5 Things I Love About Home

 I'm home!

Which I already told you, I think, but, well, I'm telling you again! It feels so good to know that I'm home and I don't have to worry about all the things I should be doing back at uni, because there isn't anything! Now I have the whole summer to relax a bit and slowly start working on my dissertation. It's an incredible feeling to not have to worry about deadlines!

In honour of being home for the next few months, I thought I'd list a few things I love about home, because we all know how I love a good list.

1.

Family.

An obvious one, really. But no matter how often I try to make a journey home, I always miss my family the most. Especially my last month or so in Nottingham I started to get really homesick, and there are only so many Skype conversations you can have before you realise it's just making you miss your family that much more. So I can't wait to spend the whole summer with my family and going on adventures with the little ones.

2.

Baths.

From family to baths. Yep. That's how I roll! When people tell me they don't like baths, I actually question that person's sanity because, honestly, how can you not love baths?! Light a few candles, grab a book, make sure there's loads of bubbles and climb into that lovely hot water and life is brilliant!

3.

Cheese.

Shallow, I know. Seriously though, that stuff is freakin' expensive, and I'm a cheese addict! At uni I have to make a conscious effort to cut down on the amount of cheese I eat and try and make it last me. Therefore, when I'm home, I do the exact opposite; I eat as much cheese as humanly possibly and annoy my mum when she comes home and realises I've eaten all the cheese that she only bought a few days ago - sorry mum...

4.

My House.

Before you start thinking I live in this huge mansion, I don't. I live in a normal little house but it's home, and I love it. My mum has cute pictures of the little ones all around (as well as a few embarrassing ones of me and my brother when we were younger), and it just feels home-y. And it always smells nice; I never need to worry about walking into the hallway... not that we have one of those at home but if we did I wouldn't have to worry about it smelling like sweaty feet or whatever other kinds of smells there were at uni.

5.

The Countryside.

I don't actually live in the countryside, not properly anyway. However, my grandparents live in a little village surrounded by fields and gorgeous views and I live with them part of the time; it's one of my favourite things to be able to go and run outdoors in some place quiet and calm with just me and my iPod, and occasionally a dog or two as well if I'm at my grandparents. Something as simple as a lovely, peaceful view can make me the happiest person for a few hours. I'm going to blame it on the creative writer in me; it helps me to think better.

There are plenty of other things I love about being home but those are the five that come straight to my mind. Of course, there are things I miss about being at uni too, like all of my friends and my flatmates and I love living in a big city too, but it's nice to have a change and a little break from all that busy-ness.

Katie x

5 Things to Do When You're Sick

Hello!

I looked after Daisy on Sunday when she wasn't very well and it appears I now have her sickness bug - throwing up everywhere and all of that gross stuff (TMI, by the way...). Needless to say, my bed and I have been best friends today whilst the bathroom has just been interfering with our relationship.

I always struggle when I'm poorly because I hate feeling like I have no energy - something you know you're lacking when you don't even have the strength to turn the bath taps with your nimble toe skills, but you also can't be bothered to sit up and reach for them, so you just sit as the water gets colder and you look at it wishing you could just make it heat up by staring at it. Yep, you guessed right, this has happened to me today.

My lack of energy and inability to want to do anything means I always get bored and end up feeling sorry for myself, so here are 5 things to do when you're a poorly little thing (they might even help you feel a bit better!).

1.

Watch lots of movies!

Snuggle up in your duvet, either in bed or on your sofa, and watch tons of feel-good movies. Personally, I always end up watching Mary Poppins because I lurvvv her! If you're not sure what to watch though, then HERE is a list of feel-good movies that I wrote a little while ago - there's some good uns', even if I do say so myself!

2.

Hugs.

I'm soooo soppy when I'm ill, I just want constant hugs and baby-ing, so hugs are always a good thing when you're ill, they make you feel oodles better, too - you just have to find someone to hug who doesn't care that you're highly contagious...

3.

Go outside.

A funny one to think of doing if you're not well but don't go far - obviously, you have no energy, remember! - you don't want to spread your germs either. Just go sit in your garden if it's nice weather, fresh air can never be a bad thing. Unfortunately, this isn't something I've been able to do thanks to the tail-end of Mrs Hurricane Bertha that's hit England; I don't fancy sitting in a torrential down-pour, thunder and wild gales.

4.

Sleep... Lots.

Let's be honest, sleeping is never a bad thing but it's definitely not going to hurt when you're sick, sleep it all off, that's my advise for the day.

5.

Take a lovely, long, luxurious bath.

Any excuse to have a bath - add a nice, smelly bath bomb too, if you can - light a few candles and just lie there and relax! 

Katie x

A Bit Too Much Adventure

Hello!

Yesterday was just one of those days! My brother, his wife and one of my nephew's, James, decided to go to the Newcastle Metro Centre and I decided to tag along!

We had big plans for the day and it was supposed to be super relaxed... Not quite the way it turned out. No. We broke down. We could see the "Welcome to Newcastle Upon Tyne" sign and then the car started to judder along the road. We pulled into a lay-by to try and figure out the problem but, after figuring out we didn't have any breakdown cover, we spoke to a mechanic and decided it was going to be just as well to chug it along to the Metro Centre.

We eventually got there, and there was definitely no way we were ruining the rest of our day by constantly worrying about!

Lunch at Pizza Hut then led to a good shop - and we came away with a lot of Primark bags... Actually, I didn't get that much, just a top and some socks (I live on the edge, obviously) but no one else skimped on the clothes.

I spent a lot of my time drooling when we went into Paperchase, I couldn't help it! I managed to stop myself from buying anything though - I did see a notebook I already own in the sale though, I didn't look to see how much it was; I didn't  want to depress myself over how much I could have saved!

Once we managed to get hold of the RAC we treated ourselves to a nice little Starbucks and a Krispy Kreme each. Yummy! Did you know Newcastle has a drive thru Starbucks?! Not that we could use it seen as the car had decided to go into hibernation, but still! They should have more drive thru Starbucks!

Anyway, the lovely RAC man came and fixed the car and we were back on a very slow and extremely cautious journey home - we didn't want to cause the little car to want to take a break again!

It was a very giggly journey home thanks to Jj! He's going through his copy-cat phase, needless to say when his mama coughed he copied, we all laughed and, because he thought it was funny, he didn't stop, which just made us laugh more!

There was no better way to end my day than a bath, an episode of Suits and a piece of Malteser cake.

All in all, although a little bit more adventurous than we were hoping for, it was a great, little day out!

Katie x

The Unsung Luxuries

Hello!

I've been home for exactly a week now and, I must say, there are some luxuries which I have definitely missed whilst I've been at uni.

1.

Baths

Baths galore! I don't understand how someone can't love to unwind in a heavenly, hot bath, that's just crazy. I would live in the bath if that were possible... I couldn't deal with the prune-like skin though. Having only the option of showers since September has definitely given me more appreciation for my relaxing bath and book time!

2.

My Own Bed

Oh man, how I've missed my bed! I know that my bed at uni was technically 'mine' but it wasn't a double bed and it was definitely not as comfy as my luxuriously sized cushioned bed, with a big fluffy duvet that I can wrap myself in and stay happily cosy for the whole day.

3.

The Little Ones (obviously)

How could I not miss my babies like crazy? I hate missing seeing all of them grow up because it feels like everyday something new happens with them - at the minute, Daisy's favourite word is "shooooooes" - and as for the older ones, they're just getting way too clever! I should be able to answer the math's questions a nine year old poses to me - apparently not!

4.

Unlimited Food Supplies

I will never take food for granted again! At home, food is limitless (to a certain extent, anyway). If I want extra cheese, I can just go get it. Or if I fancy a yoghurt, I can go get that too! At uni I couldn't have that extra cheese because, much to my horror, cheese costs a hell of a lot of money when it's not your parents paying for it! Also, I don't have to wash the dishes every night because I'm rarely the only one eating, yippee!

5.

The Laundry Problems

I no longer have those horrible problems of "I don't want to pay £2 just to wash a jumper" because there tends to be enough laundry in our house to make a full load and I don't have to pay £2 every time I have to do it, which means I can where my favourite jumper whenever I want!

At least I can say I fully appreciate the unsung and unappreciated luxuries now!

Katie x