Christmas markets

Good day everyone!

So in my last post I said I'd post about my weekend going to Durham for their Christmas market.

Even though it was horrendously windy last weekend, the market was still on, thankfully! Although, the noises the marquee was making were quite terrifying!

The market was lovely. We go every year and we absolutely love it! There's always loads of nice food stalls: cheese, puddings, breads, and beverage stalls: vodka, wine, gin, mulled wine.

We wander round and have a few samples, as you do, grabbed a glass of mulled wine and mooched around a bit more!

There were really nice jewellery stalls, I could have spent an absolute fortune on all the stuff they had there! 

At the Durham Christmas Market, they always have a food market in the Cloisters surrounding the cathedral. Although it was freezing and windy outside, the Cloisters was full! Full of people and full of stall holders selling their amazing goodies!

Sausages, pies, breads, cakes, brownies, meats, the list could go on forever! The Cloisters smelled amazing!

The market always has a lovely atmosphere. So many people come from all over the country just to visit this market, and having gone for the last few years, it's easy to see why.

We'll no doubt be going again next year!

Next weekend, we're going up to Edinburgh as a family, which is something else we do every year! We love Edinburgh in this family! They always have a typical German market on and it's so fantastic! More mulled wine, more food samples, more amazing gifts for people (or myself) for Christmas!

There'll be a blog about that too!

If you've been to any Christmas markets that you'd recommend I visit, please leave a comment below!

Until the next time :) xx

The spirit of Christmas!

Hello everyone!

So I know my last post was about Christmas, but my love for Christmas is stretching to another post!

More and more houses around me are popping up with their decorations, and it actually makes me smile when I'm walking past them! All the trees in the windows, lights around the windows, it all just looks so cute!

The one thing that's still driving me crazy is the Christmas music we're having on at work...it's changed from 50% Christmas music and 50% 'pop. to 75% Christmas and the rest 'pop'! Which is fine, the customers seem to enjoy it! Someone should!

I'm just looking out my sitting room window and my neighbour's house has a wreath hanging on the front door. Green wreath with red berries and acorns. And it looks adorable. I love wreaths, we keep saying we'll have one and we never do!

Our house is still bare, but I think our decorations will be going up next weekend...hopefully! We often sit in the sitting room with just the lights from the Christmas tree on, it brings a lovely glow to the house and I love the few weeks the decorations are up. The house always looks naked when they've been taken down!

I'm seeing loads of Christmas crafty things on Pintrest and Facebook...and I wish we had more BB time to do them all! We're doing about 4 or 5 before we have our Christmas party in a couple of weeks and I can't wait for the kids to show their parents what we've been doing! They'll get a selection box alongside their crafts, of course, what is Christmas in a youth group without a selection box!?

I have a slight obsession with Christmas decorations. Since Daniel and I are engaged and looking/saving for a house, I keep buying the odd thing for a box that we have in a spare cupboard at his flat...most of this box if decorations for our tree/house when we finally have one! They're all cute and Christmassy...and Daniel'll just have to deal with how much I love Christmas as he can be a bit of a scrooge about the whole season!

My sister also enjoys Christmas...she loves the food, we all do! My favourite Christmas food has to be pigs in blankets. There's something deliciously amazing about a sausage wrapped in bacon. I'd happily have a plate of them and Yorkshire puddings with lashings of gravy for my lunch and be happy! Well, with a glass of something fizzy to wash it down with of course!

The countdown is nearly over and I think it's making people go crazy. I'm not finished yet, and I won't be for a couple of weeks yet, but I'm not worried. Daniel's taken me shopping on Christmas eve before to finish his shopping, so anything is possible if we don't panic too much about it!

This Saturday I'm off to Durham Christmas Market with my Mam and I can't wait! We love Durham and we love this market. We always go for a glass of mulled wine, of course, and we do a bit of window shopping there, before buying presents for people/for our Christmas trees/house boxes! Then go for a bit of shopping around Durham itself before coming home and warming up!

I'll be sure to take plenty of photos as that might be what my next post is about!

If you guys have any craft ideas you've done yourselves at school etc. please leave a comment below.

Until the next time :) xx 

Christmas!

Evening everyone!

Sorry about my lack of blog posts recently; with starting work and having a social life (if you can call it that!) I've had little time to myself! Sleeping is one of the most important things to me right now!

So I started work 6 weeks ago and I'm enjoying it! I come home everyday smelling delightful! Working in a perfume shop has its perks!

Now it's the Christmas countdown I think everyone is going into overdrive and thinking themselves into a mad frenzy...we still have a month everyone, you'll be fine!

What I tend to do around Christmas is make a list. Who you're buying for, what your budget is and any initial ideas you have for them. That way you stay on top of your spending and know what you're looking for when you go shopping, instead of traipsing your way around the shops not knowing what you're looking for.

Working in retail has its ups and downs, especially at this time of year!
I recommend that you figure out what perfume you're looking for before you come into the shop and tell me what colour bottle it's in. There's lots of pink/blue bottles and that is not remotely helpful.

I personally love Christmas, I love the music, the lights, the cosiness of the house when all the decorations are up. I love singing carols at church, as that is the whole reason of CHRISTmas.

I'm seeing on Facebook that loads of people have finished their Christmas shopping already! You still have a month - you guys are massively prepared and I salute you!

One of the thing I love about Christmas is the cards and the wrapping paper. In my house we have a big bag full of Christmas cards, we have so many from last year that I don't think we'll be buying anymore for this year! And we still have some wrapping paper somewhere upstairs too - though I may have to see what we have and buy some new rolls after work one day, there's so much to choose from in the shops that I don't know how people do it!

Fenwick's has their Christmas window all done and lit up. Singing all day long - joyful! There's usually a theme or a well known story behind it - it's been Alice in Wonderland and Oliver Twist in the last few years, but this year it's Christmas themed! Santa getting stuck down the chimney - just like the song! I love it, it's a typical Christmas display, as it should be!

The other thing about Christmas is it's social aspect. Trying to plan Secret Santa exchanges and nights' out with work people is chaos! Fitting work in with this doesn't help, especially since I'll be working till 9pm some nights - all I'll want is my bed!

If you're struggling with the social side and don't think you and your friends don't have time for each other, you should do what we do most years. We make a spreadsheet and fill in the dates when we're free in one colour, and when we're not free in  another...and just hope that there's at least one day that all of us can do, otherwise we're well and truly snookered!

If you have any Christmas shopping/wrapping tips, let me know in a comment below! If you do and Christmas traditions with your family or friend, I'd love to know!

I won't leave it so long next time! :) xx

Friends

Afternoon readers!

I know I've been horrendously quiet for a few weeks and for this I apologise profusely! A lot has gone on and I shall explain in time.

So as you can see, my blog is titled 'Friends'. We all have them. Old ones, new ones, ones we don't see often but know they're there when we need them.

Having friends is one of the great joys of life. Growing up, I had a set group of friends if you like. We were always together and did things together all the time, and that's carried on throughout school, college and uni, and we're all still friends now and see each other on a regular basis.

Some friends, I don't see very often, due to living in totally different parts of the country and with the cost of train travel being astronomical! I met these amazing people whilst doing my Boy's Brigade leadership course, KGVI. Two of the best weeks of my life I have to say. The friends I made there are friends for life, we all know it, we're stuck with each other now anyway!

Some of my friends live in totally different countries! America to be exact! We see them as often as they come home, at Summer or Christmas, and try and catch up as much as possible for that year before they fly back to sunny Arizona again! Scary to think how long they've been gone. Shows how much we've grown up over the years really!

I make friends on the basis of if you're nice to me I'm nice to you, if you make me laugh, you're in...and if you like cups of tea, we're friends forever! All of my friends fit this criteria!

Like all friends do, we fight. Sometimes! About small issues, petty things that in the grand scheme of things, doesn't make a different to anyone anyway! All of my friends have strong personalities, and we're all quite similar...which is probably why we all get on so well, and why we can sometimes have arguments about the slightest thing!

I've done lots of things with my friends...most of which I'm sure we all want to remember, some things, probably not!

We've gone on holidays together; Turkey, Magaluf and Palma and Zante. Not to mention all the weekend away and countless nights out we've enjoyed together. Thankfully we have many photographs to use as memories...the marvellous invention of Facebook!

Wherever we are and whatever we do with our lives, we're always there for each other. Like true friends are! This final picture is my group of girls from a few weeks ago. I love these girls, we're a close group and always make time for each other. We've always been friends and we always will be. We'll visit more exotic places, go for more nights out - even if they involve a night in someone's sitting room with slippers and a cuppa! - we'll be our own version of the Sex and the City women, forever drinking cocktails in our favourite watering hole!

Until the next time :) xx

Supermarkets

Hi everyone, I'm typing this whilst looking out my sitting room window to a horrible, gloomy, wet day...Autumn has officially arrived!

So this post is all about supermarkets; the new 5p carrier bag charge, 'bargain' supermarkets, and the Christmas stock.

All over the news and social media over the last few days has been the new change across the UK - shops are now charging 5p for a carrier bag. Some people are acting like this is the biggest thing to ever happen...I see it as nothing special! Scotland already do this and it seems to work well for them, so why shouldn't it work well for us?

I have a collection of 'good' carrier bags under my desk - feels like I've been saving them up just for this reason! The only problem is to remember them before I go shopping otherwise I will be spending 5p per carrier bag!

ASDA offers bags for life for 6p a bag. I'd rather pay for one of these than a 5p carrier bag! In my house, we have loads of bags for life which we use every week when we go shopping, and if they rip/the handles break, the shop replaces it for free - therefore you only pay for the bag once!

'Bargain' supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl charge for carrier bags, and people automatically pay for them without thinking, so I don't really understand some people creating drama around the new law...what difference is 5p going to make? You need a bag, so just buy one and stop complaining about it.

When it gets to nearer Christmas and I go Christmas shopping, I usually take a big shopping bag with me from Sports Direct - I got it a couple of years ago when I was buying some presents and it was only £1...and it's huge and does the trick! Bags like that are ideal if you have a lot of shopping to do; heavyweight bags with good handles are the future!

Most shops that I go into use 'good' carrier bags. You know the kind I mean. They're not just a bit of thin plastic shaped into a bag. They're a stronger material with good handles, they're strong and come in a variety of sizes so you don't get lumped with a massive carrier bag when you've only bought a skirt - some shops have obviously cottoned on to their past mistakes and are rectifying them!

So as we all know, Christmas is coming! I love Christmas; shopping, writing cards, wrapping presents, ah it's just so good!

One of the things I like a lot about Christmas is supermarkets. Not the people as there always seems to be a million of them in the shops around Christmas time! But the Christmas stuff they sell; the biscuits, chocolates, stocking fillers...the list can go on!

Big supermarkets like ASDA sell the big branded chocolates like Lindt and Thorntons, but I sometimes prefer to go to Aldi or Lidl for stocking filler chocolates. They sell such a good variety of them at such a good price, and they taste good...so really, you can't be robbed!

I challenge you all. If you've never been to an Aldi or a Lidl, get yourself there and see what I'm talking about! I bet you'll like it and love the variety of stuff they have on offer!

Until the next time :) xx

Boys' Brigade

Hello everyone!

So as many of you know, I'm a Lieutenant in my local Boys' Brigade Company. I help out in the Junior Section which is for boys aged 8-11.

One of the things we don't seem to be doing enough of in our section is craft. We do nearer Christmas, but some of it's repetitive stuff that we've done before, so my aim for this session is to change that and do a lot more craft and different Christmas stuff!

Pintrest is my second love! You can search for literally anything and ideas and pins will appear on your screen. I've got so many boards on Pintrest for a variety of things, but I started a BB Craft board to try and collect some ideas - most of them are Christmas ideas, but we're getting closer so it's best to be prepared right?!

We have a structured company programme made by our Captain but we have the freedom and flexibility to choose to interpret our group work however we choose - hence why I want to try and bring in more craft and more physical activities, as opposed to just sitting around a table filling in a sheet or colouring in a picture.

The boys have to work through out programme over the course of the session to gain their Bronze, Silver and Gold badges - depending on what age they are - and this year I've decided to start keeping track of what badge work my class have been doing - I'm an organaisation freak at times!

We're hoping this session to have a themed night once a month around a variety of things. In the past we've done things like Pirates, Football and more recently we held a Rugby World Cup themed night to mark the start of the #RWC. Everyone seems to have a good time at these nights - we still have a programme but make it fun and play more games, and we often have food so that's probably a big reason why the boys like it so much!

I can't wait for Christmas to kick in properly, especially at BB because it gives us an excuse to talk about Christmas, and the Christmas story and to make some awesome Christmas crafts! Sometimes I think I enjoy it more than the kids but I don't care, I love Christmas!

One thing we've done in the past is make various crafts over the course of a few weeks, keep them in a Christmas gift bag and hand them out to the boys on the last BB night before Christmas with a card and selection box - sort of a Christmas present from us to them - it's worked well before and I hope to do that again this year - they're always proud of what they've made, and I know that their parents love seeing the variety of things created; crackers, cards, baubles, biscuits, the list is endless and I hope to be able to give the boys some really creative things to do, and pretty things to go on their trees and in their homes, just in time for Christmas!

I'll have to do a Christmas blog showing you all the amazing things we've made surrounding the joyful season that is Christmas! If anyone has any ideas of anything crafty or creative we could do, or any fellow BB members, if you do anything creative linked to the Juniors programme, leave a comment and let me know - always looking for new ideas!

Until the next time :) xx

A jam packed weekend!

Hi everyone!

So the weekend just gone was one of the busiest I've had for a while!

I love having plans on a weekend, but sometimes it's nice to not have anything set in stone so you can make it your own!

It all started on Saturday morning. My church had a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan. We do it every year and sell homemade cakes, scones, brownies, etc. - it's a good excuse to get together for a natter and make some money for a good cause! We raised over £280 and there's still more to come in so that's an amazing total!

Saturday afternoon was spent with my Boys' Brigade Company watching the South Shields Mariners football club playing a team from Northumbria University...safe to say we thrashed them 2-0.

I don't even like football or understand the rules, but I had a really good time! Everyone was so involved, and I'm sure the referee was blind half the time, but it's so easy to get caught up in the moment and the atmosphere. The lads had a great afternoon and all of the officers did too, so we may be going back sometimes soon!

Sunday was a typical Sunday in our house. Church in the morning followed by a scone in aid of Macmillan! Sunday lunch which was delicious as always, my Grandma came round too, it was her 91st birthday on Saturday...91!

On Sunday afternoon we went round to my auntie's house for a surprise 'party' for my mam and dad, it's their 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow! We had cake, sandwiches and a bit of fizz to toast the happy couple! They've got a pile of cards on the mantelpiece to open tomorrow so the house will be full of celebratory cards! 25 years is an amazing milestone to be celebrating!

And now it's the start of another week and I can't believe it's nearing the end of September...where is the time going?! I wish it would slow down a bit - give people a chance to breathe and realise how close Christmas is getting! ;)

Hope you all have a good week!

Until next time :) xx

Shopping

To all the people out there who hate shopping, I apologise in advance!

As the title of the blog post suggests, it's all about my love of shopping - it's a shame my bank balance doesn't have the same feelings!

I've always enjoyed going shopping for clothes and shoes, but now it's moved past the 'basics'...I'm now loving looking at home stuff: cushions, wallpaper, cutlery sets, plate sets, wine glasses, photo frames, canvases, you name it, I've probably looked at it and lusted after it! I already have a box of house stuff at Daniel's flat ready for when we get our own place...it'll smell nice anyway as there's a few candles in the box!

I feel like my love of shopping is similar to Sophie Kinsella's creation of Rebecca Bloomwood in her 'Shopaholic' series...minus all the credit card debt thankfully!
Sophie Kinsella creates Rebecca as what is looked at as the stereotypical woman: loves to shop regardless of the money and she gets into loads of debt she can't pay back. I won't say anymore about her story, but I highly recommend that you read it as I've read everything written by Kinsella and she is an amazing author!

There's this feeling you get when you go shopping, try something on and it looks amazing, try on a pair of shoes and they give you that extra lift, or simply choosing a nail varnish that suits your outfit perfectly; the feeling you get when you leave the shop with that shopping bag in your hand is a great feeling! The feeling is almost euphoric - that you've bought something you love and it's just for you. The smile people have when they're shopping is contagious. If someone's a happy shopper, people around them are happy shoppers - albeit this doesn't happen very often, but it has been know - good customer service helps this too!

I love trying clothes on because, and I'm sure many would agree, they look totally different hanging up to what they do when you physically try it on, which is often annoying and means I don't end up buying it, but nonetheless, it's always best to try clothes on at the time!

I went shopping today with Sarah and some birthday money, not expecting to spend much of it, but surprisingly, I did!

I bought two more MaxFactor nail varnishes in a nudey colour and a coral colour, so I'm sure they'll be just as nice as the other two I bought and blogged about recently. I also bought a nice new top from Next which can be seen as dressy or casual, and I feel it was an excellent purchase! I also bought two skirts from New Look and one of them was in the sale and an absolute bargain!

So all in all it was a good day!

If you've got any shopping/fashion tips I'd love to know so please leave a comment below!

Until next time :) xx

Netflix

Evening bloggers!

So, one thing I love having access to is a Netflix account, courtesy of Daniel.
I'm sure many of you have one, and if you don't have one I suggest you get one as it's amazing!

I know this sounds like a bit of a weird blog post, but Netflix is great.

It might not have every single film or TV programme ever made on there, but it is home to some of the best.

I'm currently addicted to Pretty Little Liars. I know many of you will have watched it all on TV and know who 'A' is, but please no spoilers! It's a bit like Gossip Girl, but scarier.

There's a wide variety of TV shows and films to choose from, loads of different genres so there's something for everyone.

Just recently, Daniel and I have had a bit of a Disney fest. We've watched the Emperor's New Groove, Recess: School's Out, Monsters University and Toy Story 2. Yes this might seem a bit childish, but you can't beat a bit of Disney now can you?!

There's something for everyone. Horror, Fantasy, SciFi, Romantic Comedy...the list goes on! There's so many choices, we sometimes spend more time choosing what we're going to watch rather than watching the actual film!

There's so many hidden gems to be discovered on there too, old and new. There's loads of Doctor Who, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries...and many, many more!

It might sound like it's for a younger audience, and perhaps it is, but you can always try it free for a month first to see if you like it before you commit to paying monthly for it - another good thing about it!

I'm so glad Daniel has a Netflix account already, as another good thing about it is that you can add more than one profile onto the account, so Daniel doesn't have to be stuck with my favourite programmes on his list, we have our own separate parts to Netflix so we can watch our own things - that was his idea, he has some good ones every now and then!

So now I'm going to go and watch some more of Pretty Little Liars, if you have a programme/film you think I should watch, please comment below!

Until next time :) xx

Nail Varnish!

Evening everyone!

So this post is about 'reviewing' two nail varnishes I bought today from Boots.

I have a massive box full of nail varnishes, and they come in a multitude of colours and textures. I'll give any nail varnish a try once!

I usually stick to Rimmel or Barry M, but today I thought, "we'll push the boat out and buy some MaxFactor nail varnish".

I bought two: 

I've been looking for a nude/natural kind of colour for a couple of months now and can never seem to find the right shade, and this one is amazing. It's just what I wanted!
The other is a deep red, more of a warm Autumnal colour and it's lovely.

The two of them promise glossy nails for up to 7 days, so I'll be judging how long that lasts!

 
The two nail varnishes went on really well, nice and smooth, and have so far stayed glossy!

Out of the two I think the "hot coco" - the nudey colour - is my favourite as I've been looking for this the longest.



I do like the red though! Red is one of my favourite colours and there's so many different shades that I think I'll be getting close to having them all soon!

These are images of the back of the bottles. I like how all beauty companies tell you the name of the nail varnish and its colour. It makes it almost a challenge to see how many you can 'collect' and share with your friends, between you you'd end up having them all!

I'll let you all know how long the varnishes last and how long they stay glossy for. Will they live up to MaxFactor's promise of up to 7 days of glossy nails?

If you've tried these, let me know what you think! If you think there's something else I should try, comment below.

Until next time :) xxx

My 23rd birthday!

Evening everyone!

So the other day it was my 23rd birthday, woo!

I've always liked birthdays. They involve, cake, funny cards, thoughtful gifts and spending quality time with loved ones. And this birthday was no different!

I was spoilt rotten! Lots of nice cards, surprise gifts and drinks and a nice meal out with the fiance to celebrate the day of my birth!

Sarah, my sister, is a baker. And she was going to make me a chocolate cheesecake, inspired by Lorraine Pascale. So I went shopping and bought the ingredients she needed while she was at work.

Turns out, I bought the wrong cheese...who knew there was a difference between cream cheese and soft cheese?! So, the cheesecake was a bit of a disaster...it's in the fridge, sort of dome shaped, but it tastes nice with a bit of double cream on top! Might not be the healthiest of birthday treats but so what!?

So Sarah made me some of her legendary brownies to compensate for the death of the cheesecake, even though it was all my fault! And they're delicious, of course.

This weekend is my birthday night out with my girls and I am super excited! We always have a right laugh and a good old drink, which is part of what being over 18 is all about!
I'm sure there'll be some photos of said night out on one of my blogs next week...the nice photos anyway!

I love birthdays. Mine and friends and families. It's a cause for celebration, yes you might be a year older, but so what? Surely that in itself is something to celebrate?

I'm a bit spoilt since I'm having another celebration with my friends, but they're a massive part of my life and I wouldn't be without them, ever!

Although this blog is free from pictures, I'm sure my next one will make up for it!

So here's something for you all to think about.

Your best birthday memory. What is it and why?

Feel free to comment below because I'd love to hear it!

Until the next time :) xx

Walk to Remember

Hi everyone!

Last night (Saturday 5th August) I took part in the Marie Curie 10K Walk to Remember up at Gibside. The area the walk was taking part in was stunning; the views from the top of a very steep hill were utterly breathtaking and the sight of the finish line was even better!

I took part in this walk alongside many members of staff, their family and friends from the school where my mam works. In April of this year, we sadly lost the Head teacher after a short battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. The school and all of its staff and pupils were hit extremely hard by this as it all happened so fast.

Jane was an amazing woman. She absolutely loved her job as Principal of the school, she was so down to earth and funny, she had a dry sense of humour and always got involved with the pupils and their activities. 

Some of the staff took part in a 'Muddy Race for Life' where the proceeds go to Cancer Research UK, and one of the teachers is doing the Great North Run for the same charity.

We're all doing our bit in Jane's memory as she was so incredible and it's still hard to accept that she's gone.


The walk itself was 10K set across the rural countryside surrounding Gibside. The views were stunning and the walk through the 'forest' as we called it, was interesting...

I'm not much of a walker. I have my bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh awards, but I did these a few years ago now - and even then I wasn't made for hiking through countryside!

The walk started out gentle enough, bit of a downhill slope followed by some flat land. I'd been warned that Gibside was pretty steep, but I didn't expect half the hills to be so steep! It felt like if you stopped on a hill, you'd fall backwards and never be seen again!

Thankfully the walk wasn't a race, and everyone could go at their own, comfortable paces - we were a cross between a stroll and a power walk which suited me quite nicely!

As the sun began to set and we got deeper into the heart of the 'forest', we realised everyone was putting their torches on...we left ours on the kitchen bench! Good job I had a torch on my phone so we could see where we were going...that could have been a bit of a disaster otherwise!

 
Although the sights of the countryside surrounding the walk were stunning, seeing the sun set behind the scenery was amazing, the best sight of them all was this. The finish line.

People greeted us with balloons and pom poms, cheers and congratulations. There was a concert and fireworks afterwards which we didn't stay for - by this time all I wanted was to take off my walking boots and go to bed!

The walk was for a great cause, and the turnout was just amazing. So far, the school has raised £200 for Marie Curie which in itself is incredible.

If you wish to donate, please go to:

https://www.justgiving.com/nicola-west4/

and give as much as you can to this incredible cause.

The downside of doing a 10K walk?

My thighs are burning and I can't walk up or down stairs properly...but it's all worth it for the charity!

Until the next time :) xx

Bank Holiday Monday

Evening bloggers!

So how did everyone enjoy their Bank Holiday weekend? My Facebook feed was full of people being extremely hungover and having duvet days with takeaways, and with people going back out for more drinks as they were off work!

My bank holiday Monday was hangover free and spent it looking at views like this...

I went to Alston with Daniel and the dogs. Alston is a childhood favourite of both of ours, the quaint little town centre and the vast countryside surrounding it makes an excellent day out.

I took this picture down by the River Nent while the dogs were splodging in the river - they were extremely wet and I didn't appreciate it to say the least!

So the dogs: 

This is Dexter. We've had him 3 weeks and we adopted him from a shelter. He's always super excited and loves the car! He especially loves when you wind your window down and he can physically stick his nose out the window and sniff the air - strange but cute at the same time! He's still in training and still getting used to us, but he's getting there. And the best thing, he gets along with Oli which is all we wanted!

This cutie is Oli, or, as I call him, the Oli Monster! We've had him just over a year and he loves to cuddle! Oli loves walks, he looks like a tank when he strolls along, but he's soft as clarts and wouldn't hurt a fly...well, he did eat a butterfly once but, hey ho!
Oli needed a friend, hence why we adopted Dexter, and I think he's glad we did - he has someone to cuddle up to now! There's still a bit of jealousy when it comes to cuddles and saying hello, but we'll get there!

So, Alston. The River Nent. Dexter loves water, as judged by this picture! He was straight in the river and didn't want to come out when called! Safe to say he was horrendously wet!

Oli is clearly the poser in the family! He's always been a bit unsure about water; he never goes near the sea at the beach, but I think Dexter convinced him to go in and get wet - and then shake it all of near me, nice of him!

The area we were walking in is so beautiful and picturesque that I couldn't help but take pictures every few seconds! I could live there it's so pretty, and the dogs would love the hills and fields around...holiday destination me thinks!

This final scenic view is one of my favourites by far. I took this as we were walking back to the car, a couple of miles from where we were walking - it's so pretty! Look at how pretty it is!

The dogs slept all the way home, and judging by this final picture, they'd had a good day and we wore them out!

We all had a really good day and for that I'm glad. Extra long weekends are always an excuse to get away from the bustle of the town and just spend some quality time together.

If you ever get a chance to go to Alston, please do. You'll be able to take your own scenic photos, take your own dogs for walks and admire the beauty of the town.

Until the next time everyone :) xx

Fake Fest!

Hey everyone!

So this post is about a festival I went to with my friends called 'Fake Festival'; three tribute bands along with local bands play in a marquee and it's a really good day! Jamiroquai, The Killers and Oasis tributes played and they were all amazing!

For the money we paid for the early bird tickets, it's definitely worth the price. This is the second Fake Festival we've been to, and I highly recommend if one is playing near you, you totally should go and see what you think.

Thankfully it was a nice day yesterday with the sun shining down on us when we got to the park where it was being held, so we sat outside and had a few drinks before The Killers tribute was on.

The heat inside the tent was unbelievable! I've never felt heat like it! So many people! But I suppose it all adds to the 'fun' of the festival feel!

This particular festival finished quite early, so naturally, we had to finish the night off properly, so we went for a few cheeky drinks and a good old dance at our 'local' establishment, and it totally finished the night on a high.

I love going out with my girls for a good few drinks and a dance and we always have a right old laugh!

Until next time! :) xx

The fun that is job hunting!

Evening bloggers!

Throughout my life I feel I've done pretty well. I have a great family, amazing friends, an incredible fiance. I finished school with good GCSE grades, went on to do my A Levels, and graduated in July 2014 with a BA Hons degree in English.








I was training to be an English teacher in a Secondary school but as much as I enjoyed teaching the kids, everything else on top of that was too much; I was getting stress headaches every day, coming home from placement and sitting on my laptop till bedtime and that was the same every weekend. So, I withdrew from my course and started volunteering at a primary school, and I loved it! But they sadly cannot offer me a job!


So this post is basically about how fun it is to be unemployed and constantly job hunting in the hopes of finding a job without having to go down to the job centre and sign on!

Since I have a background in English, I'd love to do a writing job, creatively or journalistic, but there aren't a lot of jobs going for that sort of thing.
I have a lot of experience in schools, primary and secondary, and would love a job in either one of these, but don't know if I'm technically 'qualified' to work as a TA in either!

Job applications are possibly some of the most boring things to fill in ever...and it doesn't help that they're all different! I'm constantly on the lookout for a job that interests me and pays well - need to save up for a house after all! - and apparently these jobs are few and far between...I applied for a job on a cruise ship due to how good the pay was, I was that desperate!

I thought it would be really easy to get a job. But now I know what's it like to be on the lookout, all the time. Trolling through high street store websites, the job centre online, agency jobs...the list goes on and on, and I know there's people out there who feel the same!

I feel like going to the places I've been applying and just saying "Hi, I'm Alice and I need a job. Look how nice I am!" but obviously that's not a viable way of getting a job and I'm not suggesting anybody does that!

At times like this I am reminded of some lyrics from a Christian song I heard a few weeks ago in the car - "Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done here." - that's my new mantra. Every time I feel so down in the dumps about being unemployed, and about my dwindling finances, I listen to this song as it's so empowering and it feels me with a sense of knowing that, since I'm at a crossroads in my life, I can do anything.

Everything happens for a reason. And that means the right job for me is out there, I just have to keep looking till I find it!

If anybody knows of anything, feel free to drop me a message!

Thanks for reading :) xx

Books vs Kindle

Hello everyone!

So this post may be a tad controversial, but it's a subject I don't really have a side on so I'm going to write about it and hear your thoughts instead!

I have an English degree, so naturally I'm a bookworm. Always have been and always will be. My bookshelves are full of books I've accumulated over the years, and it's still difficult for me to walk past a book shop without going in or buying anything...just ask my family!

I read anything and everything. All genres. All size of story. I'll give any type a try! I have my English degree to thank for my wide variety of theme appreciation. I'm a big Jane Austen fan, I'm more into typically girly books, but at the same time I love a good mystery.

What do we think about Kindles?

I know that that can sound like a swear word to some of my fellow bookworms out there...but at the same time, ever since I was given a Kindle on my 20th birthday, I've loved it! It's so handy to have! I have 199 books on my Kindle - some of these I've read and some I haven't - but still, 199 books! That to me is amazing, to be able to have e-books on a device that's only about 7 inches tall is just incredible. They're so useful for going on holiday, especially if, like me, you love to be able to sit and read. Escaping into the written words of a book is the ultimate indulgence! And I get this feeling whether it's from a physical book, or on my Kindle screen!

Now I know what some of you are going to say: "But the feel and smell of a new book is the best!", and you're right. I love buying books, still. The new book feeling is amazing; the spine is still 100% crisp and straight, it smells like a new book, and it'll be a great addition to its brothers and sisters on my bookshelves!

I don't have a side that I prefer in this debate, but I am interested in what you all think so please feel free to leave a comment!

Until next time! :) xx