Summer's coming!

Hello, hello, hello!

I'm so excited to be back at the keyboard- feeling very summery all of a sudden. Exams are done (let's not talk about those, okay..) and now I have two weeks off to enjoy before going back to school on the 13th June. Hopefully the last month or so will fly by and then it will be six weeks off to enjoy being with friends and family.

Here are the plans so far:

Starting from now, as I mentioned I have two weeks off, one because it's half-term and then one more because I'm technically still on study leave (even though I finished exams today- sneaky). Dad flies back (the use of 'back' still gets me, I seem to say it whether he's coming here or going there) and so I'll be spending the next week with him and seeing my Aunt and Grandpa. We're going to the Isle of Wight on the 31st for a couple of nights to see my cousin which will be nice since it's been a while. Hopefully I'll have the chance to take some good photos of the island and the fam. Much to my sister's horror I've recently got into Instagram. She complains I take too many photos of the sky and I shouldn't use so many hashtags, apparently it makes me #uncool. But aside from that, I just like taking photos! 

After half-term, I have very few plans, I'm going to meet a few people, but apart from that I think I'll spend most of my time in the garden topping up the tan. I'll have a head-start for Greece. 

Which neatly brings me to my summer plans. As it stands I am going to Greece with Mum, Nanny and Liv on the 24th July. We're going to the Greek island of Skiathos for a week. It's exciting to be going back to Greece as I haven't been for years, but I remember the crystal clear water and watching an octopus walk along the ocean floor. Hopefully I won't be getting too close to any octopuses (I really thought the plural was 'octopi' but I looked it up...). I know we're planning to go across to Skopelos, where they filmed Mamma Mia. No doubt some embarrassing singing will ensue. It will be lovely to be on a summer holiday with my mum as we haven't had one for five years and it will be extra special to go with Nanny. It'll be a right girly holiday with lots of sun, sea and sunbathing. Safe to say I'm counting down the days until we go. 58 days...

Post-Greece Liv and I will have just a day and a bit to get things washed and repacked as we're heading back to Florida. We fly into Miami on the 2nd August for four weeks of American sunshine. I'm praying the weather will be better than last year, that pesky El Nino year was a bit of a pain, but either way, I'm sure it's going to be fab. I'm hoping we can get to Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlour while we're in Miami, we have been known to get off a plane and head straight there. There's nothing like eating ice cream at what feels like 2am to you- I recommend it! It's such a cool place and I'd be lying if I didn't say the nerdy photographer part of me really wants to get a photo of how it's decorated inside. It's very #cool, I'll let that be a teaser for you;). I know we're also planning a few days at the beach which will be amazing, especially if we can take the dogs with us, even our canine friends need a vacation every now and then. I have no doubt a lot of the time will be spent at Universal and visiting those classic Orlando attractions that feel slightly like a third home- I have a lot of love for those places! 

I cannot wait to get this summer started. I hope everyone else is as excited about the summer months as I am, whether you're chilling at home or jetting off I hope the sun is shining where you are.

That's about it from me right now. The noisy kids in the nursery next door are driving me crazy and I need to put the freshly laundered bedding back on my bed, exciting times.

I'll sign off with a rather flowery, fairy Snapchat selfie so any new readers can put a face to the writing. Maybe one day I'll turn into a real fairy- that's the dream.

Bye for now,
L 
xxx

1st Birthday!

Hello, 

Just thought I'd mark the special occasion of this blog's first birthday. I wrote the post 'The Beginning' on the 4th April last year. I'm amazed that I've managed to keep this blog alive for that long- granted I'm not much of a regular blogger, but I'm still here and intending to carry on.

I thought I should reflect on what I said in my first post and see what remains the same and what's changed. Reading it back I cringed out a lot less than I thought I would- so that's a positive to start with!

In the post I said I was writing the blog for me- as a 'scrapbook' (a lazy one) of things I wanted to remember. This is still true. This blog is still for me, to help me remember the tiny details that might be overshadowed and lost in the excitement of new places and crazy days. As cliche as it sounds, I think it's the little things that will one day be more important than the big.

I've also stayed true (mostly) to the idea this blog will be about me travelling, exploring and learning. I certainly had a killer year last year- 2015 is firmly titled Best Year of My Life (so far!) and I love that I can now look back on that summer and recall almost everything we did and the places we went. I'm very glad I started this blog for that reason. There are no plans to change what this blog is about- I have some plans for this year too, which I'll share in another post as I intend to 'scrapbook' those too. With regards to keeping a collection of tips, that has been made easier with the add-on 'Today, the Big Wide World has taught me...' which was a genius suggestion from a faithful reader. 

I'm still 100% backing my belief that not seeing this incredible world would be a waste of my lifetime- I'm going to continue working on exploring this planet. And on the topic of exploring, I'd still love to go on a round the world trip, but I'm thinking that as a gap year that's a bit ambitious with 0 funds! I do have some gap year ideas though- some travelling thrown in there... Again, a topic for another post I think.

In terms of what's changed, I feel more secure in knowing what this blog is really about- and simply, that's just the little parts of my life that I want to remember. I also have more experience in all 'this', so I feel more confident in making and sharing my posts. Not much has changed really and I think that's good, I must have started with something decent. 

I've loved the suggestions from people, the comments, interaction about posts and I'm glad I get that. As I said on my very first post, even though I write this for me, 'it's out there to be read'.

I think that just leaves me to say thank you to those that read every post, or even just the odd one. 

Here's to another year of learning and exploring. 

Birthday Love, 
L
XXX