Finally I've blogged!! ~Christmas In New Zealand!!~

Going back to Wellington for Christmas was probably one of the best holidays of my life.

I was well overdue for some R&R and what better way to spend ridiculous amounts of pounds and three glorious weeks with my family and best friends!!

Boxing Day with the fam - win!

The weather was absolutely perfect!

Some of my favourite and best moments are....

Spending time with one of my all time favourite humans

And one of my favourite non-humans

Having icecreams overlooking this view before going to see the third Hobbit film at The Roxy cinema.

Getting to hang out with this scallywag!

These two were alright..

Catching up with family on Boxing Day

Making this to-die-for dairy free, gluten free, chocolate cake.. twice.. and eating one that Markie had made!! Recipe can be found here over at the glorious Meghan's blog

Having afternoon gin and tonics with my Mumma. Feet in pool, gin in hand - what more could a girl need?

Taking this pooch for walks down to the Hutt River near my parent's place. I feel like I took complete advantage of the outdoors!!

Spending my second to last night and last day with Meg and Mark and the boys was one of my most special and favourite times. And having 'panini coladas' on New Years eve!!

Saying goodbye to these two at the airport wasn't easy.

It was very much a last minute trip planned - flights were booked on a Friday and I was outta London on the Sunday. My parents were a bit shocked to say the least, but it was still hands down one of my best holidays.

Until next time New Zealand!!

That time when Mother came to visit!

I was super lucky to have my beautiful and wonderful Mumma come and spend time with me in London after chaperoning by darling Grandad to Glasgow. 

We realised we only had 5 days in London, in between going to Devon, Bath and back up to Glasgow, so we made the most of it!

We visited the Poppies at the Tower of London..

Ate some delicious food in Convent Garden...

Visited the Kaffe Fasset exhibition at the American Museum in Bath..

Had a lovely time in a little seaside town called Bude...

And of course caught up with some family!

It was lovely to see my Mum and Grandad again, as well as all the other rellies who are spread out over the country! 

Thanks to everyone putting up with me being miserable most of the time!!

A year ago...

A year ago, I was about to board my flight back to London.

I had had an amazing 6 weeks in wonderful Wellington, with a quick trip up to Auckland.

I hung out with some of my favourite people, met some fellow bloggers IRL, and soaked up the beauty that New Zealand has!

I still can't believe it's been a whole entire year. Since I've got back, there has been many ups and downs, health issues, work stresses, you name it. But I love being able to look back on previous blog posts and photos, reminding myself of how lucky I was to go back to my little windy city and enjoy my time there. 

I do actually really kinda want to go back right this second, but just for a holiday. London's where my life is for now, but I'd really like to sit down, chat, hug and be close to those special humans! 

Things I'm Loving!

During the last crazy-busy, hectic, unwell weeks, I've been loving...

Sun and cider!

Hanging out in Greenwich with the lovely Rachel, enjoying learning about stuff and then drinking wine as a reward! 

Baby chicks

We got some chicks for a few weeks at work! They arrived as 10 little eggs and we now have 9 cute-as-anything little chickies tweeting! It was pretty awesome seeing some of them hatch - it's pretty amazing to think a chick that big comes out of an egg that small! 

Catch ups

I was lucky enough to have a quick catch up with Lynnie over a bottle of wine! She was in London for a night before heading back to Melbourne. It was fun and hilarious chatting about the antics we'd get up to when we worked together in Wellington!

Bananas

Apart from bananas being one of my favourite things and a pretty awesome superfood, turns out they also rule even more when they're on a pair of shoes! I've just gone and bought a second pair for when these 'run out'! 

Fresh sea air

A couple of weeks ago, Erin and I went to Brighton. It was my mission to go swimming and I made that happen. It was definitely freezing but coming from a girl who used to spend all summer at the beach or river, I was in desperate need of 'going for a dip'!

Skype
I really can't boast about how awesome Skype is, especially when my nearest and dearest are the furtherest away they could possibly be, nearly. I started this weekend with a conversation that lasted over two hours and covered a wide range of topics, with one of the most special people to me!

And lastly...

I'm in love with this song, this band, and all things them at the moment! 

Dirty Paws but Of Monsters and Men

Linking up with Meg!

Things I'm Loving!

As I sit here, nose in full stream of snot and head pounding, my week has been like a pick 'n' mix bag. 

Firstly though - listen to this song. It's a goodie...

It all started with discovering this massive bruise on my shin. How it happened - I have no idea! Needless to say, it's a pretty good one!

Things then moved up in the world for me with a few of my favourite breakfasts/lunches/teas being made. All gluten and dairy free!

What was meant to be a 'good idea at the time', turned into a massive egg moment. And the ruining of my classroom carpet. Basically I picked up the water tray to empty it, hurt my back and dropped it, jumped up onto higher ground as I watched a lot of water simply go everywhere.

Note to self: definitely think before lifting a full and heavy water tray, with a bad back, and water that was very blue. I'm not looking forward to bumping into the school caretaker on Monday morning...

I loved getting sent through some of my Nanna and Grandad's old photos. My Mum messaged me a few during the week and looking through them all, spotting similarities in other family members, seeing their adventures and sometimes just having a chuckle, was some of the best medicine! 

This is one of my favourites of my Nanna and Grandad - I can spot myself in both of them! And the one of my older sister Rosie and me in Finland - just a bit of cuteness right there! 

Finally, I'm loving big time on the sunshine we've been having in London lately. And daffodils. You can't forget them. They're happiness right there. It was the best pick-me-up after working stupidly long days over the last two weeks.

Just look. So much happiness! 

Linking up with my best home girl

London - The City with the Love Hate Relationship

Sometimes London is hard. Sometimes it's amazing.

It's hard being so far away from some of the most special people in my life, especially on weeks like these. But then I just remind myself of how many awesome opportunities I've had and got at the moment; the memories I've got from the last two and a half years.

Ma and Pa and me on Wellington waterfront, trip home July 2013

When I was training at uni to become a teacher, I never in my life thought I'd be teaching deaf kids in London. The London part had crossed my mind briefly, but teaching kids with complex needs? Na-uh.

An impromptu trip to the travel agents one lunch break landed me with a one-way flight to London five months later. I had my 21st, graduation ceremony, leaving one of my favourite jobs and my departure all with a matter of 10 days. Yeah, doing things by halves isn't completely my style.

I've left some of the best friendships behind, like this one...

One of the best. Wellington, August 2013

and this one.

The last goodbye. Wellington airport, August 2013

But then I've made some pretty freaking awesome friendships over here too. This girl is alright I guess...

Sara and Dan's engagement party. October 2013

And so is this bunch.

Danielle's birthday. October 2013

I've been able to travel to destinations I had only ever dreamed of. Porto, France, Malaysia, Stockholm, Budapest just to name a few...

'Borrowed' from Cara from our latest adventures to Budapest. October 2013

I've been able to meet some very loved family members in the UK who I've only ever heard of my whole life. I've been able to celebrate my grandparents' lives, as they all came from Scotland or London.

My precious Great-Aunt Nell. She's one in a million. July 2011.

In amongst all the business of London, I've been finding it so important and I guess soothing, to remember all of these amazing times and opportunites I've had. 

Like meeting my second cousin, Patti Clare, who plays Mary Taylor in Coronation Street! October 2013

In a way, it's kinda like the gift that keeps on giving. 

I can keep travelling. People can keep coming to visit. I can keep working at an amazing school. I can keep building a lifetime of experiences and memories. 

Basically, I can just keep on, keeping on. 

Tower Bridge, January 2013.

The dog made me crack, that was fine....

Leaving home again, was just like the first time. When I left my family home nearly two and a half years ago, I didn’t let myself cry about leaving until the actual day. Then I lasted until we had to leave our house and my Mum told me to say goodbye to our dog Bella. I thought nothing of it, bent down to give her a massive patty cuddle thing (you can’t really hug our dog, she likes to jump!) and the water works started. For someone who’s never had a dog, I’ve heard from those horse’s mouths that “why would you cry over a dog, they’re just a pet”. Well they aren’t just a pet, they’re family.

So this time leaving I thought things would be a bit different. Low and behold, they weren’t. Same again, the whole huggy patty scenario, the crying but trying to hide it from Mum and Rosie so they both wouldn’t start either, as we had to go and see my Grandad and then go to the airport, so it was a long way to start crying and not stop! That was fine, Dad shipped me into the car pretty quick, we drove to my Grandad’s and then that was all fine. Until we were about to leave.

My Grandad is such a darling, but he’s getting old. I don’t want to think that this could quite possibly be the last time I see him ever, but it could be. I don’t know when I’ll next be back in Wellington, so I had to ‘pretend I needed to fart’ so I could scoot out the door and not cry in front of everyone again. That was fine, we drove to the airport, had lunch and my friend Tara came and met us there. I went for a wee, let out ‘eye wees’ ha! And then that was fine. We were messing around by the gate, I was umming and ahhing about what time I should go through as I was cutting time slightly fine (before the plane decided to be delayed) and that was fine. Then good old Papa Bear gave me a hug and BOOM! That wasn’t fine! Cry cry cry cry cry, cried through the security checks, cried sitting down waiting for the plane, and some lovely lady came over. She was a promotional lady for something, I had stopped listening at that point, and then we had a wee chat about where I was from and lived and she gave me a DVD about New Zealand that has “some really rad and awesome photos” on it.

We will wait and see, I hope it’s good. Cos I love New Zealand, and free stuff! 

Grateful for gratefulness

This past week I'm grateful for...

Dogs who have the best welcome homes

Friends who are there and get you

Meeting other bloggers IRL!

Clearing/sorting out my stuff/life and finding so many special memories like...

... This photo of my Nanna and I. I was 10 days old and this was my first ever smile to one of the most special people in my life. 

Linking up with Simoney