I'm Going to Australia!!!

As you read this I may even be in Australia, I haven't decided when I'm going to post this but I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA!!!

My best friend is currently living over there and I miss her like crazy so we decided I would go over and visit and it was the best of both worlds because I get to see Australia too!

Australia is somewhere that I have always wanted to go (it might even be on my bucket list that I posted on here ageeeeees ago) and I am so excited that I am finally getting to go. I'm only going to be there for 3 weeks which, in Australia other-side-of-the-world terms, is not very long. I would've loved to be able to go for longer but I have work and things to think about and there's only so much holiday a girl can take.

I've been trying to make sure that I've got everything done and that I'm prepared over the past few weeks, because I'm that last minute kinda girl and can I tell you how difficult all of these things you have to organise are?

I've never travelled without my family abroad, never mind alone so I've never had to be the one to organise all the flights and travel insurance and visas and money and the list just goes on.

I also have the irrational worry that I'm going to run out of money or something whilst I'm over there even though I know I have plenty saved up but, again, that's something I've never had to worry about because when you're going on holiday with your mum you can always just be a pain and borrow money from them... Sorry mum...

 

Also, the flight. It's long. Obviously, because I'm going to the other side of the world but yeah. I don't mind it, the idea of a long flight doesn't bother me, the only thing I'm worried about is getting bored and because I'm not flying with any family or friends I'm not going to have anyone to annoy with my boredom.

Anyway, Australia has somehow brought me back into the blogosphere and made me want to blog lots (especially about the things I do over there) so hopefully I can keep on top of this and actually post these things. I actually have a lot of blog posts saved up in my drafts because I wrote lots of things that I never posted for one reason or another (that's a story for another blog post though).

So yeah. I'm going to Aus. That's what I was trying to tell you. Expect more blog posts. Hopefully (I'll try me best, promise!).

Katie x

Who Are You Again?

Why hello there!

Who are you again, you ask?

I've been asking myself that same question lately!

I apologise profusely for my lack of existence on here in a loooooong time. I honestly just haven't felt like blogging for a long time. A lot has been happening in my personal life as well as uni kicking my ass - they weren't lying when they said third year was going to be a testing year! I also got a new job a few months ago, so juggling that and my uni work is proving to be... a little challenging to say the least.

It's nearly Christmas though! Woop woop!

And we all know I have a deep love for Christmas. I've been to the Nottingham Christmas Light Switch-On (again), and then of course I've been around the Winter Wonderland market here (obviously).                                

I also went to meet my bestest girl in Manchester so that we could catch-up whilst drinking mulled wine and touring the huge Christmas Market there - it was incredible (again, obviously).     

I officially finished all of my uni deadlines for this term on last Friday too, which means I've finished all my deadlines for this year! How freakin' crazy is that?! It does mean I could relax a little bit more though for my final week of uni before I go home and get all the baby cuddles and snuggles. Then again, a lot of said babies are getting older now and try to wriggle away when I finally catch them to steal a cuddle *insert my sad, pouty face*.

I guess I have a hell of a lot to catch you up on then, considering the last time I blogged was in June - I'm a bad person (and blogger), I know.

So what's there to tell you?

Well, I spent most of my summer working and going around lots of UK beaches with my grandparents in their caravan (I made a nearby beach be the specification to whichever campsite they looked at).

And of course I spent a hell of a lot of time with all my little ones. I took Daisy to Edinburgh for the day with my friend and we went to the zoo during my summer break as a late Christmas present/early birthday present for her. The week before we went and all of the day we went she was singing "We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo" which is apparently a nursery rhyme she sings in nursery now, or so she told me. Whatever the case, it was the frickin' cutest thing you've ever seen!

Talking of my little munchkins, it was three of their birthdays and two in the same week during summer and they had an adorable little, frozen-themed, joint birthday party, which I was chief photographer for because I am the queen of taking too many pictures...

I also took way too many pictures a few months ago when we all went away for a little camping holiday which provided a well-needed break from uni as well as smiles and cuddles from a huge amount of cuteness!

My mama and I had a lovely little break away for a week in Glasgow. It was so relaxing and we got to catch up with some old friends too whilst we were there. My mum even let me drag her around the shops for the day, and anyone who knows my mum will know that this is a BIG deal because she hates shopping. And when I say 'hate' I mean hates shopping. So thanks for grinning and bearing it for me, mama.

I moved into a house with some of my uni girls, and my room is the best and the homiest ever (once again, thanks mama Fi *mwah*). I have a picture wall in the form of wardrobe doors this year, just to mix it up a bit. 

I was also lucky enough to get to go and see Imagine Dragons whilst they were in Nottingham on tour and it was, without doubt, one of the best concerts I've ever been to (although I feel like I say that about all of the concerts I go to).

I'm struggling to think of anything else worth telling you now... I've been so lucky to do so many lovely things lately that I just can't think of them all at once. That always happens, I sit down to write, thinking I've got so much to say, then realise, actually, I have nothing. Nada. Zero. Noth-ing.

Oh well. I hope you've enjoyed this little catch-up and, who knows, maybe I won't leave it six months before I blog again. Then again, maybe I will. Guess you'll just have to watch and see!

Katie x

(If you haven't already, please read my last blog post, it's an important one about the suffering my little hometown is going through at the moment. Just click HERE).

November Round-Up!

Heyyyy!

We're officially at the end of another month! Which, although might be a little sad, the end of this month means only one thing - tomorrow we can officially start the countdown to Christmas and no one can tell us off for it! Woop, woop!

It's been quite the busy month for me; I started blogging again (hurrah!), I've been to two bonfire shows/ firework displays, I met my new little nephew for the first time, we decorated our flat, I saw the lights switch on in Nottingham for the first time ever, I went to Lancaster, ate pancakes, and Starbucks finally brought back their red cups!

And that's just everything I can remember off the top of my head and isn't including the boring things like uni work that I've had to do tons of this month - it's been a bit hectic. 

It's been a month full of awesome sauce stuff but I cannot wait for next month and the arrival of Santa - Christmas is always a much bigger event and a lot more special when there are so many little ones in the family! I'm so excited!

Katie x

A Random 3am Catch-Up...

Hello!

First off, I'm getting kind of bored of that greeting... Anyone else feel the same way? Nope? Okay then. Just me.

Second of all, my foot really, really, really hurts. I tripped the other day and whatever I did it's now a not-so-beautiful array of colours - insert mental image of my pouting face and my poorly foot.

So... I haven't really decided what this blog post is about, I just really felt the need to write on this little space at 2:42am because why not?

I'm currently listening to my brothers 'Chilled Playlist' on Spotify and I'm strangely loving all of the oldies and slightly cheesy songs that are coming up; it's making me feel really home-y. It's just not having the chilled-sleep-inducing effect I was originally hoping for, instead it's making me ever so slightly nostalgic.

What else? As I mentioned, I've really hurt my foot - like a lot. I would love to tell you what I've done to it exactly but I actually have no clue. Zero. I tripped. And now it just really, freakin' hurts! (A cover of Hey Ya has just come on to my playlist (by some dude called Obadiah Parker) and it's strangely awesome...) I do have this brilliant pair of boots that I bought a couple of weeks ago from Topshop and thank god I did because they have been so good whilst I've had a sore foot - they're ankle boots but my foot hurts less when I'm wearing them; I'm sure my mum mentioned something about them being more supportive, or something like that. I can't remember entirely but they're really comfy and she told me to wear them - always take Mama's advice!

I've started dressing like an actual girl as of late too. As in, skirts and dresses and tights (which are the most awkward things to where ever. Seriously. Someone needs to make those things easier and comfier), it's quite the change for me but, not going to lie, I'm kind of liking it.

I've rekindled my love for fajitas since coming to uni. Random fact for you there.

I've also found that any and all writing inspiration seems to come to me at stupid 'o' clock in the morning, e.g. now.

I have read some incredible books lately! I definitely need to dedicate a few blog posts to them because they're the bomb.com... does anyone even say that anymore? It just came to me... 

Oooh! Another unfortunate incident of 'Katie's life' - I lost my railcard two weeks ago on my way back to my hometown after visiting my friend in Lancaster. I rang every company and station possible trying to find it and no one had it, so if the person who saw it and didn't hand it in is reading this 'You're a mean person." Yep. That's what I have to say to you. I was more unimpressed at the idea of having to pay £80 for a ticket home without my railcard. Luckily, my mum is quite the bargain hunter and found one for £25 but I didn't get into Nottingham till something like midnight. There's more though - I don't do anything by halves! I got back to uni and my key wouldn't unlock my door. So it had let me into the building, into my flat, but it wouldn't let me into my room. I was stood there like a numpty for ten minutes trying to make it work. It didn't. Of course. I had to ring security, who made me go to them so they could reset my key fob which, once I'd walked all the way back to my flat, also didn't work. I sounded like a right idiot when I had to ring security again and they had to come up and try and fix the door and let me in, with my suitcase, laptop bag, normal bag, everything at about half one in the morning. I was not impressed. They couldn't even fix it in the end, they just had to let me in and leave it at that. Like I said, I don't have the best luck in the world. 

I went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 yesterday (or the day before if we're going to go on technicalities of time and all that). It was extraordinary, obviously! I might do a blog post about that at some point too - it depends how much I decide I could write about without giving anything away.

I doubt there's much else you really want to know. Then again, I doubt you even wanted to know that, but hey! You got it! 

Feel free to have a good laugh at my constant bad luck - it amuses my family (and friends - definitely friends) no end! 

Hope everything's running as smoothly in everyone else's world as it is mine...

Katie x

Curious Dreams

Hello!

Whilst I was at work today I was pondering on last nights dream, trying to figure out what the hell it means and I thought "you know what, this is something I need to blog about it", so here I am, blogging about my weird dreams. As you do.

Last nights was one of the strangest dreams I've had in a long time, where, basically, my brother was half giraffe.

Yep. Your eyes aren't deceiving you; that does say "half giraffe".

Just so you don't think I'm a complete nutter, I'll take this moment to point out that my brother is actually very tall - 6ft 6inches... maybe even 6ft 7, I can't remember. He's closer to the height of a giraffe than most people, anyway, but still, he's not quite at the 18 feet he'd need to be to compete with a giraffe, and he definitely doesn't have the neck or spindly legs that giraffes have. In my dream though, he had the extra long neck and it's an image that has scarred me for life! 

I have no idea where this dream came from, apart from the fact I have an epic love affair with giraffes... It's not the weirdest dream I've ever had (yup, there have been some a lot stranger) but it did freak me out when I woke up. Obviously there was a lot more to it than just my brother being a giraffe but I'm worried that some of you might already think I should be in a hospital for the mentally insane, I don't want you to think I'm in any more need of it than you already do!

I once dreamed my mama and I were trapped in this massive Hogwarts-style castle and we couldn't figure out how to escape - in the end, my mum was literally able to breathe fire in the dream and I could fly like Peter Pan (I wish), and that was how we escaped; like some kind of flying, fire-breathing dragon! I mean my mama sure can be a scary lady if you get on her bad side (I've learnt to stay well away from it!) but I wouldn't go as far as saying she's fire breathing - I know better ;).

I used to study psychology but I only did AS level (I don't know what that's equal to in any other country but I was 16/17 years old in that school year) and then I decided I'd rather continue with both English's and History for my second year of A-levels. As much as I loved my choice of subjects in my final year, part of me wishes I'd carried on with Psychology, just so I could psychoanalyse my dreams and find out what the hell is wrong with my brain - I bet I would find out some weird and wonderful things about myself. 

Anyway, before I make myself sound any weirder than I already have, I'm going to shut up and stop there!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has freaky, weird dreams - I need your reassurance!

Katie x

(P.s. there is currently a spider crawling across my ceiling and I'm really trying not to freak out but it's not going so well!)

(P.p.s. As I was writing this I googled giraffes; did you know that hundreds of years ago they used to have antlers?! Also, their hearts weigh nearly 25 pounds - that's taking the saying "heavy heart" a bit too literally!)

The Problems With Hospitals

Hello!

I had to have an operation on my ear on Wednesday - nothing too serious, but it was still an operation. It does mean I might struggle with posts over the next few days though, so sorry if there becomes a distinct lacking of action on this little space, I'll be back on it as soon as possible!

The timing of this sucks too, I had the opportunity to go on a camping trip this weekend with Daisy Doo but had to turn it down, seen as I'm not exactly in the best state. It also means I have to miss a week of work, which sucks. Oh well! It'll all be worth it in the end!

This isn't the first time I've had this operation but it was a bit bigger this time, in hope that it would be the last time I have to have it. The one thing that always gets me every time is that I can't wash my hair for a week - it gives me the serious heeby-jeebies! I hate having gross, greasy hair... I guess it just means I won't be leaving the house for a week! 

There are so many things I hate about hospitals, here are just some of them!

1.

Food.

I cannot stand hospital food, this probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a majorly fussy eater - even my toast has to be cooked in a certain way if you expect me to eat it! This kind of fussiness doesn't bode well for me in hospitals though because, as most people will know, hospital food is in a constant state of sucking, yuckiness... Or is that just English hospitals?

2.

The Smell.

I bet this seems like such a silly thing to dislike about hospitals but I have a seriously strong sense of smell. I think it's because people say that when one of your senses is weaker, another is stronger; well my hearing isn't the best so I think that's why my ability to smell things is amazingly good. It comes in rather useful at times but it's not the best thing to have in a hospital - all I can ever smell is antibacterial wash and occasionally, if someone's bleeding a lot, I can smell blood too, which there is obviously quite a lot of in a hospital... Ewww. 

3.

Boredom.

There is never much to do in a hospital but sit and be nosy. If you've just come round from an anaesthetic (like I had) you don't really have the mental capacity to focus on much, so the likes of reading is out of the question (sad and extremely cry-worthy, I know). I don't know what it's like in other hospitals around the world but, you have to pay for the TV's in English hospitals - something I refuse to do - and so the only other option is to just sit (or lie) there and be bored. Bored, bored, bored.

So there's what I think of hospitals. The only thing I'm looking forward to now is a week relaxing in my bed! Lots of sweet snacks are in order and plenty of feel-good movies! 

Katie x

A Lovely Few Weeks!

Hello!

I'm back!

Sorry for my notably long absence but, as I'm sure any frequent readers know, I've been on my holidays and to say the wi-fi there was awful would be an understatement - they may as well have not had any, it was that bad. My brother also got married this week so when we came back off holiday a lot of my time was thrown into helping them get organised for the big day.

I'm back now though, so you can expect a lot more blog posts to be coming your way!

I figured since it's been a while since I've blogged I'd ease myself back into it with a general little chat and life update for y'all.

Despite the lack of decent wi-fi, our holiday was still incredible. In fact, maybe the lack of wi-fi made it better, it meant you weren't stressing so much about what was happening at home. It definitely made it more relaxing.

We went to this quaint little hotel in Ovacik, Turkey, called Hotel Leytur and it was positively adorable.

This is the second time we've been to this particular hotel and I just love how quiet and relaxed it is. It's not right in the middle of an enormous, lively city but it's not far away from a little bustling one known as Hisaronu (there's supposed to be some accent-y things over certain letters in 'Hisaronu' too but that's just too complicated to try and add). If you wanted to go out for a night or have a change of scenery it's easy to just jump on a doormush (minibus) and it's only five minutes away. We went there a couple of times and I can definitely see why people describe it as the 'Turkish Blackpool' because that's exactly what it reminds me of. It has all of the lights and activity that Blackpool has - it even has a miniature fun fair!

There was a Turkish Night whilst we were staying there too, where they had a BBQ Grill type-thing outside - there was sooooo much yummy food, I was completely and utterly stuffed! They had a belly dancer too after all of the food, who was not only an amazing dancer but she was hilarious too! She got loads of the people staying at the hotel up to dance with her and it's safe to say that a lot of them had the dancing abilities of an awkward giraffe!

It was a fantastic little get away for my mama and I and I'd recommend it to anyone, especially if you like to just sunbathe by the cleanest pool you've ever seen and relax for the duration. It's perfect.

We only arrived back two days before the wedding so there wasn't much time to do anything else, although I did manage to squeeze in an afternoon with Daisy, which was just super cute, as always!

Then it was the wedding my whole family had been waiting for! 

My big brother finally tied the knot! It was something that, although him and his partner had been together for over ten years, we never actually thought would happen. I always remember when I was little and I'd play with my dress up dolls and read books about Cinderella getting married to her Prince Charming, my brother would tell me he didn't see the point in marriage, it was just a posh piece of paper after all. None of us ever thought someone would manage to change his stubborn mind but they did and I couldn't be happier for them! 

It was a truly wonderful and stunning day and the weather managed to stay amazing for the whole day, too! I would say welcome to the family to his new wife but she's always really been part of the family to me, so there's not much point!

And that's everything. That has been my life up to now... Aside from the part where I left my kindle in Starbucks on Friday - that wasn't fun. I'm pretty sure my heart still hasn't returned to the correct rhythm after that wee heart attack. Don't worry, my kindle and I have been reunited and we've been spending a lot of time together in our attempt to put the mistake behind us and continue with our relationship...

Katie x

Those Bad Habits

Hello!

I've recently had the realisation that I have a really bad habit when it comes to writing blog posts... I always start writing them really late at night. For example, I'm currently writing this at twenty eight minutes past twelve... At night. As in midnight. 

I know I should be in bed right now. 

I know I should be trying to get some sleep. 

I know I have to get up early. 

I know I'm spending my day tomorrow with a two year old. 

I know that if I don't get enough sleep I'm not going to want to run around after a two year old. 

Yet here I am. 

Still writing. 

Still wide awake.

I think I need help.

Most of my best stories (in my opinion) have been written in the early hours of the morning. Strangely for some reason, I'm okay with this habit, to a certain extent. It's when it gets to four/five 'o' clock in the morning and I'm  still on a writing buzz. The problem is, I'm on that kind of writing high where sleep is far, far away from me and there's no chance it's coming back to me anytime soon.

The other problem I always have is, I always have more of an urge to write when I have no time to write... It's really inappropriate! I would say my mind needs to get its priorities straight but it has. Writing always comes first in my head, unfortunately my university work disagrees - it's an ongoing war in my head and the right thing doesn't always win out.

I really need to sort my writing habits out!

Katie x