I am surprised I have got any work done this week, I am completely addicted to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins! My fellow trainee teacher Katie had been reading it last week on placement and I'd heard vague things about the film. Well now I am well and truly hooked! Katie lent me the book after she finished it on Friday and I literally have to force myself to put it down so I can do my planning or cook my dinner. The journeys to and from placement now fly by!
I read the first book of the trilogy in just four days in between work and sleep then I downloaded the second on my kindle yesterday and I'm already 30% of the way through :D It is such a good read, it's unlike anything I've ever read before. It has action and emotion intertwined all the way through and there are so many twists and turns that even you don't know who to trust. I can't say much more because I'm such a blabber mouth I will end up ruining the whole thing! So I'll let you read about it from the words of the author...
"Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.
Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love."
I seriously recommend reading it or watching the trailer for the film that is out on March 23rd!
'You may think that the grass is greener on the other side. But if take time to water your own grass, it would be just as green.' - Anon
Well today I have got to say my grass is looking green and gorgeous! I managed to get loads of this week's planning done whilst munching chocolate porridge and then listen to a bit of Stereophonics all before 10am :D I'm starting to think that Sundays might even be my most productive day of the week which is way beyond insane really; especially when I text James at 8am and he is still up from a House Party he threw on Saturday night!
I was an honorary Brown today as Sam's Mum and Dad were coming to visit and I decided I was going to be a pest and tag along :D We went for a scrummy yummy dinner at Toby Carvery which was AMAZING. I'd never been before so I was pretty much astounded by the size of the Yorkshire puddings for the entirety of dinner! The food was soooooo good and I was definitely overwhelmed by all the different potato choices.
I even managed to fit some baking into my productive Sunday plan :) today I was trying out a Blueberry Muffin recipe off the Nigella Lawson website. Sammy has done a blog post reviewing my muffins HERE so go and have a gander if you so wish :) How yummy do these look though?!?
Now because I spent most of Saturday afternoon sat in bed with Sammy singing songs from the eighties I'm going to leave you with a lovely bit of UB40 as well my Sunday Stereophonics lovin'
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
- Art Linkletter
Blog of the day.
Such a beautiful tumblr that makes me wish that summer was right here right now! I always pinch the amazing pictures she finds to use on my blog so now I'm going to share the love :)
It is Sunday and it's sunny here in York so I'm having a lovely chilled morning in my room, sun streaming through the window and a bit of Bob Marley playing :) All of my housemates are still in the land of nod (I suppose this is what normal people so on a Sunday at 10am) soooo I thought I'd write another blog; two in a week? By golly I do have too much spare time lately.
I'd like to start by professing my forgotten love for Body Shop products. Since being at Uni I've only bought their mango and papaya body butter and that has only been on rare occasions. I liked Body Shop on Facebook a while back and they always update their fans on the charity work they do around the world and this got me thinking about all of their lovely products I used to buy and all their values that I support.
After a quick peruse online I decided to pop in to buy their seaweed skincare range and the new 'Get Lippy' sticks. I know sea weed sounds kinda gross but so far it is one of the most lovely things I have put on my skin! I am one of those people with the most annoying and picky skin ever; it just can't decide whether it wants to be oily or dry so when I read about this range on their website I was definitely up for a try..
"The Seaweed range rebalances oily and combination skin. This kit of miniature products contains a complete regime. It hydrates, reduces excess oil and refines pores."
Body Shop offer a small set for £10 that contains mini bottles of the range so you can try them all for a smaller price. The full size bottles range from £7 - £10 so it would be a bit risky buying them all and then them not working as you wanted!
Seaweed Facial Wash 60ml Seaweed Clarifying Toner 60ml Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream 15ml Seaweed Clarifying Night Treatment 15ml
I will be using this regime for the next few weeks and I'll let you know how I get along with it! It is looking hopeful though as after just one day my skin feels lovely and soft and looks a little clearer than usual :)
I also treated myself to two new lip balms as well as Body Shop have now done their 'Get Lippy' balms in a stick which is much better as you don't have to deal with the sticky finger situation post application! I got the Pomegranate and the Toffee flavours and they are gorgeous!
Another shop I'm pretty happy with at the moment is Superdrug. I never thought I'd say this as I was pretty much a Boots addict during my 6th form years but Superdrug is way more student friendly! They offer 10% everything for NUS card holders AND they do points now with their beauty cards, seriously get yourselves one of these!
As well as getting 10% off my toothpaste, I got it for free as I paid with my points :) can't complain about getting anything for free! Superdrug are also selling the gorgeous Original Source shower gels for just 99p! I was so tempted by the Winter Almond & Cherry and the Honey & Shea butter ones.
Finally, those of you who have been reading my blog since the very first post (thanks a million you guys!) might remember when I mentioned the 'Change the world for a fiver' book? Well Action 26 is to give blood. I went for my first donation back in October and now I'm going back for more! Those of you who live in York can join me and my housemate Leah on 7th March and do something selfless and amazing. I learnt since my first donation that my blood type is O+ which is a universal blood type which can be used to save most the people in the population, how amazing is that?!? There is a bigger need for those rarer blood types though so everyone who can donate should pop along when you are free :) I can't explain the good feeling that comes afterwards; even if you do nearly pass out like I did!
"Imagine all the people living in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope somebody you'll join us and the world will live as one."
As much as I'd like to get my brain into my usual blog writing zone, I'm finding it utterly impossible to choose a topic. I have so many happy thoughts floating around in there so I thought I'd share what's been making me smile instead...
One - Valentines cupcakes
For Valentines day I made a deal with James to give home made goodies to each other. Despite the fact he didn't hold up his end of the deal (he took me out for a fabulous meal and a film instead so I let him off :P) I still loved making these valentines cupcakes for him! My house mate Sam let me borrow her cupcake recipe book and off I went in search of the most romantic cakes I could find. I did have to tweak the recipe slightly and you can find my amended version below.
Here is my finished creation, they looked good and tasted even better!
1/4 cup of white chocolate chips (originally milk chocolate)
Ingredients for the topping:
80g (2.8oz) butter
1 cup of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of cocoa (I added more and more until I liked the chocolatey taste)
Haribo sweets to decorate (originally fresh strawberrys)
1.Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake papers (24 mini ones).
3. In a medium sized bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fuffy. Add the egg and mix well.
4. Add the flour, milk and flavouring and beat until well combined.
5. Fold through the chocolate chips.
6. It's time to cook so you have time to wash up heehee!
7. Mix together the butter, icing sugar and cocoa until combined well. (This is where I slowly added more cocoa until I liked the taste)
8. Use a spoon to put a decent dollop on each cake. (Use a piping bag if you're a super keen chef!)
9. Decorate with yummy sweets and you are done!
Two - Spring is near
I am so excited for the weather to warm up! I love snow as much as the next person but I like being able to go outside and run free without the fear of Bambi moments. I wanted to go on a boat ride while I was in Southampton visiting James this week but I decided it was still too cold :( so instead I am planning on having a bike ride this weekend even if it rains :)
Cue a dorky picture of me enjoying the outdoors haha! Also a funny picture for those who didn't know me with blonde hair.
Three - Getting my snozzle stuck in a book
I finally finished the first book I have been reading on my kindle! WAHOOOO! Sanctus by Simon Toyne was possibly THE longest book I could have chosen to read, I reckon it could give War and Peace a run for it's money. I blogged about this book a couple of weeks ago as it has been keeping me company on the bus to and from placement and it had me baffled! I managed to get to the end of the 184 chapter book while I was on my five hour train to Southampton and I didn't want to put it down once, such a good twist at the end! I have already pre-ordered his sequel The Key which is out on April 12th; just in time for some Easter relaxation.
Four - actually re-living a movie moment
Now this one is taking be back aaaaall the way to last wednesday which is a feat for my memory! I'm guessing loads of you have seen the film Valentines day? Well I decided to re-create the moment when Jennifer Garner's character teaches her class about St Valentine... aaaaaawh! My year three class are currently learning about the Romans which links in perfectly with Emporer Claudius and the story of St Valentine. They absolutely loved it and a few of them even made valentines to take home for their families :)
Now in the spirit of all the Valentines celebrations (even if I am a little late) I leave you with a Beatles classic...
Hola my dear blog readers! Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I have been super super busy with placement; think 5:45am starts and 9:30pm bedtimes! But I wouldn't have it any other way of course :) Us primary ed students are tough cookies despite the never ending list of assignments and placement we stay as optimistic and positive as ever. Seen as I have an evening free I thought I'd have a girly pamper session, make a lovely cup of tea devote a Blog post to my many strategies of dealing with the copious amounts of work and still having plenty of energy and a smile at the end of the day :)
Mid week subway; formerly known as subway Friday
The girlies that I'm on placement with and I decided that to keep us going through the five week block we would have one lunchtime a week devoted to enjoying a freshly made, delicious sarnie from subway. Originally this was to coincide with the Friday feeling but that meant we would have to wait all week for our happy buzz. Sooooo for Lauren's birthday we moved our Subway feast to Wednesday and it was decided that a mid week treat was much better and we still had the weekend to look forward to!
Watch Matilda
Teacher in training... definitely want a bit of Miss Honey in my life to get me inspired! When I get down, I hum this to myself.. instant mood fixer
Surprise visits from the boyfriend & the home made valentines agreement
After a hard first week of placement and the freezing cold walk home from the bus, all I wanted to do was face plant my pillow and sleep for the entire weekend. I walk round the corner and James was waiting outside my house, huge grin and flowers in hand. What do I do? I cry. Yeeeeeep I have a nice little sob until I realise we are still stood in the freezing cold and I hadn't bothered to open the door. I'm so glad I didn't have to spend my weekend alone, that he can put up with craziness and he is such a sweetie travelling all that way to come and cheer me up <3
Last Valentines day we cooked each other dinner but this year we are going for a 'home made' theme. I'm thinking of baking some delicious valentines cookies or cupcakes and making the most glittery card you would have ever saw :D if anyone has some good recipes or any other home made gift ideas please let me know!
I am definitely addicted to these scrummy things right here!
Glorious skinny soup - SO YUMMY! They are packed full of interesting flavours and keep me full all afternoon. SO far I've tried the Goan Vegetable and the Aztec flavours.. watch this space for my thoughts on the others.
Innocent smooth orange juice - Simple and sweet, I got some while it was reduced to 99p in Morrisons but I will probably still buy it full price as it is so refreshing and absolutely NO pulp. WINNER!
Read a good book
This isn't teacher talk, this is me genuinely loving to read. Ever since I got my kindle for my birthday reading has been so accessible to me, I can just wack it out whenever I fancy getting lost is in a story for a few hours. I've been reading Sanctus by Simon Toyne and I must admit I am well and truely lost! I'm half way through and I have no clue what is going on at all, it is so intriguing I just have to keep reading. This is a must read for any Dan Brown fan as it is full of religious mystery, puzzles and adventure.
Now this is how you promote reading books when your on primary ed....
Sing and laugh at stupid adverts
I love adverts and I don't even care :P The cheesy music and the random ideas can result in two minutes of magic that just brightens up your day, not just your programme viewing. Here are my favourites at the moment...
James Villa Holidays - Um what's not to love about this song? Without a doubt I will tap tap tap my toes to this one.
Sainsburys - I just love love love this one! It's so simple and natural and I love singing along to it with Leah.. even if I do get my birds and my bees mixed up ;)
The happy egg company - I just saw this one today but who doesn't like happy chickens eh?
Inspirational stuff
I am a total sucker for this one; every single cool quote I find I have to save, just in-case I may want to read it again some day. I even copied down something that was written on the fridge during a New Girl episode (dfnnfjwenfewi best programme eeeeeveeeer)
'Teachers send children home with more to talk about that homework.'
Pretty neat huh? Here is some other random rubbish that I've pinched from various blogs that I read that you might find inspirational toooooooo....
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