Home sweet home

Nothing like coming home after a long two years away. Some things have remained exactly the same while others are so different you can't even recognize it.

In the last two years I have seen and done some amazing things. Ate amazing food in the most unreal spots. But I think it fed my need to travel more. There is so much in the world that needs to be experienced. Its almost like living in a little fantasy because reality sets in when your home. And this is where I am now. Reality is I chose a career that has the worst job opportunities and will continue for the next few years. Go where the money is. That was the reason for going to England in the first place, that and having the ability to travel freely and frequently. I am not good at the waiting game which now puts me in a situation where I need to decide. This part of life makes me feel old, all the hard decisions. And if you know me, I am a terrible decision maker. I would rather not decide and move in a different direction to see where it takes me.
Should decisions be so hard? Is it a sign that all this stress is telling you its wrong? What happened to people just doing what they loved and not caring about anything else. Does that exist? I think people forget what they really want because we are influenced by everything around us. We start thinking of someone else's needs before our own. But, shouldn't you take care of yourself before you take care of someone else? Unless its your child, they are always numero uno.

People are only wrong depending on who the judge is. And how clouded their vision is from yours.

Well, These are the thoughts for today. I will share all the wonderful pieces of my last Holland and Amsterdam trip soon:)

life in fast forward

So much has happened in the last 3 months I haven't had the chance to pop on and tell you all about it.
In the last 60 days I have worked 12 hour days, dipped my toes in the Alboran Sea, ate traditional paella made by family run resto on a mountain village, walked through the ancient walls of the Edinburgh Castle, took my class to the farm, enjoyed a taste of high society in Chelsea, and am currently witnessing history and celebrating the Queens Jubilee with family and friends.

amo España 

(April 2012)

A nice relaxing trip down to Spain was just what the doctor ordered :) We ate lots of tapas, meals by the beach and soaked up the sun. Whenever I find myself in a new country I feel like this is it, this is the life i want. I just want to be a beach bum and live where there is lots of sun and relaxing vibes. I want to live in a place where there is no 'high street' and you just live in beach wear forever. A place where the beach and the water is just a walk away. But then reality sinks in and then I am reminded of my constant crave for being a busy body and just my sheer nature would eventually get bored. But its a nice thought. 

Spain was magnificent and it will be a place I frequent in the future. The food was delicious every time and there are so many little towns and villages that can be visited on the weekends. Where we visited, it seemed like that part of Spain was almost 'stuck' in the past but in a good way. They live the simple life, the kind that everyone craves when they are on vacation. Plus, migrating to Spain wouldn't be so bad, the boarder control already thought I was from there after looking at my last name :D 

Speaking of which, I found my dwellings on a mountain village called Mojacar, there was a HUERTO street! Right beside a school at that, I think it was a sign :D


The Great North
Edinburgh, Scotland


We took a weekend away to celebrate my coming into the old club in May. Before we hit the road we stopped into Browns for a few birthday drinks.

Scotland is absolutely beautiful in a dark and gloomy way. The architecture matches the weather you will experience. In one day it rained, was sunny, snowed and hailed. Then repeated itself 5 hours later. They also make some of the most beautiful tartan I have ever seen. I would love to see more of Scotland sometime in the future. 






My dream neighborhood... Chelsea, London
The Chelsea Flower Show

The weather could not have been more perfect. After living with such shit weather England was hit with a two week heat wave which was much needed. You know your at a high society event when there are champagne tents :D My kinda world. 
The flowers were gorgeous and the people were posh. We had a fantastic day :) Some amazing gardens I would love to have at some point in life. Lunch consisted of ice cream and a sit down in the grass. After the flower show we thought some food of substance would be a good idea. We randomly found a food festival with everything you could think of so picked up some lunch and sat a park. 

At this random food festival we also found a gigantic couch with graffiti all over it. Apparently a company was celebrating its 100 years in service and is donating this couch/gigantic bed to charity after everyone has had a chance to leave their mark. So obviously I had to get my name on this :) It was the last day so space was limited and markers were running low, but we found a tiny corner. I had to make my Canadian mark!

a day in the life of...

A PRISSY POSH PERSON!

On March 31st, 2012 Alicia and I decided it could be fun to play pretend for the day. We got all dressed up, high heels and all and headed for Park Lane, London. We thought we had planned everything out perfectly, which means we did not think of checking the time at any point. Once we finally arrived at the Four Seasons thinking we were early, we were in fact 30 minutes late. opps. :s 

High Tea and champagne is something I can definitely get used to. Might have just been the best champagne I have ever had, considering it was probably £20 for one glass. If we had managed to disguise ourselves this far, I think the jig was up when we asked each other, "how do we eat these 2 bite sandwiches, forks or is it finger food?" unsure we glanced around at the other tables, which were of no help. surprise, surprise. At this point I thought forget this, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will probably never repeat and grabbed the little sandwich with my fingers....and busted out my camera. 

Harrods was next on the agenda, but it became far too crowded and IF I ever became a ritzy posh lady I don't know if I could handle shopping there. But it was fun to look at bags that cost 4 months rent lol. After finding our way out decided to get some real food, and by real food, I mean British pub food. All the cakes and sugar from the day were starting to make me feel a bit ill. I am proud of myself for managing to stay in my heels all day! I have stopped wearing high heels mainly because of work, and man was it a mission to break in a new pair on that Saturday (more like bad idea). Oh right, and London being the magnificent city that it is (insert sarcasm), tubes were down and Lish and I were forced to walk down a very, very narrow set of stairs, probably in and around 3 flights, and all I could think was "please, please do not fall." You know that feeling when your in 4 inch heels and the more you think about something the more you freak yourself out. YEAH, that was happening. THANK GOODNESS I made it, because I tell ya, it was a close one! 

Fancy tea is one thing I can tick off my checklist :) Next on the agenda, relaxing in Spain and then a weekend away to see castles in Edinburgh. Time is officially ticking now that moving back to the homeland is a reality. 

Oh ya, Alicia has also documented this day, which can be found by clicking here.

money truly isn't everything

Sometimes its hard to think of what the most important things are in life or sometimes we simply forget. This year has been such a change for me, in every possible aspect. Career wise, I finally landed my own classroom with fantastic kids, I have a great group of girls I can lean on, I became an aunty for the first time to the most beautiful boy in the world, Anthony Carter Leo Huerto <3 Congratulations again to my brother and Melissa, he's the most amazing thing I have seen. And I have still managed to stay in love with the most amazing and thoughtful person in the world. It has been a year. 

I was recently introduced to a new show called Raising Hope. If you haven't seen it, get on it! In a nutshell, it is about a family that may have not got the better end of the stick but still manages to overcome all the shit thrown at them. Mistakes are made nothing you can do, and this family just shows that you don't need everything in the world, just the family you were given. They also show how important it is to dream. You may not have everything in the world, but theres nothing wrong with dreaming about it. The season finally really summarizes the whole show for me. Family is one of things that you cannot change in life, but they give you everything. They shape you into the person you will become and they help you in all times of need. I can clearly see where a lot of my habits and characteristics come from. And I don't think I would change anything. So get on it and check out the show, I am converted :)

coffee dates & love day

I am in love with trying new coffee! Its a shame I didn't snap any more pictures of yesterday, but it was a lovely afternoon with the ladies in a small independent coffee shop in Bham called 6/8 Kawfe (not sure if that is spelt correctly) but it was fantastic! Delish home baked cookies, little leaf prints on your coffee and the cutest set of cups and saucers. There is something about going out for coffee as an event that is just like nothing else. It allows for great conversations and bonding time. It gives us a break from all the busy lives to catch up with each other, support each other and really enjoy each others company. And we definitely do not do it enough. I wish everyone could realize how important friends are. Being in a relationship or single, its that extra support that you can't get from your other half. And its so hard to think that at the end of the year when we have all moved to the various parts of the world, there won't be that coffee date anymore. We have all shared such an amazing experience together. And as wonderful Kris put it, for all of us to pick up and move to a different country, we all have such a great deal of independence in ourselves to have been able to do it. And I suppose with such busy lives you kind of forget that ya, we are amazing, and are on a trip of a lifetime, and how lucky are we have each other. So ladies, LOVE YOU ALL :)


Today while strolling through town with Kris I picked up this lovely French Vanilla which I am just about to pop into my coffee machine. Cannot wait! 
I suppose some habits are really hard to kick, because trust me, the 'I am giving up coffee because its bad for you and stains your teeth' excuse has word vomited out of my mouth more times than I can remember. Old habits die hard, must be a truce to that and I think I am testament to that :s

VERDICT IS: fantastic coffee Beanies! Sat down with coffee in hand, and some home backed peanut crunch muffins! yummm


oh yeah,

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!! Make sure to tell the person/people whom you love that you care about them!

Babe, I am sending all my lovin to you :)
<3

first lessons of 2012

I know its been a while since I have posted anything... life's been a bit manic, but hey, better busy than boring. Funny I say that because lately I feel like I have so much more time to do nothing, which translates to being bored. But life has taken many turns over the past month and I have had to accept, adapt, and I will die trying. It always seems like bad news or a series of unfortunate events seems to always happen at the same time, and never scattered. Most of you know my other half has left the UK and gone back to the homeland due to the series of unfortunate events, and is trying to make things better. I never realized how much one person can make such a difference in daily life, and sanity. Coming home to an empty flat really is not the ideal. So this next term will be a big challenge for me. Not only is my other half not in the country but work is very busy. Being responsible for a child's ability to learn the basics of life is a stressful feeling. Reading and writing are the steps to success, and its a very hard concept for some. It is also very hard to teach, especially when it seems like it goes right through a person and nothing is soaked in. 


Other joyful happenings this past month, AINSLEY has graduated and joined in the 'real world'. Its never been harder to join the real world. Why can't we live in the era where people enjoyed graduating and starting a new adult life. The reality is that we graduate with massive student debt that it will take the next 10 years to pay off. Bullocks. 
People are too stressed these days. A (British) man recently told me when we visited Canada what he noticed was that Canadians always work. Thats all they do, two jobs for most people. And sadly, ya, that is exactly what it is. Canadians also don't get 6 weeks of holidays as do many Brits and Europeans. They truly live the life. The carefree life, in some sense. Overall, I am happy I did this, I am happy that I tried living in a different culture, a different part of the world. And only after being away from home I realized how amazing Canada is, and the way we operate makes so much more sense. I've never been prouder to be a Canadian.


So the first lesson I have learned this year is that bad shit always happens, and what can you do but adapt to your new situation. And sometimes the bad stuff opens up windows for good things. The adjustment period is hard, very hard, and I am still in that part. But I am happy to know that I do have people lol. And so very excited to start Craft Night with the ladies! You bet I will be posting the new and fun things we will be making! Watch out!
:p

Bonjour 2012!

Hello 2012! We welcome a new year with high hopes. I have had so much happen since I was last spotted blogging something down, and hopefully I can share all that in a few sentences. 

I am now a very proud teacher of a wonderful Year 1 class in central Birmingham. They are an absolute delight, at times a bit lively, but they are 5 years old, what do you expect?! It all just came very suddenly so I have been busy planning, planning and planning. Mike and I finally took a much deserved holiday to Roma. One of my most favourite places in the world. I think it has something to do with its beauty. Every where you look a rustic building, beautiful cobble streets, sun always shinning, and it just amazes me that a wonderfully old and historical city just exists in a busy metropolitan. The food was never a disappointment. I had the chance to visit Rome while I was in university and even after seeing it again in December I would gladly go back. I think Italy is one of the countries I would love to see every part of. There are so many other cities I want to visit, Tuscany, Milan, Sicily, Pisa, and the list could just go on. There is nothing quite like Rome. Mike had a blast. It was his first time and he enjoyed every single minute. We walked all of Rome, which really is not that big. Its just every step you take you feel inclined to take a picture, so it takes you three times longer to get to a destination. But we took this vacation for exactly that, to relax and enjoy life. To take a step back, to get out of our busy city lives. We arrived back home in Birmingham on Christmas eve and we spent it with one of my closest friends. 

 

New Years was quiet because we already had such a busy and amazing time in Rome and great Christmas. We went to see some fireworks in the city but that was a big flop. 3 fireworks went up and something caught on fire and it was the end lol. But ah well, Mike and I had time to just be together before going back to the daily grind of work. Although for me, I still had another week off, which I used to plan my next term. 

Its always hard for me to make a new years resolution because I am never good at doing it.

So instead, I am going to do what I always do, just hope for a better year and try to be happy in what I have. I think thats my biggest issue, always wanting more. And I am so happy I have Mike because he is one of those people that can see the good in the smallest thing. I am very excited about my classroom, but I think I am finally looking forward to coming home. My one year abroad turned into 2 and I think im done. I can't wait to have my own place in Canada now. Although, six months in Rome wouldn't be a bad idea either!

This year I am looking forward to welcoming in a new family member, baby Huerto will be born in February and its very exciting. Still not sure if it will be a girl or boy, but either would be very cool! Its weird to think that my parents already had a family started at my age, but I am nowhere near that. There are still so many things I would like to do before I sit at home with a kid. But I think being abroad and having 30 children every day is a factor. I feel like being abroad will maybe keep me younger in some way, but I know its not. I am just a travel nut. I want to see the world. I've always wanted to see the world, and I don't forsee that ever changing. I am so grateful that I have dipped my toe into different parts of the world, largely thanks to my parents, but they have created a monster :p 

All I want to do is see new things, see old things really because the old things are just beautiful, they are a one of a kind and I think thats what I love so much about it.

Well, only time can tell what the future brings. All you can do is make the right decisions, see where the wind takes you. And so far, its been a pretty good ride :)

little bit of happiness

Happy Saturday morning, ah well afternoon all!

I know its been ages since I've posted anything, lifes just getting busier, in a good way!

In case you haven't heard the news yet, I am the new Year 1 teacher at a school in Birmingham :) Poor kids have had 4 different teachers since September, but they are remarkably good behaved, well relatively speaking. They will be much better by the end of the year :) I hope. I actually got a classroom over haul, and because so many different teachers were in the classroom, everything was just everywhere. The school had a team come in and take everything out and reorganized, labeled and put into the proper places :) So part of the week I've been trying to get it to a reasonable liking of my choice. Pictures will come up soon. I have 30 little babies, and babies is exactly what they are lol. 5-6 years olds complain about EVERY LITTLE THING, from so and so is not my friend, to so and so said bum face! OMG lol, but thankfully I have a wicked TA who is so helpful and I could not do this without her. The staff at the school is fantastic! People I don't even know were telling me they all missed me when I was off for a day. So glad I went to this interview a few weeks ago because I almost skipped out on it. I guess you really cannot predict the future and you need to try every opportunity given to you.

I have my first encounter with the parents this coming Tuesday for numeracy week. Year 1 is putting on a workshop so parents can come in and learn some numeracy activities to play with their children at home. This will be interesting because I've heard some stories lol. Can't wait to see what happens. 

So other than that great news, Christmas holidays is soon approaching and we still have not decided where to go. I need a holiday lol, at least for a week and the other week will be planning time I'm sure.

Tonight I cannot wait for! Who ever is left of our group is coming out for some tradition drinks at a pub (which btw means public house in case you didn't know, I only found that one out a few weeks ago lol)! It used to be a much more regular part of the week but everyone slowly either got busy, or broke from lack of work, but I am happy to say that everyone right now is in a good standing! yeahh! Since my last presence online, we have made loads of new friends, and by we, I mean Mike lol. So hopefully this year is a new chance of faces, but also keeping in with the original peoples :) 

I will try my best to keep you all up-to-date, but this classroom is keeping my hands tied, but thats ok, they are worth it. 

Cheerio!

next on the list?

I know the school year has really just begun, but today I started thinking about where I want to be next year. As I was surfing the net for job posts I was reminded of the jobless summer that must come before next school year. Crikey. But I am thinking of popping to a different part of the world for September 2012. Those remote teaching jobs pay off years of education bills that for sure. I know I'm sitting thinking, hmm how bad could it be? But I am gonna guess far more than anything I would ever expect. Whats more important? Financial stability or being in a city with more than 200 people to keep you sane? Hmmm. lol. I would love to teach in Italy, but then again, not going to help me financially. Teaching in Italy would kind of be like this year. Being anywhere in Europe I think will tempt me too much to travel and what not. I want to learn Italian, which is probably why I've been looking for jobs there. Although, as I was researching possible positions, I came across a past teachers experience. In a nutshell, imagine teaching in Toronto, London, Birmingham, any inner city school and magnify that. Not to mention the natural tendencies of Italians to just be much louder. Kinda turned me off that whole idea. So now I'm thinking of where else I can go, thats not the middle east. hmm, well, only time will tell. That's it for my ranting today, I've gotta prep work for my nursery class this week. Oh so little, and so needy
:p

first final product

I have finished a project! yeah! I've started so many things and it just takes me forever to actually get it all done, so yeah me :) I actually completed this on day two. I was on such a roll I did not want to stop so I ended up making a headband :) My next attempt will be a blanket, and I plan on keeping it forever regardless of how ugly it turns out to be :)

So stay tuned!

possibly a granny at heart?

So its recently come to my attention that I think I have the soul of an old person. Well, in some respects at least. For instance, I have recently taken up crocheting. What 25 year old just takes up crocheting? ME, thats who! And my word, it is a tremendously harder than it looks. I started yesterday after seeing a friends blanket (which looked AMAZING! Go Lisa!) and thought, hey, how hard can that be? *YIKES* Well my first attempt looked like I had just tied the string in a bunch of knots. I think I probably stitched and undid my work 5 times before I figured it out. And at that, I thought I was doing an OK job, until today. I decided to try a different video on Youtube, which was much, much better. This is the video I watched today! I realized what I was doing wrong. Your supposed to double stitch into a double piece of yarn, not a single, and that is probably why my piece from last night looked so wrong. If the first lady would have said that I would have been much further today. If she did say it I must have missed it, or she wasn't being clear! :p 

By the end of this I hope I can make a blanket, or throw, thats my goal :) Oh right, yesterday for some reason I tried to do a wavy afrghan blanket.. whoa nelly, I think I will go back to that after I have made myself a headband! 

Now, back to my original thought... being stuck in a old persons mind. Going to bed early I think I can contribute to work, the school day starts at 9am, and unlike those of you who roll in at 9, I have massive amounts of prep work to do which means I really start at 8am. Not having a car also means I need to take the glorious public transit system :( Add an hour to that, plus getting ready... so I am up at anywhere from 5:30-6:30am. Its blows. Hand in hand with that, I get tired real early, lol, so I go to bed early. I have also noticed my lack of ability to withstand the next day after drinking. OMG. If none of these signs point to old person, this certainly does! Its feels like I have been run over by multiple trucks and the only thing I can do is sleep. SO needles to say, not a lot of drinking happening these days. But glasses of wine are still great to have in the evenings :)

Pictures of my progress, or lack there of :s 

 So to the left was probably mt second or third attempt at chaining and single stitches....

 Which then turned into this eventually... trying to double stitch then today realized it was ALL WRONG :(

 

This was my attempt at an afghan wave blanket.. which will be revisited sometime in the not so near future.

This is what I did today... my double stitch :) Its actually green and all the other yarns of blue and purple :s 

I am quite proud of this! Not sure what it will turn out to be, but at least its getting somewhere! 

I find the hardest part is keeping the yarn at the right amount of tension, because all my above pieces are very loose. This one is coming along!

two cats, in love?

The most outrageous thing happens on our street. Every once in a  while, two cats, one black and one white, get together under the street light (the same exact spot each time, under that certain light). And what do they do? They Talk. For hours. No joke. And they are loud, you can hear them from down the street. So last night, it happened again. Half way through watching them I decided I would try and capture this on film because it is just too funny. One bloke actually walked past them, and the cats stopped talking, as if they knew they were being watched lol. As he walked further away the cats resumed their conversation. The last time we saw these cats chat about under the street light, it seemed as if one was breaking up with the other. One cat would take small steps away and look back and say something and the other would follow trying to convince him/her to stay. It really is the best thing to watch. Its weird to think that animals talk to each other, I wish someone would invent some type of device that translates animal talking into human speech! That would be amazing. I think I just found my new lifes work. hahaha jk. Check out last nights episode lol. They get into a bit of a quarrel near the end. And note, this is from our flat, 3 stories up and across the street!

stumbling...

So as I sit with my morning coffee I ponder what to do with myself. Did the job search all day yesterday so I thought I would take a brake. So, reverting back to my student life habits, I turned to Stumble Upon and came across a very neat arts and craftsy website which I am going to ad to my [people to watch] links. In the above picture she shows you how to make this magnificent paper flowers and much more. 

Great art lesson teachers! Possibly for mothers day?! :) Check it out!

jonesdesigncompany.com

Also, if you've never been to Italy, now the Sistine Chapel can come to you virtually. A much nicer experience than the real thing I tell you that! -->  Sistine Chapel

LADIES... This is an amazing, creative website that teaches you how to do cool hairstyles, make your own pieces and what not... very cool! Check it out! And named quite appropriately lol, lets face it, we are all a beautiful mess at least once a day! :D
a beautiful mess 

Last minute summer lovin

We have been very lucky this week to have had beautiful summer weather! 25 degrees and up for most of the week. So what did i do? Nothing but Sun bathe and enjoy as much as I could of the great outdoors. I strolled around good old bham trying too take pictures of my everyday sights before I forget. Everyone does this, they say "ya, ya I will go there, I always have time because I live here. Its always there" and then, just before your about to go, you forget all about that place or that picture you wanted to take. This is what happens, people get used to being where they are its not special anymore. So I am trying to avoid that as much as I can.
And plus, before I know it winter will be showing its nasty face oh so soon. So no better time than now to try and take all the pictures I want :)


We had a Great weekend of sitting outside. VW had a nice bumper car set up in Victoria Square so Kristen, Mike and I all lined up for our 5 minutes or raming into each other! It had been years since I was in a bumper car. Very fun!

After sitting around the square we decided to put down a blanket and soak up some rays. Mike being the lovely fellow that he is surprised me with some pretty flowers :) It was a perfect day outside and I couldn't have asked for more! The weather is supposed to go back to its British roots this week, not looking forward to it. Till then..cherrio!

a worthy mention

From the moment I heard Someone Like you by Adele i was in love. A cover was done by two brilliant young musicians check it out: Click, Listen and Enjoy.

a loss of moral fibre.

Other than being asked if I am American, the next most popular question is "why do you think Canadian children are better? More behaved?" and its so hard to answer that without sounding like a complete asshole. But its not a surprise that people all over the world are aware of the unbelievably bad behaviour of England's youth. Before I moved here to teach, every single person must have asked me "WHY".... "they are terrible over there" .... and they are terrible, no exaggeration needed. This is my theory: a) people here have nothing to fear, no one to fear actually. Their police do not carry guns but little batons, wtf will you do with that. b) parenting is non existent, well, in many parts of the UK at least. Children are having children. What kind of a government awards young mothers who have no future, no education, and no job? Young mothers are entitled to their own place to live if they have a child. This is only creating the same circumstance for the next generation. Why work hard and get an education to get me a job to get myself a house when I can get knocked up and get my own place for free with government help and aid. Hard work seems to be a fairytale for many of the youth here. I see it in my own children, behaving and acting like their own parents. Not only that, but a lot of the time its single parents. They don't know how to raise their children because half the time, they are children themselves. c) They are too spoiled. I don't see why it is so bad to implement a little bit of hard disciple in your own house. I see parents trying to bribe their own children for good behaviour in school because they are tired of having to come into school and talk to the teachers day in, day out about the terrible behaviour. BRIBES?! It should be expected and nothing less. I feel people here have no balls to put a foot down, which seems ridiculous. Expectations should be set from day 1, there should NEVER EVER be a question about authority. The child should NEVER have the expectation that they always win and the parent listens to them. Never. How is it even possible that the youth here walk all over their own parents. Unsightly.

Now, for those of you who enjoy the BBC, there is a series called Worlds Strictest Parents, which should really just be called good parenting. In these shows they take the magnificent youths of the UK and ship them off to somewhere else in the world for a week in 'hopes' they change and become a human being. I love watching it but at the same time, I get so frustrated with what I see. England was once a great country that produced well educated fine human beings. That has gone down the shit hole. The youth of the UK have no idea what moral fibre is, they have no concept of what it is like to have respect for anyone or anything. They do not know how to behave in any situation, they believe that everything should just be given to them and they have no manners what so ever. They are degradation of English society. It blows my mind to see these teenagers come on the show, act as if they were raised by animals and have no concept of the world around them. I see this development at work all the time and its really sad. 90% of the children who come onto this show come from a broken family, rarely is it two parents and even more rare its the two original parents. And again, most of these single moms had their kids when they were very young. They let their children push them around for years and I suppose they come on this show because they finally can't take it. Ever heard of tough love, fucking dish that shit out. I saw an episode today and for the first time, the young girl actually was in a private boarding school and got kicked out. First off, private school in the UK is hella expensive. Second, she could have gone to a state school and saved her family a ton of money because she learned nothing from being there. Spoiled brat is what she is. Also a mixed race, which she hated. Don't know why because she's gorgeous, half black people are always good looking. Every teen that has been on this show believes that because their parents brought them into the world, they are expected to pay their way for everything. Education seems to not matter to anyone in the UK. With the option of leaving school at 14 (or 16) a lot of them do. And they are only sent away for 1 week. In my opinion there is NO WAY these kids actually change. Its not nearly enough time, maybe enough for them to think they can change, but not actually do it. I've never seen anyone behave the way these teens behave. If I ever, ever, had a child like any of these, no way you would be living under my roof. They are disrespectful beyond believe, beyond tolerance. It was actually very hard for me to watch todays episode because I was in pure shock and horror at their behaviour. And im no prize child, I know what its like to be 16 and to have no cares, but omg, this is a completely different story. This is our human race going backwards in development. World's Strictest Parents....please. They are real parents plain and simple, and I am happy to know that I was raised by true parents. If the UK doesn't change, there society will be at the bottom of the feeding pool. An Uneducated, unmotivated, disrespectful society. I guess thats why upper society is trying its hardest to keep what they can of the elite and prestigious lifestyle. It really is a society that is disappearing. So if you get a chance, check out that show on the BBC. My advice to the UK... good luck.

little bit of this. little bit of that.

amazing how time fly's when you have nothing to do. Since supply work is at a minimum I figured it was time I start updating this baby. Hard to imagine a full year has passed me by. 

Recently I came across a BBC episode about mixed races, and are they better. I found it very interesting because my own brother will have a mixed race child. They 'say' that because the gene pools are so different and come from different parts of the world they have a very unique gene selection. If you really stop and think that well the human species has only been around for roughly 200,000 years, and the animal species in general starting at 590,000,000 years ago, we are a young species. In this documentary they talk about how Europe has the most inbred type of human. Not inbred like I am going to have babies with my cousin, more like when the Europeans migrated there 40,000 years ago, there were only about 1000 people. So everyone is some how related if you look back far enough. This makes the two genes from both parents very similar, whereas a mixed breed child will have two genes that are very different. It makes total sense. Take a look at Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton, OBAMA, Lenny Kravitz, Halle Berry, The Rock! All amazing in what they do. Super athletes. As a human race there is only a 0.10% of difference. We all look the same and have similar builds and characteristics. No wonder some people put up such a fight to "be different". I think if I was exposed to this type of science while in my learning years, I would have loved to pursue something in this field. I just find it absolutely interesting. Eventually this world will all be mixed race, and when that happens we will have created a better, stronger species than our own. Plus, in most cases, these mixed children are gorgeous! So ponder that. 

.love.these.mornings.

Gotta love how every morning at that dredful hour seems like everyone in the city is trying to get to work. It sucks. A 15 minute commute becomes doubled. And this is all just for the possibility of work. Gross isn't it.

And why do all teenagers have to be so dam annoying? Is this a characteristic that they all inherit, and some just never grow out of it??

I hate that 90% of everything starts at the same time. It should be staggered with schools starting at 930 or 10am :)
Sounds brilliant to me!!

To strive, to seek, to find,
And not to yield.

.missing.more.than.expected.

It is said that a Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. I travelled back home to the motherland of Canada and it could not have been better. Well, the weather could have been better but compared to living in the UK, it was a tropical destination! 3 weeks flew by within a blink of an eye, I could not believe it. I wish I could have had more time with my family and friends. I know a year flew by which makes me feel like it will be alright, because I will be home before I know it. But still, it sucks going back. I also fell into some information while being home, families are expanding left, right and centre! I cannot wait to be back next year to see the new borns growing up and the new to come :) 

 


We hesitantly boarded our plane back to Birmingham, and surprisingly no one cried! hahaa. The flight was alright, because we were flying in the evening it wasn't nearly as tiring as flying to Canada when we had to get up at 4:30am! We arrived back home to find that our luggages were the LAST to be unloaded. I nearly fainted to think they had almost lost our luggage on a single way flight... it does happen! It took me a few days to re-adjust to the time zones... all this means is that I slept for days upon days while Mike unfortunately had to go straight to work the day we flew in :(


After my jet-leg was gone, I popped back into the Birmingham citee centa (thats how a British folk would say it! lol) it almost felt like the first year, seeing everything again for the first time. I had totally forgotten about the riots and was wondering why all the shops looked so brand new and re-modeled.... DUH! lol. School was just starting up again shortly after we arrived home, which only meant that here come the headaches! 



We fiiiinally decided to go bowling! Mike and I were wanting to go the whole first year we moved to the UK. It finally happened :) It was great! Except for the fact that I was pretty much taking home the final title when Bobby decided to really focus and beat me by 2 points. TWO POINTS! damnit. But overall, a great chance to finally get some cheap-o drinks and see a few familiar faces :) 
Dam look at me tanned, can't england be nice and sunny so i can stay that colour forever?? pleaasseee :( 

Well I think this concludes my gabbling for today. Cheers matey!