Suitcase Dates

Keep up to date with my Summer adventures through my shared travel blog Suitcase Dates :)

beginnings and endings

"In life, there are no true beginnings or endings. Events flow into each other, and the more you try to isolate them in a container, the more they spill over the side."

Gavin Extence -The Universe Versus Alex Woods

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 was a very important day. It was was a day for goodbyes, thank yous, congratulations and celebrations. It was the day I finally completed my year as a newly qualified teacher and I felt awesome!! The time had also come to say goodbye to my first teaching job, my first classroom, my first colleagues and the first class that were all my responsibility. My facebook feed was full of university friends that were congratulating themselves on completing a tough year and perhaps shedding a tear or two. 

I want to say a massive WELL DONE to each and every one of you! It has been one of the most difficult years of my life and I am so proud of all that I have achieved and the emotional mountains I have had to climb and conquer! 

I must admit that I am ready to move on now, I didn't shed a single tear when I left school on Tuesday evening and I still haven't! You might think of me as heartless but I see that journeys come to an end but the memories last a life time. Having a case of itchy feet, I don't tend to stay in one place for long - I recently had to sit in the co-op bank and explain why I have had six addresses over the last four years!

New adventures and exciting journeys are what I am looking forward to now. Finishing my NQT year only means it is time for celebrations, a month of travel and to continue with my TEFL course. I will of course look back with fond memories of the past year, but my heart is focused on enjoying the present and feeling excited for future escapades.

Bon Voyage

It is ALMOST the summer holidays. I can feel the end but I'm just not quite there yet. Of course I'm not totally jealous of my friends who have broken up for the Summer already ;) We are finally winding down at work ready for the Summer with performances, barbeques and picnics on the field but going in for two days this week seems like a really silly idea. My mind is now on a one track mission for some serious relaxation and fun this Summer!! I've already started to switch off at the weekends and have been spending less time working since I finished my reports. Last weekend I was in Yarm visiting Sam and had my first ever horse riding lesson! There are children in my class that could have done a much better job but it was exciting to try something new.

This weekend was spent lazing around, finishing a few jobs, eating yummy food and finally doing some Summer shopping. I visited Boots and stocked up on goodies with Summery scents such as Batiste Oriental Dry Shampoo and Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo. York was full of shops that were having sales so I spent three hours ambling round the cobbled streets and visiting some of my favourite places. I picked up some beautiful silver earrings from Accessorize with 50% off. The peach coloured dress below I found on the sale rail in Dorothy Perkins for £17 and the monochrome dress was a charity shop bargin at just £5!

As well as spending my hard-earned wages on cute girly things, I have been saving up for my Summer plans. Luckily Ryan is organised and has planned a road trip for us through France and Spain for a few weeks. We are taking my car and all Ryan's camping gear and stopping with friends and family along the way. I am finally visiting my cousin and her baby in the South of France which is very exciting! After France we are hopefully stopping off in Barcelona where we had our first holiday together and then spending a week gatecrashing at a villa in Spain that my family have booked.

The whole point of our little road trip is to explore and discover areas that we might want to live in. Ryan has always wanted to live in France and I'm up for a change with my itchy feet (six addresses in the past 4 years!). We took a trip to the Vangarde Shopping Centre in York today as I haven't been before and we soon ended up in the home section of John Lewis. I fell in love with their whole Mexican collection! I am obssessed with having my own place one day so I can decorate it... just take a look at my homey Pinterest board. I know I'm crazy :)

Ryan wants to start a new blog together that have pictures and details of our travels as we go. Hopefully by my next post I will know more about our plans!

à bientôt!

Busy Living.

You may have assumed that either nothing interesting has been happening in my life to blog about or that I am so busy doing interesting things that I haven't had time to blog. I shall let you make what you will of my absence in the blogosphere lately!

I do miss my University days when I would have whole weekends to spend at my leisure; blogging, volunteering, shopping or drinking a caramel latte with friends. My time seems to disappear so quickly nowadays that I hadn't realised my blog had slipped away for two whole months! I'm making a pact with myself to blog more often but only when there is something I want to write about rather than forcing a weekly post. So... I hear you asking. What exactlly have I been up to?

Tour De France Fever

It's all been very exciting living in Yorkshire this year as we are hosting the Grand Départ of the Tour de France. There has been bunting flying around for months and yellow bikes cropping up all over the place! I have been doing some Tour de France activities with my class at school but on the weekends too! A few weeks ago I helped paint a mural on York's route 66 cycle track with Edible York and yesterday I enjoyed myself at a street party where we enjoyed a yellow jersey lemon cake! 

Vegetable Education

Ryan is always trying to teach me more about growing and living a more sustainable lifestyle. He recently got a job with the permaculture association in Leeds which is right up his street. I've been helping out at YUMI community garden and went on an interesting workshop about medicinal herbs too.

 

Arty-farty Stuff

After re-discovering my creative passion, during our stay in the yurt back in February, I have been saying YES to all things arty. I've already mentioned the mural painting but it was good fun. I used to ride my bike past there each week while I was at University and I was glad to see it spruced up a bit and spreading a positive message - painting with a purpose! Yesterday Ryan asked me to add illustrations to some permaculture posters. He is away at an event in London and apparently my design has gone down really well so far :)

Life Decisions

Not many people know that I have been having a really difficult year in my career. I have a job and I love being in the classroom but there are a lot of things that would be unprofessional to discuss on my blog! I'm taking up supply teaching as of September to allow more freedom in my life alongside completing my TEFL qualification! Ryan has been harping on about moving to France ever since we met and I agree that it would be a great move. It's still a plan in progress but that doesn't stop me looking at cute French houses on Pinterest!

Usual Ryan Adventures

Most weekends we have something or other planned, even if I have been busy writing reports lately! A few of our recent visits have been to Nunnington Hall and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Both well worth a visit!

 On the 5th June we had been together for one whole year. It seems like so much longer than that, but here's to another year of many more life changes and adventures!

Grandad Davison's Ginger Biscuits

I have been absent from the blogging world for quite some time now. It's not that I haven't had things to tell you about because boy have I been busy! Since the start of April, life has kind of taken over and my blog got pushed right to the back of my mind. Occasionally I thought about writing but I wasn't really in the right frame of mind. I've been applying for teaching jobs, planning to move out of my flat earlier than expected and STILL preparing for Ofsted at work amongst actually doing things I want to do. I visited Sam in Yarm over Easter which was lovely (even though I had a revolting cold) as well as travelling back to Wolverhampton for Easter and my Mum's birthday.

I wasn't quite sure what to write about after over a month away from blogging to be honest, nothing seemed quite right but I knew I wanted to get back into it. In the end I decided to share this recipe that has been passed down through my family. Grandad's biscuits are something that I enjoyed making and eating as I was growing up and now is the perfect time to share this gem of a recipe. Sadly my Grandad passed away last week, which was tough because I've never lost a Grandparent before now. However, memories of eating ginger biscuits, crinkly chips, apple pie and bullet sweets at Grandad's bungalow will live on :)

Grandad Davison's Ginger Biscuit Recipe

Ingredients:

• 8oz Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Ginger
• 8oz Margarine
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons of warm water
• 16oz Self Raising Flour
• 4oz Syrup

Method:

First gather up all of your ingredients. Just to make sure you aren't missing anything (like I always am).

 Measure out all the ingredients and stick them in a bowl. I found it easier to add all the dry ingredients and then mix in each wet ingredient one at a time.

 Mix all the ingredients together using a strong spoon and some elbow grease. It is a bit tougher than runny cake mix. Once all the ingredients are combined, and look a little crumbly, use your hands to create a more doughy texture.

 Roll the dough into small balls and place onto a baking tray that has been greased or lined with greaseproof paper. Press your thumb gently into each biscuit ball. 

Be warned that they spread like crazy so leave lots of space between them.

 Stick them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees. Don't worry if they are a bit soft, they harden up as they cool. Enjoy! :)