Staying Positive: See the Silver Lining!

Hey everyone!

I hope you're all doing really well, and the first month of your New Year is going awesome! I'm writing this post today because I'm aware the past couple of weeks have been full of emotion for people in my family, and all of my friend groups in some way as many of my friends and most of my immediate and extended family have some pretty serious health problems, I know these issues have been getting my loved ones down and they are struggling to see the bright side of life and to me that is just awful to see. 

It's so important when you have ill health to look at the positive things you have, for example yesterday I spent the day with my best friend and her partner, Nana and Simon baking all day, we both made lovely cakes and if you want to see mine head over to my personal instagram and it's the most recent cake picture! I made a beautiful white chocolate lemon drizzle cake and it smelled amazing! Me and my friend can't eat our cakes, she seemed quite frustrated at this and admittedly when you love cake and know you can't have it or taste what you've made it is very annoying, I can't eat my cake because it isn't worth it in my opinion, if I am going to eat something less healthy than usual I will wait until there is something that truly takes my fancy; albeit those times are few and far between but it makes me appreciate  and enjoy it more for waiting. The thing is everybody on earth has their own cross to bear in terms of their health but something I think is so essential when dealing with your lifestyle when you're chronically ill or have a long term/lifetime illness is that you've got to see the positive side of things even if sometimes it feels like you're fighting a losing battle.

When I first made changes to my diet it was super difficult and after years not not eating very well, or at least as well as I should've been, I was miserable for a long time because I thought I had to cut out foods that I love, like cakes and bacon but I did a lot of research and I've found so many different cake recipes that barely use any sugar and taste really good, most of those are vegan cakes which although they may not be ad indulgent as some other cakes hey I still get to eat cake! Plus vegan diets are recommended to some people with PCOS to relieve symptoms so I'm in a way being a little healthier than I would be if I made a Mary Berry cake. In terms of bacon just changing how its cooked and the kind of bacon makes a huge difference to a diet, I can still have things I loved but they are more strictly moderated and cooking techniques and products use to make my meals are slightly different. That is one of the ways that I tend to se the positive with my dietary changes because that was one of the most difficult things to cope with as it was such a major change for me as I like routine and at the time didn't eat a lot of different things.

Another positive thing is that although I can't eat my cakes I get to have so much fun baking them and trying out recipes, Simon is my personal tester and it's so awesome watching people eat and enjoy the food that you've made, the smells are wonderful the colours and textures are awesome! One of my favourite quotes, I don't know who by, is "life is not about wiring for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain" and that really resonates with me and I would definitely suggest that others remember this quote when you're feeling down. Every time something negative happens or you're feeling generally crappy just take a minute to think about the positives of the situation.

Image from Google.com

For example I had a friend a while ago who started on a treatment that involved daily injections, her way of seeing the positive is that she was scared of needles and at least after the treatment she wouldn't be scared anymore because she would get used to the feeling! That's an awesome way of looking at things if you ask me! My Mam has M.E., a basically null immune system, hundreds of allergies, epilepsy and lots more wrong with her which means she doesn't leave the house much, from this she has learned new sills and gotten really involved in arts and crafts, and although her life is a major struggle at times she has still gained a wonderful new hobby from it all.

Seeing the positive in the negative can change your outlook on life massively, honestly I'm planning  few posts within the next month and I'm very excited about them, during the planning of them I've realised how much I have truly changed and how positive my outlook on life is now. I'm hoping that if anyone reading this is feeling down at the moment, for whatever reason, that this little post does help in some way and if you're feeling low because of ill health please just remember that you're still alive, you still have people around you who are happy to see you turn up to work, or school or uni everyday, people who are happy to have you say hello to them or even just people who are happy that you managed to get out of bed this morning, that's an achievement in itself and I really mean that. In the next month I've to have a couple more posts up and while I was planning them it's been a real shock to look through some of my old stuff and see how much I have truly changed and now much more positive my life is now.
If every anybody needs some support or to talk please go to my Contact Me page and reach out to me because I will ALWAYS be willing to listen if you need to talk. I truly hope this post has helped someone out there because even the smallest of positives can make a huge difference.
Please be safe everybody and remember to see those silver linings!
Love,
Katy xo

Christmas in Our Household! A.K.A. I'm So Excited!!

Evening all!

This post is up slightly later then anticipated only because I've been getting the last few bits and bobs ready for Christmas, my gosh I am so so excited for Christmas!!

This post is pretty much going to be all about how our family does Christmas to be honest, it's the best time of the year for the whole family to be honest, we just love it so much.

Christmas has always been my favourite time of year because I absolutely thrive in cold weather, while everyone else goes around grumbling and muttering about how awful the weather is I am just completely in my element. Don't get me wrong I love Halloween and all the other holidays throughout the year but as soon as Halloween is over I put my Christmas tree up on November 1st, I still laugh when I remember Simon's reaction when we first got together and I put my tree up that day, he had slept at my house because we got home late from a Beamish Halloween event and he was partly loving the spirit and partly in disbelief that people do that so early haha! As you can see it looks like there has been an explosion in a Christmas factory looking at my Nana's living room and tree! Isn't is awesome?!

 

At school I had a friendship group who always called me Mrs. Claus, I loved that name, best thing I ever got called at school. 

Anywho, it's two days away from Christmas day and we are all in full Cheer mode in our house, because my birthday is so close to Christmas the Christmas celebrations don't usually start until the week before. On Monday I had my regular RVI appointment so not much happened until Wednesday really... Me and Simon were so bored sitting in the house and that's no good for any couple usually we get at each others throats if we are cooped up too long so we like to get out and about as much as we can, we decided to go for a small walk around Hardwick Park, a woodland area really close to where we live and honestly it was such a lovely day for it, BITTER cold and barely anyone around. Whenever we did meet people they always smiled and said good morning or Merry Christmas, that's what I love about this time of year, amid all of the rush and hustle and bustle and complaints about the same old songs playing on the radio, there is something underlying, some kind of kindness in people that just sing there any other time of the year. Christmas brings out the best and worst in people and it all depends on your outlook about which side of people you would rather see, I think at least... I might be talking rubbish but Christmas to me is just a happy time. 

Halfway around the walk I started to get pains like usual, my leg felt like the muscles were being for to shreds but on the surface my skin was going numb so I couldn't feel my leg at all, we ended up sitting down for about half an hour until I had some feeling then just doing very very short bursts of walking, what should've been a 30 minute walk turned into a two hour escapade, I ended up crying quite a bit, felt like begging to the clouds "please just make me normal!!" but what's the point? Onwards and upwards so we made the best of the situation, Simon managed to get some lovely pictures, one being of a very majestic looking Robin. 

After the walk we both went to meet a really old friend of mine, we have known each other since school and went for a starbucks, Leanne is such an awesome person honestly, our friendships has never changed even if we have lost touch before; I adore those kinds of friendships ad I'm hoping we can plan another catch up day as soon as possible. We ended up swapping each others presents and cards for Christmas and heading off home after a chin wag. 

Not much happened on Wednesday after that so we ended up watching Christmas TV shows like 'Friends' and 'South Park' episodes which was lovely. 

Over the last couple days I've been taking my nana shopping for Christmas food, the best part of Christmas, I love spending time with my nana she is such a strong and amazing woman and I'm blades to have her in the family to be honest, she's pretty hilarious too, whenever I ask her for directions you can guarantee her answer will be "oh... it was that last left turn" and we always end up laughing and finding somewhere to U turn haha! I'll be taking her shopping tomorrow as well to get the last little bits and finish up before the big day. 

On Christmas eve we tend to swap presents with friends and make sure everybody has been given their presents, I' hoping we can get out for another walk even if it's a really short walk this time, just so we can get out and in the fresh air. Usually, then I will help grandma tidy up the house as we always open our presents at her house and will be having dinner at my Mam's this year. After helping around the house I will get into the car and go an deliver last minute Christmas cards to friends and family in the village and we will go visiting after, this year because of we have lost a lot of close family over the past two years my uncle will be coming to visit us this year and my uncle Charlie is no longer with us. He was a truly fabulous (in every sense of the word) man. Instead of visiting everyone this year we will be heading to our local church as myself and Simon are practicing Catholics. I always love going to Church and don't have as much tie as I would like to attend regularly as I want. On getting back hope we will grab something light to eat and get a few christmas films on, hopefully this year we can watch 'A Christmas Carol' and '8 Crazy Nights' or 'Nightmare Before Christmas'... Ahhh there are too many to choose from! Then we will get to bed before 12am so we can sleep before Santa comes!!

On Christmas morning my Mam and Dad will wake us up around 6/6:30am because they're big kids and we will have our stockings at the end of the bed to rip into, then after taking an hour (or so it feels) to wake up Nana and Granda, my Dad heads downstairs and "checks if Santa has been", he always has. So, we get to run downstairs and get into opening the presents while everyone sits with a cup of tea or coffee, this usually takes two hours give or take. Then we will gather all the gifts together into our own little areas and call or text everybody to say thank you and wish them a merry christmas. Then the best bit... Christmas lunch!! We will be having lunch around 1/2 this year so not too late, usually after a big dinner  we all sit and watch a film until one of us falls asleep, usually my Granda. Since living with Simon it's been different though, Christmas is split between my family and his so we have Christmas evening ad night with his family, mainly because my Mam is too poorly she can't stay awake too long and gets tired very easily so we get what time with her that we can to be honest. It's always a true joy to see Simon's family as they're all fantastic people, I really do love them as my own. It's a 35 minute drive to Simon's house so we will blast the Christmas tunes as we go and do the same on the way home, usually a little quieter haha. 

When we get home you can bet your last penny we will watch a dvd and fall asleep as we watch. Perfect. 

Boxing day is usually us looking through our gifts and spending the day with families, eating still more food (if you can't eat what a little worse than usual at Christmas when can you?) and just relaxing really. So, that is Christmas in the Simpson/Savage/Steel household.

I'd love to know how everyone else is doing Christmas this year? What are your traditions? 

Whatever you do and wherever you are I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Bye for now,

Katy. xo

The Fun Questions Tag!

Hey all!

It's been a long time since I last posted and in the past week or so quite a lot has gone on, some good some a bit worse but overall I'm so happy with the way it's gone on and things have worked out for the best. Anyway, I thought I'd do a tag because I've not had much tim to write content in the last week or so because we got a new tutor at college who is less than good but I'm sure she'll sort herself out anyway I shall get on with the Fun Questions Tag! Enjoy dearies! 

1) When is your birthday? 

December 14th 1995 - I'm a winter baby!

2) What are 3 of your favorite colors?

Silver, Gold and red at the moment, although silver is my absolute favourite colour.

3) What are your 3 favorites quotes?

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, it's learning to dance in the rain" - I'm not sure who said that I just have a picture of the quote stored in my phone. 

"If you're always trying to be normal you'll never know how amazing you can be" - Maya Angelou.

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me" - C. S. Lewis.

4) Are you addicted to YouTube?

Um... Maybe... Possibly. Yes. I have a problem! *sobs heartily*

5) What are 3 of your favorite shows on TV or YouTube or both?

Once Upon A Time, American Horror Story Doctor Who.

6) What are 3 qualities you like in a best friend?

Humour, loyalty and kindness.

7) Do you like your name? 

My full name is Katherine Hayley Jazz Savage Simpson but I'm known as Katy Simpson. I hate Katy Simpson but I love Katherine Hayley Jazz Savage, if that made any sense at all.

8) If you have the choice to pick your own name, what will it be?

Ruby Pleasant, because rubies are my favourite gems and I'm obsessed with the Skulduggery Pleasant series!

9) What is your fantasy dream?

For Skulduggery Pleasant to save me from some danger and I become his partner... that's not weird right? Right?

10) Do you wear makeup?

I do, not all the time but I wear it o college sometimes and when I'm off out or going to a party or something. 

11) If you could write a book, what would the title be and what would it be about?

I have no idea about the title but I do write a little and at the moment I'm writing a short horror novella type thing with possession and demons and stuff. I love scaring myself witless to be honest. 

12) What makes you cry?

I cry when I see my friends and family upset, anything to do with hurting animals or children, Disney movies... pretty much everything. 

13) What makes you angry?

Ignorance, when people talk about others behind their back in a malicious way, homo/bi/transphobia etc and discrimination for any reason... and politics.

14) What makes you happy?

Books, books and more books, days out with my best friends, cosy nights in, spending time with the family. 

15) What is "Fangirling?"

See the picture? That is what fangirls/fangirling is.

16) What are your 3 favorites snacks?

I really like shredded coconut, sliced almonds and strawberries.

17) What are your 3 favorite foods?

Pizza, my grandmas sunday dinner and stir fry are my all time favourite foods. 

18) What are your 3 favorite drinks?

Water, Milk (with or without tea) and Shlœr, yummy.

19) Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Well, I'm 19, I'm a plus size blogger, I live in the North East of England, I'm obsessed with Harry Potter and Skulduggery Pleasant. I can sing, play piano and clarinet. I'm pretty cool and I love rainy days.

20) What are 10 random facts about you?

- I'm a Slytherin on Pottermore

- I can sing in German, Polish, Russian and Mandarin.

- I can perfectly recite every single line of Mulan throughout the whole movie. 

- I used to want to be a stripper when I was younger...

- I got my Mam to buy me a 'make your own skeleton' type thing but stopped buying after the head purely cause I wanted to recite Shakespear.

- I'm an only child.

- I have no idea what I want to do with my life.

- I want to live in the Scottish or Irish countryside.

- I'm single although I have various celebrity and non-celebrity crushes at the moment. 

- I have over 150 different types of nail polish.

21) What are your 3 fun things to do?

Read, draw and cross stitch are my 3 favourite things to do. 

Thanks for reading all hopefully some of you will fancy doing this tag, let me know and I'll check it out. 

Love Katherine. X

All images for this post are  taken from Google. :)

5 Games for Nights In - Drinking or Not

image from Google

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago me, my friends Annie, Aidan and Matt were all together at Annie and Aidan's house and we had a bit of a 'get together' type affair as all 4 of us aren't really together very often. Each time all four of us are together it's always a really good night in my opinion because I, personally, am definitely not the clubbing type, I'm not even a fan of going to pubs if I'm totally honest. So, for me good nights in with good people are top notch, I'm also not a big drinker really as I'm actually quite allergic to alcohol so when we do get together and there is drinking there's always some fun games to play that, usually, don't involve a whole load of drinking for me as I'm pretty good as games like these. I've managed to get together my top 5 favourite games to play for those people who drink and those who don't. 

1. Fuzzy Duck - This is a British word type game that can be played with 2 players but more players makes for a better game. One person from the circle of players is nominated to start, they begin by saying "Fuzzy Duck", going clockwise the next player will say either " Fuzzy Duck" or they will ask "Does He?". The circle then goes backwards anti-clockwise, with players saying "Ducky Fuzz" instead of "Fuzzy Duck". This carried on as players alternate what they are saying. This is a really fun game to start the night with whether you're drinking or not because it's just as easy to make a mistake with the pronunciation (if you catch my drift), the swearing from this game can become seriously funny if you individuals decide to take a shot whenever a mistake is made. 

2. Suck and Blow - Now this one isn't as bad as it sounds, I promise. For this game one individual gets a cars to their lips and sucks air in to keep the card to their lips, they then to to the player on their left and pass the car to the other players lips. The aim of the game is to keep the card going in a circle for as long as possible, if you're drinking take a drink whenever you drop the card. 

3. Roxanne - The Police recorded their song Roxanne in 1978 and decades later people are still playing it... as a drinking game too! This is a game that should only be played if you're drinking, if not it becomes very boring. Divide into two teams e.g. guys v. girls, stand opposite one another and put 'Roxanne' on loud. Team A: whenever you hear the word 'Roxanne' drink and whenever you hear 'Red Light' spin on the spot. Team B: Do the exact opposite, spin on 'Roxanne' and drink on 'Red Light'. Keep repeating this, the more times it's done the funnier it becomes watching people wobble. 

4. I Have Never - This is a drinking game classic, it's brilliant to get to know people and get to know the scandalous things they've gotten up to! One person in the circle says something they have never done e.g. "I have never ridden a motorcycle", those of the group that have ridden a motorcycle must drink. The game continues like that and is much more interesting if the statements get... well mischievous. 

5. Drive By - Drive By is one of my favourite games to watch as the end result can be highly amusing. This game was first suggested to me by Aidan Ford, take a single shot glass and fill (halfway) with a drink of your choice, the first person to finish 10 shots wins. This is one of the more... intense drinking games and although it's fun to watch it's essential that you don't drink too much. The last time myself and Aidan went head-to-head in this game Annie Filmed it on her camera whilst her and Matt laughed at us both, Aidan ended up being... ill. I believe firmly although he managed 6 shots I was the true winner and I sort of managed to keep my senses. 

All of the above games can be played with or without alcoholic drinks, however if you do choose to drink with any of these games I must stress the importance of drinking responsibly. Listen to your body and stop drinking before you feel you've had enough. Be sure to eat at regular intervals and DO NOT UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES drink and drive.  Always drink responsibly and be safe. 

Love Katherine. X

Day Trip to Whitby!

Hello everyone!

I'm really very happy to be back into the swing of blogging and posting but admittedly the break this week has been pretty sweet. I mentioned in my previous post (here) that because of a relatively free week I was able to go to Whitby with a couple of my best friends, Annie and Aidan, and although the early morning start and the A19 motorway meant I wasn't exactly overjoyed to be going to begin with I was extremely happy we all went because the day was just brilliant!

I've been up early everyday this week and yesterday morning wasn't an exception, I think I got up around 7:00am and quickly hopped in the shower and hopped back out after practically using all my honey and almond scented soap that I got from Whitby the last time I was there; what can I say? I like soaps!

After my lovely shower I managed to get my hair done, make up on and get dressed all in the space of 20 minutes which for me is pretty darn good! Also as a little 'NOTE TO SELF' here I will be doing a post on what I wore to Whitby sometime in the next week which will include hair, beauty and fashion. Anyway, after that I set off for Aidan and Annie's house and got there at like 9:15am which was making good time; we spent an hour at their house then set off for Whitby after fuelling up the car. I'd been dreading this part for a couple of days because, although I'm a good driver, I panic LOADS when it comes to the Teesside motorway because I had a very close call there once with another car. I was terrified and every time a big wagon passed I would make noises like someone deflating a balloon. Every now and then there were cigarette breaks for Annie and Aidan but we managed to get to Whitby in one piece by around 12:20pm. 

We headed straight to a really lovely restaurant named Hadley's Fish Restaurant where myself and Annie had traditional fish and chips and Aidan had Haggis and chips, that really turned my stomach. We also managed to get through two pretty big pots of tea while we were there, Yorkshire tea is the best! I've got to say everything there was wonderful, the service was friendly, fast and really welcoming, the food was delicious and very good quality and the décor was just so cosy; fairy lights everywhere!

After lunch we all had a look around the shops, stopping at some stalls, smelling the soap shops, and of course going into the weird little Gothic shops that Whitby is pretty renowned for. After a while though Aidan went up the 199 steps to get some pictures whilst me and Annie went into a pub called the Duke of York, which was anything but welcoming, put nicely. We all had drinks and then I remembered that the parking ticket on my car had expired by about an hour and a half so it was a mad dash back to the car to make sure I hadn't gotten myself a ticket, thankfully I hadn't so we all stressed for nothing!

We all then decided to go to the Gothic shop up the top of Whitby called Pandemonium, unfortunately I was parked on double yellows so I ended up staying in the car and watching for traffic wardens while Annie and Aidan went in and looked around, I'm not all too keen on that shop so I'm not envious that I stayed behind. Oh and on the way out of that area I managed to get myself stuck going the wrong way in a one way street, that was... interesting to say the least. 

On the way home after what can only be described as a fantastic day for everybody, all three of us decided to pick a topic to discuss on the way home, this topic was one of my favourites (sarcasm alert); zombies. Turns out that I'd be pretty inept in a zombie apocalypse, Annie would most likely survive and Aidan would probably be the one to get seriously injured. Half way home we all started to get hungry so we stopped at a little place called the Cross Keys and before we even got food we left we waited for over 40 minutes just waiting to be seated, get drinks or have our orders taken. Definitely won't be going back there, put it that way. So, we ended up at KFC in Teesside park attacking our chicken pieces, Annie and myself got flat pepsi (not nice, don't ever try pepsi with no syrup). Finally we got home about 8:30pm and all of us were knackered, it had been a really long but a bloody wonderful day and I for one think we need to go on more trips like that. Good company, good times. 

Thanks for reading everyone!

Love Katherine. X

Post Break Ramblings

I'm back baby!

Hey there everyone, as you al know I've been away for a week or so, this was just a really short break because I had a bit of work to do for college this week and I was panicking about getting all that done as well as trying to make time for blogging, it's just wasn't doable and unfortunately I can't just take a break from college, so I've been absent for a while, and I'm sure you've all missed me very very much ;). 

So, here's a little update about what I've been up to. Last weekend I made a point of getting as much work as possible done so I would have this week as pretty free, I managed to get everything done quite well and pretty quickly. So, I ended up relaxing for the rest of the weekend and finishing a couple of my favourite stories in the Skulduggery Pleasant Armageddon Outta Here book, this particular favourite was 'Get thee behind me Bubba Moon', a fantastically frightening little story I must say, not unlike the Salem's Lot type storyline. On Monday it was pretty normal, Tuesday the same and that was when I got the news that I didn't have to re-do my last assignment as I'd achieved the distinction criteria thankfully! Since then my week has been free but I've been spending quite a bit of time with friends. On Wednesday it was my friend Annie's birthday (Annie of mockingbird vocals.blogspot.com) so I went over with her pressies, we did make up tutorials together and were generally girly which was so much fun. We did a bit of singing together and I also helped her set up her blog that I help with in the day-to-day running, I also set up her boyfriends blog (pausefordthought.blogspot.com) although his is still pretty sparse post wise I'm sure it'll be up and running in no time. Oooh also on Wednesday night I helped Annie dye her hair a lovely shade of blue! It looks very mermaid-y and I really enjoy dying or watching people have their hair dyed, no idea why. 

Thursday I was back at placement as it was as wonderful as ever, I've fallen in love with each and every one of the children there and the whole team have welcomed me right into the fold of their little family as though I'm one of their own and I'm also getting much more responsibility whilst I'm there which I'm loving, I've mentioned in previous posts that I love children and I love working with children so I'm in my total element whilst I'm there. 

Now, yesterday was definitely the highlight of the week because me, Annie and Adian (her boyfriend) went down to Whitby for a day out! Whitby is my all time favourite place to visit and I'll be posting on the later on in the day so watch out for that post! Due to the fact that I'm posting al about that later of I shall keep this really brief so as not to giveaway some of the details. It was a brilliant day and I couldn't have spent it with better people. 

As for this weekend I'm ill AGAIN! So I'm going to spend today and tomorrow getting my blogging back on track reading and catching up with The Voice UK! Thanks very much for reading and I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Love Katherine. X

Last Week Summary and This Week's Plans

Hi All!

This post is a little late as I usually post it on a Sunday but I wasn't in the blogging mood last night so I ended up reading instead... unforgivable I know. Anywho, as many of you will know last week it was half term for those of you at college or school or whatever, and for most people it's a lovely time to rest and relax... not for me this time. I thought I'd been busy at college lately but I haven't had a minutes peace this week. No rest for the wicked I suppose. Monday and Tuesday were spent attempting to get an assignment done, it wasn't a particularly difficult one but I had to explain to job roles in the children's workforce, 4 pieces of legislation that affect looked after children and evaluate regulatory bodies al in 1,000 words; for me that was like climbing a mountain because I really struggle when it comes to writing a little about a lot, you've probably all gathered that I tend to babble quite a bit.

So, those two days were literally full of research and coursework from the minute I got up to the minute I went to bed, no lie, it was a thrilling 48 hours, I can tell you that for nothing. I had planned on spending Wednesday just relaxing and reading or cross-stitching something that involved me not moving and drinking lots of tea. Well, that didn't work out, my elderly uncle came over on Wednesday morning and I offered him a lift home so he wouldn't wait for the bus in the rain. I was about 1/4 of the way there when I was pulled over by a massive tuck, the driver got out and told me I had a flat tyre, this came as a bit of a shock because it must've gone down during the night as I had planned to take my car to the garage to get a slow puncture fixed in the tyre on Thursday, it happened a day earlier anyway. When I checked it, it was pretty bad so I thought I'd get myself through to the garage right away, which I did. In the waiting rom for 20 minutes before the mechanic came in and asked me when my last service was, September last year and everything came back perfect. No, no, no, no. Turns out all of my tyres were below the legal limit tread depth and my break pads were over 95% worn, which is not exactly safe. My usual Richard Hardie garage in Durham had either not checked my car properly (important to note it's not even 2 years old yet and I had been twice about brake issues before!) or they'd given me correct info. So I ended up going back to the garage on Thursday and having my brake pads changed and all 4 tyres changed. That took up Thursday too. Friday I went to a house party with my three closest friends and ended up having an extreme fun night in which funny videos and pictures were taken. I completely lost Saturday to sleep to be honest which was much needed after Friday. With all my work finished and myself recovered from Friday's antics I was determined to read all day Sunday... No. i had at least 7 people from my college class asking me what to do on this assignment despite the fact it had to be handed in today (GO NERDS). Lord knows why people leave things so late. So I ended up spending my day on the phone to people explaining it properly. No reading done again. I must apologise for my very long rant about my week haha.

This week is really short, today and Tuesday is college and college is closed on Wednesday for staff training so I'll be getting my cute butt down to work and spending sometime with the kids there on Wednesday and Thursday! Eeek very excited for it :)

I believe I'm going for a meal on Friday with a friend from college and no doubt I'll organise something for Saturday to keep me occupied. I'm very hopeful that this week I will actually get some reading done haha!

Thank you all for reading! I hope you're all having wonderful weeks and had a fab half term!

Love Katherine. X

Weekend Summary and Next Weeks Plans

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope all is well with you all today? Yes? Awesome. This week has been an odd one to say the very least, jam packed with Valentines Day reminders and plans with friends. As per usual I started my week off my getting up at 6am everyday for college, as if 6am even exists it's far too early. Anyway, Monday my class did the CPR training session for people within the college and we managed to get around 140 people trained in hands only CPR, it was oodles of fun, some girls in the class dressed up in fancy dress, others were manning the free cake stalls, we had the Vinnie Jones 'Stayin' Alive' DVD clip playing on repeat on one stall and some music playing on another while me and 3 other girls were stationed each in front of an Anne doll (dolls used to simulate CPR) I was teaching child CPR. There was also a baby/infant CPR doll which was interesting to watch how it's done on a child. That was fun, also me and a good friend made extremely impromptu plans to go swimming on Monday night which was great, I absolutely love swimming and it was such fun to go; we also ended up going on Tuesday and Wednesday night too so I'm thinking that I'm going to add Monday and Wednesday nights to my exercise plan, as I'm still sticking to that resolution. 

Thursday I was back at work with the children which was as lovely as usual, I absolutely adore it there and I can honestly say I never expected that I'd love it as much as I do. That's got me thinking about having my own children at some point in the nearish future, but for now I'm quite happy looking after others' children. Friday I wasn't feeling my best so I stayed home and tried to get an assignment done that I've got to do over the half term, I had a mini-meltdown over that because I'm struggling to cut my work down and there's a 1,000 word limit on the report part and I always write far, far too much. NOTE TO SELF: Work on that. 

However, I've given up on that and I ended up reading Skulduggery Pleasant Death Bringer which i hope to finish tomorrow. Yesterday I went out for a meal with a friend to a restaurant in Durham called Sambuca which was lovely, me and my friend had a three course meal each (starter, main, dessert) a soft drink and a coffee all for £14 which was in my opinion really great for the quality. I'll definitely be going back there. Today I'm chilling again with my book and some Disney films later on.

Next week is pretty eventful, I've made plans to clean my filthy car tomorrow which is a pretty big job considering it hasn't been cleaned out since Christmas Eve 2014. I'm also going bowling on Tuesday with a friend from college and her boyfriend/his friends for her birthday which I'm really looking forward to, Wednesday I am going to start that assignment have to do and Thursday I'm at work then over to another friends house as it's his birthday and me and his fiancée are planning a little party with one of our friends to come up and have a house party type affair the next day. Friday is also a half day at work too which I'm looking forward to. Next Friday another friend is coming up to see me and two others for that house party which I'm extremely excited about as it's always a great laugh when we are all together. I swear I am doing nothing when it comes to the weekend though, I'll be exhausted after this week haha.

What are you all up to this week? Whatever it is I hope it's fabulous! 

Love Katherine. X

Chocolate and Honey Cake: American Style Teacake Recipe

Hi again,

This last couple of days have been pretty hectic for me and it's been lovely to have a nice break and spend the whole day  having a baking day. A week or two ago I posted a recipe for Honey and Garlic chicken and I thoroughly enjoyed both making tha and blogging about it. So, I thought I would rope Aymie in to helping me make something sweet, this weeks recipe is Chocolate and Honey upsidedown tea cakes American style! Below you can find a list of things you'll need and directions to make these yummy teacakes!

Ingredients

•120g unsalted butter

•120g self raising flour

•100g caster sugar 

•40g chocolate powder

•2 medium beaten eggs

•1 hearty dollop of honey

Directions

Let's get down to the fun bit!

Firstly, measure out 120g of self raising flour and place into a mixing bowl, measure out 120g of unsalted butter and place that into the mixing bowl also. Measure 100g of caster sugar and 40g of chocolate powder, add both to the mixing bowl; next you'll need to add your healthy dollop of honey to the mixture, if you want to be specific in the measurements 4 tablespoons of honey. Next you'll want to give all of that a good mix just to make the whole thing a little easier to mix once the eggs are in there. 

Once all that's been mixed to a fluffy texture beat those two medium eggs in a separate bowl and once beaten chuck into the main bowl and mix everything together until you have a smooth but thick consistency without lumps. 

For the next step I used my my American Originals Teacake Maker to bake them, this only took 6 minutes, this was £40 from Boyes. However, for those of you who don't have this Teacake maker just use your over on 250F form15-20 mins, checking at regular intervals. 

Once they're fully baked give them 5 minutes to cool and decorate how you like! You'll have delicious cakes in no time! 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this and I hope you enjoy making these yummy cakes even more!

Love Katherine. X

My Weekend and Next Weekend Plans!

Hi guys! 

As you all know tomorrow it's back to the daily grind so it's highly likely that I won't be posting every day, or at least not twice a day as it has been recently. Anyway, I did a post similar to this one about a week ago, have a look at that here if you fancy a peek, and it was good fun to write particularly as a great deal of writing wasn't really needed. So, I decided to do another and add on a few of my plans for next weekend, I hope you all enjoy it. 

This weekend has been really slow for me and I haven't been up to much as all, the majority of my family came down with some sort of cold this weekend so I was in charge of looking after them, I was planning to go shopping with my friend Aymie however that was put on hold because of my carer duties. So when I wasn't busy with the family I did some online shopping and bought a ton of clothes from  ASOS, Yours Clothing, Debenhams, Simply Be and Schuh which hopefully I'll be scheduling a blog post on at some point in the near future. I've spent a lot of my time reading some of the many books I got for my birthday and Christmas which again I hope to review a few of. Yesterday I was given a bit of time to relax and decided I should take my Christmas decorations down, that was a painful experience given how much I love Christmas. I swear they're going up in October this year. 

Also because I'm getting into blogging much more I had the pleasure of meting and speaking to a few really, really lovely bloggers who I plan on mentioning at the end of this post. 

Today has been a little bit boring, so far I've done some housework, blogged a little and done some reading, I suffer from PCO/S and I have good days and bad days, to day is a bad day, it often drains me of energy much quicker than on a good day and the pain definitely isn't a bonus of the condition so I've decided that tonight is going to be full of relaxing and pampering before I'm back at college tomorrow. Face masks, hot bath, gallons of tea and my favourite book series is what's needed for tonight methinks. 

So thats it for what I've been up to this weekend, pretty dull I know but I'm hoping next week will be much better. I'm planning on going to IKEA, LUSH Cosmetics and the metro centre for bait of retail therapy with a friend, I'm also planning on going to Waterstones and getting myself to many books that I won't be able to fit them all in my car! That's if my bank account allows ha. Anyway, thank you all for reading and I hope everyone has a lovely night and a better week! Below you'll find a list of the wonderful bloggers mentioned earlier in the post. :)

- http://www.underlandtowonderland.com This blog is absolutely wonderful and it's quickly become one of my favourites, Danielle is also a lovely person and she recently mentioned this blog in a post of her own, thanks again for that!

- http://mejusttalkingtoyou.wordpress.com Again this is another fabulous blog run by a fabulous lady, Tamara is so nice and she's also helping myself and Aymie organise a bloggers meet up in Newcastle round February time - more info on that soon by the way. 

- Finally I couldn't mention some of my favourite bloggers without including Aymie Louise http://aymielouise.blogspot.co.uk  Aymie is a natural at blogging and her blog is varied and diverse, she's also really easy to talk to and welcomes interaction with other bloggers as I do. 

Each blog mentioned above is brilliant and more than worth a look, I'd recommend reading these blogs to anyone!

Love Katherine. X