New Edition

Meet my first ever nephew! 

Born: 27th February 2014

Time: 4:47AM

Weight: 6lbs 2oz!

I love him!

xxx

Throwback Thursday #16

And it's baaaaack. It's been a long while since I did a Throwback Thursday and that's because all around this house we have loads of photos but they are dotted all around and the ones I can get my hand on, I've shared the ones I have wanted to share with you. But the other day, my Mum was cleaning the house and I found some more that I wanted to share. These all have a story and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as my memories. 

This picture comes from when we went to Africa, Gambia when I was only 8 years old or so. Mum and Dad took a massive risk going to Africa with six small children, especially given the fact there were 5 girls under the age of 15. There were many of times when we were all a little bit separated with Mum and Dad only having four hands to keep hold of us all. They made great friends with a couple of people who helped keep an eye on us all. That didn't stop plenty of the locals asking to marry us, even though we were only 10 or so and Mum and Dad having to pull us away before they did anything with us. It was quite scary but such an amazing experience.

All the people there were lovely and the hotel staff became our friends. In fact, for a year after we went on holiday, we kept in touch with one of the hotel staff and he had come to our last meal in Gambia to say goodbye. We even sent him a Christmas card and I think, if my memory serves me rightly, he sent us one back from Gambia.

Whilst we were there, I went on my very first camel ride. In the picture I am on the second camel on the left. Look how tiny I looked with it. Unfortunately, I hated the camel ride. I didn't like the camel going up and down and I also don't think I liked being suspended above the camel. It was a very weird feeling and although the camels were lovely and well trained, it still scared me. At one point, I was crying too much that one of the men from the trips had to walk with me because I wanted to get off the camel so much. It was lovely to walk along the beach on the camels, we then had a BBQ on the beach, fed the camels some watermelon and then travelled back on them.

Africa was such an amazing experience and even now, I still remember loads from the holiday. Probably one of the most memorable ones even though I was only 8 years old. It was such an eye-opener seeing how different they lived and how poor they all were. Poor to the extent that the children couldn't go to school because they couldn't afford a single pen or a piece of paper. It was seriously heartbreaking and I hope that The Gambia is now a little bit wealthier and that they have so much better lifestyles. We can hope that one day, poverty won't exist and people will have much more to their lives than they do now.

Now, this picture is a little bit off topic in terms of my two previous pictures, but it would have been my Grandad's birthday tomorrow or the day after (his birthday was on 29th Feb and so some of us celebrated it on 28th Feb and some 1st March because otherwise he didn't have a birthday) and I miss him terribly. It's also nearly a year since he died and I found this picture the other day and it made me smile. I never knew my Grandad in this way because by the time I was born, he had had his strokes and was a completely different man but this is a picture from my Mum's wedding day. It makes me so happy to see this picture of my Mum and my Nan and Grandad. They all look so happy and well. It makes me hope that somewhere up in Heaven, my Nan and Grandad are back to their best selves. Back to being happy and healthy.

I miss them everyday and the markers of them not being here are so prominent in life and I just wish they were here again. My life isn't' complete without them.

I hope you have enjoyed the return of Throwback Thursday. If you did, let me know in the comments. I love you all

xxx

Grey's Anatomy

I have a love affair with Grey's Anatomy and have been waiting patiently for two months for its return to find out the result of the massive cliffhanger that they left me with. I always end up crying at Grey's Anatomy for many reasons and the finales have always such a profound amount on me.

One of my worst finales was with Lexie and Mark. That was heartbreaking and I hated Shonda for all the devastating storylines that she creates! They were my favourite characters at the time and I couldn't believe it at the time! Terrible terrible storyline BUT so good at the same time. You sneaky bean, Shonda. You get it so right every single time!

Now, back to the current storyline, I won't tell you what happens on the cliffhanger because I know that some of you might not have watched it and I would HATE to ruin anything for you. But I can't wait to find out what happens and the biggest excitement of this week is that I am going to be able to watch the next episode on Friday after having waiting for it for ages!

Also, The Vampire Diaries, another love of mine, went on about a 2 week break and I miss being able to watch a new episode each week BUT there is a God because that is also back tomorrow and so Friday is going to be a good day.

Not only is Friday going to be great because it's the end of the week and therefore it is time for the weekend with two days off, but it also gives me two new episodes of two of my favourite shows ever. It's the little things in life that I love.

They make me happy!

xxx

Lacking Creativity

These two weeks at school are about making resources for the school according to their need. My school is doing a play for Henry VIII and so I am making resources and props for their play to aid their learning. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that I need to make and I have such big ideas but the ideas never really translate to actual making. I have started today and at the moment, all I have are some initials to go on necklaces for the six wives. But I'm not convinced this is going to look good at all.

I need to make:

7 x cardboard frames for the main characters to stand behind to pretend to be living portraits.

1 x large cardboard frame that is big enough to fit 10 children inside.

6 x necklaces with their initials on it

6 x signs for what happened to the wives

1 x cardboard sword

10 x sailor hats for the Mary Rose crew...

AND costumes for the main characters... Oh dear.

What have I put on myself?

Does anyone want to help me?

xxx

Motivational Monday #40

This week is going to be a pretty hard week for me for various reasons and so I just wanted to spread the motivational word of solidarity. Some people have to go through terrible things and whilst we may feel alone in our devastating sadness, we aren't.

Behind all of our smiles, there is a little bit of a tragedy. Whether that is tragedy on a large or small scale. Offer someone a smile or a few happy words because you never know what they are dealing with.

I'm here for anyone that has a burden that is getting too heavy so don't hestitate to ask if you need some help!!

xxx

Strawberries and Cream; Christmas Jumper and Esaays

It's the day before the day everyone dreads. I've just spent a good 30 minutes on maintaining my nails and that's just shaping my nails, cutting my cuticles and moisturising.. total girl! I have a love hate relationship with my nails. If they aren't moisturised, I start picking the dry skin around my nails and make them bleed.. it's a terrible habit.

Yesterday, I went out for dinner with my family (there was 13 of us) to the Harvester and it was nice to have all of us together and in a happy moment. It really does make me feel blessed to have them all around and know I'm lucky to have them!!

Today has been a day when I haven't wanted to do anything but kind of had to. I decided to wear my Christmas jumper because it's something that I won't wear out the house for months. Why not wear it to lounge around? It's warm!!

I ate strawberries and cream thanks to my sister bringing them round. I'm not that big of a fan of cream but I LOVE strawberries! It was definitely a summer snack and although the weather outside is dreary and cloudy, it brought me a little bit of sunshine. Especially considering I have been trying to write and edit my essays!

Tomorrow, it is my first day at my placement school but thankfully, the next two weeks I'm not teaching yet, I'm just planning and making resources for the school for one of my modules.

But I'm not creative at all... Oh dear!!

These are my rough Sunday scribblings for today. Just some random update of my life.

I love you
xxx

500 Blog Posts

I've made it. I have written a total of 500 blogs since I started this crazy journey, which absolutely astounds me. I have no idea what I have written about in all of my blogs but I'm so glad that you've come along with the ride!

I thought reaching this marker, I'd take you on a little bit of a history of my blog and hope that you enjoy this!

1. First ever blog: 

♥ Imperfections

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/imperfections.html

2. Some of the most popular blogs with you guys are:

♥ Introducing 

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/introducing.html

♥ Talking Apes

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/talking-apes.html

♥ Obsessions

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/obsessions.html

3. My favourite blog:

Motivational Mondays! All of them. I really love giving advice and I feel like this is one of the blogs that helps myself but everyone else who reads them too. I've always been complimented on giving good advice and I think that being able to share this with you guys makes my blog all that more enjoyable. I hope that I motivate and inspire my readers. That's what keeps me blogging.

4. My least viewed blog: 

This blog only has 1 view and this was my sixth blog to have ever been written and for some reason it makes me smile a little to see just 1 by the side of it. Bless its little heart. It's the blog that got forgotten about!

♥ Happy New Year

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/happy-new-year.html

5. My bravest blog:

This was one of the very first blogs that I wrote- in the first 20, I think and this was the moment when I felt that I was safe enough that nobody was reading my blog to share a part of my life that I had never shared with anyone. It was the blog where I shared my writing. It was scary and it still is but I think this highlighted a point in my life when I was ready to share my life with people.

♥ The Colossal Misreckoning...

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-colossal-misreckoning.html

What is your favourite post of my blog? If you can think about all the different blogposts that I have posted. It's crazy to think of 500 blogs. Imagine if they were pieces of paper and lined up. Woah.

Anyway, if you're enjoying my blog, give me a little cheeky comment below to let me know. I want to hear from you guys. You're so quiet!!!!

Here's to the next 500?

xxx

Essay Drama

I've been putting them off for about a week now. Ever since I knew that I didn't have uni for a whole week, I've been relaxing and making the most of the time off. I have been putting the fact I have essays to the back of my mind because I can. It's easy to delude yourself into thinking that you don't have to do anything. I just don't feel very engaged with the topics and feel like they're just a way of making the course legit. But today, it's Friday and it is officially the last weekday I have off before I start going into schools and my workload increased by five times. And so instead of working my butt off now, I will be putting my work off until I have no time to sleep to try and finish it.

Although, having said this, I haven't done too badly with completing parts of my essays during the time I've been at uni.

I managed to write:

Ref Prof: 2,160/2,500 due in 14/03/2014

Core: 1,077/2,500 due in 14/03/2014

RICL: 144/4,000 due in sometime in April!

But I haven't done much else. The problem is that there is still 3 more weeks before the deadline and so to everyone else at uni, I have plenty of time and am well ahead of the game. But considering the amount of work I do at school, there isn't much free time to complete it the night before.

Thankfully, as long as I get a good draft down, I have a week off in 2 weeks for self-directed study to tighten up any parts that I feel make me sound like a three year old.

Today, is the day to finish the first two essays (Ref Prof and Core).

I can do it?

xxx

Endless Love Film Review

If you're looking for a sickly sweet romance film to go and watch, Endless Love is definitely for you. I am a hopeless romantic and love everything and anything that is around love. So, this film was a definite go see film for me. Although, I did have my reservations about the film at the start realising that I knew it might completely suck as many predictable romance films do! One of the main reasons I wanted to go see the film was the fact that Alex Pettyfer starred in it. And if you haven't seen him, he is pretty darn fine!

The storyline is the most common Romeo and Juliet type plots whereby a boy and girl fall in love only to have obstacles put in their way and in this film, this came in the form of her overprotective father. He came from a not so affluent family whereas she was the epitome of riches - you can just imagine where this is going. Now, the thing is the storyline lacks originality. Like most romance films, it is predictable and completely cheesy to the point where you might actually want to stop watching but there's something endearing about the acting. 

It wasn't just a story based on two beautiful actors portraying the struggles of love but it was a story that tackled loss and fear. It dug a little into the way grief and loss of a loved one affects the lives of those that still remain. It shows how a family can be pushed to a limit and how slowly but surely, happiness can return after such a tragedy.

It made me laugh with the carefully placed jokes and it made me sad at times. It made me think about my own life and how much things change and how much you can lose yourself after a death of a loved one. It just takes one person to bring you back and out of your shell- that's what I really loved about the film. And that person doesn't need to be a boyfriend but just a friend willing to take the time to see you through everything.

Let me be honest with you: it's not the best film out there and it's definitely not the deepest film that will give you food for thought but it's one of those films that you can laugh and smile at and it makes you feel happy. It's a lighthearted romance and it does give you a sense of uplifting by the end of the film. Depending on your outlook on romance films, you'll either love it or hate it. It'll be one of the cutest films you'll see or it will be the cheesiest film that makes you want to vomit. But if you are the type of person to love romance, you've probably already put this film on the list of films you want to see and I think it's alright.

Verdict: It's an alright film. Not the best film I've ever seen but not the worst... And that's all I can say about it. So it's up to you, I wouldn't rant and rave about how you HAVE to see it but it's not a bad film to see.

Take this review as you want, I didn't really feel completely taken in by the film that I would actively recommend it but don't let my review put you off if you wanted to see it before you read this review.

I realise how much this review sucked! SORRYYY
xxx

Picture Diary

Pretty good Tuesday, if you ask me!

And then, this happened today...

Real pretty, right?

xxx