Frodo

Today I had to say goodbye to my little Frodo after nearly 8 years of adopting him from the RSPCA. Adopting him was one of the best things we have ever done & can't believe he's gone & isn't ever going to be coming back. When people say losing a pet is like losing a family member it really is but so much harder since they can't talk or tell you anything even though dog's are suppose to know when they're going to die.

I actually thought he died yesterday morning as I let him out in the garden & he usually barks when he wants to come in but he never. I opened the door to check where he was & he was just lying on the grass so I carried him in & cleaned him up & put him on his blanket. I was having my breakfast & for 10 minutes he was just lying there still breathing but didn't move then he just got up & was perfectly normal as if nothing happened & ran upstairs to his bed. Also before we went to bed last night he was acting strange & threw up but was fine after so we thought he's alright but when we got up he was gone. 

He must've been like 15 years old which is 105 years in dog years which is crazy! When we got him they told us he was around 4/5 years old but people kept telling us he was probably more 6+ so we're surprised how long he has lived & the fact he could still walk, run, go up & down the stairs by himself, eat & do everything at that age! Some days he was a bit weak but then would be fine. When we got him I was only 13 the day after my little brother's 10th birthday. Crazy how he's been part of our life for so long & can't remember what it was like without him. It still hasn't sunk in properly but the house feels quieter & so weird. I didn't want to be in work & then I didn't want to come home cos I knew it just wouldn't be right, when I walked through the door I didn't have Frodo there to run & greet me.

Since November I decided I'd take a photo of Frodo everyday as I'd seen all things where people have posted a photo everyday to see how things change over time then in December I posted them onto my tumblr these were the last photos I took of Frodo yesterday.

My absolute favourite photo of Frodo ever from Christmas this year. Mum catching it at the perfect moment. I'll never forget your Frodo & miss you so much I wish you could have lived at least another 2 months so we could have celebrated your 8 year anniversary with us! I hope we gave you the life your previous owners never gave you.

Instagram

 ♥ ♥ ♥

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm

Afternoon Tea

Take 1 the girl didn't know how to use my camera...

Scones, almond cake, chocolate cake, Victoria sponge, macarons, smoked salmon on crispy bread, roast beef on crispy bread, cranberry & brie sandwich & coronation chicken sandwich

Today I went for afternoon tea for the second time at Cuthbert's Bakehouse. It's one of them things where I feel I've done it before so I don't need to go again but I went along as Kelly's American friend Maddie was visiting so she wanted to do British/English things with her. She'd already done all the touristy stuff with her as she's been her since last Sunday & they went to Barcelona from Thursday - Sunday night. 

We got the same things as the last time I went with Holly & Gabby the only different was we got Victoria sponge's instead of bake well tarts which I would have preferred. I ended up boxing the chocolate & Victoria sponge as I don't like chocolate or cream. The scones last time were also nicer.

Kelly thinks she's hilarious

My postcard wall off Kelly is looking good (not really a wall but the side of my wardrobe). We have a thing where if she goes away somewhere she will get me a postcard & if I go away somewhere I'll get her one which is a pretty good deal as I've actually got more from here than vice visa. The London one isn't from her though but from David when he left for London in first year of uni 4 years ago now!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm

UpRising Staffordshire Retreat

Me & Holly went to Staffordshire this weekend as we've signed up to UpRising which is a leadership programme to help young people to make a change. We got an email about it after attending World Merit Day back in July & thought we'd sign up to it as it sounded interesting. Being completely honest I wasn't actually too sure as to what we had signed up to as there's been 2 inductions but I've been unable to attend either of them. Holly went to the first one & was still unsure. We also didn't get much detail about the weekend retreat we kind of just turned up to it. It was all paid for so we thought why not just go!

We met at Fact in town at 8:50am yesterday, I think there was meant to be around 60 of us attending but there was only 19 of us along with 2 members of staff Carolyn the programme manager & Natasha the programme co-ordinator. We left at 9:30am & got there around 11am. We were staying at the Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre. The place wasn't great not exactly 5 star hotel but it was fine for the 1 night & we weren't paying. 

We met up with the Manchester group who we felt really sorry for as they left at 7am!! Like it wasn't meant to start till 10:30am anyway so we don't understand why they had to leave so early when we planned to turn up late! We sat around tables & then did some ice breaker tasks & had some talks from a councillor & an alumni from the project last year. We had lunch which wasn't great & I stocked up on biscuits as they were free!

Lunch. The pasta sauce was bland & really watery.

We finished around 5 where we got to check into our rooms & just chill before dinner at 7.

Hat - Asos

Long ling blazer - New Look

Turtle Neck - Asos

Skirt - Topshop

Boots - Urban Outfitters

Oversized White Shirt - Matalan

Necklace - New Look

Leather look leggings - H&M

Cutout Boots - Zara

I did end up getting the black sambuca off my shirt from new years eve which I'm really surprised about as I left it for over 12 hours before I soaked it in a bucket with washing powder for a couple of hours!

Holly brought her polaroid

 We were actually given a room each but decided we'd rather share as we were scared to be in the room on our own! 

For dinner I got stir fried vegtables, courgettes & salmon. It was alright but tasteless until I found a hair in my stir fry! It was definitely not mine as it was too short to be so I had to change it & get a new bowl! The food looked niceish well the salmon does but the food was just bland. 

After dinner we did a quiz. We were in a team of 8. There was 20 questions & we got 16/20 & was tied with 2 other teams so the tie breaker was name as many ways a Southerner says "bread." We literally just named a load of types of bread, burger, ciabatta, soda bread but some how managed to win! Which is the 2nd time this week for me & Holly!

We won little trophies, medals & some sweets!

We then went back to out room at like quarter past 9 as we were shattered! We watched a bit of Bad Teacher that was on tv but we ended falling asleep at 11. Well Holly did it took me a while as I don't sleep well when I'm not in my own bed.

We got up at 7:30 & went down for breakfast at 8:15. 

Me & Holly got the exact same. Fruit & fibre cereal, watermelon & a Danish pastry which I think was custard with almond flakes.

We then had a session about coaching & had to talk to knew people to network with them & the last session we had to make short videos 30 seconds - a minute about something we're passionate about which we've already done before at World Merit Day.

We were meant to leave at 4 but didn't end up leaving until half 4. I'm so glad to be home now as even though we didn't do much, sitting & listening all day does drain you!

It's been a really good weekend we really enjoyed the conversations we had with the different people & glad we went. Even though I'm still not 100% sure on what we are doing on this project the weekend was worth it!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm