have been nice if I'm being completely honest..!) but we made the most of the time we had.

We stayed in the most incredible villa called Altomare, near Fiscardo. The lady that owned the villa met us there to welcome us & as soon as she opened the door, the view took our breath away.. literally. It was absolutely stunning, the photos don't do it justice!

There were 2 pools in the villa, but we only tended to use this one as it was bigger, warmer & in the main communal area. There were sunbeds placed around the pool & in the opportune sunbathing spots, looking out to the sea.

This is where we sat to eat all our meals, it was the perfect place to look out at the sunset in the evenings.

This sofa bed was outside our bedroom, anyone else instantly think of the day beds in Love Island? Haha!

We also had access to a library in the house which had quite an impressive range of books. There were lots about Kefalonia; places to eat & visit & secret beaches to explore.

The bedrooms were quite basic compared to the rest of the villa, but it didn't bother us as we spent the least amount of time in there.

We had quite a few days where we relaxed at the villa & the other days we explored the island. The days spent at the villa mostly consisted of us sunbathing, swimming & playing with the inflatables! Oh & who can forget the pool volleyball! I brought an inflatable doughnut & Sally the Flamingo & Alex & Charl brought one of the biggest whales I've ever seen, so when they were in the water altogether, they took up most of the pool!

Allan & Maria celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary while we were on holiday, (I blogged about their wedding last year) so for the second night, we went to a beautiful hotel for dinner.

James had the most incredible dish; the TonyHawk Steak, which was absolutely massive! I don't know how he ate it all.. it was SO big!

As well as this steak, we had some lovely lunches & dinners out at local tavernas. Greek food is simply the best.

We also found the most amazing dessert bar in Fiscardo.. just look at the size of these puddings! Baring in mind we had just had a full meal before this, the struggle to finish them was real.. : D

Like I say, as well as enjoying our villa, we had some exciting days out. 

One of my favourite days was when we hired a boat (a tradition we do every holiday) to sail around the neighbouring islands & explore the hidden beaches.

Our little boat was so cute, it did extremely well to cope in the choppy waters we experienced after lunch. 

There's always a moment on holiday when I think I'm going to die.. that was this time!

I have to admit, I'm not a confident person in water at all. I'm not happy swimming out of my depth or swimming at all really. I like to be able to touch the bottom at all times, so being in a small boat in the middle of the ocean isn't my idea of fun, but as long as we can see the land & aren't too far from the beaches, I'm ok!

We stopped for lunch on the island of Ithaki, which was extremely beautiful. They had some adorable little shops & I found this sign which I just wanted to take home! 

Oh & on our walk back down to the boat, we saw these beautiful flowers. Any idea what they were? I instantly fell in love with them!

We also went to lots of beaches on the island, my favourite being Myrtos Beach. Just look at that water..

We also found a place for the boys to do water sports! Not my sort of thing, but the boys loved it!

The main road on the island also took you up incredibly high, so the viewpoints were to die for! 

We also visited the village of Assos. It was one of the busier places we went to, on the hotest day, so we were literally sweating so much at lunch, but it was worth it! Look at the little houses by the harbour.

One of my favourite trips we went on was to the Melissani Cave. It was absolutely beautiful. I know I keep saying this, but the colour of the water was incredible. It apparently changes depending on the time of day, but it was the most fantastic shade of blue when we went!

The guide takes you on a tour through the caves, where we saw a couple of bats & lots of pigeons nesting at the top of the rocks. It was such a lovely experience, definitely reccomend going if you go to Kefalonia.

As well as all these incredible adventures & days out we went on, my favourite time of day was sunset. Where ever we seemed to be, we could see the sun setting in the distance, making the sky the most fantastic colours. Here's a few of my favourite pictures I took.

On our last night, we headed down to 'A Place For Dreamers' which was only about a 15 minute walk from our villa, to watch the sunset & have dinner. The taverna is owned by Stefano (pictured below) who came out & prayed to the sun as it set. It was the most wonderful thing to witness.

& finally I couldn't not add a few of the Greek wildlife we saw. I absolutely adore the fact you could be walking down the road & a lizard will suddenly dart out by your feet or your driving along the road & a herd of goats block your path..

In conclusion.. I WANT TO GO BACK SO BADLY! 

As I'm writing this post, it's almost a month ago that we flew out & we currently would have been celebrating Allan & Maria's wedding anniversary, by the pool, cocktail in hand.. 

Which brings me on to mention a blog post I wrote last month; How To Beat Those Holiday Blues! Definitely need to take some of my own advice right now.. haha!

Oh & remember you can check out my other holiday blog posts if you like; Corfu Part 1, Corfu Part 2, Lefkas Part 1 & Lefkas Part 2) to see what we got up to on our previous holidays.

Here's to the next one!

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