Is that an ENGAGEMENT RING?

The answer – hell yes it is!!

Hello Creatives,

On the 6th May 2019, 5 years, 5 months and 8 days into our relationship, George got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! FINALLY!!!

Oh and the ring, don’t get me started on the ring, I’ll cry all over again!

If you’ve been following my blog for long enough, you’ll know that back in 2016 my beautiful grandma sadly passed away. She adored George and as she was hard of hearing, was convinced his name was John for the first two years hehe bless her.

After her passing, my mummy gave George one of her rings for him to either propose with or redesign should he ever get his act together wish to…

He used two of the four diamonds from the ring mummy gave him, bought a smacker for the middle and commissioned his own design. IT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF JEWELLERY EVER.

I now carry a sentimental, personal, memory of my grandma and commitment of love from George that is like no other (see image attached to this post).

I truly could not imagine anything more perfect.

We walked up Coombe Hill, the highest point of the Chilterns which overlooked our home at the time and an area we were potentially going to move to. We walked around to a quieter area and found a peaceful bench to sit on.

When I turned around after chatting about the view I see the love of my life on one knee with a blinding object in an open box… eeeeeek it was the moment I’ve waited for for yeaaaaars!!! – I’m assuming I don’t have to clarify that I said yes right?!

This was the second massive life update that had taken place for us and it was only May!

Oh so dreamy…

Lana xxx

Wow – It’s been a while…

Hello World,

It’s been two years since I posted my last post on here and my goodness has my world changed since then.

I think the best way to update you all is a series of life posts, are you ready? Can you guess any of the changes in my life?

Let me give you a hint…

You can probably guess most of the life updates from the photo associated with this post but I’m intrigued to see what you guess!

Until my next post!

Lana xxx

Officially an Adult!

Hello Creatives!

I hope you’ve had a magical Christmas and a wonderful new year! I was lucky enough to spend mine in Spain with my mum and dad, however the wonderful trip has come to an end!

The trip was filled with beautiful views:

Wonderful food:

And the best company – My parents ❤️

I’m sat writing this on my Ryanair flight back to Bristol from Malaga whilst waiting for everyone to board and I can’t help but realise that this was my last holiday before full time employment begins, where holidays may not be so spontaneous anymore!

I’m so excited to get back to George, and I can’t wait for us to celebrate Christmas again together! Well… open presents (as I couldn’t bring mine to Spain, apart from ones mum and dad brought for me – some beautiful wool and a Fitbit!).

This evening will be relaxed, and tomorrow we set off at the crack of dawn to Aylesbury to view a few properties to move into for our next adventure!

Oops I better go! Doors are shutting and fingers crossed take off will be shortly (we’re already delayed by 10 minutes… typical!).

Until next time, where I’ll update you on our adventures,

Love Lana xxx

Snow Day!

Hello Creatives,

How are you all? In between George and i’s masters graduations (you can find that post here!) we took a little trip down to Telford where my mums side of the family live and we managed to hit the snowiest few days Telford has seen in at least 6 years (apparently…)!!

George said himself that he hadn’t seen snow as deep, fluffy and heavy as it was since he was a child (and the boy is now 24!), so it was great fun for us all. Isn’t it funny how snow can turn the most mature of adults into children in a split second! Snow balls were flying left right and center, snow angles being made in every fresh patch of snow to be seen. It was soooooooo much fun! And thanks to previously working outdoors as an Ecologist, I had wellies in the boot of my car to wear!

The car park of the hotel we stayed in unfortunately didn’t grit their land so my wee Ford Fiesta was left there to gather snow whilst we used dads Range Rover to tackle to roads!

Here… look at this… this took forever to clean (cheers to George’s mum/my mother in law/Claire for my scraper! It saved the day!):

Unfortunately due to the mad snow, our booked family Christmas dinner at the Iron Bridge had to be cancelled as all roads leading to it were closed to do weather and the restaurant itself lost power – oops!

But as one of my aunties lives in Lawley, there’s a little local pub within walking distance, and it was the perfect spot for 10 of us to enjoy each others company!

Here we are, loving life:

Snow days don’t come around too often here in the UK! How do you enjoy your snow days? Are your christmases white? Or hot? I’d love to know!

Until next time, and Merry Christmas for tomorrow!

Love Lana xxx

We are Masters of Science!

Hello Creatives,

Goodness me, it has been ages since we last spoke! My life has (as per usual) been going 100 miles per hour and the excitement never ends!

George and I graduated our Masters Degrees (both with Merit) recently and as exciting as it all was, I forgot how bloody mind numbing graduation ceremonies can be Haha.

I’m sure most of you know or have an idea of how graduations go.. you collect your gowns, get photos taken, get more photos taken, sit through a ceremony, and then drink copious amounts of alcohol!

I’m just going to throw a few photos onto the page below of our big days and hopefully you’ll get a feel for how it went!

I opted for trousers instead of a dress as it was absolutely freezing and I was not ready to brave the cold that day!

Georges was thankfully a good 45 minutes shorter than mine, however, was at the bloody break of dawn…

Oh, and how could I forget, Georges older brother coincidently also graduated his Masters Degree on the same day as George but up in Leeds! So each boy had one parent, and here’s Joe below with his mama! As soon as George’s ceremony was over, we made the two+ hour drive up to Leeds for a big celebratory dinner.

ANDDDDDD if the boys’ graduation day couldn’t get any better… I was offered a job! (Sorry to shit on your parade boys… 😂)

Oh it was a simply fantastic week.

I’m writing this from a cosy sofa in our Spanish apartment where I will be spending Christmas with my family this year.

Merry Christmas everyone! Only two more sleeps to go!!

Until next time,

Love Lana xxx

Goodbye Nottingham, Hello Bristol!

Hello Creatives,

Wow it has been complete madness since the beginning of October.. I left on a solo trip on the 6th October to Malaysia to visit family that I hadn’t seen in 6+ years and surprised my last grandparent – I’ll do a blog post all about it, it was hectic, but amazing! I was back home on the 16th and that’s when it got busy!

My mummy and daddy arrived for a visit two days later and in that amount of time I managed to bag myself a job and find out I’ll be awarded with a Merit for my Masters at my graduation in December!

But just as a little update on our lives…

We have also packed up all our belongings from our lovely two bed flat in Nottingham, and moved down to Bristol to start our next adventure!

Long story short, it was becoming far too expensive to continue living where we were whilst unemployed, as now that we’re no longer students, a whole load of other bills were coming through – e.g council tax.. just under £140 a month?! Ouch – we thought it would be much more financially viable for us to relocate into Georges mums house whilst our job search continues! (I now have a job, but I’m able to commute!)

So today we unloaded all the boxes, half into storage and half into the house. So. Much. Stuff. I can’t wait to see what Bristol has to offer, even if we are only here a couple of months!

Anyway, tomorrow is Georges 24th birthday, and I can’t wait for cake! (He’s a wee photo of us from the other night at his aunties 60th birthday party!)

Next update soon!

Love Lana xxx

Beautiful Bath

Hello Creatives,

Are you ready for the next part of the travel blog post series!?

So this one will be in two parts, and the reason for this is because two main events happened over the few days that we stayed in Bristol!

We travelled down to Bristol as George had a Military Simulation Airsoft event he was attending (more about that in the second half to this post), but whilst we were down there i caught up with one of my close friends from Uni and her daughter in Bath! If you don’t know much about Bath i reckon you should have a little google as it is beautiful and filled with history.

The first time i met Sophia’s little girl was when she was only 3 weeks old! The second time i caught up with Sophia, her daughter was then 4 months old, and this time she was 8 and a half months! Time flies way too fast, and babies grow way too quickly! Although, little Tabytha is at a very fun age, and i could have just sat with her, watched her absorb the world around her and play with her for hours – she’s the happiest baby you’ll ever meet.

We went for lunch, walked around the city, and took in its beauty all whilst catching up on each others lives! Her partners mum also joined us for the day as she had never been to Bath before! She was such a lovely lady, and we all had the best girly day!

I loved every minute of this day, and i can’t wait till we get to meet up again!

Until next time (the second half of the Bristol series),

Lana xxx

Surprises in London!

Hello Creatives,

So this is the next post in my travelling/life update series and could possibly be my favourite!

I was meant to be catching the train down to London to meet up with one of my bestfriends Liya to spend the weekend with her as it was apparently the ‘only weekend she was free’ – it’s a good thing i was free… you’ll soon see why.

I arrived off the train where she met me at the platform and we continued to walk back to her accommodation (she’s also currently doing her masters!) which i was going to be seeing for the first time. The plan was to get in, go for a wee (i was bursting!), drop off my bags and then head out for lunch.

As we got to her room and she unlocked and opened the door… well… watch the video below:

The other girls of my friendship ‘group’ surprised me all the way from Wales, Manchester and Surrey!

If it wasn’t obvious in the video, when i get a fright i lose feeling in my legs, which always creates a humourous outcome haha (i was okay, just incase you were wondering hahaha).

If that wasnt enough, i found out they were staying for the weekend, i got a homemade cake that was mouth-wateringly good, lots of little bits, and TICKETS TO MAMMA MIA ON THE WEST END! – they’re too good for me, i don’t deserve friends this amazing! 

 

Over the weekend we had park picnics, flat picnics, meals out, visited the British Museum, movie nights and lots of laughter. I wasn’t ready for us all to part again when Sunday came around!

I can’t wait for their birthdays to come around so i can show them how grateful i am to have them, and make their days just as special as they are!

The start of my twenty-second year of life has been incredible thanks to these wonderful ladies. I love these girls heaps.

Until next time,

Lana xxx

This Little Welsh Seaside Town

Hello Creatives!

And here is the second part to my travelling series!

Long story short, George didn’t/couldn’t attend last years graduation ceremony for his undergraduate degree although he did manage to begin his masters degree in the meantime! Therefore, we had graduation number 1 for 2017 on July the 19th, and his second graduation will be November this year, followed by my own masters degree graduation ceremony in December! Crazy 

George and i drove down to Aberystwyth, Wales, and met his mum there for three days.

If you dont know much about Aberystwyth, it is a lovely seaside town on the west coast of Wales and is mainly a university town. You could probably walk from one end to the other in 20 minutes (add a little extra time for all the hills though!).

It holds so many memories. Its the place george and i met, the place i met my friends for life and, and it’s also the place this blog was created. P.s. No photos will ever do it justice.

Unfortunately the sun only shone on the day we arrived, and the stereotypical rain poured down, however it did seem to hold off on the day og Georges ceremony, even if the clouds threatened to open on us.

Where Have I Been?

Hello Creatives!

So unfortunately, my crochet has been put to one side fo a while, due to the fact that i have been ridiculously busy with my masters research proejct…. well, i should have been but instead ive been a social butterfly (the masters research project is currently throwing my stress level through the roof however).

I have so many photos i want to share from the past few weeks so im going to do individual posts for each event (i apologise if following my social life isn’t really your thing, the crochet will come back very soon!).

Firstly it was my 22nd brithday on the 2nd of July and George and i went to our second home in Spain to spend it with my family!

Secondly we went back to Aberystwyth where George and i completed our Undergraduate Degrees for his Graduation Ceremony (a year late!)

I then went to London thinking i was meeting up with one of my bestfriends, to then be surprised by all of my ‘girl group’ of best friends and we had the best weekend EVER.

After this George and i drove down to Bristol (his hometown) where we spent a week with all of his family and he attended an Airsoft Military Simulation event in Caerwent, Wales – obviously i was the chauffeur. I don’t have photos of this, however i have edited a vlog of us on a day out to an Army Surplus Store here in Nottingham! Something different!
During this week i also got to catch up with one of my close friends who has recently moved to Swindon with her partner and precious little girl. Baby therapy is definitely a thing!

Once we arrived back to our cosy flat back here in Nottinghamshire, ANOTHER one of my closest friends (i may seem like i say this a lot, but all  these girls i’ve mentioned will definitely be in my life forever… the type of bestfriends that you’d ask to help organise your wedding) came to visit after returning from 8 months of travelling asia alone! Soooo glad she’s back!

It’s not over yet – i have my longest and oldest friend coming to visit on Tuesday and I’ve not seen the girl in forever! She was totally my day 1 back in Aberdeen, Scotland.

On top of all this, one of my other close friends has moved back to the Nottingham area, so i am super glad to finally have a friend nearby. OH and george is also having friends visit… so it’s all very hectic.

Did i mention i had a masters research project due very very soon? Oops…

I hope you all enjoy the upcoming posts about my adventures. I will definitely throw crochet in somewhere, as im currently working up a little pile of granny squares with the cutest yarn that i do during my breaks from work – a stress reliever i guess…

Until next time!
Lana xxx