Nadolig Llawen!

Nadolig Llawen! Which is Welsh for Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a lovely day, that was spent with the people you care about! Ceri & I had a lovely first Christmas together and I wouldn't have spent it any other way!

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Jeweller's to pick up my ring which I had broken at my Company Christmas Party. I'd been without it for 2 weeks and was missing it! But it looks wonderful now and is hopefully a bit stronger! Then we went to visit Ceri's Parents - came home and I started work on the Gingerbread Village from John Lewis.

Normally, I just get one big gingerbread house but there were none left in the shop, so tackling an entire village was new for me...and it wound up horribly! Next year, I might try to do the whole thing myself - making the gingerbread etc - but lesson learnt this year! Don't try to take on too much!

In the evening, we cycled over to the local pub for drinks with some of Ceri's friends and to watch a band - the weather was awful so we were tucked up in bed by 10.30 waiting for Santa to come!

Christmas Morning we woke up at 6am and opened our presents. I got Ceri a big map of the world and took it to a nice framers in Cardiff - I was so pleased with how it turned out but nervous about how much he'd like it! I also got him the little print in the corner by Becky Filip from The Honey Trees & Steve Job's Autobiography. The map will look lovely in our new living room, because of the green and the gold will go with our new chairs - which are the comfiest things ever.

After presents, we had showered and had a lovely Christmas Morning Breakfast - with some lovely Bucks Fizz! Whilst watching Episode 11 of American Horror Story - which has been amazing! Ceri had a  fry up whilst I had my traditional Cinnamon Pancakes <3 Then we made our way over to Ceri's Parents house for the day to begin.

Ceri's Mum made us a beautiful Cross Stitch pattern for our new house, I'm planning on hanging it by our front door with other prints & paintings I have that are a "home sweet home" theme, I absolutely adore it.

Ceri's dad got a Shake Weight, which is as bad in real life as it looks on the youtube videos...

For a first Christmas away from my own family and our traditions, it was a lovely day and Ceri's family were very welcoming, 

The rest of the day was spent watching television and eating food. My family run pubs so Christmas Day, for us, has always been about work but because I don't work in the pub industry - I spend most of Christmas Day on my own waiting for the pub to close - so yesterday was the first time I've been surrounded by people all day and had a "traditional" Christmas Day - and it was lovely! I had such a nice day, it was relaxing and I was so stuffed!

Ceri got me lovely presents, including this wonderful Harry Potter Horcrux Bracelet

Ceri's family & grandmothers were very generous and I was flabberghasted with all that I received - I think I got their presents quite right!

Today, Ceri and I are doing some online shopping for the new house - tomorrow we're moving house and on Wednesday we're on our way down to my parents for a Burke Christmas!

Christmas is coming!

This is our festive flat ... and me doing my knitting!

We started to move into the new house yesterday, so the bedroom is looking pretty sparse (and messy) the living room is the only room in the house that is still festive and clean!

Today is the last day of work for 2 weeks! But there'll be no relaxing in the Burke-Davies house!

I'm getting super excited and planning on having my christmas playlist blaring all day, work will be finishing early and then I can get home and finish the last bits that need tying up!

I can't wait for the new year to be done, the move finished and everything to be settled! I have so many fun plans for 2012 and I can't wait to start cracking on them!

Year Review: 2011 Part II

I'm busy planning a romantic weekend in London for Ceri and I, we're going to my parents between the 28th and the 30th but there isn't a lot to do in their village so we're going to meander into London and head to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland! I'm pretty excited because I love Christmas but this is also the first time I haven't spent Christmas with my family, which is weird and makes me nostalgic for the Christmas' we have had - even though they weren't as exciting in reality!

Looking over some pictures from the last 12 months, I fall in love with South Wales all over again and all it has to offer, I can't wait until the weather warms up a bit to head back to the beach on those balmy summer days that Wales has about 4 of in May!

What are you looking forward to in 2012!?

Year Review: 2011 Part 1

2011 is quickly drawing to a close, I have 5 more days of work to go - then 2 weeks off which will be jam packed with all sorts of festive fun! From time with Ceri's family, going to London to see my Family, New Year in Tenby and then rush home to move house!

2011, for me, was one of the best - overall! Sure, there were some lows - periods of uncertainty throughout the summer where I almost lost my job due to redundancy, had to move house twice and my family moved from Cardiff to London but the good far outweighs the bad.

I met the person I plan on spending the rest of my life with in Ceri. Who is the single most generous, kind and giving individuals I have ever encountered. Which leaves me in awe on a regular basis, that he is so altruistic and kind hearted. I am eternally grateful that I have met someone who is my best friend - makes me laugh constantly and even now when he said I looked blue - offered to let me punch him (I didn't).

I achieved things that I'd wanted to do for so long, that I can't help but be proud of myself. I did things I said I would do. And finally, after so long, I felt confidence in myself - which inwardly, I've been lacking for so long - that faith that you feel that you CAN in fact do things and not feel like that awkward 14 year old, like I so often do.

January - June