Holiday blues.

It is the last day of a fabulous and relaxing half term break so naturally I am feeling a little glum. I can't say I'm excited to get back into early starts and long hours of work after having a week of doing my own thing. I know that once I step one foot back into my classroom I will be raring to go, especially as our topic this half term is chocolate!

After a tough final week of last half term, with parents evenings and discos, I packed my bags and set off on a mini-adventure with Ryan. We had decided very last minute to book a long weekend in a yurt in Devon, stopping in Wolverhampton on the way down to see some of my family. The cosy yurt, complete with log burner and hot tub, was just what I needed to chill out!

Photos by @rsb90

Photos from Canopy and Stars.

Even though the weather wasn't the best on Monday (I'm sure you've all heard of the floods!) there was still plenty to do. Yvette, the lady who owns the yurt is a local artist so she provided quality art supplies for visitors to use. I enjoyed dabbling in some watercolour painting after breakfast while we waited for the rain to die down a little. I was quite impressed with my picture too...

As I am contemplating moving down to Devon with Ryan, after I have completed my NQT year, he thought it would be good to go on a mini-roadtrip and look at prospective towns to live in. We ended the day with a few hours at the beach in Cornwall, stuffing our pockets full of smooth pebbles for painting. I do love the beach so fingers crossed this time next year I could be living a little closer.

My painted pebbles ready to bring home...

Tuesday was far sunnier and warmer so we decided to explore different parts of Dartmoor. We were staying in Okehampton which is on the north border of Dartmoor so there was no excuse not to! We started at a National Trust property called Parke which had plenty of walks along the river, orienteering trails and geocaching. We managed to find a couple of caches and log them on my app, it was tricky at times because there were so many people enjoying the nice weather.

We waved goodbye to the yurt and Devon on Wednesday morning to return to Harrogate. I managed to have a really productive day on work on Thursday which was good because I was hosting a small reunion for some of my friends from University. As we are all teachers, half term is the perfect time to get together and have a massive catch up. We had news of buying houses, new boyfriends, valentines stories and even new baby lambs! I was adamant to be a good hostess so the weekend consisted of afternoon tea, homemade thai turkey burgers, sausage sarnies and plenty of cosy blankets! 

The evening soon escalated to a full on granny/girly event with matching pyjamas, a tear-inducing move marathon, board games and plenty of cups of tea. We even managed to squash in some shopping, starbucks, lunches and geocaching. The next meet-up hasn't been decided yet but there was talk of a spa weekend that sounds ever so fancy!

Eye-bags and headaches.

Aaaaaaah Sunday. A day of lie-ins, fry ups and relaxation. It's time to kick back with a good book, snuggle up with a film or spend quality time with those you love. Last week I blogged about learning to love the ups and downs of life and making sure you make time to enjoy yourself and get a bit of R&R.

BUT sometimes you might have had a week where you are left feeling a little like this....

I am feeling the pressure from work this week and I have plenty of late evenings to look forward to next week. Parents evening is looming and we still have book moderations and actually teaching and planning inbetween. By the time half term comes round in five days time I will be ready to fall into bed and sleep for the entire week. 

As humans it is inevitable that we are going to feel stressed or down about something at some point in our lives. I am currently feeling a little disheveled, grumpy and most certainly stressy! I've got dry cracked lips, eye-bags to rival a zombie and I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. So, I decided that I'd like to share with you what I do to combat the stress.

Tea and something sweet

For me, there is nothing better than relaxing with a nice, warm cup of tea. I don't often drink tea at work as I don't sleep well after continuous caffeine fixes throughout the day. Usually my first cup of tea is when I first get home from work when I need to switch off, just for half an hour, from everything that needs doing. On the weekends I like to pair my tea with a few biscuits to dunk or a generous slice of cake (especially if it's home-made, yum!)

Sitcoms

I think I becoming dependent on the various box-sets that are sitting happily on my bookcase. If I need cheering up, a silly one-liner from Big Bang Theory, New Girl or Friends is sure to have me laughing in minutes. I love that 6pm on E4 is fantastically timed with my evening cup of tea too!

Massage

This one is a little trickier because you have to have someone willing to do it for you. Now I don't mean an hour long full-body massage with lots of fancy things. Even though the Body Shop do a lovely range of aromatherapy massage oils. A ten minute shoulder rub can leave you feeling revitalised and 100% relaxed. This morning when I woke up with a banging headache, Ryan massaged a couple of pressure points on my face and it soon disappeared. I'm not sure how he does it but it's better than paracetamol! 

Reading

I know I always go on and on and on about how much I love reading but it is awesome! I've always loved reading and sharing stories. As a teacher I now read a LOT more. I love sharing stories aloud with my class like my Dad used to do with me when I was a kid. It genuinely fills my heart with joy when I hear parents saying how much their child loves a book that I've shared. I bought a Horrible Science space book last weekend for £1.25 from a charity shop... every child in my class had their hand up to borrow it on Monday morning. I finished reading 'Before I go to Sleep' last night; it had a massive twist at the end and I was hooked until the very last page! Reality had to wait. I believe that reading is just good for the mind and soul :)

Candles and Fairy lights

Some people will tell me off for working in my bedroom. Apparantly it's healthier to separate your working space from your relaxing space. However I have created such a cosy atmostphere in my bedroom that I can't help but want to spend time in there. In the evenings I light my gorgeous scented yankee candle, turn on the fairy lights and get cosy under layers of warm blankets. Whether I am reading, watching a film or actually doing some work, it doesn't matter because I just enjoy spending time in here.

Sunday Baths

Over the years I have never ever been a bath person. Tall people will agree that baths are sometimes not the most comfortable of places and the water never gets quite high enough. However, my current flat has the most amazing bath I have ever been in! It's massive and doesn't have an overflow in a ridiculous place. I enjoy my bath so much that Sunday evenings are now dedicated bath times so I am all refreshed for the new working week. For Christmas and my birthday I got loads of Lush bath bombs so Sunday bath time has evolved into a bit of an experiment! I really enjoy trying out all of the different ones and finding out which ones are most exciting :) I did my first ever instagram video of one of my bath bombs. You can watch it on this link - bath bomb video. 

Everyone knows that us humans need time to just stop sometimes. We all make our lives so busy and stress inducing but I suppose we can't help ourselves! Here are another few tips I found for reducing stress that you can try yourself :)

Learn to love the ride.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about life; what I've done so far, where I've come from, what I've learnt and where I'd like to go. I am at a point in my life where the world really is my oyster. Not to brag but have a degree, I live in a beautiful flat, I have a job that pays pretty well and I'm in a happy relationship. Like everyone though my life is a series of ups and downs. Sometimes I come home from work, lie in bed and cry BUT you know what? Life goes on. Simple.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on

Robert Frost

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans

John Lennon

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment

Buddha

Life can be really tough at times, I'm sure you can think of plenty of times you have been in a pickle yourself! I'm halfway through my first year of teaching which has gone ridiculously fast. It's been difficult, challenging and emotionally draining but more often than not I am really happy in what I do. I'm learning to take it one step at a time and enjoy the simple things. So, what have I been preoccupied with in my life lately?

NQT conference

From Wednesday evening till Friday afternoon I was at a residential conference for newly qualified teachers. It consisted mostly of getting advice from outstanding teachers, eating a LOT, laughing at awful jokes, drinking on a weeknight and actually learning a lot! My favourite session was all about behaviour. It was funny and inspiring and really interested me in behaviour and child psychology. The lady also reminded us that it is okay to feel emotions and actually be human.

Tea Dress Hunt

Recently it has become obvious that I am a knitwear and t-shirt hoarder. What my wardrobe is lacking in is cute dresses both for work and weekends. At university you can get away with slouching around in Ugg boots and a hoody but now I'm all professional and stuff (ha yeah right!) I want to dress a little more fancy and feminine. I've been on the hunt for cute floral and flirty tea dresses but nowhere seems to sell them. The high street is full of tartan, which is quite nice, and neon which is not so nice. 

The mini-obsession with tea dresses has definitely stemmed from watching a lot of New Girl again while I do my planning and marking. Jessica Day has such an enviable assortment of dresses! 

Old Lady Hobbies

After completing my teeny-tiny cross stitch a couple of weeks ago I decided to look at other crafty things I could do rather than start another cross stitch straight away. I found this 'cute and easy' crochet bunting kit on Amazon which sounded really good because it claimed to be easy and for beginners. I have tried knitting before with my Nan but I wasn't very good but crochet is meant to be simpler so I had high hopes! frustratingly I am not very good at crochet either, I have managed to make one chain... it could be a few more months before I am hanging my bunting. 

Bra WIN

I hate bra shopping. I absolutely, most certainly HATE going shopping for bras.My housemates at uni used to go shopping and come back with lovely lingerie that they had bought in sales from various high street shops. Every single time I would sit there miserably and complain that pretty much nowhere sells my size (sorry guys!). I can spend HOURS searching for anywhere that sells my size and when I do, they are usually white or beige. On Friday after finishing at the conference I went to Monks Cross in York and bought myself three, yes THREE, bras in my size. I did take to twitter to personally thank M&S and Debenhams for selling affordable, pretty bras in DD+.

M&S - £14

Debenhams - £22.50

Foody News

Ryan has been teaching me more and more about food. I am learning about the importance of knowing where your food comes from and what has happened to it before it gets to your plate. I'm still not perfect but I am making changes to my shopping and eating habits for the better. I shop at Sainsburys usually, look for British produce and try and buy ingredients to cook meals from scratch. Next door to Sainsburys in Harrogate is a shop called Fodder that sells loads of local produce too. Some of it is a little pricey but I don't mind popping in to see what they have.

I made a lovely Victoria Sponge cake last night too using ingredients I already had in the cupboard. This included some elderberry jam that Ryan made back in 2010, yum! I did use an American recipe despite it being a British classic but it is still delicious :)

Reading

Lately it takes me longer than I'd like to get through a book. I'm currently reading 'Before I go to Sleep' by SJ Watson which is about a lady who wakes up every morning thinking she is still young but she is in fact middle aged and married. I'm halfway through and it's an interesting tale of lies, emotions and discovering the truth.I also like to read 'The Simple Things' magazine :) Ryan shares it with me because I like all the interior design pages and the crafty stuff while he likes to read all about gardening and travel.

Blogs I'm enjoying lately

As well as reading books and magazines, I like to check out other blogs. Usually they are much fancier, more artsy and have many more followers than me but they are awesome :) Here are my two favourites of the moment if you'd like to check them out...

Delightfully Tacky

A Rosie Outlook