Becoming Human

After two months of monotonous eat, sleep, teach, repeat (thank you Fatboy Slim for inspiring that depressing motto) it is FINALLY the Christmas holidays for us teachers. I must say that I am NOT sorry that I have a blissful 16 days off from work for Christmas. I have worked hard and most definitely deserve every second of holiday us teachers are offered! I'm going to spend my two weeks actually having a life as a human being once again :)

I haven't been back to Wolverhampton since July when we jetted off to Spain for our family holiday. Currently I am sat in my parents living room, in my spot, as if I'd never even left. It's not very often that the whole family is together nowadays since both me and Nikki left for Uni. It's nice to know that we all just slot back into life as a family unit and we are still all as mental as always.

Sisters at Christmas Dinner.

Padre passing out the pressies!

Even though my Graduation was over a month ago now, I finally decided that I'd like to buy myself an ipad mini with the money I was given. In my typical ditsy fashion, I decided this on Christmas Eve. Luckily the shops weren't too busy and I was in and out of Argos in under 15 minutes! It's not going to make me the most sociable person to be around but I am excited to start face-timing friends and keeping up with social media! The main purpose of buying it was just for chilling out :) listening to music, playing games reading blogs and magazines in the evenings after school. I am an apple/tablet/any kind of technology novice so please send app recommendations this way!!!

I'm not a massive Boxing Day sales lover to be quite honest. You will never catch me setting my alarm for ridiculous o'clock to try and nab a bargain... that I will most likely not even wear. However when I saw that Surf Dome had up to 60% off, I had to check it out. As well as selling awesome stuff, they also offer free delivery and returns in the UK, which always makes them a winner in my book. I ordered my self two lovely cardigans that should have been £80 each! I need some new knitwear so obviously made some sensible sale choices. I love Roxy clothing so the black, chunky knit from Quicksilver was instantly added to the basket! Sitka was a brand I'd not heard of but their slouchy, green cardigan was right up my street. After some googling I found out that Sitka is a Canadian surf/skate shop with a pretty cool website. Who'd have known eh?

Sitka - £30.38

Quicksilver - £35.98

As well as all these lovely treats I was buying for myself, I'm not sure if you noticed but it was Christmas yesterday! I thoroughly enjoyed using the new ipad to check out all the presents my friends had received and all the yummy food they were scoffing!! Every year me and Nikki make little piles of our gifts down the sides of the sofa and take a picture. Here is my little stash of goodies...

My Christmas haul included the traditional Jenny presents: plenty of chocolate, socks, perfume, DVDs, a calendar for next year and some girly smellies (this year from Lush). My big presents this year were some cosy reindeer pyjama bottoms and  purple gillet from Fat Face. I also got these beautiful Blowfish boots that I've had my eye on since October half term! Ryan wouldn't let me buy them then because I couldn't really afford them. He was right though :)

My favourite surprise presents were a Merry Marshmallow Yankee Candle and a gorgeous Elephant teapot from my friend Sam. Usually I would opt for the Christmas cookie scented candle but I'm glad my sister discovered this one. I'd actually forgotten to put this on my list this year so it was really nice to open this and inhale the creamy scented goodness on Christmas morning! I must have talked a lot about elephants and tea this year, or perhaps Sam just knows me really well :) I didn't even know elephant teapots existed. I also got some lovely wintery-spice teapigs tea bags to go in it, amazing!!

 

Right. Let's take a MASSIVE step away from all things Christmassy now as you have most probably had enough. As part of my 'becoming an actual human being' plan over the holidays, I really want to get back into yoga. I have neglected my practice a LOT since I started teaching. That's a lie, it's actually none-existent nowadays. I must admit I have been awful at doing anything outside work apart from the odd plans on a weekend and that needs to change in the new year! I got a bit excited (and very geeky) looking at yoga apps on my ipad. I decided to download the Yoga Studio app for £1.99 because it has ready made classes, hundreds of poses and you can custom make the classes to suit you as well. I also used the schedule section to timetable in classes for myself until the end of February!!

While I'm not at work I don't just intend to be glued to the ipad. I'm just talking about it a lot because it's my new toy... promise! I do actually want to go outside, do stuff and talk to people. I'm meeting Dally for a drink tomorrow after months apart; we will certainly have a lot to catch up on! Then for new year I'm off to spend New Year with Ryan's family in Chelmsford :)

OMG, totes going to have an awesome time in Essex ;)

The most wonderful time.

December is a special month for most people with the build up to Christmas. It's a time for spending time with family and friends and spreading the holiday joy. However December is doubly special for me because it's also my birthday!! I didn't post a blog last week because I'd spent the weekend celebrating with friends and didn't have time to sit and write.

With a birthday so close to Christmas it's always difficult to decide how to celebrate. It's tricky for friends and family to buy two lots of presents too. I'd asked my family for money because that way I can spend it on nice things through the year rather than overloading on goodies all at once. That didn't stop my nearest and dearest buying lots of lovely gifts and staying up with me to open them all at midnight! They were all really thoughtful presents and I couldn't wait to use them! Even my Mum had sent me a little box of Lush goodies so I'd have something to open.

As well as adorning the living room with all my birthday cards, Amy and Tom sorted out some beautiful decorations for our flat. Our tree looks gorgeous dressed in silver and white and there are twinkly fairy lights all around. I think this year I've recieved the MOST Christmas cards ever. Who knew teachers were so popular? Ryan fashioned a card holder out of string for me, which is now being weighed down by ridiculous amounts of Christmas loveliness!! 

It's hard not to be in the Christmas spirit when you work with thirty-one children every day. When I'm not tearing up at them singing Silent Night I'm a storyteller, church attendee, directer of the play, Santa drawer, advent calendar manager and of course their teacher as well! It's been an exhausting month with everything going on; the tiredness has actually felt endless! But I can't imagine working anywhere else. 

If the Christmassy excitement of my class wasn't enough of a reward, they definitely spoilt me with Christmas goodies. I had the odd few presents through the week but today was a massive influx of over-sellotaped, doodled-on loveliness. It is a good job I like chocolate and candles! 

With today being the last day of term I can finally switch off from work and fully embrace the festive season. I'm looking forward to driving home for Christmas (no pun intended) and tucking into plenty of mince pies and mulled wine with my Family! I'm sure you'll hear from me again before the 25th but I hope you are all enjoying the build up... no last minut

How time flies

Those who know me will back me up when I say I'm not the soppiest or most romantic of people. I'm not one for public displays of affection or posting love-birdy type things accross my social media accounts. However, this week I quietly celebrated six months with Ryan. I'm not a month celebrator but I think half a year is quite significant and I can't believe it is here already!

Not many people really knew about us when it all started, as University had just finished and everyone had started to move back to their homes accross the UK. Usually everybody wants to know the ins and outs of everything but it was really nice getting to know each other in the Summer, at a time where I didn't many responsibilities. 

We've spent loads of time together; jetting off to Barcelona after just two months, camping in Wales and lots of little day trips too. Ryan is living with me at the moment which makes it easy to spend weekends and evenings doing fun things (when I don't fall asleep after work that is!). I think we do have quite a lot in common but a lot of differences too which keeps it interesting. I definitely think I've got a new best buddy as well as a boyfriend :)

As well as being a friend, he has also been with me through a time where I moved home and started my first teaching job. Ryan knows the names of all my pupils, listens to all my ridiculous stories and makes me cups of tea on the days I come home and just need a good cry. He even made an appearance at graduation too :) He's definitely a winner with my Mum at the moment.

Even though this will probably give him a big head, I have learnt lots too. Ryan knows loads about growing food, cooking food and all the ethical background stuff too. He also loves climbing so I've had a go at that too. I am a total novice! Last week my arms ached for three days afterwards!! I'm not sure if I've taught him anything, but I am slowly working on his awful DVD choices.... never date a film and TV graduate! 

I always get asked how we actually met. York St John students often recognise him from the SU because he works there, but can never comprehend how we actually met. Weirdly we met on twitter! I trawled through my twitter feed yesterday to find you the first lot of communication... not that romantic haha! After tweeting me on the YSJSU twitter account, Ryan followed me on his personal account. Months of tweeting later and we ended up in Evil Eye, chatting over apple strudel cocktails.

Six months later and here we are! It seems such a short time when I look at some of my University friends who are years into relationships and some are even engaged! But you have to start somewhere... watch this space :)

Happy December!

The countdown has begun! I dug into my first dairy free chocolate from my advent calendar this morning; well, half of it because Ryan hasn't bought himself a calendar, doh! Being a teacher, my countdown to Christmas started long before December 1st. We have been practicing our Christmas play since early November! 'Gabriel's Big Break' is a re-telling of the classic nativity story but from Gabriel's perspective. It is quite good actually once you get past the cheesy songs that need to be practiced. Feel free to listen to the snippet of the songs below. I just sang them to Ryan while he was cooking breakfast... he was less than impressed haha :P

Even though we have only dipped our big toe into December, I have pretty much bought all of my Christmas presents. Largely thanks to my Mum who is ridiculously organised... and has time to peruse the shops in Chester with my sister on a Monday afternoon! However my Mum can't help me buy presents for my Secret Santa selections, friends and Ryan's parents. Yesterday I managed to get a few little presents....

Lush Father Christmas Bath Bomb - £3.25

Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie Sampler - £1.80 in Clintons

M&S Sugar Plum Cookies Tin - £4

As hard as I tried not to I also got a few treats for myself ;) With Christmas and a Birthday coming up in December it's iffy territory going shopping for things I like. With the big 22 coming up in just two weeks I should be keeping my spending at a minimum. I really don't think a Big Knit Innocent Smoothie and a Salted Caramel Yankee Sampler will really ruin my Birthday/Christmas surprises though!

To appease my inner shopoholic, I did buy some really cute Christmas wrapping paper from Paperchase. I love making my presents look pretty, even if it just to get ripped off and thrown away. My choices this year however are made from recycled paper so that does make me feel slightly better about the amount of waste paper at Christmas time. Look how cute the trees are!! 

Some of the shop displays this year are so awesome! I love this iced sprout in the window of White Stuff, it makes me chuckle every time I pass it in Harrogate and York. You can actually win a trip to Brussels by entering a sprout competition on their website.. go on, click the link! I took the photo of the advent display a couple of weeks ago and now I can't remember the name of the shop. I thought I'd share it with you anyway because it's so darn cute. I definitely haven't captured how good it actually is with my phone camera! I hope you are all enjoying the festive season, decorating trees and eating mountains of mince pies. I know I am :D

Harrogate Christmas Lights

Tom Gates, Princess Diaries and Hunger Games.

I absolutely love to read. I always have and most certainly always will. I think it probably has something to do with my Dad reading Fantastic Mr Fox and The BFG at bedtime... he made the snozzcumbers come to life.

Over the past couple of days I have been thinking a lot about my reading, past and present. I didn't realise quite how much until I came to write this blog. My new topic to teach in Literacy is 'Authors and Letters' where the children have to share books by their favourite author ready to write a letter to them to say how awesome their stories are. I know that most of my children will want to bring in the latest copy of Tom Gates. Those of you who don't know Tom Gates, it is very much like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the children LOVE IT. I have been reading them as our class shared story since September using a variety of silly voices and allowing the children to act out the 'Mr Fullerman stare' and 'Norman hyper drumming'. Now most of the children in my class have been bought a copy or it's on their Christmas list! Instilling the love of reading? Take that University! 

There is even a Tom Gates World blog that I recently discovered. It has similar cartoons to the books and all sorts of fun stuff. I might try and sneak a few Tom Gates pictures into my lesson smartboard slides.

BEWARE. If you do read Tom Gates to your class, be prepared for the consequences. The children do think it is hilarious to compare any teachers to Mr Fullerman. He gives them a teacher stare, he is obsessed with homework and he has a loud voice. I've even been drawn pictures of me with Mr Fullerman eyes... but it also said I was the best teacher ever so I let it slide ;)

A couple of weeks ago I asked my Mum to sell all my old Buffy the vampire slayer DVDs to CEX. I now love going there to look for film bargains. The Harrogate and York branches are soooooooo much nicer than the Wolverhampton one I'm used too, sorry guys! I got £23 store credit for a series that I haven't watched for over five years!! So yesterday I dragged Ryan in to check out what they'd got. He did a film degree so he always wants to get all the fancy pancy onces with a good director. However I couldn't help myself buying Princess Diaries for £2.50 :) :) :) :) :)

I think I was probably about ten or eleven when I started reading all of Princess Mia's adventures. There was just something so relate-able about her that I loved all seven of the books and even read them more than once! I love reading books but I also love it when they make GOOD films from the books. Yes I am one of those people that complains about the tiniest incorrect details. I made Ryan watch it yesterday afternoon and I sat chuckling to myself like I was thirteen years old again.. foot popping kiss... HILARIOUS! Watching it again made me realise that I do have more in common with Mia than I first thought, even at twenty-one I am still a Doc marten wearing, hippy, stupidly lanky, geeky, glasses wearing girl. Just minus the crown!

If that wasn't enough of an amazing Saturday, I went to the cinema in the evening to watch the new Hunger games! Catching Fire was UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Again, another one where I sat engrossed in the books one after the other. I started reading them on the coach to my school in Middlesborough during my second year of Uni. Ask anybody, I was the most anti-social person on that coach haha. I remember finishing Catching Fire on my Kindle on the way home and I literally COULD NOT WAIT to get home and download Mocking Jay. 

The film most definitely did not disappoint. I think there were tears in my eyes for the majority of the film, to Ryan's amusement! The new characters were perfect, the arena was exactly how I imagined it and Jennifer Lawrence was as kick-ass as usual!! What was even better about the film was that we got in for free. I was in my own little world daydreaming about something or other, next thing I turn around and Ryan has tickets! Appaently some guy came through the crowd asking if anybody hadn't bought tickets because it had sold out, then gave the last two to Ryan! I know I am just stupidly lucky :P

Graduation Weekend

I have finally Graduated!!!

After spending the Summer months watching old school friends don their cap and gown and stand smiling outside their respective Universities, I was starting to think my Graduation was never going to happen. We have had to wait until November so that we could graduate at the picturesque York Minster. It was beautiful setting, inside and out, especially on a bright and sunny Autumn day.

(Primary Education Group 4 on the steps of the Minster)

My family came up from Wolverhampton and decided to take the whole weekend as holiday so that they could explore around Harrogate too. Lucky for some, I was back at work on Friday in my onsie for Children in Need and practicing songs for the Christmas play. Ryan made an appearance too after work and let us borrow his fancy camera to get some pictures.

We obviously had to take a million and one photos of the day. Who knew graduation was such a big deal?! There were some funny pictures thrown into the mix, including a few of me failing to throw my mortarboard in the air!

I also re-created the first ever picture I had taken outside York St John University. Three and a half years ago on my interview day, with my blonde hair, on the right and then my graduation picture on the left. Not much has changed, other than being brunette and a little smarter I suppose!!

Fountains Abbey

Yesterday I met up with my family again (who had been staying in a local bed and breakfast) and we went to Fountains Abbey and the deer park. It was really enjoyable to take a relaxing walk around the ruins, kicking up some leaves as we went.

Obviously we couldn't help ourselves being big kids as per usual so there were plenty of silly photo opportunities. We dressed up as monks in one of the information rooms, however we got the habits on backwards, doh! Ryan even managed to capture our leaf throwing fun.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekends, whether you are graduating or not!