- My best bud from uni has had a little teeny tiny bambino! Does this make us grown up now? I mean, I haven't watched daytime TV in 4 years, I eat vegetables more than twice a year and I'm not living in my overdraft so I guess our student days are officially over. Can't wait to meet baby Ava on Monday for cuddles!
- Talking of which, I have Monday off - mega excitement. I LOVE random days off.
- I'm home home. Back in the 'shire of Berkshire for the first time since last August. Yays.
- I'm spending the afternoon teaching my big sister how to eBay :) love eBay.
- I think I'm about to have a pop tart for breakfast. Watch this space.
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Dahhhn Saaaaarf
A very quick 'things I'm excited about' as I haven't done one for a while and I'm waiting for the bathroom to be free...
Friday, 9 March 2012
15 Things Life's Too Short For...
1. Life’s too short to not visit that place you’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to. Are you waiting for tomorrow? What if it never comes? Is it about money? See point 6 please.
2. Life’s too short not to be happy in your job – you spend more time there than you do at your own house, what are you doing if you hate your job?
3. Life’s too short to worry about having wobbly bits. Stay healthy and don’t overdo it, but don’t kill yourself worrying about it, we’ll all be skeletons one day – I don’t want to look like one until then thank you very much!
4. Life’s too short to settle for someone who doesn’t adore you, but on that note, life’s too short to worry about following the ‘norm’ of needing someone to be complete!
5. Life’s too short to be treated like crap at work and in general life. NEVER shhhh me. I do not react well to shhhhing.
6. Life’s too short for saving money for things you’re not even sure you want
7. Life’s too short for envying someone else’s life, make your own and live it
8. Life’s too short to drive on your mobile phone. It’s 2012, you know the statistics, put it down or pull over you absolute moron.
9. Life’s too short - so why don’t you thank the person who just held the door open for you?
10. Life’s too short to have regrets, better to have given it a shot than regret not doing it!
11. Life’s too short to be scared of flying (sorry Mum but it is)
12. Life’s too short for sunbeds. Seriously? What are you doing? We KNOW that’s not a real tan, what’s so bad about your real skin? Why are you putting your own health at risk voluntarily, nay PAYING for it? Sitting in the sun isn’t safe, why would standing in a capsule of sun be safe?
13. Life’s too short not to sing at karaoke when the opportunity arises. Who’s going to care in ten minute’s time anyway? (Unless you’re really memorable like me, ahem)
14. Life’s too short for faddy diets. Guess what? You’re going to put it all straight back on once you stop the diet. Get out of my face and take your meal replacement shake with you!
15. Life’s too short to sit here writing about things life is too short for. I’m outta here!
Notice on this that I did not include ‘live every day as if it were your last’ Pah! I dread to think what would happen if I did that. I’d definitely be drunk, with a shaved head, on stage with Bryan Adams, king size Galaxy bar in one hand and totally naked, seeing as it might be my last day on this spinning ball we call home.
2. Life’s too short not to be happy in your job – you spend more time there than you do at your own house, what are you doing if you hate your job?
3. Life’s too short to worry about having wobbly bits. Stay healthy and don’t overdo it, but don’t kill yourself worrying about it, we’ll all be skeletons one day – I don’t want to look like one until then thank you very much!
4. Life’s too short to settle for someone who doesn’t adore you, but on that note, life’s too short to worry about following the ‘norm’ of needing someone to be complete!
5. Life’s too short to be treated like crap at work and in general life. NEVER shhhh me. I do not react well to shhhhing.
6. Life’s too short for saving money for things you’re not even sure you want
7. Life’s too short for envying someone else’s life, make your own and live it
8. Life’s too short to drive on your mobile phone. It’s 2012, you know the statistics, put it down or pull over you absolute moron.
9. Life’s too short - so why don’t you thank the person who just held the door open for you?
10. Life’s too short to have regrets, better to have given it a shot than regret not doing it!
11. Life’s too short to be scared of flying (sorry Mum but it is)
12. Life’s too short for sunbeds. Seriously? What are you doing? We KNOW that’s not a real tan, what’s so bad about your real skin? Why are you putting your own health at risk voluntarily, nay PAYING for it? Sitting in the sun isn’t safe, why would standing in a capsule of sun be safe?
13. Life’s too short not to sing at karaoke when the opportunity arises. Who’s going to care in ten minute’s time anyway? (Unless you’re really memorable like me, ahem)
14. Life’s too short for faddy diets. Guess what? You’re going to put it all straight back on once you stop the diet. Get out of my face and take your meal replacement shake with you!
15. Life’s too short to sit here writing about things life is too short for. I’m outta here!
Notice on this that I did not include ‘live every day as if it were your last’ Pah! I dread to think what would happen if I did that. I’d definitely be drunk, with a shaved head, on stage with Bryan Adams, king size Galaxy bar in one hand and totally naked, seeing as it might be my last day on this spinning ball we call home.
Got any more suggestions for me?
Friday, 2 March 2012
Hello Hollywood!
I made a mooooovie.
It's slightly egotastic (and YES I meant to spell it like that...) but it rounds off my last couple of trips outside of Europe nicely! I hope you enjoy it!
The soundtrack is by Florence and her machine - Heartlines
It's slightly egotastic (and YES I meant to spell it like that...) but it rounds off my last couple of trips outside of Europe nicely! I hope you enjoy it!
The soundtrack is by Florence and her machine - Heartlines
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
If I'd Never...
One of my favourite games to play is 'If I'd Never' (look - I've given it capital letters and everything such is the importance of the game) and it goes a little something like this...
Look at your life RIGHT NOW, yep, right now. Where are you? How did you get there? Which decision did you make that got you to where you are at this very moment in your life? Once you start digging, it's totally fascinating, like digging up the roots of your own family tree, but not.
So right now, I'm working for a TEFL company in Leeds, and all of my other family members live at least 200 miles away back in Berkshire where I grew up and all that jazz.
I had a good old think about this over a glass of red wine or bottle, and I think my turning point that took me on this path was a trip to Ibiza back in 2002 - stick with me, this is going somewhere.
During my trip I met a boy. When you consider that this holiday was an 18-30s holiday (and the fact that I was only 17 at the time and MY LOVELY DAD had to sign a consent form to say I could go...) I'm not sure my Dad was all that thrilled to hear that I met a boy.
This boy lived in Leeds. The furthest I'd ever been up North was Fife, so quite a lot further than Leeds (not really sure why I put that part, I was thinking when I started typing that bit that I'd never been that far up North but then I remembered that I had. Much further. Anyhoo...)
So I went up to visit this boy. And it turns out that I quite liked him and at the time I was on a 'gap yah' as I decided I didn't want to go to my first choice Uni, Bournemouth, so I decided to move up to Leeds. I worked in the Devonshire Brasserie and Hotel over in a lovely little place called Bolton Abbey. The hotel? Not so lovely, I don't think I'll be going to work in a hotel anytime soon...
So, I quit that job on Christmas Eve. That went well. Moved back home and worked in New Look for the rest of my 'gap yah'. That went well too. I easily spent more than I earned working there...bad idea.
I applied to Leeds Met Uni and got in to a QTS course with Primary Education as my degree.
To cut a long story short, this boy and I didn't work out, but I met a very nice other boy who I married 7 years later, so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip to Leeds...
After one year and a teaching placement, I decided not to pursue teaching as I didn't enjoy it enough to sustain it as a career. I liked the idea of teaching but all the planning was DOING MY HEAD IN. I'm not an organised person.
I changed courses to Childhood Studies and graduated three years later with a 2:1 (*bows* thank you very much) and toddled off to work full time in Superdrug. Yep, living the graduate dream.
Another long story short, a month later I got offered the chance to go and teach in Uganda with i-to-i on an all expenses paid trip of which Channel 4 would be filming me and four other Leeds Met students (Leeds Met were covering the bill in exchange for us wearing branded clothes - they pimped us!) I don't mind, it's easily the jammiest moment of my whole life and it was amazing. Oh did I mention that there were 8 millionaires joining us who were trying to solve poverty through enterprise? Yes, i-to-i boss Deirdre Bounds was there, along with that Google pay-per-click guy Seb Bishop and others...
When I returned home, I agreed to do a talk at an open day for i-to-i and Deirdre offered me a job interview. I aced the interview (natch) and started there in Spetember 2007.
Since there I've had the opportunity to go to Kenya, Honduras and most recently an amazing overland trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. I've met my circle of friends who I wouldn't be without and generally had a ball (occasionally doing a spot of work somewhere along the way).
If I'd never gone to Ibiza, chances are that I would have completed a degree in Tourism (my original choice) and who the hell knows where I'd be now? Fun game hey?
Look at your life RIGHT NOW, yep, right now. Where are you? How did you get there? Which decision did you make that got you to where you are at this very moment in your life? Once you start digging, it's totally fascinating, like digging up the roots of your own family tree, but not.
So right now, I'm working for a TEFL company in Leeds, and all of my other family members live at least 200 miles away back in Berkshire where I grew up and all that jazz.
I had a good old think about this over a glass of red wine or bottle, and I think my turning point that took me on this path was a trip to Ibiza back in 2002 - stick with me, this is going somewhere.
During my trip I met a boy. When you consider that this holiday was an 18-30s holiday (and the fact that I was only 17 at the time and MY LOVELY DAD had to sign a consent form to say I could go...) I'm not sure my Dad was all that thrilled to hear that I met a boy.
This boy lived in Leeds. The furthest I'd ever been up North was Fife, so quite a lot further than Leeds (not really sure why I put that part, I was thinking when I started typing that bit that I'd never been that far up North but then I remembered that I had. Much further. Anyhoo...)
So I went up to visit this boy. And it turns out that I quite liked him and at the time I was on a 'gap yah' as I decided I didn't want to go to my first choice Uni, Bournemouth, so I decided to move up to Leeds. I worked in the Devonshire Brasserie and Hotel over in a lovely little place called Bolton Abbey. The hotel? Not so lovely, I don't think I'll be going to work in a hotel anytime soon...
So, I quit that job on Christmas Eve. That went well. Moved back home and worked in New Look for the rest of my 'gap yah'. That went well too. I easily spent more than I earned working there...bad idea.
I applied to Leeds Met Uni and got in to a QTS course with Primary Education as my degree.
To cut a long story short, this boy and I didn't work out, but I met a very nice other boy who I married 7 years later, so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip to Leeds...
After one year and a teaching placement, I decided not to pursue teaching as I didn't enjoy it enough to sustain it as a career. I liked the idea of teaching but all the planning was DOING MY HEAD IN. I'm not an organised person.
I changed courses to Childhood Studies and graduated three years later with a 2:1 (*bows* thank you very much) and toddled off to work full time in Superdrug. Yep, living the graduate dream.
Another long story short, a month later I got offered the chance to go and teach in Uganda with i-to-i on an all expenses paid trip of which Channel 4 would be filming me and four other Leeds Met students (Leeds Met were covering the bill in exchange for us wearing branded clothes - they pimped us!) I don't mind, it's easily the jammiest moment of my whole life and it was amazing. Oh did I mention that there were 8 millionaires joining us who were trying to solve poverty through enterprise? Yes, i-to-i boss Deirdre Bounds was there, along with that Google pay-per-click guy Seb Bishop and others...
When I returned home, I agreed to do a talk at an open day for i-to-i and Deirdre offered me a job interview. I aced the interview (natch) and started there in Spetember 2007.
Since there I've had the opportunity to go to Kenya, Honduras and most recently an amazing overland trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. I've met my circle of friends who I wouldn't be without and generally had a ball (occasionally doing a spot of work somewhere along the way).
If I'd never gone to Ibiza, chances are that I would have completed a degree in Tourism (my original choice) and who the hell knows where I'd be now? Fun game hey?
Hot off the press...
I wanted to keep a collection of all guest posts and interview type things in one place. Mainly to show off, but once again to reflect on things I've done in my life so far. Hope you enjoy them!
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2007/old-news-article-5373 - interview about my trip to Uganda back in 2007 - I sound sooooooo well spoken, living in Leeds for nearly 8 years has changed that!
http://artofbackpacking.com/from-teaching-in-uganda-to-kenya-tanzania-and-zanzibar-%e2%80%93-by-an-africa-addict/ - guest post on Art of Backpacking website all about my trips to Africa so far...
http://blog.gapdaemon.com/blogs/guest-post-i-went-to-uganda-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-typhoid/ - A guest post about how I came to contract Typhoid in Uganda...no details spared!
http://www.beforethebigday.co.uk/2011/07/real-diy-budget-wedding-katie-josh.html - Uh oh...wedding alert! This was a guest post on a wedding blog. Ahhhhh.
http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-blog/2012/02/08/6-things-you-wont-experience-if-youre-not-tefling/ - I'm kind of cheating here but it was looking a bit sparse so thought I'd pad it out with a work related blog :)
http://artofbackpacking.com/things-to-do-in-honduras/ Oh and I'm back again on Art of Backpacking site, I do LOVE that site.
That's me so far! Enjoy!
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2007/old-news-article-5373 - interview about my trip to Uganda back in 2007 - I sound sooooooo well spoken, living in Leeds for nearly 8 years has changed that!
http://artofbackpacking.com/from-teaching-in-uganda-to-kenya-tanzania-and-zanzibar-%e2%80%93-by-an-africa-addict/ - guest post on Art of Backpacking website all about my trips to Africa so far...
http://blog.gapdaemon.com/blogs/guest-post-i-went-to-uganda-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-typhoid/ - A guest post about how I came to contract Typhoid in Uganda...no details spared!
http://www.beforethebigday.co.uk/2011/07/real-diy-budget-wedding-katie-josh.html - Uh oh...wedding alert! This was a guest post on a wedding blog. Ahhhhh.
http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-blog/2012/02/08/6-things-you-wont-experience-if-youre-not-tefling/ - I'm kind of cheating here but it was looking a bit sparse so thought I'd pad it out with a work related blog :)
http://artofbackpacking.com/things-to-do-in-honduras/ Oh and I'm back again on Art of Backpacking site, I do LOVE that site.
That's me so far! Enjoy!
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Where I've Been So Far...
It's important to look back on your trips you've taken to really appreciate what you've done! It's not all about looking forward and dreaming of your next trip...take some time to appreciate where you've been and what you've accomplished.
With that in mind, here's a list of countries I've been to so far and my favourite memory from each place:
With that in mind, here's a list of countries I've been to so far and my favourite memory from each place:
Ireland: Drinking time!
France: Disneyland Paris time!
Belgium: Chocolate times!
Spain: Gosh, too many times to count!
Portugal: Staying in a villa for the first time
Holland: Cycling around with my sister Beth in tiny neighbourhood times
Germany: A one night football tour to Hamburg - crazy times.
Switzerland: Coach trip with school, fun times
Cyprus: Sunset drinks time
Kenya: Safari time!
Tanzania: Hungover blur, lots of time spent on a safari truck times
Uganda: My first African experience time
Dominican Republic: All inclusive time
Honduras: Build a house time
Costa Rica: Airport stopover time but still a stamp in my passport!
Mexico: Honeymoon time!
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Hola, Och ai, Bonjour, Ola, Jambo and Daag!
I realised the other day that I've been lucky enough to say all of the above in the last year alone. It's been a brilliant year really and one that I doubt will happen again!
I've been to Honduras with a fantastic group of around 70 Canadians to build homes for 4 different families. Whilst I was there I went on a zip line over a forest, visited Mayan temples, swam under a waterfall, made mud with my bare feet and NEARLY went in a helicopter...nearly.
Then came Christmas with all it's festivities, I do love Christmas.
January was cold and snowy.
February/March gave us a trip to Disneyland Paris of which was spent on a mobility scooter as I fractured my ankle before the trip. Hey Mickey!
April - not one hen do, but two baby. Leeds and Edinburgh cowered in fear.
May - Got married and that. Headed off to Mexico for some R+R quick sharp
June - Camping in Derby
July - Started new job
September - 2 week trip to Africa
October - Amsterdam city break
Not a bad year as it goes.
I've been to Honduras with a fantastic group of around 70 Canadians to build homes for 4 different families. Whilst I was there I went on a zip line over a forest, visited Mayan temples, swam under a waterfall, made mud with my bare feet and NEARLY went in a helicopter...nearly.
Then came Christmas with all it's festivities, I do love Christmas.
January was cold and snowy.
February/March gave us a trip to Disneyland Paris of which was spent on a mobility scooter as I fractured my ankle before the trip. Hey Mickey!
April - not one hen do, but two baby. Leeds and Edinburgh cowered in fear.
May - Got married and that. Headed off to Mexico for some R+R quick sharp
June - Camping in Derby
July - Started new job
September - 2 week trip to Africa
October - Amsterdam city break
Not a bad year as it goes.
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