Honest to blog!

Fill in the blanks Friday

2012-01-27T20:57:00.001Z

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. My favorite place i've ever traveled to is Florida. It has Disney, duh .

2. Japan is somewhere I'd love to go someday.

3. I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by listening to an audiobook and doing puzzles or reading a magazine (read - looking at the pictures) .

4. My three must-haves when I travel are my phone , my ipod and food!

5. My favorite travel companion is the Bear .

6. The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is having to get off a plane to New York because the plane was possibly broken. This was after it hurtled down the runway to take off, then the captain stopped the plane. Scary! .

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is being a veggie, I've never really had anything exotic. It's usually whatever I can get my hands on .

8. If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in where I live now. Well, up the valley a little. I love living in the South Wales valleys <3 .

9. I have been to two

states in the U.S..

Fill in the blanks Friday

2012-01-13T23:57:00.001Z

Take that, Friday!

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. The last thing I ate was an awesome veggie curry. I haven't made curry in so long and it was so good! .

2. The last song I listened to was "you're my best friend" - Queen. It's on the end of Shaun of the Dead .

3. Using the letters in my name I can spell (Samantha) man, than, maths, ermm...I'm dumb. mat, ham, manta.... .

4. If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick black. I want to say mustard or teal, but entire wardrobes of those colours would be a bit much. black is classic for a reason! .

5. If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find a bunch of junk. my purse, glasses case, filofax, make-up bag, first-aid stuff, glasses cleaner, pen, tissues, old receipts, probably some other stuff too .

6. When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to go to the loo! .

7. My all time favorite song to dance to is Well, I don't really "do" dancing. So we'll change this to singing and my answer is Beelzeboss .

What I ate yesterday - Thursday 12 January

2012-01-13T23:32:00.001Z

Breakfast -
Rice cakes with peanut butter and banana, soya yoghurt, almonds, orange juice

Lunch -
Carrots, mange tout, celery, beetroot, 'chicken' and houmous

Dinner -
Pasta with veggies and 'ham'

Dinner was the worst ever. I was cold, tired and didn't feel like cooking. I threw a load of pasta and veggies in a pan and left it to cook while I washed some dishes. When it was cooked, I smothered it in garlic. Too much garlic as it turns out. Didn't think it was possible.

Boo hiss

What I ate yesterday - Wednesay 11 January

2012-01-12T22:20:00.000Z

Breakfast -
Fruit, almonds, pear and peach soya yoghurt

Lunch -
Celery, beetroot, houmous, 'ham', sugar snap peas

Dinner -

Garlic mushroom pasta with quorn and peas

Yesterday was a great food day. I really enjoyed everything, especially the pasta, which was immense! I'm getting lazier though, I'm looking forward to the weekend where I'll have time to make a bit more effort with my cooking.

What I ate yesterday - Tuesday 10 January

2012-01-11T22:48:00.002Z

Breakfast -
3 rice cakes with peanut butter and banana

Lunch -
Beetroot, celery, houmous, sugarsnap peas, fake 'ham'

Dinner -
Quorn fillets, broccoli, peas, roast asparagus and a stack of butternut squash, courgettes and goats cheese with a garlic 'butter' drizzle
(This was G's haddock. His plate was far more photogenic than mine!

Yesterday my food guru, Emily, told me that I can have goat's milk! Generally it's cow milk that causes stomach problems. I'm going to have a little now and then to add some variety to my meals, but I'm pretty happy being completely dairy free at the moment :)

It's nice eating a meal knowing it's doing me good. I still suffer with a bloaty belly sometimes, but I'm sure it'll take a while for my stomach to figure out what's going on!

What I ate yesterday - Monday 9 January

2012-01-10T19:16:00.000Z

Monday 9th January

Breakfast -
A banana, apple, soya yoghurt and a small handful of almonds

Lunch -
Celery, sugar snap peas, spinach, 'ham', beetroot, houmous, cashews and pinenuts

Dinner -
Tofu and asparagus in balsalmic 'butter' with salted kale chips

Snack -
Breaded 'chicken' goujons and houmous.

Ok, it was late and I was hungry. One bad thing all day isn't too bad, right? What's some breadcrumbs between friends?

Best pasta ever

2012-01-08T22:06:00.000Z

Seriously, so good!

My dear friend Kirsty asked for the recipe, so figured I'd post it here in an attempt to get off my lazy bum and blog more.

I'm very much from the "throw some stuff in a pan, hope it turns out ok" school of cookery, so if you try this, I'd advise the same!

I made this with wheat-free pasta and it's actually really nice. It's a bit more chewy than 'normal' pasta, but tastes just the same.

Ingredients
Wheat-free pasta
Quorn pieces (or any other fake meat)
Leek
Mushrooms
Courgette
Peas
Broccoli
Pine nuts
Garlic
Veggie stock cube
Olive Oil
Herbs, salt and pepper

I started by gently softening the leeks in some olive oil, adding some salt, pepper, a veggie stock cube and some garlic. Well, lots of garlic because it's the best. I use garlic puree because it's soo much easier and has a great, concentrated flavour. Moar garlic!

I added the mushrooms, courgette and Quorn to the pan. I use Quorn because it tastes good and it's wheat free (I think!). It does have egg white in though, so if you're vegan I'm sure you'll know something you can use instead :)

I cooked the wheat free pasta in salted water and added the peas and brocolli. Most WF pastas only take about 10 minutes, so I got a good start on the veggies before putting the pasta on to cook.

I added dried mixed herbs, fresh basil, pinenuts and a handful of chopped spinach just before everything was cooked.

Once cooked, the pasta needs to be rinsed really well, with boiling water, otherwise it's like starch-a-palooza. Gluey pasta is not good. I then mixed everything together in a big pan, adding a little more olive oil if needed.

Serve and enjoy!

If you have a go at this, let me know! :)

If you make this, let me

Fill in the blanks...erm, Sunday

2012-01-08T13:40:00.001Z

Late again! Oh well.

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is cuddle up on the sofa and watch tv. It's pretty much all I do, actually .

2. When I have free time I tend to laze about. I should do more, but I'm always tired. Like, ALWAYS. Hopefully this diet change will help!

3. If I had an entire day completely to myself I would have a nice lie in, make a nice breakfast, cuddle on the sofa with blankets, DVDs and cats, have a nice lunch, nap, wake up, watch tv, have a nice dinner, nap some more, wake for an hour, then go to bed and watch cartoons. Yes, I am that boring .

4. I would prefer to spend my free time (alone or with others...) with Bear. I like just doing our own things, me reading blogs and instagramming, while he plays his computer games .

5. Most of my free time happens on the weekend. I never truly appreciated weekends until about 3 years ago .

6. The best thing about free time is that you don't have to feel guilty about doing nothing .

7. The next time I have free time I should probably work out, clean, de-clutter... but instead, I'll probably nap and watch cartoons .

Hello, flatter tummy!

2012-01-08T12:32:00.000Z

Well, it seems this cutting out most things from my diet, is working! :) Sure, I'm still overweight and wobbly, but I now no longer look three months pregnant with a FUPA. My jeans fit me nicely now and no longer make me look and feel like I was wearing Mum jeans. Hurrah!

Actually, cutting so much out of my diet isn't as hard as I expected. It's nice not to feel guilty about what I'm eating, too :) I've allowed myself the odd cup of coffee, or bit of chocolate, but I'm trying to help myself, not punish myself.

An average breakfast for me (which I've had every day, because it's yummy!) is rice cakes with peanut butter and banana. For lunch I usually have raw veggies and houmous, with some fake sandwich meat and ryebread, although I'm not such a huge fan of that. Dinner is a big bowl of veggies or some wheat-free pasta.

My shopping is great too, this week's shopping only cost £33 and that will feed both of us :) Hurrah!
I was so proud of myself when this all went through the check-out -
orange juice
carrots
apples
bananas
cashews, brazils and almonds
celery
houmous
quorn
beetroot
mushrooms
peppers
asparagus
spinach
sugar-snap peas
broccoli
kale
cauliflower
rice cakes

Let's hope this will be a change I can keep up for the long haul.

Better late than never

2012-01-04T22:15:00.001Z

So, the 2012 post.

Been meaning to do this for a while, but am just so tired lately. I fully expect this to be a half-assed attempt!

2011 was a mixed bag. I spent the year with my wonderful man and some lovely times with family and friends. I changed jobs in work and found something I really enjoy. I'm now a communications professional. Get me. We had a brilliant holiday in Paris and enjoyed spending time with each other, cuddled up at home.

In crappier times, we were burgled while at home and we lost our dear kitten Clive. Both happened within weeks of each other. Just heartbreaking. I've been lucky in work, getting some temporary promotions, but G got his funding from university stopped. Cue money being tighter than we'd like, G working a shitty job, less time together, early mornings and late nights.

But I know we've been very lucky and have had a brilliant year compared to many.

I'm not one for new years resolutions, but this year I would like to set myself some goals for 2012. I may or may not stick to them, but I at least want to try!

Become Mrs Clews <3

Start saving for a mortgage

Continue eating better, no wheat, no dairy, no potatoes, no caffeine... just for the occasional treat

Learn some more languages. The Bear and I want to learn some more Welsh, German and Japanese

Do well in the courses I'm starting this year
Make more of an effort to speak properly and swear less

Try and exercise more, even if it's only once a week

Write more letters

Blog more!

If anyone sees me slacking on any of these, give me a kick! What are your goals for 2012?

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-12-30T23:17:00.001Z

Yeah, so I don't really "get" the whole New Years thing, but FitBF is the only regular post I do!

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. New Years is a bit confusing to me. I've never really entered into the spirit of it. I understand the whole 'remembering the past year and looking forward to the new' thing, but the day/night itself is always so anticlimatic .

2. One of my New Year's resolutions will be I don't make resolutions, more hopes. Me and G would like to learn/brush up on some languages next year .

3. A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to (I don't think I've ever made one!) .

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was (should have given this one a miss!) .

5. This year I will be spending New Year's Eve with G and his Mum. Possibly his brother and girlfriend too. First time meeting them all! Eek .

6. If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be to become a wife .

7. 2012 is going to be exciting! (Hopefully!) .

Be nice, little tummy

2011-12-29T21:00:00.000Z

My stomach has been just awful for weeks now. It's just not nice.

Luckily, my chum in work is studying nutrition, so I can always ask her about food and my diet. She suggested I cut out dairy, carbs and caffeine for a few weeks. So this was my shop earlier! Lots of veg, brown rice, tofu and some more peppermint tea.

Let's hope a few weeks will allow my stomach to settle, then I can gradually start introducing things to see what upsets me.

Fingers crossed that pasta, cheese and potatoes sit well with me when they come back!

Simply having...

2011-12-26T16:12:00.002Z

...a wonderful Christmas time!

Merry Christmas! We had a great day with my family yesterday. I love Christmas :)

I woke at about 7am and bounced around on the bed, shouting "Santa's been! He's been!" for about 45 minutes before G would get up. We opened presents quickly, before heading over to my Mums. He got me Fantasia 2000 on blu-ray and an Amanda Visell journal :) yay!

He got another Unicornasaurus, 7 of the "Finders Keepers" collection, and some bits like a new moleskin, some fineliner pens and chocolate. Lots of it to. His Christmas wish was 'chocolate for breakfast' haha.

My parents spoiled us rotten! I got loads of really nice presents and money, which is always welcome! After a quick breakfast, we popped to see my Dad and Grandparents, then to see my nephews. When we got back, there was already a house full! There were 11 people for dinner, so the house was noisy and happy :) Quite how my mum manages to cook for 11 AND make all the food amazing, I'll never know. I ate sooo much! After dinner we popped to my Aunt's house (as is tradition) and spent about an hour there before heading back to my Dad's to see my cousins.

Then home!

I changed into my new pjs as soon as I got home and we sat looking at our gifts (and photographing them in my case!). We ate cheese, crackers and Christmas chutney that my mum made and watched Christmas specials on tv. I was so tired and fell asleep within minutes of going to bed.

I'm so happy and thankful to spend another Christmas with my wonderful family. I was spoiled rotten, thank you all so much!

In the interest of post-length and not boring the pants off everyone (well, too late!), I've hidden the pictures of my gifts after the break.

If I don't get around to it just before, have a healthy and happy new year!x

Bear's growing JLed collection

Gorgeous notebook from my Gemma

Amazing marmalade and the best tin from Corey and Eckel

Tea and wonderful teacup from Rae

Gorgeous smellies from Kim

A wonderful array of treats from Kirsty. LOVE the bunny!

Lovely gifts from my lovely Bear

New jim-jams!

Three of my FOUR chocolate oranges. Get in!

Four of my five blu-rays. Lucky duck!

I'm going to ruin this poor guy with my clumsy hands!

I already own this, but I LOVE that my mum bought it me <3

Yummy body gubbins. Always a good gift!

Treats!

Cute notecards

Plonk!

Nemo pencils!!!

Prettiest makeup bag

New undies!

Tea and a chicken honey drizzler. As you do...

Yay, more smellies!

Amazing present haul from my Aunt (along with a bluray!)

"A little something" from my Grandma, to go with my far too generous cheque

Huge cake! "Pah-neh-toh-neh!"

I like wasting time on the internet

2011-12-26T14:57:00.001Z

As Coralene said, "Anybody who likes wasting time on the internet should take this."

1. What time did you get up this morning?
I think it was about 9:45. I enjoyed a lie in :)

2. How do you like your steak?
I don't eat meat.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Erm...it was ages ago. Shameful really, for people who own cinema passes! I think it was a X-men First Class and Bridesmaids double feature.

4. What is your favourite TV show?
Buffy!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I'm pretty happy in the South Wales Valleys :)

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Toast, hard-boiled eggs and coffee. YUM!

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Probably Italian. I could eat pasta and pizza until the cows come home!

8. What foods do you dislike?
I don't think I dislike anything veggie-friendly anymore! I used to hate mushrooms and sweetcorn and now I love both!

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
My sofa :) orrrr I like Frankie and Benny's. I'm in no way fancy.

10. Favorite dressing?
I'm not a huge dressing fan. I like Balsamic though, yummy.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Peugeot 206. She's called Maude.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Comfy dresses with cosy boots.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Florida! Ok, I've been several times, but I'm desperate to go again!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Usually half empty. I'm trying to be more optimistic though!

15. Where would you want to retire?
Again, where I am. If for some reason my entire family decide to move to separate corners of the earth, then Llandudno

Source

16. Favorite time of day?
Naptime :)

17. Where were you born?
Here!

Nevill Hall, Abergavenny

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Erm, no. Just, no.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
Why would someone tag me back if I've already done this?...

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
See above.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
People who like wasting time on the internet

22. Bird watcher?
Not really.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Neither really. Maybe, I'm an "hour slot, somewhere in the day" person?

24. Do you have any pets?
Mmmyes. Three cats, Luna, Salem and Drusilla. Two fostercats, Jubei and Bones

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
I am about to have another cup of tea (yes, my day is that exciting!).

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
It changed all the time. I still don't know what I want to be, although I mostly enjoy my job at the moment.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Probably the first time we went to Disney in Florida.

29. Are you married?
Nope. (Hurry Bear! ;D )

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Of course!

31. Been in a car accident?
Yup. Someone drove into the back of me at a junction. Then blamed me. Dick.

32. Any pet peeves?
So many. Mainly people who drive 20-30 miles under the speed limit on a single carriageway.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Pineapple, peppers, mushrooms, onion and extra herbs

34. Favorite Flower?
Lilies. Stargazers are probably my favourite.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Pretty much any. I'm a fatty for a reason.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
I don't really go to fast food places. Does ordering a pizza count? If yes, Dominos.

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Twice, I passed third time. I'm not a shit driver, honestly. The British test system is fucking awful.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Urban Outfitters (oh the shame!), confirming my order of wonderful plates

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Amazon. You can get everything there <3

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Ermm...shall I lie and say yes? Yes, I went bungee jumping, followed by coasteering yesterday afternoon, on a whim.

41. Like your job?
Pretty much. It sucks at times, but who's job doesn't?

42. Broccoli?
Mmmmm! I want some now!

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Florida :)

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
I actually can't remember the last time I went out for dinner....

45. What are you listening to right now?
Stevie Wonder - The Definitive Collection. Friggin' awesome.

46. What is your favorite color?
Mustard or teal.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
I've gone past that point. You can pretty much go 'left arm tattoo', 'right arm tattoo' etc now. But yes, lots.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
All the bored people!

49. Coffee Drinker?
Yarp.

50. Are you in love?
Very much so <3

Gifts ahoy!

2011-12-23T23:01:00.001Z

I got such good gifts this year, I'm a lucky ducky! We've not long got back from spending the evening with my parents, sister, grandparents and auntie, it was lovely :)

I got spoiled rotten again today :) I got a stack of cards and lots of money. Yay for money!

My sweet Bear made me breakfast and waited on me hand and foot all day. I had the sweetest handmade card, which made me cry like a big girl :) He got me this gorgeous ring, some chocolates (which I ate in 30 seconds flat) and an IOU for "an awesome present". Erm, I think this was pretty awesome! Silly Bear...

Pretty ring <3

The rest of my haul - (too tired to edit and rotate pictures!)

Awesome salt and pepper shakers from my friend Rae :)

Gaga cat!

Awesome oven glove set from my friend Liam

Cute gloves from Momma

Me and Mother always buy each other hearts

Shiny, fancy belt from Mother

Cute top from Grandma

Cute lantern

BEST book from my sister! I love Scott C!

Notebook and pen, also from mother

Pretty flower from my grandparents

Fancy Joules handcare stuff

Hoorah! Finally! A Yankee Candle oil burner <3

Cute calendar

Funny little cat tea tray

Veggie Percys! Nom!

Anywhoooo, I'm off to bed, where I'm sure I shall fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow! I'm sure lucky to have such great family and friends <3

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-12-23T16:42:00.002Z

This should be a birthday themed blanks, but I guess Christmas is pretty important too ;)

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is spending time and sharing thoughtful gifts with those you love .

2. The thing I love most about Christmas is cosy times and spoiling each other .

3. The holiday season is a time for my birthday! (Knew I'd get it in there somewhere!) .

4. My favorite thing to eat at the holidays is Moomin's Christmas roast... It's amazing, I never wanna cook my own Christmas day dinner ever. Let's hope mommy dearest will be able to cope with us and our future brood .

5. I will be spending Christmas with my family. This year we're doing a lot more 'us' time too .

6. Tis better to (give or receive?) give. I love getting gifts, but love giving a gift even more. Especially this year when I haven't been able to spend as much as I'd like, so tried to get (more) thoughtful gifts for my money. .

7. I'm dreaming of a food-filled Christmas.

Happy birthday to me!

2011-12-23T16:36:00.000Z

25 today!

My new heroes

2011-12-21T11:56:00.000Z

Source

Shit girls say

2011-12-20T00:17:00.001Z

Everyone and their nan is tweeting and blogging about these, but I don't care. I love them!

Hopefully someone reading this (helloooo, anyone out there?) won't have seen them before :)

I know I do so many of these things! I could watch these over and over. More please!!!

Cosy movie weekend :)

2011-12-18T17:32:00.000Z

I've really enjoyed this weekend and it's not over yet. We've dedicated most of this weekend to snuggling up and watching movies. I've not changed out of pyjamas, just showed and put clean ones on. So cosy.

Yesterday I watched About A Boy, Death Becomes Her and some of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Today's films? Toy Story 3, Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium (currently), followed by Cars. Then it's Christmas with Michael Buble :)

Oh my! Kermit is doing his shopping in Mr Magorium's shop! :) I like this film already! Plus, Natalie Portman. *sigh*

So yes, uber cosy weekend. G worked yesterday, but we've spent the rest of the time snuggled up. We're both under blankets and have drunk copious amounts of tea. We got donated a slow cooker last week, so there's a casserole in it, simmering away as I type.

Also as I type, WoW is installing on my computer. Yes, I am returning to WoW for maybe the third time? Fourth perhaps? I've been contemplating it since buying my iMac as it would play just beautifully on there, running at a decent speed and on a wonderful screen. This time I got convinced by the new Chuck Norris advert. Just too cool to ignore. Plus, I got emailed with an offer of free game time. Hurrah!

I'm gonna have to start a new character as I've totally forgotten how to play. The last time I attempted it, everything had changed and it made me a little upset. We fear change. Let's hope I can access my old account and post everything across! That's if there's anything left. I was the victim of multiple hacks. People are twats.

For now, I'm gonna be playing for free, up to level 20. If I get back into it again, I'll pay to play the full version :) If there's any nerds out there (Corey and Kirstin, I'm talking to you!) who will be playing soon, let me know! I think we'll all be on different servers, but we can at least try and hook up! /nerdfive

Be good x

Disney Couture jewellery

2011-12-17T22:38:00.001Z

This stuff is magnificent. I only found out about it when we visited Disneyland in November. Where had it been all my life?!

I thought I'd share a few of my favourite pieces. It's not like anyone is gonna buy them for me, but still, we all like pretty things to look at, right?

Who knows, maybe I'll win the lottery tonight!? :)

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-12-16T19:12:00.001Z

Hoorah! That time of the week again! :)

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. My most favorite "little thing" is getting a sweet text from my Bear .

2. I'd give anything to own my own home. Well, not quite anything, but I'm sure I'd give most things .

3. I can't believe it's almost Christmas! It only seemed like yesterday that I was in London with Kirsty. That was almost a year ago!

4. The one thing I'd like to achieve today is watching the soaps. Hey, it's gone 7pm, I can be lax on my goals now .

5. The last thing I want to do today is tidy our bedroom. My clothes are everywhere, but it's just too cold in our room :( .

6. If I were writing my own blank today, it would say: if I could eat any sandwich right now, it would be....... (Mine would be lasagne! Oh yes!) .

7. My favorite candle scent is vanilla, or spiced apple. Can't wait for my Yankee Candle stuff from my mom for xmas/my birthday .

Christmas!

2011-12-16T18:25:00.001Z

I'm pinching this from the lovely Tyler. I'm cold, bored and come on...who doesn't love a survey, like it's six years ago and myspace was still cool. (RIP Myspace *sniff*)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper! I love presents wrapped in brown paper, but this year I went super budget on Crimbo's ass!

2. Real tree or Artificial?

We always have an artificial tree, but I'd love a real one. Hopefully gonna get a huge tree in the sales this year, the one above is far too small!

3. When do you put up the tree? December 1st this year. I couldn't wait any longer!

4. When do you take the tree down?
January 1st usually :(

5. Do you like eggnog? I don't think I've ever tried it! I think the closest we have here is a Snowball, which is Advocaat, lemonade and lime cordial.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Oooh, I don't know. Maybe my Furby. We wanted them soooo bad and my mum tried everywhere to get them. Actually getting one each on Christmas day was awesome! Annoying little bastards as they were!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope. I like them, but I'm not at all religious. I know, I know, I celebrate Christmas but for me it's about family and sharing. Maybe I should start calling it "Winter Holiday!".

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My momma. She has EVERYTHING. Oh wait, she doesn't own Minnie Mouse pjs with her name on. She does now! Heh.

9. Easiest person to buy for? The Bear. There's always a million things he wants.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail. Although this year I've barely written/sent any. I get conscious of how much it costs, for the cards to just go in the recycling in a few weeks.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Ermm my auntie got me this pretty bad waistcoat one year. It wasn't awful, just not my style at all. I didn't have the heart to ask her to take it back. It ended up in one of my mom's school plays, on a kid haha.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppets Christmas Carol! I really need to get that on Bluray!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Every year I vow to start my shopping early to spread the cost. This year, I actually did! I started buying for Bear in August :) Although I did the main bulk of the rest at the start of December. Still have a few to buy though. Erk!

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Christmas dinner itself! My mum makes the best dinners, I hope she keeps inviting me and doesn't decide I need to cook my own dinners. We always have so much! Mum does pork, turkey and pigs in blankets for everyone and I get some kind of yummy veggie option. Then everyone has mash, roasties, peas, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, cauli, stuffing and cauliflower cheese. I've probably missed something. OOOOH! Mangetout!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
I like both! We have two sets of coloured at the moment though.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
I'm fully embracing Crimbo music this year! My faves this year include Wonderful Christmas Time, All I Want For Christmas is You, Stop The Cavalry and In Dulce Jubilo.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Home!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dave, Keith, Steve, John, Jim, Geoff and Bob

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas morning :)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Snow. It looks nice, but it's a nightmare to get anywhere!

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?
My favourite this year is the Jack Skellington I got a few weeks ago. Love him!

24. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Disney Blurays!

I love this lady

2011-12-14T00:37:00.001Z

Fake or not, I love her!

I love this more though...

(switch it off at 2:00 - annoying advert man!)

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-12-09T21:52:00.001Z

Soppy themed Fill in the blanks Friday today :) I'm all for soppy love gubbins!

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. Love is wonderful. It creeps up on you unexpectedly and when it's right, it's the best feeling .

2. Being in love feels like being under a warm, comfy blanket. There's cats snuggled up on the blanket and you have a cup of tea too .

3. My favorite quote about love is "Love makes you do the wacky" - Buffy The Vampire Slayer .

4. The most important thing in a relationship is trust. If you can't trust someone, how can you spend the rest of your life with them? .

5. A "deal breaker" for me in a relationship is violence. I'm lucky to have never been in this situation, but there are many people who aren't that fortunate. That makes me sad .

6. The way I show love in my relationships is by doing little, thoughtful things. Even as small as picking up some sweets for G on the way home. I think the little gestures mean the most .

7. I love my Bear .

I have shit taste in music

2011-12-07T22:11:00.001Z

Case in point, this song I've been loving recently -

Absolute balls! I couldn't tell you why I loved it, but then today found out it's by Flux Pavillion. A few months back I posted about another Flux Pavillion track that I loved, but wasn't too sure why I love that either.

BASS CANNON!

So friggin' awesome. (Never seen the video before today, hilarious!)

This song however, I have absolutely no shame in loving! -

You can guarantee every time this comes on in the car, that I'll turn it up and bob my head like a loon.

My favourite bit is when Tinie goes "yeahhhhhhh!" at 2:57. AWESOME.

Oh and just cos -

(I keep singing the "bah-doo-bah-doo" bit from the intro at my friend from work. He loves it. Honest.)

*Girly squeal*

People are bastards!

2011-12-07T19:55:00.000Z

Last week I heard that Warner Brothers were releasing the last Harry Potter DVDs, then discontinuing them. The plan is to re-release each film individually, like Disney have. Milking the cash cow and all that.

I'd not got around to ordering ...Deathly Hallows Part 1 or 2, so ordered them online, along with the blu-ray boxset and ...Half-blood Prince, forgetting I already owned it.

I bought them all from different sellers as some were much cheaper than others. Should have just bought direct from Amazon *sigh*

Blu-ray boxset turns up. Fine.

...Half-blood Prince turns up. Don't need it, but fine.

...Deathly Hallows Part 2 turns up. Fine.

...Deathly Hallows Part 1 turn up. Not fine.

The cheeky bastard who sold it listed it as the two disc, but what turns up? The single disk. I didn't want the single disk, or I would have bought it.

In the last day or two, Potter DVD purchasing has gone apeshit and the two disk of Part 1 has sold out pretty much everywhere. Except the places where they've now doubled the price. Some people are asking for £90 on Amazon and one cheeky devil on Play.com is asking for £199 for a used copy. Bastards.

BASTARDS I tell you!

So my theory? Mr amazon seller cottons on, sends me the single disk, hoping I don't notice/complain, so he can sell MY copy for mega bucks. Not this nerd, dude.

So I've emailed asking to be sent the copy I ordered and paid for. Fingers crossed I get what I flaming well ordered! In the meantime, dear sissy-poos ordered me a copy on Play, which was £20. Steep (at double what I paid for my original one), but I have no doubt I'll be able to sell it on if I end up with two. At the price I paid for it, I'm not a jerkbag.

FUCK YOU, POTTER PRICE-JACKING BASTARDS!

Christmas!

2011-12-06T22:17:00.000Z

I lurrrvvvee Christmas! Every year, as I get older, I get more and more excited. I couldn't tell you why!

This year we're doing it a little differently. Every year I've stayed at my mums on Christmas Eve and had breakfast with my parents, before spending the day together. This year, G and I are going to go spend the evening of Christmas Eve with my parents, before heading home to snuggle up, (possibly drink mulled wine!), eat mince pies and watch a nice film. Then we're going to have breakfast together (he's requested we have selection boxes for breakfast *sigh*), then will head to have lunch with my parents. It's nice being able to spend more of Christmas together this year, it may not be that long until we have little ones at Christmas :)

I put my tree up last Thursday, the earliest I've ever put it up! I came home from work sick, so quietly put my tree up and prettified the house :)

My momma got us advent calendars :)

Prettiest baubles! (Oh hai Mr. Gingeybread man!)

The gorgeous ornaments we picked out together in Paris <3

My newest addition, who arrived today. He's so wonderful!

The tree in all it's christmassy wonder!

Cosy lights and candles :D

What are you doing for Christmas this year?

Just dropping in to say...

2011-12-05T22:46:00.001Z

...I'd very much like to blog, but I'm falling asleep on the settee.

Off to bed I go, night night x

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-12-02T20:41:00.000Z

HAH! It's Friday! In your face, Friday!

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. The holiday season is lovely. Sure, it gets very cold here and all the festivities are stressful and cost a fortune, but I love it .

2. Snow makes me sad. It looks very pretty when I'm indoors in the warm, but I certainly do not like it when I need to get anywhere. .

3. The best comfort food to eat when it's cold out is vegetable stew and warm, buttered bread .

4. Winter is the best time for snuggling under blankets and watching films. (NB I do this in summer too) .

5. I can hardly wait for Christmas morning! .

6. When it comes to holiday gifts I prefer to make them. But I'm lazy, so I don't. Plus, you can't make a PS3 .

7. If I were to rate my excitement about the holiday season on a scale from 1-10, I would say I am at about a 8 (she says, listening to Mickey Bubble's Christmas CD. SO GOOD! Go get it!!) .

Wow!

2011-12-01T19:48:00.000Z

I've been following the lovely Kristin's work in India for a long time now. She's working with a wonderful charity called Operation Smile and has started a (rapidly growing) project of her own, called Asha Guwahati, feeding hungry street children.

Every update, my heart aches for these poor children, but also warms each time I see their grateful smiles. A few weeks ago I thought, "I must email Kristin and send her some money when I get paid!" Well, I didn't need to as Danielle posted all the donation info last week :)

So when my pay rolled in yesterday, I hopped over to paypal. Although I couldn't commit myself to as large a donation as I'd like, I was amazed when Kristin emailed me to tell me my donation would feed 40 children. FOURTY! That's amazing!

So if you can spare a few pounds/dollars/krone please paypal Kristin at ashaguwahati@gmail.com

Lazy

2011-11-27T20:06:00.000Z

Despite many promises to myself, I've not blogged in ages again. I've barely touched my swanky computer in over a week, what a wonderful way to have spent a lot of my (the bank's) money. My desk is my a window so it's friggin cold over there. No amount of blankets make me cosy. So sofa and xbox has been my week.

I know, I know...move the desk? Our living rom is so bloomin' full that there's nowhere else to put it really. That and it's one of the few places with power points in the living room. Very poorly designed on that front.

So yeah. There's my excuse.

I've had a busy week, I started my new post in work on Monday. I think this is my 5th(?) post since I joined my team in February. Sheesh. I keep hopping from temporary post to temporary post and from temporary promotion to temporary promotion. My team would very much like to give me a permanent post, but it's just not possible at the moment with all the restrictions on government recruitment. Everything has to go through boards and a bunch of people who don't always understand the needs of the teams. Anywho. My new post is a temporary promotion until the end of March (can't remember if I've already blogged about this? Probably not...). I'm the new *massive air quotes* editor of the Daily, the news hub that lives on our intranet. I edit articles, post them up and get to make fun decisions like telling IM that their crappy story isn't important enough to go on the front page. It's fun but I'm losing my mind a little. I'm pretty lazy with my grammar most of the time, but jeez some of the people who submit stuff really are grammatically retarded. They put caps at the start of every word, form the world's longest sentences (even longer than some of my badboys!) and put possessive apostrophes EVERYWHERE. I even start questioning myself. "Should there be 6 caps in that sentence?" I guess I'll turn into a proper grammar nazi soon. I doubt I'll bring that home with me though, fear not dear reader - this blog will be as sloppy as ever! It's cool though, I'm getting to wangle some more training out of work :) I'm doing an NVQ in customer service, (hopefully) the next stage in my CIPR training and a proof-reading course. Yay for learning!

It's Christmas soon! I'm so excited :) I get excited earlier and earlier every year. I started my shopping in August this year, trying to be prepared, but there are still people I have to buy for and have no idea what to buy. I have a few online shopping carts waiting to be purchased and there may or may not be a few things that I've sneaked in for myself. Happens every year, I think it's only fair. I'm going shopping with my cousin on Thursday after work to try and get the last few bits, then I'm coming home and putting up my tree :) Exciting!

In sad news, we're gonna have to keep looking for a home for the littlest kitties. I feel even worse about it after getting so many nice comments from people about it. Our landlord and estate agents have told us they need to go. We don't want to, but we really can't risk getting evicted. We won't be able to afford the rent on most of the houses locally and what new landlord is going to let us rent with 5 cats? I've known since the day we found them that keeping them wouldn't be an option and have had pangs of guilt ever since we said we'd keep them. It's not a decision we should have made when we don't own this house. We're allowed our 3, but we're gonna need to have the two little 'uns homed before our next inspection which I think is in January :( Super sadtimes.

On that note, I'm gonna go be miserable now...

Fill in the blanks...erm Saturday

2011-11-26T09:56:00.000Z

Late again! Ho hum.

I've barely been near my computer the last week, so really behind on blog reading and blogging. Here's to easing myself back in!

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. Waking up at the break of dawn to go shopping is my idea of not quite hell, but almost. I quite like shopping when I can afford to, but I'm more of a 'lie in, big brekkie, lazy afternoon stroll' kind of shopper .

2. If I were to go shopping today I would be on the hunt for christmas presents! Still have a few people to buy for. I thought I was organised this year! .

3. The best thing I ate yesterday was a Krispy Kreme doughnut :) We had some pretty crappy news in work yesterday, so Jackie sneaked out to buy us a dozen glazed ring doughnuts :) Sweet girl! .

4. Something I've been learning lately is that I need to make some changes in my life. I've been trying really hard though over the last few months .

5. I cannot start my day without checking twitter and instagram from the night before. It's kinda my ritual. Get into work, make a cuppa, catch up on my feeds. Got to make sure I don't miss anything! Sad really .

6. My nighttime attire consists of mismatched pjs. Usually flannel bottoms and a tshirt or the first flannel top I grab. It's much more fun when you don't match .

7. I am looking forward to Christmas!!!! .

Fill in the blanks...erm Saturday

2011-11-19T13:32:00.000Z

I'm allowed to be late as I didn't even turn my computer on last night. Had a nice night in with the Bear (although every night is a night in!)

As always, join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. A nervous habit I have is fiddling with jewellery or my clothes. When I still had piercings, they used to get pulled about no end .

2. Something that makes me sad is that people dump pets. 3 of our cats were dumped :( .

3. Today I am thankful for my cupboards and fridge being full. We are very lucky .

4. My favorite room in my house is my living room. We've filled it with lots of cosy cushions, toys, books, dvds and pretty pictures. It's a bit of a nerd haven. The cats love it too .

5. I can't stand the cold :( .

6. If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would get some Disney Blu-rays. I have quite the wishlist now! .

7. The last person I hung out with was my cats. That totally counts .

Dear Bear

2011-11-17T20:27:00.000Z

Thank you for a wonderful year together. I love you so very much. Happy anniversary xxx

Meet the boys

2011-11-16T22:37:00.000Z

Ok, some of you already know this from Twitter, but we kinda, sorta ended up with 2 more cats.

Oh dear, right?

When I was out looking for dear little Clive, (sadface) I heard a hell of a lot of yowling in our garden. I thought it was our wee man, so kept calling out to him. But instead came a bedraggled looking little black kitty. He kept yowling at me and the other cats were hissing at him. They were not fans of the garden intruder! I hurried inside to get a cat carrier and managed to coax the little bundle over to me. I popped him into the carrier and went around to the neighbours - he must have escaped! So I knocked on the door and they said it wasn't their kitten, but that they'd found 2 kittens in their garden that morning. They said they thought they'd be dumped overnight and had called the RSCPA to come collect them. An hour or so later there was a knock on the door and it was our neighbour, holding the other kitten. I went to get the other cat carrier and put one in each. This kitty was a lot smaller than the first, but a little twin!

They cried a lot in the carriers, so eventually took them to the bathroom and made them a little bed out of blankets and gave them some food. I'd call the RSPCA in the morning!

The next day, I phoned the RSPCA and they said they'd had no calls to come collect any cats in the area (idiot neighbours!!!). They said they could come collect the cats later that day. I explained to the lady that my friend wanted to home the kittens and she asked for me to rehome them myself. She explained that if they took the cats in, they'd be in a boarding centre for months before they went out for rehoming and that if we could find them a home, it would be in the best interest of the cats. So we decided we'd keep hold of them for a little longer.

In the meantime, a few people showed interest in adopting them and changed their minds again. Pretty soon, it had been two weeks and the kittens had decided they were keeping us. Surely it should be the other way around?

We tried not to get too attached to them, but they made themselves at home really quickly, get along like a house on fire with the other cats and fussing us no end. They are absolutely no trouble and we love them so much already.

So now we're a 5 kitty household. Cripes.

Four of them are black. Most confusing!

So without further ado, meet the new kitties!

Jubei (named after a character from Blaz Blue)

...and Bones (after the cat in Idle Hands)

(no idea why these pictures are wonky...stupid Twitter!)

Salem is rather taken with them. If I didn't know he'd been "done" I'd swear they were his babies!

Salem and Bones -

Salem and Jubei -

They are such sweet little things, it makes me so sad that someone dumped them. While they'll never replace our sweet little man, we're glad we can give them a loving, forever home.

Welcome to the family, boys xxx

Best dream ever!

2011-11-15T21:08:00.000Z

I was walking through a busy indoor market with my sister and my mum and we were hurrying to get somewhere for some reason. I got excited at the thought of being able to get some vinyl toys in the market, but all of a sudden got distracted by the smell of Terry's Chocolate Orange.

As we turned the corner, I saw a stall selling Chocolate Orange! It was like a fruit stall, with lots of little wicker baskets filled with segments! It was amazing, they had all the different varieties of Chocolate Orange and just as I was about to start scooping some into a bag, I woke up.

I was so disappointed :(

A trip to Disneyland Paris, days three and four

2011-11-12T22:22:00.000Z

Gosh, already this seems like such a long time ago, when it was only a week!

We had a longer lie in for our Walt Disney Studios day as we were sooooo tired from the previous day. That, and the park was open an hour later than the main park. I'm not quite sure why we could go into the main park at 8am and the Studios was 9am, but hey ho!

Just before heading to the park

Gorgeous autumny morning

We arrived at the park at about half 9 after dawdling and taking our time. We were a bit surprised to see lots of people queuing outside. Everyone seemed to be a bit confused, but we got let in by about 9:40. Not sure what happened there, but we got in :)

I'd already told G that there was no way that I'd go on Tower of Terror as I'd been on it 3 times before and hated it each time. Plus I felt really unwell and did not want illness and a plunging lift. I said I'd wait if he wanted to go on it, but he looked so disappointed that I said "fuck it, come on". The queue was tiny (5 minutes) and it would have been silly not to take advantage and go on it while the park was quiet.

I warned G that I would scream like a girl and that I did. I LOVE rollercoasters - the bigger, faster and the more inversions they have, the better. But things that drop suddenly? Do not want.

I had fun though, despite screaming like a wussy girl. We liked that the "concierge" told us that it was a beautiful hotel and they didn't want tattooed types there. They're all creepy bastards in there.

Far too excited about the Jack hands!

Boo you!

After ToT, we did the Studio Tram Tour as that always gets a huge queue too (basing all this from MGM trips). I was disappointed with the tour as it was very short compared to the Florida tour and didn't include prop house or costume house tours. I didn't recognise any of the set pieces on the backlot either. Boo. But they did do the fire and water effects bit and had a London set that they didn't have in Florida (last time I went anyway) which was cool.

I laughed at poor G as the day before I'd got excited when I spotted some characters and he'd refused to have his picture taken. He said the only way he'd have his picture taken would be if we saw Sully and Mike. He obviously didn't think we'd see them. HAHA in your FACE, Clews!

He's excited!

Yeah, he didn't wanna have photos taken, but rugby tackled Sully.... love this photo ♥

Helping the monsters, with my screams ^____^ (please don't look at my hair! ick!)

I didn't take many pictures that day as we were sooo tired. So now I'm struggling to think of all the things we did!

We went on Crush's Coaster, which is one of the coolest things in the world ever. It was the longest we've had to queue for a ride, but golly it was worth it! You sit in a funny little turtle shell and spin around in the dark in the "East Australian Current". SO MUCH FUN! I giggled like a sugar-fuelled toddler all the way around, it was so awesome! When we got off, the lady who shared our carriage (is that the right word?) turned around and said "enjoyed that did you?" and smiled. Haha oops, I must have been like a proper mental!

Minnie pizza!

What an epic lunch!

We wanted to ride Crush's Coaster again but it closed not that long after we went on it. Boo! We saw an awesome live show with car and bike stunt drivers. Disney shows are always amazing, fair play! We also saw Stich Live! which was more awesome than I could have ever imagined! I won't say what happens in case it spoils it for anyone, but I seriously wanted to cry!

I really do wish I'd taken more photos as we had lots of fun, especially in the Toy Story part of the park! In the end we were so tired that we'd done pretty much everything by 4pm so headed home.

Bear with some bears!

Back at the hotel, we napped, showered, changed then headed out to get some food and do our last chance shopping

D'awwww!

We had amazing sandwiches!

What an amazing dinner! :D

The next morning we had our last breakfast and sadly packed up all our stuff. We didn't want to leave! Luckily the journey home was over an hour and a half shorter than anticipated :) We stopped a few times to grab food and stretch our legs and found the best flavour Mikado ever!

Why don't we have these at home?!

We can't wait to go back now! Next time I'm gonna buy a video camera to take with us - that way I can't miss anything!

Why are people so stupid?! (But lucky for us!)

2011-11-12T13:03:00.000Z

Thursday night, G was playing on the PS3 and he got signed out of Playstation Network as he was "signed in at another location".

O rly?

So the bastard who stole our Playstation, or the bastard who bought it from the bastard who stole it, has used it. Luckily, G had set it up to auto sign in. After it was stolen, we informed Sony and they said they'd keep an eye on his PSN account. They also said to give them a shout if we noticed anything odd.

Someone else signing in to his PSN account is certainly something odd! So yesterday he called Sony to tell them and they asked us to get the police to get in touch. So he called the police who took the details and re-opened our case.

Now we're just waiting to hear whether Sony have been able/will be able to trace the ISP address and track the bastards down! Even if it doesn't trace to the person who stole it, hopefully the person who bought will have enough sense to tell the police where they got it from. I wouldn't fancy getting charged for handling stolen goods!

My main wish is that they'll find who did it so we can take them to court and see them be punished. If we get our stuff back too then great - we can sell it, we always need more money! :)

Keep your fingers crossed for us?

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-11-11T22:02:00.000Z

HAH! In your FACE Friday! I beat you, I'm posting this on time!

Join in over on Lauren's blog

1. My favorite new blog of the moment is I think the newest blogs I'm following are Andi's blog and the Progression Tattoo blog .

2. Something I am thankful for is my boyfriend. He really is my best friend, I love him lots. Although at the moment I feel like a limp lettuce and he's playing Street Fighter. Brownie points lost there Bear!

3. Something that made me laugh this week was Dave in work, today. He said "665" When I asked what that was, he said "The neighbour of the beast". Totally not that funny in hindsight, but I guess you had to be there!

4. An item that is currently on my wish list is the Venture Bros dvds. Why did no-one tell me about this show before!? .

5. I am excited about having a lazy weekend .

6. If I were a color I would be grey .

7. My favorite way to spend a chilly fall day is by under a blanket, watching tv with the cats .

Fill in the blanks...erm Monday

2011-11-07T23:13:00.000Z

Ok, so I'm super duper late this week but I was in Disneyland, that's a pretty good excuse right?!

As always, join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. My favorite thing about this week was/is spending a wonderful weekend away with my love .

2. Colder weather makes me grumpy. I hate being cold, I tend to shut down and zone out .

3. Three things that make me terribly happy as of late are my wonderful man, appreciating coming home and happy memories .

4. If I could only wear one kind of shoe for the rest of my life, I'd choose brogues. They go with everything (that I own at least) and are pretty comfy. Actually, maybe I meant to say a good comfy pair of boots .

5. My personality type is odd. Too tired to do a test right now, so we'll go with odd .

6. I have a serious problem resisting food. Of most kinds .

7. My favorite color to wear is all the colours! .

A trip to Disneyland Paris, days one and two

2011-11-07T22:47:00.001Z

So the Bear and I have just come back from a wonderful weekend trip to Disneyland Paris. Well...I say weekend, it was more of a long weekend, from Thursday to Sunday!

We went on an organised trip with my work and we'd been paying a little each month - why can't all holidays be that easy?!

Thursday morning we got up super early to catch the coach from my work and headed to the Chunnel.

The Chunnel is all fancy and bilingual!

Our first view of France

We ate some darned tasty "ham", cheese and red onion chutney sammiches

The bus journey was 11 hours in total. Farrrr to long, even if that did include rest stops! We had little naps and played some games. Loco Rocco can make any journey seem faster! I was super excited, so didn't even whine that much (which is a huge thing for me!).

We arrived at our hotel at about 7pm Paris time and headed straight for our room. We stayed in the Sequoia Lodge which was all cute and well...lodge-y. I'd never stayed in a Disney hotel before, so was super pleased how nice it was. It was dark when we arrived, so we decided to leave the exploring until the next day.

Hello TV!

My cute bed (we had one each! Bliss!)

Deer light fixings!

Bambi wallpaper!

Cutest bathroom

I wanted to steal the shower curtain...

...and when I own my own home I am going to mosaic the bathroom!

We were super tired after being up at 4am and travelling all day, so we just relaxed in the room. (Read - I slept, G watched cartoons)

As we stayed in a Disney hotel, we got extra early access to the parks. AWESOME. On our first full day, we got up at 6am so that we could get dressed, get into breakfast and get to Disneyland Park early. Our breakfasts were pretty good, I filled my fat little belly with coffee, croissants, yoghurt and cheese. What's not to like there? We then moseyed over to Disneyland Park to get in at 8am. Best idea ever! Well, kinda sorta. The best rides didn't open until 10am. The park was pretty much empty when we got there, so I ran about a bit, squealing and taking photos. We got to ride stuff that you normally have to queue for ages for. Riding the carousel at 8:15am?! YES PLEASE! We also squeezed in rides on Dumbo and the teacups! I love (almost) empty Disneyland!

The entrance to our cute little lodge

Happy, excited people!

Sooooooo good!

The panoramic balloon at Disney Village

Hoooray!

Such a gorgeous day!

Weeeee!

Too excited to even get a steady picture!

The Christmas decorations were starting to go up. Pretty!

Main street USA!

The decorations that were already up were so cute!

Sad, escaped balloon in the castle

Carousel!!!!

Early morning carousel rides are the best!

My beautiful steed!

Dumbo excitement

Obligatory photos

Yay teacups

I am blatently too happy

Another sad balloon

Our plan was to head straight to the bigger rides to get them out of the way before the park got too busy, but the big rides didn't open until 10am. Even It's A Small World didn't open until 10!

We went on the Buzz Lightyear ride and wandered about before joining the queue for Space Mountain. Gah, I love that ride!

G made some friends!

We also went on Star Tours and headed over to ride Haunted Mansion (bah France, it's not Phantom Manor!!). Haunted Mansion is pretty much my favourite ride ever. I tried to convince G that it would be the most romantic thing ever if he proposed to me on it. He was having none of it!! Haha!

Ahhh there it is. My love!

We then joined the epic queue for Big Thunder Mountain. Always so fun! Good job we did as it broke down not long after and was closed for the rest of the day. I felt kinda sad for the people who missed out but was mainly happy that we got to have a go! We had dinner at an African themed restaurant and it was so yummy!

Vegetable rice. I need to learn how to recreate this. Sounds simple but I always ruin it!

G's chicken and chips. African style apparently.

We rode the paddleboat around the lake. It was such a gorgeous day, warm and sunny. The paddleboat was the perfect idea!

Disney ducks are the best kind

Love seeing him happy ♥

Just look at those colours!

Can't beat gorgeous winter sunshine

Hee hee

Mooses! (Shame they weren't real!)

It's a REAL dinosaur! Why would Disney lie!?

*bows down*

Of course, I needed another go on the Haunted Mansion! We went on pretty much everything, it was such a busy day!

Oh dear...

Love

Always such attention to detail!

Ice cream feast :)

Obligatory "in front of the castle" photo for my mum

Shopping

Once we'd had our fill of the rides, we headed back to the hotel. On the way, we realised it was almost parade time! Hoorah! I don't think G was awfully impressed but I kinda wanted to cry a little bit. I get so overexcited! I actually cried at one part, but from laughing. I'd just been thinking how on earth could the float drivers see, when G pointed out the driver on the Toy Story float. It was a green soldier and he was proper getting down to the music. I almost choked I was laughing so hard!

We got changed and headed back out for a meal and to see the fireworks display around the lake. My Mum gave us money to treat ourselves to a nice meal out so we headed to Rainforest Cafe as I love it :)

Cosy cat hat

Aren't we cute? ^____^

Fattyface!

We had a "Fr". We so aren't French, waiter dude!

Despite looking gross, this was so good!

Happy Samface

The pen is mightier than the.... oh wait, EVERYTHING is mightier than that sword!

Starter (we shared!)

Leaf bowl! Awesome!

Burger goodness

We finished our meal just in time to head out and watch the fireworks. They would have been awesome had we been stood the right side of the lake. Apparently you can be on the wrong side. We were on it. We could see most of the fireworks but missed the projection onto the panoramic ballon and trees got in our way for a lot of it. Oh well, it was pretty awesome nevertheless! After that, we mooched around the shops, bought some crap and headed back to our room for a sleep. Another early morning awaited us for Walt Disney Studios park!

I'll do a separate post for days three and four, my eyes are so heavy and you're probably half asleep by now!

Fill in the blanks...erm Sunday

2011-10-30T10:25:00.000Z

As is becoming a tradition now, we're late for Fill in the blanks Friday again! Oh well.

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. When I was a kid I wanted to be everything when I grew up. It literally changed every week - teacher, vet, nurse, palaeontologist (nerd!), zoologist (see, deffo a nerd!)...

2. As an adult, my dream job would be full time mummy and business owner. I'd love to have my own chain of tea rooms. We'll need to win the lottery soon! .

3. W hen I was younger I wanted to be just like a cool grown up. I know that's pretty vague but I can't think of anyone specific .

4. The childhood Halloween costume that I remember most was when I was Heidi. I had such a pretty dress. Unsure if I actually wore if for Halloween though! .

5. My favorite childhood toy was various cuddly toys. I used to build them imaginary towns and things .

6. The time I got into the biggest amount of trouble when I was a kid was when I told a fib or something. I rarely got in trouble, we were pretty well behaved .

7. I get daily inspiration from blogs, instagram, my friends .

Sweet dreams little man

2011-10-24T15:47:00.002+01:00

Joining the club

2011-10-23T23:06:00.002+01:00

I have a shiny new baby! This week my new iMac arrived :D I'm still getting to grips with it, but I LOVE it!

My chum told me I needed to take a photo of each stage of unboxing to truly become a fully-fledged mac user.

So here they are...

(they all seem to be in a random order... Nice one, blogger app)

(...yes, I have to use my phone as my iMac and blogger are not friends. Brilliant.)

Edit - In YOUR FACE Blogger app! I edited you!!!!

Go follow...

2011-10-22T18:16:00.000+01:00

...my lovely friend Andi! He's just started a blog to show off his fancy skills so go have a looksie!

x

PS - If you don't already follow Andi's wife Jade (who also happens to be my best friend!) what are you playing at?!?

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-10-21T23:27:00.000+01:00

Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. Nothing says fall like that crisp smell in the air on a chilly morning .

2. My favorite autumnal tradition is wrapping up warm and going for a walk. Not so much a tradition as something I occasionally like to do .

3. My favorite fall treat is ermmm.....more food. Colder weather means more central heating! .

4. Fall makes me think of lovely colours because of the leaves. Such a lame answer... .

5. Autumn free form word association, go! mustard, rust, pumpkins, red, brown .

6. My go-to outfit in the fall is a dress, thick tights, a cardie, boots and a nice scarf .

7. My favorite fall holiday is (Halloween or Thanksgiving) Halloween. It's so fun, despite it still not being that huge over here. I don't like masks though. DO.NOT.LIKE. We don't do Thanksgiving here, so Halloween kinda won by default anyway .

Heartbroken

2011-10-20T17:01:00.000+01:00

This is gonna be hard for me, so I'll keep it very brief.

Yesterday we found our sweet boy Clive. He'd been missing just over 24 hours. He'd gone to kitty heaven after being knocked over by a car.

We can barely express how much it hurts and how much we miss him already.

We'll be getting his ashes and bringing him back home on Monday.

So hard.

Sleep tight sweet boy xxx

I have a thought...

2011-10-17T23:41:00.001+01:00

And it's not something I make a habit of.

Today the detective dealing with our burglary called. Such a nice lady. She was calling to let me know that they'd had no luck finding our stuff and had no leads. The issue is that nowhere would buy the things for cash as leads were missing. So street/pub sales are the most likely. Pretty much no way of monitoring such things.

I'm keeping positive though as she said that any searches on houses with suspected theft/burglaries have electronic items ran through a database. So if for any reason, someone gets their house searched, our stuff may get found. We don't want our stuff back really, just want the person to be caught (and claim some money back from selling the items we get back)

So to my thought.

The detective told me that they have an idea of who it could be. They have no evidence or proof so can't question him officially or take him into custody. She told me he was well known to the police in the area. It was at that point she confirmed it was a he.

Earlier this evening it popped into my mind. When the police were here on the morning of the burglary I said "we have some pretty dodgy neighbours". The one officer said "that's not [insert generic bloke name] on the end is it?" and laughed. I assumed he was a friend or something. I didn't even know there was a guy living in that flat and told him so. I thought nothing more of it.

But now I keep thinking "did the policeman know his name cos he is known to the police?". G said there was a police car outside the flat last week. We just assumed it was the girls as they always have the police there. The detective said they spoke to him last week.

I suspected someone who knew our house layout and how to access the back of our house.

I may be putting 2 and 2 together and making 5, but I can't get the thought out of my head. Did we get robbed by our neighbour? Did someone mere feet away break into our house while we were sleeping and take our things?

It's a horrible thought.

I was sad to hear from the police too that we are just one burglary in a number that have happened where we live recently. So scary. How many more people have felt violated like we have? How many others have been put out of pocket?

I might ring the police tomorrow, these thoughts are driving me mad.

...and because I forgot this one!

2011-10-16T18:23:00.000+01:00

The fancy, French field mushrooms I got at the farm shop last week.

The look soooo good!

Weekend

2011-10-16T17:56:00.000+01:00

What's that you say? A blog post?

Well indeed, good sir, it is!

I've had a pretty good weekend so far :) Yesterday a quick visit with my family, turned into a nice day out.

I took G to work for 9am and went to visit my family for a bit. I dropped my things off at my Mum's house, before going to see my cousin. While I was there I got to see my parents and grandparents. They were all watching the Rugby World Cup. They were not happy that Wales lost. Not at all.

After a cuppa and a brief hello, I went to visit my most favourite cousin, Lucy and her wonderful boys. Oh and her husband Jon. Better give him a mention too! :D I always plan to have a short visit, but after nattering with Lucy and getting cuddles from Alfie and Max, I always realise I've stayed far too long. Yesterday I got to play with Lego too. Result! Jon came home from watching the rugby and they decided to go to Ikea. I was invited to go along, so I couldn't turn that offer down! I looovveee Ikea!

Before we went, Alfie made me a card and did me a drawing. I was super pleased as it was the first time he's done a drawing especially for me :) This bad boy is getting framed!

The resemblance is uncanny!

After a journey watching videos of cuttlefish, squid and octopus and playing The Kraken game with Alfie (he's 4, he doesn't know it's rum!) we had a good wander around Ikea.

I planned not to spend any money, but when does that ever happen?! I bought another cushion cover (can never have too many), a new plant and pot, 2 new christmassy mugs, a pretty bottle and a glass jar. I have a bit of a thing for plants, mugs and glassware. I need help.

Pretty bottle. I need the matching glasses now. (See. Look how much glassssss!)...(and tea! :D )

Pretty plant. I figured if I have to look after it, I may actually pay some attention to my cook books!

Glass pattern

Pretty mugs!

We had fun and ate some junk on the way home. Can't beat Ikea Bistro for some good junk! We got home just in time for me to pop and see my Mum again, then go pick up G from work. Deffo beat driving him to work, driving home, hanging about for 7 hours, then driving there and back again! :)

On the way home, we popped into the supermarket for me to get some brown paper and envelopes for my ebay sales. Ended up buying another plant. Ooops.

I spent most of my evening drinking coffee, watching xfactor and packing stuff for ebay.

Move to today. I've spent most of my day drinking coffee, watching junk and packing stuff for ebay. Well, add in washing tonnes of stuff before posting and needing to go to the supermarket again cos I ran out of envelopes and paper. Considering I've sold about 20+ items this weekend, I'd really underestimated how much packing materials I'd need!

I'm nearly done now and I've managed to make myself a little profit. Considering I just bought that beast of an iMac, I need the extra bit of money! Ebay is such a pain in the butt though...and I'll be spending next weekend the same way. Le sigh. Clearing out is good for the soul and the purse!

Now to catch up on blogs, watch Night at the Museum 2 and remind the bear it's his turn to make dinner :D

Hope you had a good weekend x

....but first!

2011-10-16T17:25:00.000+01:00

One of these badboys shall be mine in about a week!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ^__________^

Thank jeebus for student discounts, credit cards and bastard burglars!

Fill in the blanks Friday

2011-10-15T20:35:00.000+01:00

Erm, yeah I'm late again. Oh well! Join in over on Lauren's blog!

1. The most selfless thing I've ever done was I dunno. I don't feel like I've ever done anything selfless. That makes me feel bad, that I can't think of anything .

2. When it comes to working out I am lazy. I hate exercising. I like walking and am enjoying doing a bit of yoga but thats about it. I wish I loved running, or the gym, but I'm destined to be a chubber. I'm ok with that .

3. A woman should always eat what makes you happy. Diets are no-ones friends! A little bit of what you fancy does you good .

4. I wish I could afford to buy us a house and then I'd be able to carry on with the rest of the life goals .

5. A best friend is even better when they are your boyfriend too .

6. I can't get enough of my nephew Max. Such a chubby little angel .

7. This weekend I am going to spend most of it getting excited over ebay sales! Woo! people are buying my crap! .

Unhappy tummy

2011-10-13T22:58:00.000+01:00

Again, I have the urge to blog and not too sure what to write about. So I'm forcing myself into blogging, to get back into the swing of it.

Today's topic, my stomach.

I've had a bit of stomach uncomfort every now and then recently, but the last week I've had a constant issue with (what I've been told is) acid reflux. My oesophagus just feels gross and uncomfortable all the time, my stomach feels weird, I'm a bit gassy (thankfully not botty-burps) and I've got heartburn and the headache I get with it.

My colleague/manager/friend in work is studying nutrition and she's our go to person when we have an food or health queries. I asked her was there anything I could do or eat to help this and she said to try cutting dairy and potatoes for a few days.

I figured dairy would help neutralise the acid and the potato stodge soak it up. Apparently not. She suggested this yesterday morning and I'd already brought lunch for the day, which included both dairy and potato. I made some effort though and drank fruit teas all day, cutting back on my dairy intake by a huge amount. I did eat cheese at dinner, but figured it wouldn't be a big deal as I'd already eaten some earlier that day.

Today I tried to go the whole hog. Most mornings I have natural yoghurt for breakfast, but skipped it today. I felt ok(ish) this morning, but it got steadily worse all day and the worst it's ever been. Hmm, so far it seems no dairy makes it worse. I would have thought natural yoghurt made a happy tummy? So I thought 'screw it' and had some chocolate and a cup of coffee. I feel no worse or better.

I understand it may take a few days for it to make a difference, but to deprive myself of cheese is just torture! There's a hunk of halloumi in the fridge!!!!

I know a lot of people suffer with acid reflux, whether it be permanent or temporary. Anyone out there suffer with it? What triggers it for you? Any suggestions appreciated, I don't want to have to go to the doctors again.

Hello!

2011-10-09T23:51:00.000+01:00

I thought it about time I blogged, as it's been just under two weeks since I last did a proper post. My wonderful man has allowed me to use his Macbook whenever I want, but it's not the same as using my own. Every time I've sat down to blog, it's just felt kinda weird. But I've been using this laptop for long periods of time this weekend and it's just getting comfortable and familiar to use.

Thanks to everyone who sent me sweet comments and messages about our break in. I really did appreciate every single one (despite me not replying to my blog comments yet). We've not had any good news. We weren't able to find any of our stuff by looking ourselves and it seems the police didn't either. I feel kinda guilty now for suspecting our neighbours, but how many people think rationally after such a shock?! I think I said in my last post that the doctor gave me some sleeping pills. Well I only took maybe 3 days worth and managed to sleep through the night after that. We're just being extra cautious now. We take valuables and bags to bed with us and even our keys. It's still taking some getting used to, but we'll get there.

The cats are finally starting to settle. My dad came to fit a cat flap as we now keep the kitchen window closed and don't open the back door unless completely necessary. It's taken them over a week to learn how to use it, but they seem happy enough again. Dru was even more skittish than normal, but she seems to have calmed again. They are used to people they don't know coming into the house, but who knows what these people/person could have done to them?! They were definitely all freaked out that day.

We almost moved house. I found a house to rent in the area we hope to settle in when we buy our own house. It wasn't great but my brain, still in reaction mode, went 'must move. need to move.'. We made an offer much lower than they wanted as we didn't feel it was worth the asking price. The decor was a bit tatty, the bathroom was awful and there were signs of past damp. But it was a nice enough house that we could put our own touches on. We made a start on the paperwork and were trying to sort out all the money we'd need to move in. It would have been EXPENSIVE. Over the weekend I'd mentally started packing boxes, working out what money I could pay off and when and planning future activities in our new house. Then Monday morning, (thats a whole week ago! wow!) my friend asked how the house viewing had gone. I said that it was ok, but didn't think we'd bother moving. Holy cow, I hadn't seen that decision coming! Sometimes the best decisions are made by your gut and not your brain. I think my gut was right. We would have had to spend a lot of money, some we'd never see again, I'd need to use a lot of my holidays from work, and we'd need to get everything done in about 3 week as we're on a rolling contract.
So now, while we don't have the nicest of neighbours, we've still got our house where we've been happy, a good deal on the rent, a lot of space and above all, a beautiful view. We're hoping to buy our own house in the next year, so moving twice would have been so stressful. We're happy enough for now and have managed to put most of the "ordeal" behind us.

I've had some good times and bad times with my family over the past week.

Last Tuesday was my grandpa's 80th birthday. The saturday before, we had a family get together in my Mum's garden. It was lovely to see my family and we chatted and ate good food in the sunshine (we had a bizarre heat wave). The actual day of his birthday my grandma and grandpa, my mum and auntie and their partners, and the grandchildren and their partners went out for a meal. Well, Franwise didn't come, now she's a cityslicker. We went to a lovely restaurant we all love and ate such good food. I thought I was gonna pop! I really am lucky to have such a wonderful family that I love so much <3

In the sadder news, my cousin's boyfriend of 5 years died on Friday morning. He'd been in Africa, working and contracted Malaria. He'd been treated, given the all-clear and was sent home (to where he was staying, not the UK). I'm not sure how long it was after being sent home, but he started feeling ill again and took himself to hospital. Within 15 minutes of arriving, he was dead. I'd never met him as he lived in London and I don't see my cousin that often, but by all accounts he was a lovely boy. He was only 26. It is so, so sad. I cannot even begin to think how my cousin must be feeling right now. And I don't want to. It's just too awful to think about. His poor family. RIP Alex.

Also very sad and very frightening - my Grandad got attacked by a thief today. My Grandad is 70 and works in the same petrol garage that G does (he refuses to retire!). He'd notice a dodgy looking guy filling up his car. He had no license plates. This is the bit I get cross at my Grandad - he's such a div! He went out to stand next to the petrol pump as the guy was just finishing. Grandad said "you going in to pay for that?" (asking for trouble!!!) and the guy said yes. He then walked around to get in his car, so my Grandad followed him. Grandad apparently tried to take the keys off the guy as he tried to get in the car and he shoved my Grandad to the floor. He then drove off. I'm cross that my Grandad went to confront the man and cross that he tried to physically stop him. That man could have done ANYTHING. Pull a gun, pull a knife. It doesn't bear thinking about! I know no-one could know what they'd do in that situation as you'd probably go on autopilot, but I'd like to think I'd stay put. They couldn't get away with much petrol and the cctv would catch the vehicle details etc anyway.
An ambulance took him to hospital and checked him over. He was unconscious for a little while, but was lucky enough to walk away with only a cut to the head. So, so lucky. Hopefully the police will catch the bastard soon, as he was on cctv and there were witnesses. Plus my Grandad will be able to identify him.

So all in all, my family hasn't had a great couple of weeks (well, my Dad's side anyway.) They say bad things come in threes, so lets hope that's it.

In happier gubbins, I found out that I passed my CIPR Foundation Award which I studied back in July (when I was back and fore London all the time). Not only did I pass, but I got a distinction! Yahoo! I honestly didn't think I'd pass as I literally wrote a bunch of crap for my exam. So huzzah! I will probably move on now and study for the Advanced Certificate. I'm also going to a CIPR awards ceremony at the end of the month as my team are nominated for 3 awards :)

Work is still interesting, to say the least. I'm still temporarily promoted, but doing a butt-tonne of work as we're short staffed at the moment. I don't mind though, as I'm getting to do higher level stuff and getting more responsibility. I'm just happy that my secondment in the team keeps getting extended and HR can't move me on yet. Take THAT HR!!! :P

I've spent most of this weekend listing and packing stuff for ebay. Very tiring! It's doing me good though, getting rid of stuff that I've been hoarding for no reason. I sold 12 things today and have another 49 items listed. A lot of it is crap, but you know what they say about another man's junk...

Ok, when you don't finish that saying off, it's just wrong 0_o

HAHA!

I've also started doing yoga. I bought a dvd after Amalie recommended it to me. So far, I like it. I did about 30 minutes on Friday and 30 minutes today. I find some of the poses tough, so adapt them a little to what I can manage. I know my back and neck are a bit rubbish, but I've learnt that one side of my body really is stronger than the other. I bought Yoga for Beginners with Barbara Benagh. Her voice kinda annoys me at times, like she says spine very oddly. But in general I find it very relaxing. Even today when G was playing friggin' Gears of War 3 in the background. I enjoy the ache and quiet feeling afterwards too.

Anywho, I'm super tired now and ready for bed. If you got this far, congrats. I'm sure you now have a delightful puddle of drool on your shoulder :) (I'll reward you with pictures soon).

I really do feel the urge to write, even if I'm not particularly good at it. That's part of why I love my job - I get to write! And I love when I get praised for something I've written and get told I've got a natural talent for it. Gosh, if my colleagues read my blog and saw my verbal diarrhoea! Aye yi yi!

Yes, bed! Night my lovelies x