It's CHRISTMAS!!!

Okay it isn't just yet but it will be in 55 minutes time (when I wrote this).

I don't seem to actually be that excited this year, I know! What's wrong with me!? But I'm wide awake so maybe that's a sign that I am excited... without actually knowing that I'm excited. Well it makes sense to me!

Christmas is a wonderful time for everyone. People seem to be just a little bit kinder to others and I don't know about you lot but I've had quite a lot of strangers wishing me a happy/merry Christmas, I mean how nice is that! and everyone's more hopeful as well- 'it's Christmas! Anything could happen!' It's amazing how powerful Christmas is.

On Thursday (22nd) our village took part in some carol singing. We've got 2 main churches in Pilsley, Bridget Street (my church) and St.Mary's. Both churches decided to get together on this evening and do some carol singing together, inviting anyone from the village to come along as well and join in. The amount of people who turned up was incredible and just the whole experience was incredible as well. The clouds even disappeared, revealing a beautiful starry night sky while we were all singing. Everyone brought along a torch or a lantern to read the carol sheets with, the whole thing looked like something you'd get on a Christmas card. Okay, maybe not quite but if we'd arranged it like you'd see on a Christmas card- tallest at the back, smallest at the front- then sure! It wasn't too cold either! Only the spirit of Christmas could do something like that; bring the village together in one place all singing as one- perfect.

All you have to do is look around you and you can see the effects the holiday has on people. There are Christmas lights in streets, Christmas trees EVERYWHERE! Presents, Santa's, reindeer... all of the things you associate with Christmas and of course we've all gotten to the stage now that we're all begging for it to snow tomorrow (it's not going to happen) but again, the power of Christmas, we believe that miracles can happen and never mind what the weather man/woman tells us, we believe it will snow tomorrow!!

The feeling of Christmas never leaves us no matter how old we get. In 30 years time we'll all wake up tomorrow with the same nerves and excitement that we got when we were 7 years old, wondering what gifts Santa will bring us. And the pure love and enjoyment we always get from spending Christmas with friends and family- it'll never fade.

Now some people think that Christmas is the worst time of year, full of gluttony, greed and selfishness and has become a time when all we think about are the presents, the food and the decorations. I disagree, of course there are elements of this that stare us straight in the face, there's really no denying it but also what's staring us straight in the face is the love and the spirit of giving.

This year ITV have started the Text Santa appeal where people just text in either SANTA1, SANTA5 or SANTA10 to donate £1, £5 or £10. Easy peasy stuff, as long as you know how to use a mobile phone of course! They've teamed up with 9 charities all over the country to try and make sure that EVERYONE will have a good Christmas this year.

I've also took part in the Shoebox appeal this year run by the Samaritan's purse every year, collecting shoe boxes from people all over the country, filled with toys and gifts which they then send out to children in poorer parts of the world. Just two examples of things we're doing as a country to help out each other and other parts of the world, making sure that it's a special time for everyone.

Two thousand years on and we're still celebrating the birth of Jesus! Another example of how powerful Christmas is. Yes, there are people who celebrate Christmas for the wrong reasons but whether people believe in God or not, the love is still clearly shown at Christmas time between family and friends, and even kindness is shown between strangers. The birth of Jesus has brought us all together whether we want to believe it or not. Things and people change for the better at Christmas, now you have to believe that something more powerful than just us celebrating the holiday has had an effect on us! Or not... it's just something to think about :)

So readers, family and friends... whoever's reading this! I wish you all a wonderful Christmas. May it be filled with love and joy and I hope that Santa brings you all that you wanted and more. Have fun, relax and enjoy this special day! :) xx

Affirmation

Some of you may remember this song by a fairly popular Australian band from the 90's- Savage Garden. I was just listening to this song and I realised that I agree with everything that these lyrics say so I thought I'd share them :)

I believe the sun should never set upon an argument

I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands

I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you

I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do

I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem

I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned

I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality

I believe that trust is more important than monogamy

I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul

I believe that family is worth more than money or gold

I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair

I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe forgiveness is the key to your unhappiness

I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed

I believe that God does not endorse TV evangelists

I believe in love surviving death into eternity

Couldn't agree more!! :)

To Do list for 2012

Just thought I'd share with you guys a few odd little things I want to do next year! I'll update it as I think of things. And! you could even suggest things that I do, but I'll only do the ones I like the sound of! Nothing over the top please readers!!

So here we go! :)

- Sit in a coffee shop, preferably drinking tea though, reading a book by the window looking out into the street. ... DONE! :) 

- Same as above but instead of reading, I'll do some writing :) ... hasn't happened

- Lay under the stars with someone who I enjoy the company of ... didn't quite lie down under the stars with someone but we sat in the garden about an hour looking up at them. I think that counts so I'm gonna check that one off! 

- Sing in front of a crowd again! I miss singing!! ... hasn't happened, probably won't in a long time...

- Write a book!!!!! (I must get this done!) ... Erm, I've got to chapter 2? 

-Write a script ... DONE! :) 

-Go somewhere I haven't been before, preferably somewhere pretty and enjoyable not just somewhere new, that's boring... DONE! :) 

- Make a full meal successfully without supervision!!! ... Hmm, not that I can remember... 

- Keep a journal going for the whole year (... instead of stopping half way through the year and not being bothered to continue it further like this year! :/) ... Maybe next year? 

-Watch a sunrise... DONE! :)

... and I can't think of any more at the moment but yeah, as I said, feel free to give me some ideas please readers! and I'll update it as I go :) xx

Okay, so I didn't add any more to the list cause I kinda forgot about it and I only managed to do 5 out of those 10 things this year. I know... I'm crap. But at least I did some of them! That's better than none at all right? And I know that the year isn't finished just yet but I don't think I've got time to write a whole novel or start a journal that I was supposed to start in January. I don't want to make a meal successfully without supervision... that can wait till next year as well. And yeah, the singing isn't going to happen this year either.
I may do another list... I may not, we'll see. I haven't been very inspiring with this have I? I'm sure my other writing will make up for it. Sorry people! :/ xx

Life's Little Instructions

Found this on Tumblr and I loved it! :) It was given to someone by a 95 year old man called William Snell and I now challenge my readers to do every single thing on that list! I will also do every single thing on the list as well because it'll make our lives that extra bit better :)

1. Sing in the shower

2. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated

3. Watch a sunrise at least once a year

4. Never refuse homemade brownies

5. Strive for excellence, not perfection

6. Plant a tree on your birthday

7. Learn three clean jokes 

8. Return borrowed vehicles with the petrol tank full

9. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them 

10. Leave everything a little better than you found it 

11. Keep it simple

12. Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures

13. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know

14. Be forgiving on yourself and others

15. Say 'thank you' a lot

16. Say 'please' a lot

17. Avoid negative people

18. Wear polished shoes

19. Remember other people's birthdays

20. Commit yourself to constant improvement

21. Have a firm handshake

22. Send lots of valentine cards, sign them

23 Look people in the eye

24. Be the first to say 'hello'

25. Return all things you borrow

26. Make new friends but cherish the old ones

27. Keep secrets

28. Plant flowers every spring

29. A. Have a dog

29. B. Have a cat

30. Always accept an outstretched hand

31. Stop blaming others

32. Take responsibility for every area of your life

32. Wave at kids on school buses

33. Be there when people need you

34. Don't expect life to be fair

35. Never underestimate the power of love

36. Drink champagne for no reason at all

37. Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation

38. Don't be afraid to say 'i made a mistake'

39. Don't be afraid to say 'i don't know'

40. Compliment even small improvements

41. Keep your promises no matter what

42. Marry only for love

43. Rekindle old friendships

44. Count your blessings

45. Call your mother

46. and your dad too, if they happen to be alive

And that's all that's on the list... If anyone thinks of some more, let me know and I'll add them! Remember, live life to the full, don't dwell on mistakes of the past, live for the future and achieve your dreams :) xx

One for the single ladies

I'm reading a book at the moment (shock!) called 'He's just not that into you'. Yes I have written a piece on the subject before and you may have heard of the film.

It's got me thinking about guys and girls.

Girls, we're taught throughout our life that a guy will come along, sweep us off our feet and we'll live happily ever after. Books, films, programmes even friends and family tell us stories about those guys but it rarely happens in reality.

What we want is a guy that will treat us how we want to be treated, buy us gifts just cause he felt like it, go on romantic holidays, take us out to nice places, love us, care for us, trust us, talk to us and want to be seen with us.

We don't want to settle for less than that... we want him!

What we want to know is do guys like that exist? I'm not trying to scare any of you by saying that guys like this don't exist, it's just hard trying to find them! I don't want you looking at books and magazines for help because they might sound like they know what they're talking about, actually they do know what they're talking about but stuff like that will only scare you and make you feel crap. They'll tell you about how to meet the perfect guy, how you know when you've found him and how to live happily ever after. Articles and books like that will only bring you down. You'll listen to them and take in their advice and then when you go out and test it and it doesn't work, you'll come home thinking you're gonna end up like that crazy lady across the road with 10+ cats. Or maybe you'll think you'll end up like Miss Havisham and lock yourself in a room full of stuff you were going to have at your wedding and constantly stay in your would have been wedding dress.

Ladies, ladies, ladies. How pathetic can we get?

Young girls these days... as young as 10 maybe even younger, will complain about not having a boyfriend! My friends are always on about how they haven't got a boyfriend like it's the end of the world. Unless you're over 40 and you're still single then what are you worrying about??

I get that you want to be loved and want to belong to someone and have someone to call your own but seriously, there's no rush. You don't have to lock yourself in your room crying thinking your life is over because you don't have a guy.

Please, because you feel lonely, don't go out and settle for less than you deserve! I know, it's hard feeling lonely, it feels horrible but you're not lonely remember... you do have mates and family! I know I've said that it's rare that you'll find a guy who'll treat you the way you should be treated but it will happen. There is someone out there for all of us... that's why there's so many people in the world!

Don't wait for that guy though and don't go out and search till you reach the ends of the Earth... it will happen on it's own. He might be right in front of your eyes and you didn't realise. You might be out for a walk one day and he comes round the corner and bumps into you. You might meet him while you're out shopping. The list is endless! Go out and have fun! Sure you might end up having a few relationships before you get to him but that's part of life, we all go through that.

One more thing, don't make a list of all the things you want in a guy because you'll never find a guy who fits all those things... you won't even find a human being that will fit every thing on your check list. It's not fair on the guys either. No guy will want to be analysed and want to tick off everything on your check list, it'll make him feel crap.

The same goes for all the men in the films and books. Because of all those fictional, handsome, brave, strong men (did I mention fictional?) women now have expectations of what men should be like... stereotypes if you will. If they don't walk, talk, look like the guys we fantasise about, we become disappointed and realise that we'll never find our Prince Charming. How do you think guys feel about that when we tell them 'I'm sorry but you're just not what I'm looking for.' If you act and think like that, you won't find what you're looking for!

You'll get some guys out there who will treat you like a princess but no, you won't want him because he doesn't look like Bradley Cooper or Gerard Butler (or whoever!) or doesn't act like... Romeo!

Leave the Prince Charmings and Romeos in the books and films. Find your own guy. Don't make check lists, don't settle for less than you deserve and just go out and have fun. You only get one life remember, you're not a cat (even though I'm pretty sure cats probably don't have 9 lives!) so live it! Don't spend the majority of your life searching for 'him' or sat being miserable in your bedroom wishing you were with 'him'.

Oh and remember, you're amazing, you're beautiful, you're one in a million any guy would be lucky to be with you and you deserve to be happy and live a fantastic life. Don't tell yourself any different and don't let anyone tell you different either! :)

One for the book lovers

Hey guys and gals!

You all probably know how much I love books- so much so, that I ran upstairs the other day when I remembered that I'd left my skylight (window) open and it had been raining. My bookcase is under the skylight!! Luckily my books were unharmed :) - So I thought I'd talk about my love for books!

So far this year I've read 5 books and I'm on my 6th. That's quite good for me! I take forever to read books, and I mean forever! The quickest I've read a book was in a week I think... Although! I'm doing pretty well with the one I'm on at the moment. Started it Sunday and I've read 353 pages out of 564 which is quite good... 353 pages in 3 days!

Anyway! My obsession with books started in January. I don't actually know what brought it on but since then I've had to physically stop myself from buying books! I even had to give my mum my bank card to stop me! The thing is... if I like an author then I'll end up buying the rest of their books. Take Cecelia Ahern, I read 'P.S I love you' last year and I loved it... I now have 6 of her books and I'm now waiting until the time when I can buy the rest of hers! She's amazing! Incredible, fantastic, wonderful, fabulous writer! She gets me hooked from the start of every book. I've got to say though, I loved the meaning behind 'The Gift' but I wasn't a fan... didn't really get into that one, but the others!! Just, wow. She's the Queen of modern day fairytale. I don't like romantic crap and with Ahern's books, yes okay there is some love in there but most of the time it's about a fantastic journey that the character, or characters go on. She's really unique. Just promise me you'll go out and buy (or borrow from a library) at least one of her books, I probably recommend 'The book of tomorrow' or 'Thanks for the memories'.

I'm really going off topic here and babbling on aren't I? But isn't that what I do best? and why people keep reading my blogs! I've got 700 and something hits, some people must like me!

So, to the point! I love books because they take you to a whole other world. You go places, see things in your head and meet people and get to know all about them and experience their adventure with them.

With days like I've had today, it's nice to escape from reality and just go off somewhere on my own and listen to someone else's life story (fictional life story). When I read, I'm really in the zone. Everything around me gets blocked out and it's the greatest feeling ever. I could just read forever, but I'm human so I can't... I have needs and of course a life. (Yes! I do have a life!!).

You know when people say that a good book draws you in and you can get lost in books. They're completely right. Obviously not in the physical sense but definitely mentally. You do lose track of time and you even put other things on hold just to get to the end of the chapter or the page.

'I just need to finish this chapter and then I'll do it!'

'Can I just get to the end of the page first?'

You know when you come across a successful author when they really have you hooked. Sometimes I get that into a book that I just have to read and read to find out what happens and I have to have something really important to do (like eat!) in order for me to stop. Leave me alone in a room with a book and I'll stay there for the day. I have been stuck at home all day today and I've just literally sat on my bed and read nearly all day because I was too ill to do anything else. Escaping to 'book world' today has been just what I needed. Put all my feelings and troubles aside and focused on the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the book.

Coming back to reality is tough sometimes but obviously no-one can sit and read forever. We each have our own book that we live out everyday. Yes, most of the time it is nothing like the books that we read but it's a completely different story altogether. No-one can make up the things that happen in our lives. Life is unpredictable, wonderful, tough, beautiful, stressful, filled with love, drama, sadness, happiness and of course the list goes on.

Reading isn't a waste of time. You learn life skills, they sometimes help you make your own decisions, you can learn a heck of a lot from books! Fictional or non fictional.

My challenge for those of you who don't read is to give it a go. You might say that you don't like reading, it's boring etc etc but give it a go! Borrow or buy a book that you've always thought 'That looks cool/interesting' and read it!!! There are so many books out there, there's literally one for everyone. Give it a go, you only live once and you might even learn something new :)

The Royal Wedding

So, today Kate Middleton and Prince William got married... which you all know!

Of course this then gave the country the excuse to hang out with family and friends, get drunk and just have a good time while celebrating their special day. I don't like being too soppy but! It was truly a fairytale wedding: a horse and carriage taking the newly weds to Buckingham palace, the big church (massive church!!), GORGEOUS white wedding dress, parades, crowds all wishing the best for the bride and groom, a stunning princess, fairly handsome prince (prefer Harry!) and just an atmosphere full of happiness and joy.

The whole event was covered from about 8 in the morning till about 3ish? in the afternoon... something like that. We got all the celebrities turning up; Elton John and his husband? Posh and Becks etc. All the Royals, family and friends. Something like 1 million people turned up to wave, cheer and give their wishes to the Prince and (now) Princess. Billions of people watched it worldwide. It was big!

The church was lined inside, yep inside with trees which I thought was really cool, they wanted to be environment friendly and not have fake flowers. It looked awesome!

After waiting- ages- for the Bride to appear and make her grand entrance, she made her way gracefully down the aisle. Harry had a sneaky look over his shoulder and then made a comment to Will. They both giggled so some of us reckon he'd said something like 'She looks well fit!' haha. Then when Kate finally reached Will, he glanced at her, said she looked lovely, looked at her again and said that she looked beautiful. And it began. The ceremony was long and fairly boring but so are most marriage ceremonies to be honest... even Kate and Will looked a little bored! They said their vows, there was a sermon, there were hymns, you know.. all the usual.

There were only a few little things that went wrong... that I noticed anyway. Will couldn't get Kate's ring on and Kate had a little stumble but it's okay! she didn't fall over, it was only a tiny stumble, probably over her dress. That was all though in the ceremony :)

They signed the register, made it official! And off they went to Buckingham Palace. Wasn't quite that simple though, it took them about an hour! Well, Rome wasn't built in a day! These things take time, they had to slowly make their way outside, do lots of waving, get into the carriage, do A LOT more waving while they made their way to the Palace and then we had to wait for them to come out onto the balcony.

The scene on the balcony gave us the hint that their marriage was a good idea and that it will last. They came out, Kate said 'Oh, wow!' as the thousands of people below them outside the main gates cheered and screamed for them. Will then replied 'You'll be okay' - Int that sweet! Looking after her already :) They then had not just one, but two kisses on the balcony! and of course smiled after both and carried on doing a lot of smiling and waving before going back in.

THEN! They surprised us all by coming out in Charles' Aston Martin Volante V8 looking very cool and of course looking happy and quite chuffed with the idea I think. And that was that!

So, all in all, it's been a fantastic day and fantastic wedding. People all over the world got together to celebrate Will and Kate's big day and I reckon we all had a great time with family, friends, neighbours, maybe some people even celebrated with some people they didn't know and made some friends today, who knows. The event brought us all together as a country and today I felt very proud to be British. Just seeing everyone celebrating, smiling and happy all thanks to our Royals' big day, just makes you realise how civilised and simply how amazing we are as a country. Yeah okay, there were probably some idiots in our country that wanted to spoil the day, maybe even did spoil the day but I haven't heard any stories yet so that's irrelevant! Even just looking at how controlled the crowd were around Buckingham Palace while Kate and Will were up on the balcony-everyone behaved themselves as far as we know and could see, and they all paraded to the Palace in an orderly fashion... no-one attempted to cross the barriers or barge past the police, it was great! It's times like that when you realise that people do have respect for others, it's not a thing of the past and that we all can get along as a country. Whenever you think of big events, you immediately think of the people who are going to spoil it, cause a riot, protest etc. Today showed that that sort of thing doesn't always happen and that Britain can actually go through a major event without ... hiccups.

As for the people who didn't watch it because of various silly reasons 'Too boring' 'Can't be bothered with it!' 'Royal wedding? Pfft who cares!' ... you lot REALLY missed out. Not only did you miss the amazing stuff like Kate and Will riding off to Clarence house in Charles' Aston Martin, the smiles, the look on Will's face when he saw Kate, the mimed words of love and excitement... all sorts! but you missed all the other things like Will not being able to get Kate's ring on, Kate's tiny stumble while entering the church, Posh dressed like she was going to a funeral, the bow/flower hat that looked like a wine rack (can't remember who wore it!) and the bridesmaid up on the balcony with Kate and Will with her hands covering her ears because of the noise! But that's what makes a wedding a wedding. You have to have the little mistakes... the cough when you get to the objections bit, the embarrassing drunk relatives at the reception, the best man slightly messing up his speech etc and then you have the magic moments, the moment when the groom sees his bride coming down the aisle, the moment when their eyes meet when she reaches him at the alter and of course the groom's speech about his amazing and stunning bride. You have to have the good and the bad moments in a wedding because that's what makes them so special and memorable. But yeah, if you missed it because of the reasons listed above or something similar then it's your loss but don't go on about how you didn't watch it because it's not cool and we don't care :)

That's all :) Hope you all had an amazing day and of course congratulations to Prince Will and Princess Kate and I wish you all the best for the future :) x

Christmas DAY in Dubai (day 5)

25^th December 2009

When I woke up that morning it really didn’t feel like Christmas day. It wasn’t a sad feeling though... how could I be sad in Dubai! I just woke up normally about 10am and to be honest with you, I’d actually forgotten that it was Christmas day! 

I got dressed and went downstairs, said the usual Christmas greetings to the family and then Uncle Matt picked us up to go to his villa. How strange that day felt, you’ll find out why. 

We arrived at Uncle’s villa, again said our Christmas greetings to the rest of the family, had some breakfast and then... went to the pool! On Christmas day! Had a swim, had a sun bathe and then went back for Christmas dinner. 

We all sat outside at the table, said our thank you’s to Uncle Matt for making this all possible and tucked in. We had the traditional Christmas meal of turkey which Uncle Matt had collected from the Marriot hotel earlier that morning (which we later on found out had only been half cooked! But we ate the cooked part don’t worry), Yorkshires were included, and all the usual veg. The only difference was that we were sat out in the sun eating it instead of being stuck inside the dining room with freezing temperatures outside. It was like a parallel universe! When you think of Christmas you picture snow, ice and cold weather, living rooms full of presents and decorations, everyone all snuggled up inside because of the winter temperatures. Our Christmas that year was completely different. Roast dinner outside in the gorgeous weather and temperatures of about 25 degrees (maybe more), Christmas decorations in an air conditioned villa it was just so... strange! But incredible at the same time because it was just so different from our traditional Christmas back home. 

You wouldn’t even think about going swimming first thing on Christmas morning or sitting outside eating Christmas dinner in England in December unless you’re insane of course. 

After dinner we all just chilled out, went on the Xbox and played Lips, sat out in the sun... whatever we wanted really. 

Before food in the evening, it was presents time. We’d said we weren’t going to buy each other gifts, spend the money on ourselves while we were there instead. We’d all bought Uncle Matt something though, it was the least we could do after him paying to fly us all out there. We hadn’t expected him to buy us all presents as well but of course, he did! And what amazing presents they were.

Kelly, being a journalist had to follow

Paris Hilton around, assist her I think, when she was in Dubai and as a thank you Paris gave Kelly one of her handbags that she’d designed, along with other things but the handbag is the important thing because guess who Kelly decided to give the handbag to? ME! It’s stunning, seriously. It’s a snake skin pattern in pinks and oranges all mixed together. I’ll see if I can add an image to the post. It came with a note; this is what it said;

Kelly,

Thank you for your coverage of our event. Please accept this gift on behalf of Paris Hilton handbags and accessories and celebrity events. We look forward to working with you on future events.

Sarah something ... I can’t read the signature!

Big thanks to Kelly though! It’s the best Christmas present I’ve ever received. It’s simply gorgeous! Along with that from Uncle Matt and Kelly I got some sweets, Tinkerbell badges, a Tinkerbell hair bobble, some Virgin body glitter and some other stuff that I can’t remember unfortunately. But thank you Uncle Matt and Kelly! 

When we’d finished off the presents it was time to eat again. That’s when we realised that the turkey wasn’t cooked because we were going to have some of it cold, but found that it was a bit bloody which meant it hadn’t been cooked. Apparently Uncle Matt was supposed to cook the rest when he got home with it but he wasn’t told. 

We had chocolate fondue with our food, yum! And I got it everywhere; there are pictures of me with it down my chin... oops! 

After our food we played Lips some more and then it was time to head back to our own villas. What an amazing Christmas! One that I will never forget J

Christmas in Dubai- Day 4

24^th of December 2009

Right, I’ve only done part of the day for this so I’m going to have to try and remember the rest! I did a few diary entries while I was there, on my phone so that’s how I’ve been able to remember so here goes!

We went to Ski Dubai! It was awesome, seriously. A MASSIVE room covered in snow (real snow!) and ice (real ice!) with a 60 metre high mountain with 5 slopes, a quad lift and a tow lift to carry the skiers up the mountain and a Snow Park play area with Toboggan run, icy body slide, climbing towers, a snowball shooting gallery, an ice cave and a 3D theatre. 

Auntie Claire dragged me on the Toboggan run; I was scared at first but then when the guy pushed me down, I pretty much screamed all the way. Got to the bottom, stood up and moved out the way of the run, looked over at Auntie Claire and went ‘Let’s do it again!!’ Yeah, I liked it that much! I love it when Auntie Claire makes me do stuff cause 99% of the time, I end up really enjoying myself! You’ll find that out later as well! It happened several times on that trip! 

So, after going on the Toboggan run a few times (3!) she dragged me onto this huge slope that you had to go down in a rubber ring that had a hard bottom so that it could slide down the slope nice and easily. I went on the lower level at first, screamed all the way down as the guy spun me down! And then Auntie made me go up to the top level. I was crapping myself but of course, I loved it when I got down! It was such a rush! No I haven’t turned into an adrenaline junky since then. Mum had a go as well and no word of a lie, she sounded like she was being murdered when it was her turn to go down the slope. You know that blood curdling scream that you get on films? I swear that’s mum’s scream! 

Let’s go back to actually going into Ski Dubai. We got kitted out with the suits, boots and gloves and then went in. It was like stepping into a freezer! No joke, I felt like I was a tub of ice cream being put away ready for a hot day. 

As I said, it was real snow and real ice can you believe it! In the middle of Dubai! Inside was temperatures of about -1 degrees, outside it was about 30! Insane. It really did feel like Christmas being in there though. There were reindeers (not real) snowmen, igloos, Christmas trees and of course it was actually snowing. Snowing? Indoors? Who’d of thought it! It was incredible. I had so much fun and felt like a little kid again for the second time on this trip. It seemed that everywhere I went in Dubai, something amazing caught my eye and I was stuck in a trance wondering how on Earth it was possible that I was in Saudi Arabia in one of the most amazing cities on Earth.

Right, now I’ve got to try and remember the rest of the trip from memory!

We had a look around the mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai is situated and guess what; there was another big toy store! They had massive stuffed animals which were the size of the real animal; giraffes, horses, a mammoth, hippos, all sorts! 

We went back to our own villas for the rest of the afternoon and had some food. I watched Yes man in Kelly’s room and then Uncle Matt, Uncle Bri and Grandpa picked us up to go to the Ibn Batutta Mall where we were going to see Avatar. I was so excited! We were going to see it in IMAX as well! We got there, Uncle went to sort the tickets out, found out that there had been a mix up with the tickets and the IMAX showings were sold out so we had to see it in 3D at 9.00pm. I wasn’t too fussed though because at least we were seeing it in 3D! 

We had about 2 hours to kill so we went for a wander around the mall. It was amazing. Only a small mall but it was still cool. In the main area when you first walk in there was a huge model of Big Ben and a Chinese boat was behind. The boat was life-size but Big Ben had obviously been scaled down a bit but it was still huge! The whole mall was decorated in incredibly detailed Chinese patterns. The ceiling was completely covered, it was so beautiful! Around Big Ben and the Chinese ship was a sort of moat... well, they were surrounded by water. There was a stage in front of Big Ben where later on some English people performed. They did ‘come what may’ from Moulin Rouge which is one of my favourite songs! They were all dressed in old English clothes; the women wore big beautiful dresses and the men wore top hats and suits. 

There was a kind of market area as you walked into this main room. When looking at the stalls it was like you were walking through a market in the street. They had a ‘stone’ (that looked like stone I mean but wasn’t) arch as you entered into the ‘Market area’ that read ‘Covent garden market.’ I think they had some sort of English theme going off that day. There were very pretty things on the market; jewellery, gorgeous embroidered dresses and skirts, all sorts of beautiful things. I wanted them all! 

Because my feet had been hurting me in the shoes I brought with me and that the only other shoes I had were trainers, Mum bought me some toe posts from a shoe shop in the mall. They’re chocolate brown with gold patterns on the soul. 

After wandering around killing time, it was time to go to the cinema! We got some chocolate, popcorn and drinks and then went in. It was my first time seeing something in 3D so of course when it started, I had to take my glasses off and see what the difference was (I think everyone’s done that before!). It was amazing. Not only the fact that it was in 3D but the film itself! People will be talking about Avatar for years to come, there’s no doubt. The most awesome thing about it all was that I was seeing Avatar, in 3D, in Dubai on Christmas Eve and actually, when we came out of the cinema at the end, it was Christmas day because it was just past midnight. Now, not many people can tell you that. 

After the film, we headed back to the villas and went to bed.

Christmas in Dubai- Day 3

23^rd of December 2009

Mum woke me up but, as usual when I’m tired I kind of fell asleep again. Probably about 20 minutes later she came back in again to tell me that Kelly would be there in about an hour so I better get my ass out of bed. 

I had a shower and got myself ready, then went downstairs to wait for Kelly. When she arrived, me, mum and Ryan got into her car and we set off. The girls were off to get a pedicure and manicure; our Christmas present from Kelly, and the lads were going to the beach to do some kayaking. 

We walked into the salon and picked what colour nail vanish we wanted for our toes and fingers. Once we’d chosen, we were shown to a seat and I was given some headphones to listen to Friends which was on the TV opposite me. A woman then came over to me and put my feet in a bowl of soapy warm water. During the manicure and pedicure, she cleaned all my nails, cut my cuticles, filed my nails and of course painted them. I went with a dark, golden brown colour for my toes and a really light pink for my fingers. I was very pleased with the outcome, they all looked great. 

After our nails were all done and dried, we went down to the beach to meet up with the guys. We stayed there until about 4ish, playing and swimming in the sea, sun bathing in the hot sun and playing in sand. The beach was one that you picture when you think of paradise. It was perfect; warm, clear blue sea with fish swimming around (that freaked me out a bit!), soft, glistening, white sand... okay, minus the palm trees though because there weren’t any of them. It was a beautiful image that was actually reality. 

We left the beach and went back to our villas for the rest of the day. I watched The wedding planner in my room; I know what you’re thinking (if you know me well enough anyway) ‘you watch films tucked up in bed at home! You were in Dubai, why weren’t you outside sunbathing!?’ My answer to that is, I don’t know, I just felt like taking some time out from the dream world and visiting life again, tucked up in bed watching a film. It was a little different though besides the fact I was in Dubai, I had the air con on as well! 

When the film finished, I went over to the shop with mum and dad. We had our dinner when we got back; Beef flavoured pot noodle for me, and then I watched the Disney Channel for a bit before going to bed... why not eh! And that was day 3 J

Christmas in Dubai- Day 2

22^nd of December 2009

I was woken up that morning by mum poking me in the face, how kind of her. About 2 seconds after, the doorbell rang and Uncle Matt had come to fetch us so I quickly got changed, grabbed my things and went out to his car. 

Mum and dad took the Ford Explorer that belonged to Cath and Scott (don’t worry, they let us borrow it) and me and Ryan went with Uncle Matt. Mum and dad got lost on the way to Uncle’s villa and went in a completely different direction to us. They were supposed to be following us but Dad followed the wrong car. We all made it to the villa in the end though but Dad got there with a headache because of getting stressed out. 

We had some breakfast and then changed into our swim wear to go to the pool across the road from Uncle’s villa. It was a community pool but there weren’t many people there, one or two, so it was nice. The water was freezing at first but after a while you get used to it and the temperature was just right. The weather was gorgeous, not too hot but a nice warm temperature, and of course when you looked up to the sky it was a lovely blue and not a cloud in sight. 

After our swim and sun bathe, we went back to Uncle’s villa, discussed our plans for the next 8 days and had some lunch. We finished eating and got into the cars to go to Dubai mall. The traffic was awful but at least we got to see Dubai instead of a blurry image as the car rushed past the scenery. 

Dubai is just one huge building site. There were and still are so many buildings and villas being built just in the middle of the desert. It all looked a mess but all the buildings were magnificent. None of them were the same and the sky scrapers really did scrape the sky, they were huge! Some were amazing; some were unusual but still incredible and interesting to look at. 

We saw the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai now known as the Burj Khalifa, it was so tall! It’s 828 metres high (2,717 ft) with 163 habitable floors plus 43 maintenance floors and 2 parking levels. The cost of it is would you believe, 1.5 BILLION dollars, wow... just, wow. It was just so tall, futuristic and thin! It really was something. 

We reached the mall, parked and made our way to the shops. There were so many designer shops like Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Rolex, all the big names. I guess they don’t call Dubai one of the most expensive cities for nothing. Before we split up and went shopping, Uncle took us to the aquarium and the water falls. Yes, there was a MASSIVE indoor aquarium in the middle of the mall. People could go scuba diving in it, it was that big. You’ll have to Google it. It was amazing; there must have been hundreds of variety of fish in it. We saw Sharks, Sting Rays, Flounder fish, all sorts. It was fantastic. 

I got loads of pictures of the water falls because I just loved them. They had silver men diving down them and the falls were very tall and took up about three floors. After seeing these, we split up and went shopping. Me, mum and dad found a Nero’s and had a drink in there first and then wandered around. 

We went into Hamley’s, (I insisted. What? It’s a huge toy shop! How could I not!) It was great; it was just packed with toys! I felt like I was a little girl again and yes, I even got excited. I was mesmerised by everything I saw. Cuddlies, cars, dolls, fire engines, trucks, planes, helicopters... everything! 

When we all met up again, my feet were killing me! I had a blister on both of my little toes because of my shoes and I was in a lot of pain! I was also getting a lot of looks from passersby, they even whispered about me! I was wearing a short skirt, bare feet and a strappy top though so that might have been it because they have a rule against women showing a lot of skin don’t they... oops! It made me feel really uncomfortable though for a while but then I thought to myself, I shouldn’t let it bother me because I don’t know them, they can think what they like. 

Anyway, after meeting up with everyone we all went for some food. I had a mozzarella pizza from yep, Pizza hut. It was hot but it was nice. We finished eating and then went to see the fountain display outside the mall, stopping on our way for some ice cream. As soon as I got outside the heat really hit me. Again, it wasn’t too hot that I was sweating; it was warm, just right. 

Outside the mall we were surrounded by sky scrapers which were all lit up now just like Christmas trees. They towered over us and as I looked around, there, stood right in front of me, less than a mile away, just across the lake was the Burj Khalifa in all it’s lit up glory. It looked so high that it was surely touching the heavens. Put this on your list of things to do before you die; see Dubai at night. It’s breathtaking, it really is. 

The fountain display was amazing. So full of life, the water literally jumped around the lake, it was great to witness. 

After having watched that incredible performance, we headed back to the cars and drove back to our villas for an early night. 

I watched Marley and me when I got in, with Ryan. After watching that film, I made a promise to myself that I would never buy it because it made me sob for about half an hour, give or take a few minutes. Seriously, no film has ever made me cry like that, not even Titanic, I don’t cry at films. About 2 years later I broke that promise and bought it but we’re not going to speak of that! 

While we were watching it, Kelly came in to pack her things ready to go to England to spend Christmas with her family. She came back down and dumped a pile of her clothes on the chair opposite me and said they were for me if I wanted them. I was so happy! Kelly is really girly and stylish so I knew already that she’d given me some awesome clothes and she had. I ended up wearing most of them while I was there. I tried them on before going to bed and then went to sleep. So that was day 2 of my grand Dubai adventure!

Christmas in Dubai -Day 1

Yes I know this is a little late... I haven't found the time before now so here it is... my incredible, amazing, fantastic Dubai experience :D

21^st of December 2009

Mum got me up at 4, got everything ready to go, had breakfast and we left at 20 past 5. 

The roads were covered in ice and snow; it was finally starting to feel like Christmas. All the branches of the passing trees looked like they’d come straight off a Christmas card. We listened to Christmas songs on our way which got me in the Christmas mood. I love Christmas songs, they’re all so fun and enjoyable and the lyrics are all true, but anyways, I’m not supposed to be talking about Christmas! So, going back to our journey, it was pretty simple really, stopped at a service station on our way and had a brew and then arrived at the ‘purple parking’ at around half 10. 

We had to wait for the rest of the family to turn up before we could go to the airport so we waited in the car, well I did, Mum, Dad and Ryan decided to look out for Uncle Bri’s car. There was no way I was going out there! It was snowing and sleeting (if that’s a word) and it was so cold that my toes felt like they were going to drop off! I’m not exaggerating. 

When the rest of the family arrived, we exchanged the usual kiss on the cheek as we tend to do when greeting each other and then we got our stuff together and headed for the mini bus that was to take us to Heathrow airport. We put our cases in the trailer and we were off!

The journey to the airport wasn’t too long. We arrived, got our cases from the trailer and headed into terminal 4. I’d never been in an airport before so I was pretty excited at this stage. We went straight to check in and said our goodbyes to our luggage. We had something to eat and went off to departure. Typical me, I bleeped when I went through security so I had to be touched up by a random woman but I got let through anyway thankfully. Looking back, I had some money in my pocket so I think it was probably that. I felt relieved when I realised that we were in! All we had to do then was to do what we English fold do best... wait. 

Our gate was to open at 1 so we wandered the shops for half an hour. Finally after having bought some water and fruity polos for the journey and waiting an extra five more minutes for our gate to open, we headed for gate 10. Once again we had to wait, but that wasn’t for too long and then we were allowed to get on our plane. The seats weren’t exactly spacious so I wasn’t completely comfortable but I made the most of what space I had. 

There a couple of announcements while the place got to the runaway and then with a few big bounces as we took off, we were in the air, flying! It felt amazing, so amazing that I even cried. Don’t pull that face! I had never been in a plane before; it was just the knowing that I was finally in the air. I caught a glimpse out of Grandma’s window of the Earth below us. All the snow, the houses, the fields! It was all breathtaking. I still can’t believe I cried but I supposed I’m a sucker for something beautiful and as sad as that sounds, just seeing everything below was pretty amazing. 

Once we levelled out above the clouds I calmed down and settled for the 6/7 hour flight I had ahead of me. I watched 3 films; Aliens in the attic, Bandslam and The Time Traveller’s wife. All of which were pretty cool films and I liked them. I had some dinner on the plane, grilled chicken in onion sauce (still got the menu!) and I ate just the piece of chicken because I didn’t like the broccoli or the potato things that were with it. The chicken was nice though at least. Overall, the only thing about the flight that I didn’t like was the landing. I enjoyed the rest of the experience. 

When we landed at about half 12, it was 21 degrees outside. Yep you heard me, 21 degrees at half 12 at night. In England, it was probably something like minus 6. 

Once we’d been through arrivals and fetched our cases we went to find Uncle Matt and Kelly. When we found them we went to the car park, found their cars and went on to Uncle Matt’s Villa. I went in Kelly’s car and it took us about 45 minutes to get there. I was sweating like crazy most of the way there! The whole of the journey to the villa though I was screaming in my head ‘I’m in Dubai!!’ Even though I was there, it didn’t feel real, it felt like a dream... but it wasn’t! I was actually in Dubai! 

We reached Uncle’s villa, said goodnight to everyone and then Uncle took us to our villa that was ours for the next 9 days. I loved it. It had a pool, although we couldn’t go in it because it hadn’t been cleaned. We had to look after two cats as well, Jasmine and Tia, Cath and Scott’s Cats. Cath and Scott were over here in England for Christmas so we were kind of house sitting I guess, as well as Cat sitting! I stayed in Kelly’s room which was amazing, she’s proper girly so everything was pink. She had her own on suite bathroom with a huge mirror! She also has a plasma TV in her room and DVDs and CDs and of course a big comfy double bed with feather duvet and pillows and air con! It was awesome! I got ready for bed still thinking I was in a dream and that was the 21^st of December 2009.

Truths

Feel free to comment and ask more questions :)

WHAT WAS YOUR:

Last beverage: Cloudy lemonade

Last phone call: Alys

Last text message: Gaz

Last song you listened to: New divide- Linkin Park

Last time you cried: Last Tuesday

HAVE YOU EVER:

Dated someone twice: Erm... Nope

Been cheated on: Nope

Kissed someone & regretted it: Yeah

Lost someone special: Yeah

Been depressed: Yeah :/

Been drunk and threw up: Nope :)

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:

Chocolate Brown

Plum

Baby Pink

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU: (2011)

Made a new friend?: Yeah :)

Fallen out of love?: Nope

Laughed until you cried? Yup

Met someone who changed you? Nope

Found out who your true friends were?: Yeah but when you lose sometimes you gain

Found out someone was talking about you? Yeah :/

Kissed anyone on your fb friend's list? Yeah

How many people on your fb friends list do you know in real life? I've met all of them at least once

Do you have any pets: Nah :/

What did you do for your last birthday? Had a sleepover with my girls and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1

What time did you wake up today: 11.40

What were you doing at midnight last night? Reading

Name something you CANNOT wait for: T4 on the beach 2011 with my girls :)

Last time you saw your Mother: about half an hour ago

What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: Nothing

What are you listening to right now: Erm... (I just) died in your arms- cutting crew lol

Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: lol yeah

What's getting on your nerves right now: Myheadache :/

Nicknames: Rebekah Jade, Becks, Becky, Bexxy, Stockpot, Tinkerbell, Bec

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

He or She?: If you're reffering to me... She

Primary School? Ashcombe Primary, ST.Marks V.A Primary and Pilsley Primary

Secondary School? Tibshelf community

Eye colour? Bluey green

Hair long or short? In between

Height? About 5 foot 7/8

Do you know your mothers maiden name: Yes- Wilson

What do you like about yourself? My eyes lol

Peircings? Yes, my ears, one in each ear

Tattoos? Nope, but I want one!

Righty or lefty? Righty

First surgery: ... Ran into the corner of a coffee table and cut my head open n had to have stitches, does that count?

First piercing: Ears

First best friend: Sophie King

First sport you joined: Netball

RIGHT NOW:

Eating: Nothing

Drinking: Nothing

I'm about to: To the next question...

Listening to: Olly Murs- Heart on my sleeve

Waiting for: Nothing...

Want kids? Yeah

Get Married? Yeah

Career? Wedding Planner or writer

WHICH IS BETTER :

Lips or eyes?: Eyes

Hugs or kisses?: Hugs

Shorter or taller? Taller

Older or Younger? Depends on the level of maturity

Romantic or spontaneous?: Bit of both

Nice stomach or nice arms? Can I be greedy and say both? lol

Sensitive or loud? Sensitive

Hook-up or relationship? Relationship

Trouble maker or hesitant?: Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER :

Kissed a stranger? No

Drank hard liquor? No

Lost glasses/contacts? No

Sex on first date? No

Broken someone's heart? Yeah, not proud of it though

Had your own heart broken? Yeah

Turned someone down? Yes

Cried when someone died? Yes

Fallen for a friend? Yes... a few times

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

Yourself: Yes

Miracles: Yeah

Love at first sight: No

Heaven: Yeah

Santa Claus: Lol no

Kiss on the first date: Depends how good it was

Angels: Yeah I think so

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

Had more than one bf/gf? Yeah but not at the same time though!

Is there one person you want to be with right now? Maybe...

Did you sing today?: I sing EVERYDAY :P

Ever cheated on somebody? No, never will either

If you could go back in time, how far would you go, and why? I'd go back to December 2009 when we went to Dubai, Best 10 days of my life, no joke

If you could pick a day from last year and relive it, what would be? My last day at Tibshelf school

Are you afraid of falling in love? Yes