Getting That Degree

It has taken me a while to write this post because I have been too busy enjoying my freedom!

After five years I have finally handed in my final piece and will be graduating later this year which I am thrilled about!

It has been a long old slog to get here but it has been so worth it. I will now be the proud owner of a degree in English Literature, something that I always wanted to achieve. What is even better about it all is that I did it all for fun and have no plans to use it in anything, I just wanted it for me!

Open University have been so great and I would highly recommend looking at using them if you want to get a degree part time. I have come out of it with no debt and with some government help I have actually only paid around £1000 for my degree over the course of five years which is such a good deal.

Yes it does take a long time and yes you do have to put the work in but if you want to keep working and study too it is ideal and has a workload that is manageable. It should have actually taken me six years, but I managed to get two done in one year so if you time it right you could get it done sooner too.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all my spare time!

C x

Good News!

I took a little look back through my old blog the other day and it was packed full of little posts with me just chatting which I don't seem to do anymore. This is a little chatty post though as I have news to share!

After 14 months of working in a temporary position at my job they have finally offered me a permanent place here! Which is all I ever wanted really! To have found a job where I don't mind coming in every day, I don't mind the hour 20 commute and I get on with my boss is just incredible and I wanted to hang on to that with both hands.

Now I finally feel like I can relax and not worry every few months if they will be able to keep me on. I have made some really great relationships here as well and to not have seen these people every day just would have been awful.

I will now be an Operations Assistant, helping to look after the day to day running of the school and all the behind the scenes bits that keep it running. This will enable me to learn about Estates, HR, Lettings, Catering, Health & Safety and will add a huge string to my bow.

Things are looking very sunshiney for me indeed!

C x

Happy in the Sun

I have just been in such a good mood recently!

I am going to put this all down to the fact that I have finished Uni for the year and now I can start to enjoy summer without feeling like I should be revising or reading another nineteenth century novel.

I think my exam went ok....I probably could have done a bit better and I didn't come out of there feeling that confident, given that I forgot one of the critics I needed to remember, but trying to learn 17 of them is quite tricky, especially when you only leave 4 days to cram as much in as possible.  I figure that even if I have to retake I've still only got one more year left before it is all over and I have a degree! So looking forward to that!

There is just something about having a window open in the summer with the blue sky outside and a cool breeze floating through (with the sound of the Wallace and Gromit theme tune being played on the trumpet), this is about as close as I am going to get to summer with work every day but it is enough for now!

I am loving being able to plan my holiday which is in almost a month, read books that don't make me think too hard, catch up on all my tv shows, eat burgers, sip down some ginger cider and get a tan.



I've got a few blog posts that I want to cover and now Uni is over I can also spend more time writing, so I want to try and make several features. I have just introduced my Thoughtful Thursday and for a while now I have been trying to post a recipe on a Sunday, but I think I should be posting about 3 times a week so that's the aim!

Work is good, Friends are good, Home is good, Love is good, Life is bloody good!

I hope that you are just as happy :)

C xxx

Keeping up

I feel like I haven't blogged in ages! I have been so darned busy with work and University that I just haven't had the time!

Work has just been mad. I am enjoying it so much but the time just fly by and I am trying to keep on top of all the work. I have never been in a job before where I get in to work, look up and realise that it's lunch time and the morning has flown by. It's really refreshing to be somewhere that I'm not bored 80% of the time and that keeps challenging me. There are so many different events taking place as well as the weekly tours around the school that I have to do for people. This weekend I worked Saturday as we had an Open Day and I spent the whole day rushing around making sure it all went smoothly. We've also had a Fashion Show and we are having a Garden Party next week. It's just all so much fun :)

University has also been non stop. I've just handed in my final essay of the course and now I have just 3 weeks to try and revise like mad for my 3hour exam and I am terrified! I have a massive stack of books to get through and this isn't even half of them:

Looks like I'm going to be doing lots of reading over the coming weeks but I have taken half term off so I'm going to have a few extra days to study! I've also just signed up to my final course in my degree - Advanced Creative Writing and I am really excited that I am finally nearly there and that I am finishing on something fun.

Although I've been super busy I have still found time to make my garden grow, it's amazing that I have managed to keep something alive as I am normally completely rubbish with keeping plants alive.

I have also started my 'I must lose a stone' diet again so I've been making some very yum and colourful dinners. It is hard to stick to all of this when there is a buffet lunch available every day for me but I'm going to try and be good especially with Summer approaching (although I say that optimistically).

Things are ticking along nicely with a holiday being booked soon and another Summer in London approaching.

xxx

Back to School

I've been meaning to sit down and write this post for 2 weeks but I have just been so busy that I haven't had a spare moment to!

My first 2 weeks at the school have just flown by and I already know that I am going to love it here. Everybody is just so friendly and even from the first moment I walked in it was all smiles and happy faces so I felt at home right away.

The first couple of weeks have been incredibly tiring. I forgot how much it takes out of you trying to learn a new environment, information and people. Especially as I had been doing the same job for 3 years and this is completely different.

Being back in a school is such a bizzare feeling, it reminds me so much of when I was in school and as it's all girls I can relate having been a student in an all girls too. I started thinking to myself when I was standing doing lunch duty (!) 'Do these girls think that I'm old?' The school has a sixth form so the oldest girls are 18 and I was thinking - 'I wasn't 18 that long ago!' and then I realised it was 8 years ago and yes they probably were all looking at me thinking I was a grown up. I might have to admit to myself that I am.

There is so much to learn here and there are so many exciting events which I get to be a part of and help organise such as a garden party happening in a few months. My hours are also quite flexiable so if I need to come in early I can leave early as well, although I have not enjoyed getting up at 6 to be in work for 8. After all my protesting it turns out that actually everyone was right and the journey is a bit of a bitch.

I get praised for everything as well, I'd forgotten that you are actually so much more inclined to work hard if you are being told that you are doing a great job. My manager is so enthusiatic about everything which matches my personality and I think we are going to have a happy little hub of an office.

I have already made some new friends, I think going out for a recent work drinks might have helped with that! This is brilliant for me because I love meeting new people and that's what I have to do every day in this role as I greet parents and show them around the school.

I think I am going to be very happy here indeed!

Cara x

Life Changes

I can finally talk about my very good news! About a month ago I went and landed myself a brand new shiny job and after working out my notice I have left my old job, which although is quite sad as I have been there for 3 years and made some great friends, I am going to something that I will absolutely adore!

I am moving on to a role in Events, Admissions and Marketing at a girls school and I am very excited as events/events planning is something that I have been trying to get into for a couple of years now but you know the old Catch 22 - if you don't have the experience etc etc. But I have managed to get a foot in the door and with it a chance to gain some knowledge. It's more money and more holidays as well which is always a bonus!

I start on the 17th so in the meantime I have a week off work to pour over some cookbooks and some find some recipes to cook and show you....

It'll also be so nice to get out and see some of London, do some cooking and spend some time with friends. It's rare just to have some time off to get some things done....although no doubt I will just sleep and sit in front of the TV!


Good times ahead :)


xxx