Hello! Hello! Oh, how I have missed you & writing all my thoughts down for you to read & listen too, I cannot believe we are in 2018 now, it’s crazy! I feel like 2017 was all a blur of emotions that has gone so quickly, I do have a more serious post that will be up next week about my start too 2018 & how it has been a difficult one, but until then onto this post. I would like to start by saying thank you, thank you to anyone who does actually take the time to read these posts because as much as they are for me & a place where I can offload what’s been going on or give me an opportunity to escape & write some light hearted creative pieces – these are also for you & for you to read if you’re in a difficult time in your life, or you just want a little escape, so as cringe as it is thank you – I really want to make 2018 the year for this blog so hopefully I can stick to that statement!

So, Christmas & what I got – for anyone who does not celebrate Christmas do not feel you have to leave this is just about what I did that day & what I received. So, for Christmas, myself, my partner & my brother went over to stay at my dad’s house, my brother & I went over there Christmas eve as it is my partners birthday on Christmas day, so he spent the morning at his family’s house, but I was not spending Christmas eve on my own -so we went to my dads a day early. Like a big kid I went up to bed nice & early all excited for the next day (yes, I am that sad) & I was also excited just to spend time with my dad as he has been working away this year & it was the first time I had seen him in a while, so I was just thrilled to be seeing him – presents are always just a bonus on Christmas but they’re not important.

Christmas day – Unfortunately my dad had come down with a bug so wasn’t feeling great, but still rallied on. He ordered in a nice roast turkey with some trimmings & I prepped the roasted veg. Now I was really looking forward to these perfect roast Parsnips & Carrots, however I was planning to cook them in a honey & granary mustard glaze, but this did not happen. This is why you don’t go shopping with your friend who used to be a student because there always looking for that cheaper option (no offence), so when I did go food shopping & she (I am sorry Laura but you did!) picked out a Honey & Mustard Salad Dressing. Now If I new it was a Salad Dressing I can assure you I would not have bought it, but I didn’t realise & when my dad pointed it out we just had to go with it – those vegetables did not roast. I would say that was the only major slip up from the day & hey at least you learn from your mistakes!

Presents – So, after a very filling Christmas lunch in which made me feel like I was going to burst, we sat down & did all our presents. My brother & I joined forces for once & got our Dad some gifts that he had asked for. When it comes to presents I am very particular & not in a sense that I ask for lots & expensive items but I am just very specific e.g. one year I spent 6 months going on & on to my partner Tom how badly I wanted to have an electric toothbrush & that it would be a lovely Christmas gift (roughly £40) & after some hints from him & Laura, I thought great my time has finally come – so it’s Christmas day 2016, opening all my presents getting really excited, I get to the last one (which wasn’t shaped like a toothbrush) & it was a £329 Michael Kors Watch!!! The thought was amazing but once I set myself on something that’s it, unfortunately we had to return the watch anyway because I have such small wrists – sad times.

Anyway, I am majorly digressing. For Christmas 2017 (we did also go & visit my mum & stepdad on boxing day, so I will include those in the pictures below) I received a £10 cinema voucher from my brother (he’s also a student), my dad bought me a dash cam – after working in insurance this is certainly something I wanted to have setup in my car as it is always better to be safe than sorry! Then Tom had bought me some cute little socks, a lovely Mac eyeshadow palette, some beautiful looking bath bombs which were just the perfect size & shaped like little Ice creams with a gorgeous smell & bless his heart made this little key ring with a picture of him & I on it. Then for my main presents I got a lovely pair of slippers from Next – Tom & I have a tradition that every year I get him a new pair of trainers & he gets me a pair of slippers, he also got me black jeans from River Island which looked very nice & smart. Then for the big reveal I received two cards & I opened the first & it was a laminated piece of card telling me I am going to Iceland in February for 4 nights!! Then I opened the 2^nd & it was another laminated piece of card telling me I am going to Thailand or somewhere on holiday for 2 weeks!!! This is why I love Tom because he knows me, I can deal with a 4 night stay & him planning it but the 2^nd holiday is not booked yet as he wanted us to plan it together & knows what an organised freak I am!

So overall it was a fantastic Christmas & I have really got some wonderful things to look forward to in 2018, however as said before it was perfect getting time to spend with my family, something I know not everyone is able to do & as much as they may get on my nerves I don’t ever want to take it for granted because family is precious. (It’s my dads Xmas Tree)…

See you soon x