It's official. 2019 is actually over!

My mandatory foot photo

This year has gone both fast and slow. There have been times where I've waited for the weeks to pass and others have gone too fast - so a mixture I'd say - good nonetheless. There haven't been many blog posts this year - you'll have noticed that I've been on and off with the posts, less consistent, sporadic and slightly annoying, both for myself and for you as my readers. But I have tried to post wherever I can - honest! I'm hoping that I'll get better with consistency and timing - in both life and blogging :).

2017 has been a big year in the life of F, maybe not so much for That Delete Button but definitely for me personally. Some of these events, milestones, whatever you may want to call them have been blog worthy but because I haven't had much time, I've not always been able to blog about them. So, I'm going to do a mini reflection of the past year instead so you can know what the heck I'm rambling on about!

If I had blogged about a few of these reasons, I think my blog would have been doing a little better. Maybe I'll blog about these things soon!

Things I've done in 2017:

• Tied the knot: So I got engaged and religiously married in 2016 but had a bigger, more formal-ish wedding in 2017. That's right, we had a few too many parties - too many dates to remember - but I wouldn't change it. That was the highlight of my year - our wedding. It went fast but I loved how family and friends all came together and had fun! I'm contemplating making a blog post with photos of it...thoughts?

• Malaysia: We travelled to Malaysia and it was soooo good, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur - I have blogged about this so go read it if you want to know more!

• Rome: another place we explored was Rome. More posts about Rome to come!  

• Teaching: After doing the CELTA I didn't get a job abroad - the timing wasn't right - but I did manage to do some teaching here in the UK. I taught in two different places and both were different. It's weird how different educational establishments can be so varied in their approach - also the backgrounds of the students matter too! The first time round the students were very talkative and the second time, they were focused but made things fun for themselves! People are quite amazing!

• Oh and one final thing - my blog turned five this month! Yes, that's right, That Delete Button is five years old!! FIVE!!!

I promise I'll try to blog about some of the things mentioned above soon - let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like to know more about!!

What have you done over the last year?  What are you particularly proud of?

Hey there!

How are you all? It's been a while since my last blog post and, despite having draft posts sitting in my folder, I haven't felt like actually completing any of them. How weird! Has that ever happened to you? Please tell me I'm not the only one?! It's like I have material but I'm not feeling that particular material right now.

So instead of blogging for the sake of it - which is what it would have felt like had I published posts in the last few weeks - I decided to take a proper break and start fresh...again. Now I can blog about the things I did on my 'break' (It really was quite an exciting break!).

How have you all been? Have you guys been ok over the past few weeks? Anything happened?

Oooh, drop your blog links below so I can have a read please. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Much Love,

On bank holiday Monday we spent the day at Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Stratford-Upon-Avon is a medieval town in England that I hadn't visited till now. It's where Shakespeare is from and so when my lovely friend suggested we visit the area, I jumped at the chance.

It was so pretty! We drove down, four of us, and so it felt like a mini road trip - one of many more to come! I get quite excited by things like this because I love exploring new places, especially as they aren't too far away!!

The drive there was smooth as it was mostly dual carriageways and not the motorway and as a bonus, the weather was beautiful! I did apologies in advance at the heat in my car as I have no air-conditioning but luckily, it wasn't too bad - I warned them that they may experience what being a baked potato feels like.

We did a bit of exploring and there were beautiful Tudor style houses, in the centre and with the river running through! Taking a walk along the river made me feel much like a character from a Shakespeare play, or even Shakespeare and I'm sure he strolled to get ideas?!

We had some delicious food at the Royal Shakespeare Company and it really funny because we decided that before picking a place to eat, we'd have a look round. So we did. We walked up a few of the streets and looked at the options and then decided that the first place we went to was better - the RSC. So we headed back there! I'm quite glad we did because being upstairs in the RSC meant we had a lovely view as well as good food. The service was very good too and they didn't charge for water. :)

Anyway, what I wanted to share with you all - just before we were about to leave, we popped into a market and came across a jewellery stall. The two people running the stall were very lovely and saw me eying up ...well, everything. Then I found a few bangle type bracelets and tried some on and decided I liked it enough to buy it. As it was the end of the day (or she felt really sorry for me when I told her what my current job is) the lovely lady let my friends pick a dream catcher necklace for me to have for free!!!

And I love both! I love the bracelet because it's simple and the necklace is green and purple - green is my favourite colour and I wear a lot of purple. The bracelet I bought is silver plated rather than fully silver so I was told how to take care of it and that I can go back to get it re-plated at any time!

I've also decided that I may use the necklace as a headpiece - despite it being a necklace - because I think it looks nice!! Check out Viki Marks Jewellery on Facebook and pop to her stall if you are ever about in the area. I'd definitely recommend it!

*note: This is the third time I'm writing this post. I had finished it and then didn't save it properly so lost most of it!!!...sigh... Here I go, again!*

After buying the Inayah collection hijabs, my cousin and I decided to order a Pearl Daisy hoojab. They also had a sale on...

So I have to say I was quite excited about this. I've been wondering for a while if I should get one of these hijabs to try out but never had the courage to take the plunge - till I talked about it to my lovely cousin and she said let's order together. I say I never had the courage because these are different from my usual hijabs but they always look so lovely on others. The thing is, I'm, well, how shall I put this without offending myself, lazy. My hijab style takes around two minutes to do and so the idea of having to do something that requires me to think stresses me out!! Hahah, I'm kidding, I'm just super lazy.


Anyway, I ordered and got a really sweet email to say that my package was wrapped with care and waved off by the lovely shop assistants and it was on it's way. Boy was I excited!
It arrived pretty soon after in a pink package with the Pearl Daisy logo on top so I knew exactly what it was and what to expect when opening the package - sweet!

So I opened it and first thoughts on it were: 'woah, it's long'. I'm only little and so the hijab seemed very long. I mean come on, I held the thing up folded in half and it was the same height as I am!!! Imagine wrapping something twice my height around my head -  I couldn't really see how it was going to work on me! So I did what any grown sane minded person would and put it back into the pack and left it for the night. However, I do have to say that the material is super lovely - it's soft and feels great to touch! Bonus.

The next morning I got up and thought to myself, 'right F, you have to give it a go' - and so, I went on YouTube - this tutorial to be precise - and watched it. Then I tried it on myself. It went ok and I have to admit it take too long.

Initially when I tried it I couldn't wrap it around properly as I don't really know how to create folds, but after watching the video it was quite simple. I haven't mastered it properly yet but that will come when I try it a little more. I think these are great because it's really easy to experiment and try different styles using the same hoojab! I haven't taken any photo's of myself but I shall do soon and I'll like them back to this post. :) I got a lot of compliments from my lovely friends who promised me that if they didn't like it they would have said!

Would I buy them again? Well I already ordered a few more after my first purchase so that answers that question. And I'm really looking forward to visiting the Pearl Daisy shop soon!!

Have you tried these? What are your thoughts?

I hate shopping...well, actually that is a lie. I don't mind shopping but shopping with my mother is one of the weirdest experiences on the planet. It's not as bad as I've experienced in the past because I've come shopping with people who are all over the supermarket - literally. They buy things as they remember and so you end up going from the eggs to the milk to the carrots and then back to get cream and then bread. I mean why don't you just go round the place in order?!

Mum just takes ages. She stops to think and sometimes she stares at the labels for what seems like eternity - then I'll lose my patience and have to remind her that the price of fishcakes will not change no matter how much she wills it to with her mind. But then what should I know, I don't really have to budget or manage my money in the way my parents and even some of my friends do. The only bills I worry about are my phone bill and gym bill. Not really gas, electric, council tax, blah, blah blah...

Anyway, enough about budgeting because it makes my brain feel sad. I'd rather think about grocery shopping...yuck! We go through every isle and she picks up a few things but I can't help but notice this man skulking around the store. I've seen him before and he's tried to be nice to us - don't get me wrong, I'm sure he is nice but I don't really want to know to be honest. I just want my mother to hurry up with her shopping so I can go home and binge watch Netflix.

From what I understand he's security.  He - maybe to make himself look more intimidating - walks in a way I find slightly amusing. His hips are thrust forward more so than his shoulders, his arms swing from side to side and his head bobs up and down as he paroles the milk isle. If I were him I'd walk through the bakery...often. The thing is, I'm not being mean in my description of his walk because I've seen this man outside the supermarket and he's a different person. None of this hip thrusting, arm swinging, head bobbing business then. So why now? Maybe he wants to look like a back slash as he walks.

Who knows. I wonder if he'd straighten up if someone ran off with milk without paying for it...

Finally we've finished. I've walked round the whole supermarket and haven't bought a thing! That's right, I have not picked up one thing and that's actually really good. Lucky for mum, I don't actually want anything so when we get to the tills, she won't say how much I cost her. Bring on Netflix!!

I found out why the kid was gawping at me. It turns out that I have a massive spot on my right cheek. It's mahoosively massive, like epically huge. How did I not know this? Thinking about it now I can actually feel it if I twitch my cheeks, but back then my tea, biscuits and magazine took priority.

Luckily it has shrunk a little so it's not as big as it was in the morning. The kid is the only human - excluding family members - to have seen the hideous thing. That's only because I'm yet to leave the house. That's right, on the schedule for today is lazing about, reading and watching Netflix.

And I'm really looking forward to it. Who wouldn't?! I have a whole bunch of library books to finish (once I actually start them of course) and I may have accidentally bought a few books too...oopsie. And Netflix, well I can spend hours wasting away watching Netflix!

Anyway, back to the spot. What am I going to do about it? Nothing! It'll go away soon enough, it came on it's own so it'll go on it's own. The truth is, I'm actually too lazy to do anything, and I don't really mind - if you want to stare, then stare!! And my books don't mind!

So, here I am having examined my ugly spot when mum pops her head round the door. Literally, all I can see is her head, it's like it's floating because there's no view of the body.

"What are you doing?" She's looking around my room then finally her gaze lands on me.
 
"Nothing" I say slowly, stretching out the 'o'. I have no idea what she must have thought because I'm sat in front of the mirror with a pile of books!

"Oh good. Get dressed, we're going shopping." And that was it. She leaves so fast I can't even object or explain my important plans or anything. So it looks like I'll be shopping instead.

Meh. At least I don't have the kid sat in front of me anymore! Also, people are too busy thinking about themselves to notice my spot - yes, that's right, I'm going to keep telling myself that.

Thank you Dot. Thank you for sharing this with me and proving that distance is just a number. We - I think anyway-  have already gone through the distance test. We were apart for university and still good friends. We've grown as people and life has taught us many different lessons, both good and bad and through it all, we are still friends. So yes, the fact that you are in Australia, although it's upsetting because it's so darn far away, doesn't worry me much.



So this is a little weird but yes... Good luck Dot :) Love you lots! xxx

Also, one last thing before I finally sign off, keep an eye out for Dot because it may be that she decides to start a travel blog! How awesome would that be!?! If she does I will definitely share the link with you all. :)

Don't you just hate awkward situations? Like when your minding your own business drinking tea and stuffing your face with biscuits when your little brothers friend suddenly wants to know where all the biscuits have gone. Like I just ate them all. Did you not see me in the last fifteen minutes you've been gawking?! Also, that's rude. You should at least close your mouth whilst gawking. Honestly, youth these days!

Ok, so this kid has been sitting in our kitchen for a while now. He appeared when the kettle made the whistling sound to say it's boiled. Our kettle does that for some reason - anyone downstairs can hear it. I offered him tea but he just shook his head a took a seat opposite me. Right, I thought, I'd better carry on like normal then. Lucky for me this kid isn't much of a talker and there was a magazine on the table right beside by breakfast. Handy!

I don't like drinking scalding hot tea and always wait for my tea to cool down, and so, because I didn't fancy toast this morning, I opted for biscuits.

Anyway, the whole time this kid was sat opposite me quietly watching with his mouth open. I'm not really sure what he's staring at because I'm a mess. I'm in my pyjamas and my hair is scare-worthy - seriously sometimes I get scared in the mornings when I catch my reflection - so it can't be me. I've offered him biscuits and tea and there really isn't anything else worth gawking at. But I can't say anything, he's only seven years old! I can't exactly just at say 'what you staring at?!' He might burst into tears! (It's happened before and I really don't want to explain to my mother that I made an seven year old cry...again).

And then, to top it all off, after having said nothing the whole time, he suddenly decides to speak. He has this adorable little voice and it's as if he's finally plucked up the courage to say something. What he does say is this:

"Where have the biscuits gone?"

It's only then that I realised that I've managed to finish the whole pack whilst reading a magazine...oppsie!

Lucky for me my brother ran into the kitchen at that precise moment and skidded to a halt just in time to miss the table. 

  "Why are you here?" He askes his friend, his tone is way too accusatory for my liking but I'm not going to get involved.

  "Do you want to eat something?" He questions further in the same tone.

The kid shakes his head.

  "Then let's GO!" moving his hand in a sweeping motion towards the door, just to be sure the kid knows which way to go.

And with that, the kid sneaks a quick look at me and then the empty biscuit pack and runs out of the kitchen followed by my brother. That is of course after my brother throws me a dirty look as if to say it's all my fault.

Honestly, kids these days!!

It sucks right, this whole 'being a good friend' business. Last week my best friend told me that I don't express my feelings very well. That's nothing new, I knew that already. Ask me how I feel about something and immediately I'll answer 'it's ok', 'I'm ok', 'fine'. They are my three favourite answers. But she's right, these answers don't tell you anything important, heck they don't even mean anything most of the time. They are simply used by me to ward of more questions. I'm an expert at that.

Apparently she doesn't mind this tho, she said at times it's frustrating but eventually I, in my own time, let her know. Anyway, this doesn't really bother me because it's true. Every person is different and I like it that way. How boring would it be if we were all the same? Yuk! What does bother me is that this isn't the first time I've been told this. That's when I start to think that maybe I should go round telling people exactly how I feel. At least that way people know what I'm thinking?!

Only there's one teeny tiny flaw to this plan - if I were to do this, I'd offend a lot of people. Sometimes even I don't like what I'm thinking! What a load of malarky. What I do know is this, if I have a problem, I'll let you know. See, I'm one of those people that would rather say it to your face than behind our back. I'm a front stabbing-friend. That's ok right?!

Keep looking ahead...

What's a front-stabbing friend you ask? Well, I'll explain:

You know that people you don't like stab you in the back, well I believe people who like you do the same, but in the front. Only this time it's in the front because they mean well, they want to stop you from getting hurt. That's what I've been telling myself anyway. How else do you justify telling someone you like something that isn't necessarily very pleasant? But only if it's something they need to know.

So here it is. This is, what I'm calling, the Confessions of a Front-Stabbing Friend. Let's do this! You want feelings, I'll give you feelings. 



p.s Greeting everyone! Hope you are all well. So I've decided to try something a bit different and what you read above is the start of that. It's pretty much all FICTION - only it may be inspired by a few true events :) I'll let you know. Please do comment with your thoughts!

Hope all is well and you haven't missed me too much! (HAH) Also, in case you haven't notice I revamped my About Me page - go and take a look! :) Leave comments and also links for me to read your blog!!

Anyway, it's getting colder, darker, wetter....blah, that doesn't sound good does it! But as the dark gloomy days approach, I thought I' do a post on my they are my favourite, yes, as much as I love summer, autumn and winter are still my favourite. :) Here's why:

<3

The Rain 

I love the rain - both when I'm indoors and when I'm outside. I find comfort in the sound of the rain and love falling asleep to it!

Clothes 

So clothes wise, I wear what I want whenever I want regardless of the season - I'm not kidding, I haven't even put my Birkenstocks away yet!! Also, layering means you can wear summer clothes in the winter! However, winter clothes are still my all time favourite - boots, jumpers, coats, scarfs, hoodies...so comfy!! I love winter colours too. :)

Food

Often when we go out to eat they have a 'winter warmers' menu with foods such as soups...yummy!

Atmosphere/Holidays

This is the time of year for fireworks, drinking hot chocolate and curling up on the sofa watching films. It's the time of year where people get together to either celebrate or for the holiday season and this makes me smile.  I love the festive atmosphere and when people come together!

Also, this time of year seems perfect to have Lord of the Rings marathons!!


Have I sold it to you yet??