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Easter Weekend

Posted on April 22, 2019 by SeeTheUniverse_

I don’t usually do much when it comes to Easter Weekend, but this year the weather has been incredible and I had the full weekend off of work, so it would have been a shame to waste it!

On Good Friday, it was also my little cousin Lily’s 8th Birthday, so me and Jake went to her house for a BBQ and a couple of drinks. It was nice to see everyone and it was lovely seeing the kids enjoy the hot tub and party games. My baby cousin Rosie was also entertaining to watch as she ran around the garden in her beautiful new shoes and played on the slide and with the balloons (which were bigger than her!)

When we got home from the party, we were greeted by Jakes auntie Sara and her partner shouting us from their garden, telling us that Jakes mum was injured and was at their house. So instead of going into Jakes, we headed straight over to theirs. When we went in, everyone was sat in the garden and Jakes mum Kate was sat with her foot up on a stool with an ice pack over it and a cold glass of pink gin in her hand! She had fallen down the stairs earlier whilst getting ready for work and thought her ankle was broken… but who needs a hospital when you can take away the pain with gin and lemonade?

We stayed and had some drinks and lots of yummy food before heading back to Kates house later that evening. It was not until the next morning that Kate realised how bad her ankle was and decided that a trip to the hospital was definitely needed!

Whilst Kate was waiting in the hospital walk-in centre, me and Jake had a lovely walk around the little town centre and had a nice iced mocha to pass the time. When we went back to the hospital, we were informed that Kate’s foot was broken and she had an Avulsion Fracture, meaning she has to wear a boot and will be unable to work and drive for the next eight weeks! She will have to go back to the fracture clinic next week to have it checked again as there is still a chance that it will need to be put in a plaster cast.

Easter Sunday arrived before we knew it and the weather was getting better and better! So instead of sitting around the house all day, we decided to take a trip to Delamere Forest with a few friends. We arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon and we were there until 7:30 in the evening! We took a little picnic with us and enjoyed exploring the beautiful woodland areas. We managed to get ourselves lost a couple of times, but the weather was too nice to care. We laughed until we cried and I enjoyed every second of this lovely day. We even managed to take lots of beautiful pictures of the scenery around us. I will be posting a full detailed post about our trip to Delamere with more photographs!

It was a long and tiring day but one that we all enjoyed!

It is safe to say that I had a lovely weekend with friends and family, with lots of pictures taken for my scrapbook to remember forever.

I hope everyone had a lovely happy Easter and that you have all made the most of the beautiful weather!

Doctors Appointments and Uncomfortable Tests

Posted on April 12, 2019April 16, 2019 by SeeTheUniverse_

So, I don’t often write personal posts like this on here and some may think that I am sharing too much information… but I feel as though this is something that needs to be shared. This could help someone else who is in a similar or worse situation to myself. I also need to get this off of my chest… so here it goes.

I had a doctors appointment yesterday for a cervical exam. I am 23 years old, so not quite old enough for a smear test. A couple of months back I was experiencing bleeding after intercourse, not every time, but it was still apparent. Then, at my next pill check, the nurse asked me if I had been experiencing any symptoms that I was concerned about… and so I told her. She advised that I book in for a cervical examination, however, no matter how many times I called the doctors surgery I could not get an appointment. In the end, I gave up trying. The bleeding stopped happening and so my worries went away.

Continue reading “Doctors Appointments and Uncomfortable Tests” →

Lambing Season at Windmill Animal Farm

Posted on February 9, 2019 by SeeTheUniverse_

I am the happiest version of me when I am surrounded by animals, so cute little dates to the farm (or the zoo) are the way to my heart. Windmill Animal Farm is fairly local to where we live, being just a 20-minute drive down the road, so we tend to visit a few time throughout the year. The farm recently re-opened after being closed during December & January, with the announcement that it is lambing season! So, of course, we had to schedule a visit.

We arrived at the farm at 12:30pm and were welcomed by a friendly member of staff who told us where we could find the animals, the cafe and other facilities as well as letting us know what times the lamb feeding would take place! Although we have been before, it is nice to see staff take their time to make sure you know where to find everything and letting you know that they are on hand to answer any questions that you might have.

We purchased two bags of animal food and set off towards the barn to feed the goats, llamas, sheep, alpacas and deer. Then at around 1pm we decided to go to the cafe for some lunch. As we entered the cafe a warm gust of air greeted out cold rosy cheeks; there was a lovely fireplace in the centre of the room, which heated the cafe nicely. We took a look at their menu before settling on a cheeseburger for Jacob and chips and beans for myself. The meals were priced well and the service was great!

After our lunch, we headed back to the barn; just in time for the bottle feeding! There were lots of adorable baby lambs waiting to be fed with bottles of milk. They were so excited about their food, their tails were wagging and they were super bouncy! We joined to queue to feed them, which surprisingly moved fairly quickly, making sure that everyone got a turn. One of the staff members was kind enough to take a picture on my polaroid camera of us both (which I will be adding to my scrapbook tomorrow night!)

After feeding the lambs we headed to see the bunny rabbits and the guinea pigs so we could stroke and cuddle them! My favourite bunny at Windmill Animal Farm is a grey bunny named Chloe! She is so sweet and loves to be cuddled. Her fur is super soft too! The one downfall of visiting the farm is that it makes me want to own every animal… from rabbits to goats! Gosh, I would love to have my own farm.

As we visited on the weekend, Critter Corner was also open! Here you can encounter snakes, lizards, tortoise and tarantulas! I used to have my own bearded dragon called Spyke, so it is safe to say that I love lizards. When me and Jake move in with one another we have already decided to buy ourselves a leopard gecko! We were talking about the reptiles with the animal handler and he kindly took out a gecko for me to hold. She was called Rainbow and belonged to his daughter. She was very calm and relaxed and sat very still in my hands receiving lots of strokes and attention! It made me miss my lizard, but I cannot wait to own one again in the future, they really are incredible creatures.

As you may know; last time we visited Critter Corner, I braved holding a tarantula. Well… I say ‘braved’, but I did cry in the process! Well this time, I held one without shedding a tear! Although my heart was pounding so fast I thought the world would be able to hear it!

We took a walk to the far end of the farm to see the other sheep, llamas, cows and wallabies! There is a small black sheep which follows you along the fence of the enclosure waiting to be fed… we found this amusing as Jake ran up and down the path watching as the sheep ran alongside him; of course we fed him lots of tasty food in return. The Wallabies are so cute, they are basically miniature kangaroos! I had never seen them in person before until we visited the farm.

We still has a fair bit of food left so we headed back to the barn to feed more of the animals. In the barn, there were two mummy sheep with their new babies. One of them had twins and was guarding them behind her, the other had one little lamb which was bouncing around the enclosure and digging in the straw. Eventually, the two twin lambs were brave enough to come out from behind their mum, climbing all over her and playing together.

Once all of our food had gone, we headed back to the little cafe for a nice hot drink and a cake. I chose a hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream along with a chocolate fudge brownie, it was delicious! Jake had a cappuccino and a caramel shortbread slice. After sitting down and enjoying our treats it was time to go home. Overall, our visit to the farm was lovely (as always!), we enjoyed feeding all of the animals and giving the baby lambs their bottles. It was also nice to speak to the staff about

animals and learning more about them. I look forward to visiting again… maybe when the weather warms up a little!

More Pictures and Videos:

My Birthday Wishlist!

Posted on January 6, 2019February 8, 2019 by SeeTheUniverse_

I turn 23 in two months time… crazy how fast the time has gone. I have been doing the usual online window shopping; you know when you add all of the things that you like/want into the basket, laugh at the total cost and close the window without making a single purchase? I am starting to regret doing this as I have now built up a birthday wishlist in my mind, knowing full well that the chances of me receiving any of them are beyond slim! But despite that, I have decided to share that wishlist here on my blog.

First of all, I need to stop stalking the Cath Kidston website as if I had the money, I would purchase their entire collection. I came across an adorable cross body bag that is reversible! On one side is a grey and white polka dot pattern which is super simple yet also super cute! The other side is a blue floral pattern which is quite girly and pretty. It is not often that I find a reversible bag and like both of the patterns… so this is a winner! The downside is that is costs £38.

I do own two other Cath Kidston bags, a large overnight bag which I have definitely got my use out of over the years, both when studying in university and whenever I have stayed out somewhere for a few nights. The other is a mini box bag which has an adorable Winnie the Pooh pattern on it and it came with a cute matching coin purse too! This is good for the summer, when you are nipping out for a couple of hours, it fits the essentials inside (phone, keys and purse). I would love this reversible cross body bag to use as an everyday bag, which I do not really have any of! Plus I can change the pattern on the bag to fit in with the occasion and/or my outfit! Win-win right?

These next two items, I have wanted for a very long time. I adore Pandora products, my promise ring was from there and my charm bracelet is as full as it can be! I fell in love with their birthstone jewellery, the silver ring and matching earrings are so simple yet so beautiful. I couldn’t add an image of them here as they are currently sold out with being on sale! They currently cost £20 for the ring and £30 for earrings, although when they are at full price they cost £45 each!
They are so so pretty and I would love to have them. The ring would look perfect with my promise ring and my engagement ring too!

I also love love love David Dobrik (Youtuber) and I have wanted his ‘Clickbait’ merchandise for so long now! They recently released a pink version of their hoodie and I literally cried when I saw it! It is such a cute shade of pink and I adore it…Part of me is excited for the new product and part of me is really sad as the likelihood of me ever owning one is ridiculously slim.
The hoodie is $44 which is around £33. You can view their clothing range here!

Okay, so those of you who know me will know that I do not wear a lot of make-up! However, I have recently become more interested in make-up and I bought myself the Revolution 12 days of Christmas set and I received a beautiful brush set for Christmas too! I love a good liquid eyeliner pen, one that does not smudge easily or fade too much throughout the day. I did have a tattoo liner by Kat Von D which was amazing, but it ran out on me a couple of weeks back. So I purchased a Revolution liner for £5, claiming to be waterproof and smudge proof, yet within 10-20 minutes it has smudged all over my eyelids!
My partners mum received a small eye make-up set by Clinique for Christmas and it came with a liquid eyeliner pen. She always lets me use her make-up whenever I need it, so I thought I would give it a try… It is perfect! It goes on so smoothly and it does not fade or smudge throughout the day! I searched online and found the product, only to discover that is £19.99 on its own!
Then I found this beautiful set by Clinique at the cost of £30. It includes the following items:

• Take The Day Off™ Makeup Remover For Lids, Lashes & Lips, 50ml
• Take The Day Off™ Cleansing Balm, 15ml
• City Block Purifying™ Charcoal Cleansing Gel, 30ml
• City Block Purifying™ Charcoal Clay Mask + Scrub, 30ml
• Moisture Surge™ 72-Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator, 30ml
• All About Eyes™, 5ml
• Pretty Easy™ Liquid Eyelining Pen in Black, 0.34g
• High Impact™ Mascara in Black, 3.5ml

The content of this box would cost over £60 if all of the products were bought individually so it is definitely worth the money! And I would definitely use each of these products. I am so desperate to get my hands on the eyeliner pen, so when I saw this set it had to make it onto the Birthday Wishlist. All of the items in this set are items that I would use! So none of them would go to waste.

Next on the list is a beautiful gift set from The Literary Emporium, a small business that sells amazing products based on famous pieces of literature. This particular gift set includes a hardback copy of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with a matching pin badge and t-shirt! I have always wanted to read Frankenstein and this set it so unique! I purchased a Pride and Prejudice t-shirt from this little business not long ago and the quality and the fit are just perfect. This set costs £35… which may seem steep at first, however, the t-shirt alone would cost £16, the book would cost £15 (brand new) and the pin badge would cost £7 adding up to £38. Therefore you would be saving £3… but not only are you receiving these 3 items, but they arrive in such beautifully presented packaging.

If I could buy all of the gift sets from The Literary Emporium I would do so without hesitation. It is such a unique small business that screams out to book lovers. I set a challenge for myself this year; to read more books! This came about after me and Molly decided to host a book club for SeeTheUniverse, meaning we would have to read 1 book per month throughout 2019.

I also love this bright coloured jumper from Asda costing just £12.50! I do not usually wear bright colours, so when I saw this I just knew I needed it to brighten up my wardrobe. I want to change my entire wardrobe… but that would require having a lot of time and money, which I do not have. So birthdays and Christmasses are the only chances that I have.

There are so many pretty jumpers in Asda at the moment that I would be happy with any of them! I love cosy sweaters and this one is super soft material making is extra cosy to wear during these cold miserable days.

To be honest a decent clothing voucher would be much appreciated! It would be a starting point for me.

I also spotted these adorable sausage dog mugs and glasses in Matalan the other day! I bought the tea bag dish which I am using for my tealights on my desk in my bedroom and I would love to have a matching mug and/or glass! They are pretty cheap too, the mugs cost £3 and the glasses cost £4! They are hand painted and they are just so cute… yes, I do have a sausage dog obsession, but when you have two beautiful pet sausages how can you not become obsessed?

I would also love some more films for my Instax camera so that I can keep taking pictures throughout the year to add to my scrapbook that Jake bought me for Christmas! The films cost £9.99 for a pack of 10 or £14.99 for a pack of 20, I would love to have a range of designs (such as the polka dotted frames and the monochrome prints)

I would also absolutely love to meet Rachel, an amazing young lady who I have been speaking to online for quite some time now! She has become like a sister to me and I absolutely adore her, It would mean so much to me to meet her for my birthday, especially because her birthday is so close to mine! It would also give me the chance to stay in a new place and explore a new area, which I love doing. I hope to fill a page in my scrapbook with pictures of me and Rach at some point this year!

So this is my birthday wishlist… A girl can dream, right?

Do you have a birthday approaching? What sort of things do you have on your birthday wishlist?

2018 in Pictures!

Posted on December 28, 2018December 29, 2018 by SeeTheUniverse_

I have lots of fabulous memories from 2018 and seeing as we are coming to the end, I thought I would create a gallery post to not only share those memories with my readers but also as a way of documenting them and remembering them.

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I have many more pictures from 2018, these are just some of my highlights. There were many great nights out with both family and friends and lots of cute date nights with Jacob. We graduated university and said goodbye to our little student flat, we bought Richard, Jake got his first proper job, I passed my theory test… the list could go on!

I cannot wait for 2019 to begin. I am looking forward to creating new memories with the people that I care about the most. Starting with my Dad’s 50th Birthday in January and Rosies 1st Birthday on the same day! Going to see The 1975 with Jacob in Sheffield and then going on holiday to Greece in June with Jakes family.

I plan on taking more pictures throughout the year and documenting our fun days out! I hope 2019 brings everyone happiness.

2019 Goals

Posted on December 28, 2018 by SeeTheUniverse_

I won’t talk rubbish about ‘new year, new me’ because that never happens! However, I do have many goals for 2019, both self-goals and blog-related goals that I would like to share with you.

Blog-Related Goals:

Running the very first SeeTheUniverse Book Club with my very best friend Molly! We have worked hard on deciding which books to include for each month of 2019, with some of them being personal favourites, some being popular ‘must-reads’ and others relating to specific events that occur each month… such as mental health awareness month in May! I am really hoping that this goes well and that as the year goes by, more people will join us! I am quite a slow reader… despite wanting to read hundreds of books It always takes me forever to finish one! So I am hoping this book club will encourage me to keep reading and I will be able to complete more books throughout the year. I am super excited for our first book discussion in January, although I know there will not be many people joining in, I hope it encourages more people to get involved with the following month’s discussion!
I want to have more guest posts on the blog! These can range in subjects and topics, they can be from other bloggers, small businesses who want to spread the word about their products, health-related, personal stories, reviews and so on and so forth. I would also love to write some posts for other blogs too.
I aim to take more pictures on my camera and practice my photography skills so that I can make my social media pages and my blog posts look more professional and pretty.
I am hoping to refresh my Instagram page… I really want to have a theme, but I am terrible at finding one that I like and sticking with it. So if you go on my Instagram page at some point in the new year and it is looking bare, that it why!
More competitions! Providing funding does not become an issue, I would like to host more competitions (possibly monthly). These will range in style, and the prizes will range in size throughout the year.
Penpal writing! I currently write to one pen pal from Scotland and I love decorating the letters and envelopes and sitting down and writing. It is so calming and I am really enjoying getting to know them. I even sent a friend of mine a few letters towards the end of this year and we have begun sending letters back and forth too! I would love to write to a few more people.
Adding more mental health blog posts to my fact files. I am still behind on these since we gave the blog a make-over, so I would like to get back on top of these.
I would also like to write more personal posts… I am not sure whether or not people are enjoying these? But I like to write them!
I am hoping to reach 3000 followers on Twitter by the end of 2019 as well as growing the Facebook page.

Self-Goals

To re-start driving lessons.
To apply for a teaching degree at various universities.
To look at flats/apartments in Lancaster with Jacob.
Keep applying for different jobs.
Keep working on my self-care routines.
To read more.
Keep eating well and drink more water.
I am hoping to start going to boxing classes to keep fit and to tone up!
Keep working on my bullet journal… using 2019 as a practice run!

What goals have you set for 2019?

TruNinja

Posted on December 3, 2018 by SeeTheUniverse_

So last weekend, me, Jacob, my dad and my little brother all went to TruNinja in Warrington with my little brother’s football team for an hour of expressing our secret ninja-like skills!

It is safe to say, the kids definitely showed us, adults, how it is done… don’t think I have ever felt so old! But we did have a good laugh in the process, so all is well and good.

The hour was spent running around and attempting fun and challenging obstacles allowing us to show our competitive sides as well as building on team skills and helping each other through the obstacles! There were plenty of encouraging words being shouted to one another as well as lots of laughs!

One part, in particular, seemed to be quite popular! The obstacle was a slanted wall which we had to run up and pull ourselves onto the ledge at the top, before walking across the platform and jumping off onto a large, soft inflatable at the bottom! The kids were queueing for this one, so I decided to give it a go…

Now looking at the pictures, the platform does not seem to be that high… but I assure you, once you are up there it feels much higher! I decided to be brave and let myself fall backwards from the ledge… my heart was in my mouth and I think I left my stomach at the top somewhere! It gave me such a strange feeling, but at the same time, it was also quite thrilling! Before I knew it, all the kids were dropping backwards from the ledge and their faces, when they landed at the bottom, was a picture!

The place itself was not that big, but there was plenty of fun to be had there. Great for children’s parties or fun days out during the school holidays! The kids were much quieter on the bus coming home than they were on the way there that is for sure.

For one hour in the Ninja Arena, it will cost you £9.00 per person.

For the adults who do not feel like taking part, there is a nice little cafe upstairs where you can purchase food and drinks! There was not a huge choice for food, but the kids had pizzas which were delicious and Jake had some noodles which were tasty, although the portion size was a little lacking.

TruNinja currently has two locations, Warrington and Stoke, however, they are opening two more venues in Wigan and Bristol in the near future!

This was definitely something different for us and I would consider doing this again in the future!

In the middle of all of the fun and games, the biggest kid of them all (my dad) managed to break his foot… He was about to attempt the run-up wall when his foot gave in on him and went on its side, resulting in a nasty break! I highly doubt the football team mums, dads and of course the kids, are going to let this down any time soon! There was plenty of banter at his expense on the way home.

So that was what my Saturday afternoon consisted of! How was your weekend?

Our Trip To Chester Zoo!

Posted on November 12, 2018 by SeeTheUniverse_

Yesterday (Saturday 10th November), me and Jacob took a trip to Chester Zoo! I hadn’t been for a few years and I used to love it as a child, so I was super excited!

When we arrived we collected a map from a very welcoming member of staff at the entrance and sped off to go and see what we could find. When we reached the first enclosure we saw a beautiful family of Asian elephants, two youngsters and two elders. The two little ones were playing with one another and chasing each other around, it was very sweet to see them so happy and playful, especially after the heartbreaking loss of two young elephants in October.

We saw lots of cheeky monkeys during our visit too… apes, chimpanzees, orangutans, baboons, macaques, gibbons, spider monkeys and more! They all had very different characteristics and personalities, some seemed calm and independent whereas others seemed to be super lively and loved to cause trouble! My favourite monkeys were the spider monkeys as there was a very cute baby one who kept coming to the glass of the enclosure to say hello to everyone… he was very curious of all of the people, and also enjoyed showing off his climbing skills (until he hung upside down from a low branch with his tail and couldn’t work out how to get back up… )

As well as seeing lots of monkeys, we also saw some adorable bears! My favourite bears were the adorable Sun Bears. I had read about these amazing little bears before visiting the zoo. A male and a female were rescued from Cambodia after their parents were killed and they were taken and mistreated as pets. They arrived at Chester Zoo in 2015 where they were cared for and loved and the incredible staff nursed them back to health. The two bears mated with one another and their sweet baby bear cub Kyra was born in June this year! Sun Bears are the smallest species of bear and little Kyra weighed just 400 grams at birth!

While we were at the zoo, Kyra had gotten herself stuck on one of the metal beams at the top of her enclosure. Her mum, Milli had tried to get to her but was unable to climb that high. Many visitors sat and watched the cub for hours, waiting to see if she would be able to get down…
We had been watching her for around 15 minutes when she finally managed to get herself onto a branch and make her way back to the ground! Everyone cheered for the bear cub and watched as she ran over to her mother for comfort. The two bears had such an amazing bond, they were playing with each other in such a sweet and caring way before Kyra decided she was hungry and latched onto her mother for some milk.
Watching them together was incredibly heart-warming, I just wanted to get in there and cuddle with them both! To think that these amazing creatures are endangered is just so sad… I will never understand how anyone can be cruel to animals.

When we passed by the cheetah enclosure, it took me a moment to spot him/her! The big kitty was sat amongst the trees and the foliage and blended in rather well! He/she was sat in such a proud position, watching all of the people on the bridge looking down at him/her. The incredible creature was looking right at me (probably thinking about eating me for lunch!) and I was mesmerised by his/her wide golden eyes. I have also seen big cats as such majestic animals, so beautiful, so clever, brave and strong but they also seem to have a playful side to them too! I could have stayed on that bridge watching this stunning cheetah all day long… but we had other animals to visit.

One of my favourite moments was seeing the giraffes. At first, we could not see them outside, so we headed into their indoor enclosure to see them. I was amazed at how close we were to them and although I knew they were tall animals… standing so close to them made me realise just how tall they really are! I felt about 3 inches tall… their legs alone were taller than me! I was astonished by them. They were so calm and relaxed animals, and I would absolutely love to hand feed them one day (another item from my bucket list!)

Next to the giraffe enclosure, we found okapis… for some reason, I absolutely love these animals. I don’t know when I became so fond of them, but I think they are simply adorable! To make our visit even more amazing, there was a sweet okapi calf exploring her outdoor enclosure!

The part that I was the most excited about was visiting the bat enclosure! I used to love this when I was younger and I would easily spend over an hour in there, watching the bats fly around, some of them coming so close to you that you can feel the air on your face as they swoosh past! Jacob was not 100% convinced that heading into this free-fly zone was for him… but I managed to twist his arm into coming in with me! He was a little bit jumpy, but overall I think he realised just how amazing these creatures are. I would have stayed in there all day long if I could, but there was still so much for us to see!

We headed over towards the rhino enclosure where we found a beautiful baby rhino spending time with his mum. Everyone was very quiet inside the enclosure, making sure not to frighten the youngster. I was smitten with the little guy! Jumaane was just 3-4 months old and was absolutely gorgeous. Such amazing animals. It is always nice to see how such large, intimidating and potentially dangerous animals being so tentative and caring with their babies. This is something that has always interested me… seeing how wildlife animals act with their babies, finding out how they bring up their young, learning about how they survive in the wild and realising how unbelievably clever they are, is simply amazing. Every animal is so different, yet so clever in their own individual ways and being able to see such creatures up close, is just breath-taking.

Near to the rhino’s, we spotted the meerkats! I love these little animals, they are so full of energy! Running around chasing one another climbing the rocks in their enclosure. They remind me of my youngest dachshund Lola as she is always sitting up on her back legs like a little meerkat!

The Penguins definitely made me smile during our visit! There was one little fella who was loving all of the attention from the visitors, following their hands on the glass and swimming around in front of everyone. I managed to capture a picture of him looking pretty happy in the water!

We hovered near the tiger enclosure for quite a while in the hope to see one of the beautiful majestic animals… just as I was about to walk away, one of them came out of nowhere and walked proudly across a log on the ground, right in front of the glass window! I wasn’t quite fast enough my camera and missed her/him… but it was incredible!

When we visited the lions, they were eating their lunch! We saw two females and one male, all laying down in different parts of their enclosure, enjoying their food. A cute little girl was with her dad next to us and she said ‘look daddy! There is Nala… she is eating ice cream!’ This made me laugh as if that is not my future child I do not know what is… The Lion King is and always will be my favourite Disney movie.

I could go on and on talking about all of the individual animals that we saw at the zoo but we really would be here all day! It was a lovely day out and I really enjoyed it, though I was a little disappointed that we completely forgot about all of the amazing animal talks and feeding times that we could have listened to. Although we did go on the Lazy River Boat trip around The Islands which was nice… it was a little bit chilly during our visit so we didn’t see many animals from the boat, but I am sure on a bright sunny day we would have seen more!

I was amazed by the sloths… I have always thought that sloths are just adorable! We were walking through an indoor enclosure when Jacob spotted two lazy sloths who were sitting above our heads! I never knew we could walk through the room that the sloths were in, I thought you had to look at them through glass windows, so it was a cute surprise!

Another animal which I was amazed by, was the Tree Kangaroo… This was something that I had never even heard of, let alone seen! It was one of the cutest animals that I have ever seen. It was sitting in a tree looking at all of the people through the window. I have never seen anything like it, I wanted to cuddle it, it was that cute!

At the end of our trip (we were there from 11 am until closing time at 4 pm, but could easily have stayed longer!) we headed to the gift shop to find ourselves some souvenirs. We had already purchased a penguin cup for £9 at the start of our trip, as these came with unlimited refills on any soft drink throughout the day. When we arrived at the gift shop, I picked myself a cute little sloth teddy and a polar bear bracelet. I was looking for a bear bracelet as a reminder of the adorable baby bear and her mummy, but they didn’t have any… so the polar bear was the closest alternative! Jacob picked a little sloth teddy magnet for his mini fridge in his bedroom; so we left with cute matching sloths!

Overall we had a really great day, there were lovely staff members on hand giving information about the animals and making everyone feel welcome, and the animals were incredible!

I just want to say a huge thank you to all of the amazing members of staff at Chester Zoo who work so hard to make sure that all of the animals are well cared for and well looked after, all of you make such a huge difference to the lives of these amazing creatures and should be so proud of all that you do. Visitors can see just how passionate each member of staff is towards the animals and it is really heart-warming to see. So thank you for saving many endangered animals, for trying to keep so many species alive and showing so much love and kindness. You are all wonderful people.

Things That I Am Looking Forward To!

Posted on October 27, 2018October 26, 2018 by SeeTheUniverse_

There are actually quite a lot of things that I have to look forward to when I really stop to think about it!

We have Halloween around the corner… Me and Jacob have been doing Sober For October, raising money for the incredible Macmillan Cancer Support Charity (you can donate here!), so we are looking forward to going out on Friday 2nd November for our Halloween night out! I am excited to try out Halloween makeup ideas and deciding how to wear my costume on the night.

Then we have Bonfire Night coming up! I am hoping to find a good firework display nearby for me and Jacob to go to, something fun and different compared to setting off our own fireworks in the garden.

I am super excited to start Christmas shopping too. I know a lot of people hate the mad rush in the shops around Christmas time but I really love it! I love all the little Christmas markets, the smell of mulled wine and fresh doughnuts filling the air and I love picking out presents for people! Christmas is so magical and lovely, I can’t wait to start my Blogmas posts!

Heading into 2019 I have 2 weeks off of work in the January and 1 week off in March after my birthday, so I am hoping to book a hotel for one of the weekends that I am off, somewhere different for us to explore and enjoy. Me and Jake have not had a weekend away together, just the two of us, for a long time, so it will be nice to do something nice together. I love going to new places, especially cute little towns and villages that have unique little shops to mooch around in.

I am also looking forward to our holiday to Greece in June! The hotel we are staying at looks lovely and the thought of sipping cocktails on the beach in the sun with the man I love is simply perfect. It is not just the two of going away either… we will be with Jacobs family, it will have been 2 years since we went abroad together as a group, so I am sure it will be really fun and enjoyable for everyone! We are all putting £1 a week into a tin so that we have a group fund to pay for a day trip of some sort while we are over there… so it will be exciting to see how much we have saved, then we can sit down and decide what kind of trip or activity we all want to do together!

This is a short post but a positive one! I would love to know what you are looking forward to, so leave a comment below!

Evaluate Your Life Day

Posted on October 19, 2018October 21, 2018 by SeeTheUniverse_

This is going to be a personal one!

I don’t quite know where to start with this one… my life is a complicated one. People who look at it from the outside think it is a good, happy life… I mean I recently graduated university and have my future all planned out, what else could I want right?

But that is not the case.

Yes, I graduated, but I was 2 marks off of a 2:1 and most companies that I would like to work for and training programmes I want to apply for require 2:1 or above… which is ridiculous. Those of you who know me will know that I want to go into mental health social work, helping people in various situations and supporting them to get back on their feet as well as looking to see if there are any other factors within their lives that I can change in order to better their mental health. Social work would be a tough job, with each case being unique but it will be such a rewarding job, being able to be a part of turning people’s lives around for the better. I know that not all cases will end in a positive way, but you have to take the good with the bad no matter what job you are in. If I do not get into social work, I would love to go into teaching. Teaching primary school children would be a really lovely and rewarding job to do, I love children and being a part of their development and growth would be amazing.

I am currently applying for a programme called Think Ahead, which specialises in Mental Health Social Work training. I am trying so hard not to get my hopes up… but it is something that I would really like to do and it would be a huge step towards my dream job!

If I do get through the application process and I am offered a place, I would start my training in July 2019 and I would need to be driving by the time training begins, so I am also currently revising for my upcoming theory test! Once I have my theory test out of the way I am hoping to start driving lessons again, fingers crossed things go to plan.

Enough of talking about my career based goals! What about the other aspects of my life?

When I look back on my life so far, overall, it is a good life. I was lucky enough to go to university, and come out with a Bachelors Degree! I have been on lots of incredible holidays with family, friends and my partner, I have made lots of wonderful memories and have achieved a lot personally too!

I have a good, supportive family, a small circle of close friends, adorable pets, and in general, I am in good health too! I have a lot of things to be grateful for, which I often forget about!

My boyfriend is also very supportive of me, looking after me when I have bad days and always being there for me to lean on. We have been together for 7 and a half years now and I look forward to seeing what our future holds.

We all have bad days… but that does not necessarily mean that we have bad lives.

I plan on applying for more jobs in the area that I wish to work in, I plan to continue my blog even when I eventually go into full-time work, I plan on settling down, getting my own house and building a life of my own… but I do not have a set timeline right now. I believe that things will happen when they are meant to happen… yes you still have to put the effort in and work towards what you want, but try not to put a time frame on things, as if for some reason after 3-5 years you are not where you originally planned to be, you will be disappointed and it will set you back and break down your hope! Circumstances change on a daily basis, different things happen when you least expect them, but that does not mean that you are not still heading in the right direction.

I know what direction that I want my life to go in and I plan on working hard to reach my destination… but I cannot put a time and date on when I will get there and that is okay!

What are you working towards? What do you love about your life and what changes are you hoping to make? Let us know in the comments below.