I thought I would do a little post to comemorate our anniversay.
I usually post a little something each year because, after all, our wedding is the reason I started this blog. I wanted to document the planning and experience of our wedding.
I can’t believe its been 5 years. It was a wonderful day.
Hubby โก
Mum
Bridesmaids
Dad
The ceremony
The best man
The in laws
Auntie, Uncle & Nephew
1st dance
NEVER FORGET
Confetti
Our Cake
‘I do’
The date is the same as our original anniversary as I really wanted to get married on our anniversary.
So, today also marks 10 years together and that is absolutely mad. How time flies.
Especially when you are having fun ๐
To my husband…
I wish I could put into words how wonderful you are, but my words would never do you justice.
From our 2011 trips to the Heathlands, Nights out, Uni Visits & Cinema dates to now, 2021 … having just come out of a year of doing none of those things because we are in the midst of a Pandemic (who’d have thought it aye)
Thanks for always making me laugh, for always taking care of me and for always dancing like a fool around the lounge with me.
Marrying you is one of the best choices I’ve ever made. You are my bestfriend. 10 years later and I still find myself thinking, Wow, soulmates really do exist.
I used to share snap shots of my life on her, things we had done to celebrate different occasions, fun days out, holidays, however, obviously this last year has been quite an unpresidented one.
I feel like I haven’t really shared much of what I have been doing because really we’ve all been doing the same haven’t we! Staying home, Locked down, on and off since Summer, working and just trying to stay safe.
But I thought to myself, why not share the celebrations we are still having, as wierd as they may seem in comparison to how it used to be, because it’s all we’ve got at the moment and we should still be grateful for what we can do during such a mad time.
Today is Mothers day and I have shared on here, for several years, our tradition of our Mothers Day, homemade afternoon tea.
This year was a very 2020/21 affair, via Skype, but it still involved Afternoon Tea so no complaints here.
We ordered the individual Afternoon Teas from a small local business (All Covid safe) and enjoyed them at our own homes via Skype.
They were delicious and it was nice to be able to continue the tradition, even if it was a little different to usual.
Most of our ‘Usuals’ seem a distant memory right now don’t they ๐ฃ but, it’s also so important to embrace what we can do, communicate and spend time together however we can, whilst staying safe, because we can still stay in touch and stay connected, and we will all be back together properly one day.
It gets to everybody at some point, this wierd time we are a part of, but I’m so very conscious that there are people in such a worse situation than me, who have experienced some of the worst times during this pandemic.
If the worst part of this whole situation, for me is that I can only speak to people through a computer then I’ll be forever grateful. I know some people have it much worse.
It’s still ok to find it hard though and I hope you’ve had a little bit of light and joy come your way today!
So, this is my last post with the word Christmas in, honest!
Here is my book haul. I was very lucky to receive quite a few lovely books for Christmas this year, my ideal gift, so I thought I would share them with you.
It’s quite a mixed bag so let’s take a look…
Ant and Dec Once Upon a Tyne
I LOVE Ant & Dec, they are my absolute faves so I was super excited to receive this. This one I requested, so I hoped it was on it’s way. It’s really funny so far.
Finding Love at the Christmas Market by Jo Thomas
I had seen this one advertised and heard alot of great things (plus I love a cute, warm, festive story) so I was pleasantly suprised when my sister got me this. I’ve finished it and it was as lovely and heart warming as I’d have hoped. Perfect for Christmas & Blue January!
‘Still Friends’ 25 Years of the TV show that defined an era. By Saul Austerlitz
I can’t wait to start reading this. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is my ultimate fave TV show and my lovely friend bought me this for Christmas, knowing I love both books & friends. Definatly onto a winner with this one.
Collectors editions of: Peter Pan By J M Barrie, A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens & The Railway Children by E Nesbit
I discovered these in my local indie bookshop. They are absolutely beautiful. The covers are amazing ๐ I have wanted to add some classics to my collection for a while so I picked these out and my Mum and Dad gave them to me for Christmas.
I also got two illustrated Harry Potter books; ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ illustrated edition & ‘Quidditch through the ages’ illustrated edition
If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know that I’m a MASSIVE!!! Harry Potter fan, so I was super excited to add these to my collection. I had asked for the illustrated ‘Goblet of Fire’ but I wasn’t expecting the ‘Quidditch through the ages’ illustrated version… IT LOOKS AMAZING.
Did you get some books for Christmas?? How are they??
So, here it is! The final instalment of my 2020 reading challenge, and the final quarter…
October, November, December
Let’s have a look at what I have read during this quarter…
Books I’ve read:
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owen
The Kindness Club at Mapleberry Lane: A Summer Suprise by Helen Rolfe
The Kindness Club at Mapleberry Lane: An Autumn Promise by Helen Rolfe
Coming home to Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
New beginnings at Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
Hopeful hearts at Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
The Christmas Killer by Alex Pine
The Midnight Library is one of my favourite books that I have read this year. Its fantastic and I have recommended it to so many people already.
It’s so thought provoking and interesting, but gripping too.
I can’t recommend it enough
Alot of these were a similar type of book this quarter, easy readers. These are some of my favourite types of books, cosy, romantic, lovely and easy to pick up and get through, so I was super pleased to discover the Glendale series in particular.
I didn’t get through as many of my festive reads as I would have liked but I have one more on the cards for January, I recieved it as a gift for Christmas, from my sister.
It’s called ‘Finding Love at the Christmas Market’ by Jo thomas.
I haven’t quite decided how my reading challenge will take shape this year yet… maybe I will continue with the quarterly updates or I may go back to a monthly update, either way, keep your eyes peeled for that!
For the final day of Blogmas I thought I would share some of the Christmas fun we’ve been up to on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!
Christmas Eve
Me and my sister continued our tradition of meeting up for a burger with our friend.
Obviously being 2020 we had to get it takeaway and outside ๐ท
So we incorporated a walk around the park and it was really nice (except the rain shower!!)
I had the Caffe Nero Mint Hot Choc finally, and it was so delicious and festive too
We also have a tradition of going around our local town to look at the christmad lights.
We keep an eye out in the weeks leading up to Christmas eve and there are a few that are always good too.
There were some brilliant lights on display this year.
Keepin’ it COVID secure by going in our separate cars and we just chatted over a voice call, worked pretty well ๐คฃ
Left my Stocking out for Santa, obv!
Christmas Day
Me and Tim started the day with a delicious and festive nutella pastry Christmas tree & a cuppa!
Followed by present opening ๐
My father in law provided a lovely Christmas lunch for us, we had my brother in law on Zoom, at the dinner table with us… very 2020!
We enjoyed a bit of a relax and a TV break before another family Zoom with a game of birds names.
We had the standard Christmas day buffet in the eve with the other half of our bubble, my twin sister, brother in law and nephews.
We had fun opening presents, had a bit of a dance and enjoyed some yummy food.
It’s been a strange one in the sense that we are all (hopefully) being more cautious than usual this year, but it has been fun to be able to keep some traditions alive and to get together, where possible, to celebrate
I really hope that you’ve all enjoyed your day ๐ ๐ป
Tier Four tomorrow! But we still have Boxing day Skype fun planned with a Christmas themed family quiz.
Stay safe and thankyou so much for joining me again for another fun, festive and unforgettable Blogmas.
Especially because I feel like I haven’t done enough of these this Blogmas!
I do have another recipe up my sleeve, that I am hoping to make for our Christmas day dessert, so keep your eyes peeled for that one too ๐
Chocolate Orange is one of my absolute favourite flavours ever, but I also think its quite festive too.
I used a ‘Tasty’ recipe this time which I will leave a link for here
I obviously adapted it to make them Chocolate Orange flavoured.
I added some cocoa powder to make the cookie batter chocolatey, a little orange extract instead of vanilla and I used chopped up Chocolate Orange segments, instead of choc chips.
These don’t take long to make, honestly the longest part is refrigerating the mixture for a minimum of 30 mins before baking. They only take 15 mins in the oven.
This is how they turned out. The chocolate orange pieces were all gooey ๐
