Merry Christmas

Good evening! Happy Christmas to all my readers! I hope you've been spoilt rotten xx 

Catch up soon xx

Uni life ... the story so far!

Following your dream... I'm following mine but non stop working, I feel like I'm living in books at the minute! I'm learning loads at such a fast rate too

I'm having regular breaks...haha!

I'm listening to lots of lectures & taking lots of notes!

I do feel lonely at times...

...but I'm making new friends on the ward...

Student life does have the plus side of random parties! Hahaha! This was a recent 80's party!

My days and nights have been ram packed, I'm really looking forward to a Christmas break! I'm missing scrapbooking and not doing anything crafty at all!

Uni life is stressful at times but soooooo AMAZING!

I'll be back soon xo

Me on Monday *a sad post*

Hello everyone, I hope you've had an awesome past few weeks? "Welcome" if you're here from Sian's page. I've kind of been out of the loop a lil while. On the 2nd of October a very close family friend passed away...

This was the last group photo of us all together just a week before she died, we're aren't great fans of taking lots of face facing photos but honestly, since scrapbooking I have realised how important photo taking and making memories really is! Paris has been battling cancer for just over 18 months, a horrible disease which she has been so brave and courageous fighting!

Myself and Tracy tried to help her through the rubbish times by taking Paris places, making 'fun' and generally being there for her! Lolly & Cal think the world of her too, Lolly spending time having 'horror movie days'....I hate watching horrors! Cal always brought a smile with his witty comments and chocolate sharing! We've eaten so much food with her ..... during those steroid days...haha! We have some amazing memories! Watching her die was the most horrendous heart breaking moment we've been through in such a long time, so sad, words cannot describe that feeling but we promised to ALWAYS be there and we were! At only 21 years old I cannot even begin to imagine how her family feel.... but as ever, I will always be there!

The past few weeks have been very gloomy and we've used every excuse possible to smile!

Including randomly blowing bubbles....shopping sprees,

Lauren met up with Union J ..... again! {thankfully she didn't faint!} haha!

I packed my bright Disney Princess back pack to remind me of the good times... uni was somewhere I haven't been very regularly in the past few weeks... grief is an odd thing! Popping up when you least expect it, slapping you in the face! One thing this has shown us as a family, is the awesome people we are surrounded by. They may not be blood but they are our family and we love them so very much! THANK YOU! {You know who you are!}

Lolly & Cal looked gorgeous at the funeral! We all wore pink, Paris's favourite colour, she had a beautiful send off! Now she's shining bright up there, like the diamond she was!

Forever in our hearts xx

 

#30 lists day 30

What I've enjoyed this month

making lists!

starting uni

kids being happy back in college

meeting my scrappy friends

being back at the Hospital working

making new friends

watching lots of movies

visiting the Shaun the sheep round up

#30 lists day 29

I am easily distracted by

life in general!

but also...

my phone

pretty papers & scrapbook stuff

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

coffee shops

friends

people walking past the lecture room I uni

xo

#30 lists day 28

Things I need to get rid of

negative people

scrap booking stash I will never use

about 200 washi tapes, that's 2/3 lol

handbags

approx 6 pairs of Toms....they're done! haha

clothes I never wear

unrealistic expectations.....!

old CD's

anxiety

sweets in the house!

naughty food

xo

#30 lists day 27

My weekend routine

a fun day

a chill day

...that's it! Same every week! We love it!

xo

#30 lists day 26

Things that made me feel good this week

Helping patients

getting organised

date nights

new scrap supplies

happy mail

family days

sunshine

my friends...they're ace

xo

#30 lists day 25

I can teach you

why family time is important

the banana song

a cool wedding dance!

how to make ace eggy bread

to be a tour guide in London

sign a-long

how to listen

all about panic attacks

how to cope with epilepsy

basic first aid

xo

#30 lists day 24

Stupid questions I get asked

Are you from Wales?

Are you making tea?

Are you from Manchester?

Are you awake?

Are you from Scotland?

Do you want coffee?

Are you from Ireland?

Is that tattoo real?

Are you Australian?

Can I get a commode?

What's scrap booking?

xo

#30 lists day 23

How I indulge myself

shopping

cake

chocolate

anything Disney

shoes

bags

*in no particular order

xo

Me on Monday

Since last Monday, I have made cells,

had yummy pumpkin spice latte,

said "Goodbye" to one of my best friends... I'll miss her whilst she studies but the sea!

I've been surprised with an awesome Wedding album *thanks babe* mwah!

We had a family day out to our fave farm and fed all the animals...

Obviously I popped into Home Sense and bought some scrappy goodies! I love a bargain!

I've continued studying hard on the tiniest desks ever! haha! Thanks for stopping by! Hello to Sian and all of you awesome Me on Monday fans! I love having a good catch up xo

#30 lists day 22

Lets make more

pretty things

cakes

friends

coffee {never say "No"}

scrapbook layouts

blog posts

time for date nights

to enjoy life

peace....hmmmm!

memories

xo

#30 lists day 21

Awesome books

I wish I could write a fabulous list but unfortunately one thing I've never done is read for pleasure, at the moment my head is buried in Anatomy & Physiology books, research papers and lots of nurse information....I have so much to learn! It's great!

#30 lists day 20

Perfect combinations

coffee & cake

rainy days & pj's

weekends & family times

50's dresses & dancing lindy

friends & laughter

studying hard & a future

movie nights & popcorn

salt & caramel

scrap booking & reminiscing

What's your perfect combination?

Catch up soon xo

Me on Monday

Welcome to my blog Me on Monday'ers "hello" if you're here from Sian's blog!

This week has been brilliant! I've started to get to grips with student life...

I've made some new friends and met up with some 'old' friends too ...

We've loved these Shaun the sheep & Gromit hunts over the years, I'm so glad we caught up with the girls... roll on the Christmas meet up...

...and that we finally also ticked off all 120 Shaun the sheep!

On Saturday evening, we had a gorgeous meal in the curry house with an awesome nurse friend and ended up in the town to have a lil drink! I felt very old! hahaha! .....& was quite offended I wasn't asked to prove my age! hahaha!

The rest of the weekend was relaxed ready for this hectic week....

See you soon xo

Student Nurse life! Week one!

Last Monday saw the first day of a new life, as I mentioned previously I've always wanted to be a Nurse. I left school and completed a Health & Social Care qualification, I was going to be a nurse at a local hospital but the most important woman in my life suddenly got ill. My Mam. From Cancer diagnosis to death was under 12 weeks! My life was turned upside down! I can look back now and think why didn't I carry on Nursing....?! I should of done this, that or the other but escaping seemed right at the time! I moved to the opposite end of the country!

I then had a poorly baby girl...

....followed by an epileptic son! My priority has always been them two!

 My Nursing career was put on hold for a while but here I am! Sooooo excited!

This week I have sat on a tiny desk listening to lecturers telling us what to expect for the next three years! I cannot wait....

The uni campus is small but friendly, I've met some great people already! Hopefully my life experience will come in very handy!

We had to get measured for our new uniforms, I got pricked several times by my Nurse friend, to test my jabs had worked!

I'll keep you informed about my student nurse life!

So far...it's fabulous!

Catch up soon xo 

#30 lists day 19

How I stand out from the crowd

my accent

 I'm a northerner living down south!

I'm a huge Disney fan

I LOVE Christmas

no make up

funky stationery! haha!

To be honest I think I blend in...not stand out!!

#30 lists day 18

Travel essentials

family

camera

phone
sunnies
beach bag

chargers

clothes

notepad & pen

*in no particular order*

#30 lists day 17

If my pet ruled the world

nap time

food time

play time

repeat

Woody

nap time

food time

play time

repeat

Lilo

It seems no matter what animals their routine would be the same! Hahaha!

xo

#30 lists day 16

I would like to improve

my self belief

my concentration

my weight loss

my time management

my photography

my blogging

my scrapbooking

overall, I'm happy just being 'me', my important people love me whether I'm forgetful or not, fat or thin, whether my scrapping is good, bad or average. I guess we can all improve but I'm ok as I am!

xo

#30 lists day 15

On my "to watch" list

Wentworth

Hawaii 5 0

Casualty

Holby City

Monkey Life

I'm not a huge TV fan, I don't watch anything 'religiously', I enjoy crime dramas and thrillers but most of the time I have a radio or music channel in the background!

xo

Me on Monday!

I'm joining Sian and all you other Me on Monday'ers! I hope you've had a great week?

This past week has been kind of busy but kind of chilled out too!

I was a hero, when Lolly wasn't available for an 'animal rescue' haha! We had a date night in a really rustic country pub! It was delicious!

We supporting the awesome cancer charity, as my neighbour Chantal asked Tracy to run with her, we chased them around the track and took lots of pics, it was a great day!

I also got packing...ensuring I had the most awesome pencil case

I am so pleased Monday is here! {Not something I often say} Today is the first official day to my new beginning... after quitting my full time job, doing a year in college...studying hard...today I stepped into my future!

I officially became a Student Nurse! Yeh! I LOVED my first day at Oxford University, I met some fabulous people too! I was soooooooooooooo nervous and what's worse is, I non stop chat when I'm nervous...eeek! Poor fellow students listening to my Geordie tones...haha!

I hope you have a fantabulous week xo

P.S. Did I say I'm a student nurse!!!???

#30 lists day 14

Things that confuse me

algebra! hahaha! I hate it!

teenagers

time management

nasty people

war

#30 lists day 13

My dream jobs

Nurse

A Disney cast member...don't mind where!

zoologist

working with cancer patients

helping others, I just love it!

Planners... which do you use?

I know planners are the current 'in thing' but I'm not really into *trends* I love being me..... I like practical things! I've not... until now....jumped on this bandwagon! Now I have 3! Eeeek! 

The first I want to talk about is the MAMBI planner, you can get it from Hey Little Magpie, my favourite scrapbook shop, I love it!

Bright, colourful and very practical...lots of space to write everything. I love that you can add pages, dividers etc to this. I love the accessories that you can get.

The only problem I have is the size! It's too heavy for me, I'll be carrying a laptop, note books, pencil case, packed lunch, drinks and the usual purse, house keys etc. Practically, I need something smaller. {This is for sale for £20, contact me}

The next planner I bought is the personal planner, you step by step make it personal to you

I love this one too! I just wish you could add more pages to it

It's A5 size, I like that you can put 'to do lists', add birthdays etc

This planner is student nurse specific and from  the happy planner company, this was the first planner I bought.... it's great very practical but boring too! I love COLOUR

It separates home and uni life. It is great for placement notes

...assignment notes

*apologies for the blue tinge on the photos, I must have accidentally pressed a filter*

Here is a size comparison

...and a width comparison, as you can see the MAMBI is much larger than the other two.

I will use the smaller two, I love the MAMBI the best from a 'scrappers' point of view, it has a 'currently' page for each month, it's bright and colourful, it has the ability to add or take away pages, it's brilliant but the reality is I have no need to have three planners for a year, I would keep the one but I've wrote in the other so need to keep it really!

Do you use planners? Which is your favourite?

Catch u soon xo

P.S. Tomorrow's the big day! Wish me luck!

A scrapbookers guide to uni!

Going to uni at my age..... I've got to admit it's pretty scary... but I've waited long enough for this! I AM REALLY EXCITED! As the months, turned into weeks now a matter of days, I'm now into single figures before I start! Eeeek! But with the nerves and anticipation comes shopping! Oh yes! As a scrapbooker, I see loads of awesome stationery but I'm also fussy!

I love shopping, especially for cool things! I just LOVE stationery, a fav shop of mine has always been Paperchase but I've got to be honest the back to school ranges this year are very disappointing. I don't fancy fast food or unicorns.

                                        

 I love everything to be bright and colourful, I purchased these colourful notepads and some plastic wallets from Tesco. {I also got my Mickey Mouse pencil case there} The other notepads are from Primark, they have had some good quality stationery this year.

I still love this pencil case...no need to get another!

Speaking of Mickey Mouse, as you all know I'm a huge Disney fan {and also do not care whether people like or dislike it! It is who I am! haha!} My most expensive Disney purchase was my bag.

I love it! I will be a grown up initially with my trusty Cath Kidston bags, always useful incase of a rainy day too!

As a scrapbooker I'm pretty fussy about pens! I have my colourful pens & my work practical pens but also my 'these write nicely' pens hahaha! To be honest my favourite writing pens are bics, I use the 4 way ones everyday in the Hospital.

My awesome family have surprised me with some 'nurse' stationery too... how could they resist syringe highlighters & a nurse USB pen! {Yes, I rip of the head and stick it in my laptop}

Pencils.... well, I have some pretty cool pencils... I buy pencils in gift shops or get them as pressies when my family & friends visit places. Small, quirky & inexpensive but also a blast from the past every time I use them. Here are some of my favs...

The little but important parts include giant Disney paperclips, I love paperclips! hahaha!

I have some quirky post it notes too, aswell as awesome scissors!

I can't wait! The pencil case is packed in my bag ready for my first day on Monday! Oh, another little something to help me on my journey to be a nurse is this amazing hand gel....

I couldn't resist, I chose blue to match my uniform!
I'll be back soon! xo
P.S. my next post is all about planners....so many to choose from!