New Years Resolution

As per usual, I am attempting a new years resolution. 

And here is hoping that this one sticks.

I didn't want to do anything like stop eating bad food (which I know I will do) or stop drinking (come on, be serious) or become tidier (it is organised chaos thank you!) so decided that this year I am going to attempt to take a photo a day for a year. I will be posting my photo with a little snippet on my twitter account which is:

@Gardner2Charlie

In the mean time though, here is a little ditty for the year to come

2013, what a toughy
You have been a royal hard nut to crack
Some sober days and parties forgotten
Alcohol--- these are nights I shall never get back

Lots of pictures stored away
Both in memory and online
Gig's I have gone to, new things experienced 
But nothing that Jessie J had signed

Friends come and go I quickly discovered
I guess it's just change of path
Jobs I did seek and one came along
But in 2014, is anyone needing staff??

Here's to the future, this year will be good
I starting it by going to the states
And when I get back, it's off to the pub
To spend quality time with some mates

This year will be wicked, I shall take it all in my stride 
Who knows what is around the bend
2014, you are mine for the taking
See you on the other side, The End!

Happy New Year everyone :) 

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the house....

People were making a complete and utter mess!! 

Christmas Eve in our household is usually a time where the entire village comes over to eat copious amounts of food, drink excessive amounts of alcohol and have a jolly good time. This year was no exception! 

This year was a smaller crowd of both sets of grandparents, my aunt and uncle with their 4 kids, our next door neighbor, a friend from down the road with her daughter and some old family friends with their 2 kids as well....yep small crowd.

After the food is consumed, we tend to sit around having a good old gossip and a catch up until someone utters those famous words of "Santa will be here soon, we should get going" 

I don't know about anyone else but this still excites me and gets me jumping about like a hyperactive child. I would like to point out that I am the older sister but when it comes to Christmas EVERYONE thinks I am the younger of the two. Not going to lie, still put out a carrot and mince pie for when Father Christmas arrives!! 

Over the last few years I have been one of Santa's little helpers and put presents under the tree. Last year it was a bit of a shock and I didn't really know how to deal with things, thinking it would spoil the magic of Christmas but it actually excites me more as I get to see what the tree looks like before going to bed and....oh dear Mum, mistake number 1, I will not sleep tonight, in fact, this year I spent a good half an hour sending silly videos of myself to one of my best friends....she was in the same position! I know our parents were thinking "Damn kids!"

Until next year my friends....Merry Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree

So as of late, I haven't had much time to get a blog up, busy bee that I am. But now I have a good one for you. My family tree...

Like everyone, we have our own specific way of doing Christmas, and one of them is our tree. It is a very special tree, with a lot of memories on it, both sad and happy and seeing as it is now December, and people are starting to allow themselves to celebrate Christmas, I thought I would tell you all about how the decorating side of things works in my family;

To start with, mum and dad spend a good hour putting our 12ft tree into an 11ft space in the living room--- first the end is chopped off, put into the pot and screwed tightly in....

Dad "Is it straight?"
Mum "It needs to go left a bit"
Dad "Better?"
Mum "Your other left...."
Dad *grumble grumble*

Then comes to lights. As everyone knows, the lights MUST be checked before we put them up.

Dad "Can you find me a new bulb please?"
Mum "Where are they?"
Dad "In the same box we have put them in for 15 years..."
Mum "Which is where exactly?"
Dad "In the box which says 'lights'...."

We then start to wind them up and down the tree in a VERY specific way. As we all take a point around the tree, my lovely little sister decides its time to 'take a break' aka play on her phone

Mum "I can't reach"
Dad "hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go..."
Mum "shut up"

Lights are firmly in place and adjusted accordingly so the angel will 'have one up her bum' and next comes out the decorations....in an order.... 

Mum "These were the first ever decorations...."
Boo and I "...that your Dad and I got on our first Christmas together. Yes we know Mum, you tell us every year"

We then all proceed to tell stories of each decoration that goes on the tree with the accompanied 

"Which holiday was this one?"
And
"Aww I remember when we got these!"
And best of all...
Dad "Charlie, step ladder is ready, time to put the angel on top"

For as long as I can remember I have put the angel on the tree and I will hopefully be doing this for the rest of my life, there are some things I never want to change.

Like I said, everyone has their own special way of doing Christmas, but I hope you enjoy the stories that are to follow about my Christmas lead up and the merriness on it's way and maybe even a picture or two if you're lucky!! Keep smiling!