End of YA, Engagement & LIFE!!

Brace yourselves folks. This is one EPIC blog post!

 Let's start from the beginning shall we?

Papa G came out to see me in Germany for a week for my birthday and I had an AMAZING week full of adventures and surprises and laughter and photos - standard really! We traveled round and saw Hannover and Heidelberg, as well as secret areas of Kassel that I hadn't found myself in the four months I'd been there. We also went to the theatre and we saw Evita together!

It was a brilliant week and I loved every minute of it!
Love you so much Papa G! xo

  

Me, Dad and Anka going to see Evita

Me and Dad at my birthday meal

Me and Dad in Heidelberg

Dad and me at the Water Games

For my birthday, Papa G bought me an amazing white-gold heart-shaped locket (personally crafted, all the way from Staten Island, NYC complete with colour engraved picture on the inside) and a bottle of pink champagne and an owl cake! It was a brilliant birthday and I loved it! Joel got me a Kindle and made me the best birthday card in the world!!  Thank you to all the people who gave me money for my birthday too, I intend to spend it well when I'm on holiday in the summer! 

On July 8th, I took my Dad to the airport and said another (but final) farewell and let him catch his plane back to UK. I then went downstairs to wait for Aimz in arrivals... you know, where people ARRIVE!!!! Well, ten mins later she texts me telling me that she's in departures O_o Lord knows how she managed that but it sums up the week really! We bought Scoubies and generally relived our childhood for a good few days! She helped me pack up my life and end my YA on a high! Eternally grateful, thanks! xo

Me and Aimz in the park with our Scoubies!

Aimz being attacked by a swan!

RACCOONNNNNSSSSS!!!

Champagne in the park to celebrate the end!

So that was the end of my year abroad. Done and dusted! I couldn't be happier that it's over to be honest.
Especially now my REAL life has officially begun...

On 12th July, Joel picked me up from Bristol Airport after a difficult year of being in separate countries and maintaining a relationship via Skype and expensive flights. When I walked into Arrivals, there he was. Dressed up to the nines and holding the biggest red rose I've ever seen, I ran into his arms and kissed and hugged him like I'd never before! He had to practically throw me off so that he could give his speech and get down on one knee. In front of everyone, he asked me then and there to spend the rest of my life with him. Of course, I said yes! Everyone in the airport clapped and cheered and whistled and my legs went to jelly. 

I am officially the happiest I've ever been in my life. Ever.

My PERFECT rose

My PERFECT ring

July 15th was Joel's graduation. My fiance graduated from Cardiff University with a First in Computer Science! It was a wonderful day of celebration and photos and smiles. It was really beautiful and I'm so so proud of him! Well done! :) xo

My PERFECT fiance graduating!

My clever boy xo

Officially a graduate!

After the ceremony!

Ages ago, I'd booked a hotel for me and Joel to go to so we could celebrate his 21st seens as we were apart for it. We had one night in a 5* hotel in Llanmartin with sparkling rose wine and some lovely sunshine! It was really nice to spend some quality time together and celebrate our engagement too!  

Our cards so far!

Our 5* bed!

Celebratory Wine

Cheers!

The day after, we had a lovely day at the beach in Barry and you HAVE to check out the picture of the car we built out of sand. Please note: the PATHETIC size of the spade we used to build it!!! 

Joel in our EPIC car

Me legally driving....

Lush day out :)

Fiance & Fiancee!

Today, me and Becky did the Race for Life in Swansea for Giuseppe. It was a really successful day and we managed to jog a fair bit of the course. It was lovely because it was along the sea front. It was really inspiring to run with so many people fighting cancer. I'm considering making this an annual thing - such a good feeling! Thank you Becky for asking me to run the race with you! xo

Ready to rock 'n' roll!

All geared up!

Limbering up

WE GOT MEDALS!!

Now I promise not to leave it so long until the next post so you don't have to spend hours reading through my life! Exciting times though, eh?

I simply couldn't be happier right now!

YA over. Life begun

Engaged

Perfect :)

xo

Ein schöner Tag in Kassel :)

Well today was a LOVELY day!

24 degrees and sunny!

Arty-farty shot of the park

Me and Conny :)

Stuck in the hole ;)

The cock kept getting stuck ;)

Me and Conny went the the Karlsaue (the big park I mentioned before) and we took a picnic. The weather was so nice and we sat and played cards and ate melon (and got it everywhere!!). For a bit of exercise, we played the most hilarious game of Federball in the world! I don't think we have an equivalent but it's basically Badminton without the rules; you just hit back and forth. Well as you can see from the picture, the shuttlecock just kept getting stuck in the rackets...

"I can't get it out of the hole! - That's what she said ;)

The cock is stuck! - That's what she said ;)"

So so so many "that's what she said" moments, I haven't laughed that much in a long, long time!

We did some more reading and I got a bit further with "Der Kleine Prinz" while listening to Italian music and discussing the odd phrase in French whilst talking mostly in English... *mindfuck!!*

So now it's 10pm and I've not long got home. I'm about to have some dinner; soup a la Aim ;) That's Cuppa Soup to anyone who's not familiar aha! 

Wonderful day :) More memories and more pictures!

 

A happy day in Kassel!

Today has been a brilliant day already!

I woke up this morning and went to collect a package waiting for me at a near-by sort of post office. When I got home, I opened it and it was full of AMAZING things from Aimz! See attached photos! Literally, I had the biggest grin on my face ever! 

Every time I think I can't love this girl any more than I already do, she does something like this! Absolute legend! 

I also managed to Skype my Dad and see that despite the gunman on the loose round Tile Hill, he is alive and well. We had a nice chat about everything and we talked about exciting things for when he comes to visit me in Kassel! :) 

I then went out for a little bit and had a nice chat with Conny as always and we also went for a wander around some shops. After, I went to meet Anka and we had a lovely chat too - and in German! My German is immer noch furchtbar unfortunately but every little helps, right? We also managed to get a German Dictionary from the library ready for my Translation exam on Monday. We sat out in the sun for ages and soaked up the rays and chatted about loads of different things. She invited me to her birthday/end of exams BBQ next week so I'm looking forward to that. Sun, BBQ and practising my German with lovely people - perfekt! :) 

Once I'd got home, I decided to do my aerobics exercise video with all the windows open and my Summer Tunes playlist on loud ;) was awesome and I feel really good! Also, I did a load of sit-ups and a "belly blaster" workout :P I'm not sure why I'm doing this to myself!? I want to run the Race for Life and I also want to have my "bikini bod" back but is it worth all the pain!? :P

This question gets harder if you refer back to the picture of the chocolates :P ahaaaa! 

To conclude: Life is good :)

Putting my heart on my sleeve...

I would suggest if you have no interest in my relationship, you should close this page now.

For the first time since I got to Germany, me and Joel had a really nice Skype session. Normally, it's me having a meltdown and him picking me up and sorting me out. Or it's him having a down day and us both chatting and typing without sound so that the sound of each others voices doesn't make us both cry.

Tonight, we spoke for four hours - mostly about our week and what we'd been up to. We only Skype once a week so it's nice to catch up and hear what we've both been doing.

Every week, he sends me a bunch of funny pictures to look through so we both had a laugh about them. It's strange how it's so different with Joel. I can laugh with him in a way that I can't laugh with anyone else. It's just a moment of pure bliss and happiness when we're both laughing together and I can't wait to be geographically with him again to hear his laugh properly. When he laughs, his whole body laughs and his shoulders go crazy - Skype just doesn't show that!

I also played a few romantic tunes and sang to him over Skype. My voice is sh*t anyway so I dread to think what Skype-quality-sh*t-singing he picked up the other end! Hope I didn't kill the romantic mood too much! 

I'm putting my heart on my sleeve a bit here but I never believed in love. I never believed those people who walked around confessing their undying love to another person. I used to think they should be locked up in a padded cell and fed weird and wonderful medication. 

I never believed in marriage either. Maybe it was the lack of a successful married role model, or maybe it was the serial bride role model that I did have? All around me, I saw divorce and broken families and I swore I'd never go down that road. I was sure I'd live my entire life independent and that marriage was just a piece of paper.

How things change? Things couldn't be more different. I am one of those people who wander around confessing my undying love for my boyfriend. I want to marry Joel and I know with every fibre of my being, that I will marry him and I will be with him for the rest of my life. I finally believe in marriage. I don't believe in divorce. I remember speaking to my Grandma not long after my Grandad passed away, and she told me about her and my Grandad going through hard times and they always got through it together. I want to be like my Grandparents. I want to potter around and make tea for Joel while he's snoozing on the couch in the sun after a busy morning of gardening and taking the grandchildren to the park to play tennis. This will make you laugh, but I want to have our false teeth in glasses of water next to each other by the side of the bed :P

Sure I want a career and I want to be independent and to show everyone what I can make of myself. But most of all, I want to be with Joel until the day I die. 

I've found my Prince. Now I want to live happily ever after <3

Normal life in Kassel

I think it's safe to say not a great deal has happened since my last post. 

My sinusitis and ear infections cleared up fine. Although I think I now have an acute phobia of the shower and the potential of getting water in my ears... not good!

My Year Abroad essay is complete and ready to be submitted. My Popkultur essay is also ready to rock 'n' roll. I have an exam next week but I'm feeling pretty chilled about it ;)

We have raised £350 so far for Race for Life but we're aiming for £500 by July 21st. Please please please donate if you haven't already! Read the description about our lecturer, the person we're running for, and I think you'll be inspired. He continues to be an inspiration to this day; he's still giving me advice and guidance even while he's ill. Please donate, it would mean the world to me!

I'm still continuing to do aerobics and sit-ups in my flat and I'm pulling muscles I didn't even know I had! 

I went for a scout around the Karlsaue here in Kassel. It's a huge, gorgeous park in the centre of the city. It's stunning and I went there on the one day we had summer here. I managed to wander round and take some pictures, but unfortunately I did get followed the entire way round by a guy from Brazil :/ awkward! So my plan of going there running is out of the window; he goes running there every day. Damnit! 

I've been further educated in film. I've finally seen the Matrix and both Iron Man 1 & 2, and I'm off to see the 3rd this evening... in German. This is going to be interesting... 

Anyway, I have two weeks until Joel gets here and I bloody can't wait! The countdown to my return to normality begins! 
I can't wait to live with Joel again, even in our cramped little room, it's cosy and it's home.
I can't wait to have Aimz on the same island, so I can pop to London every other weekend and see West End shows and have picnics in the parks around the city.
I can't wait to have Lorna & Becky nearby for nights out and Sunday lunches and Disney marathons in onesies!
I can't wait to be in the same country as my family; a ten minute car ride from my sister and the children. A short journey to Coventry to see my Papa and the rest of the Greens!
I can't wait to be up to my eyeballs in work for fourth year, nestled away in the library with Luce, procrastinating by reminiscing about Torrechiara and romantic running from the train in Parma!
I can't wait to pop to Leicester to have steak and Bettspielen with my Boffin, Liv ;)
I can't wait to run this Race for Life with Becky W :) *ahem, please sponsor us*
I can't wait to have meet-ups and epic adventures with the Radyr Comp people!
I can't wait to have cross country meet-ups with all the fantastic people in my life who are just that little bit further away! Jess Bean, Charl Wright, Rosie Pollock, Conny & anybody else that I've forgotten to mention but who has been there for me in the last few months!

I can't wait to have my life back! It may have some small tweaks and improvements but it will be my life once more! <3 
40 days. Bring it on!

It's all very 90's

Remember the game "Never have I ever?"
I have a brilliant one...
"Never have I ever drank red wine while playing cards with a group of German people in a room next to a 90's eurodance disco, all inside a church after a day of studying feminism in the form of Riot Grrrls!"
*DRINK*

Yes, these last few days have been fantastic and so incredibly random!

From Monday until Wednesday (today), I went with a group of people from my "Pop Culture of the 1990's" class to a three-day workshop in Meinerzhagen. We were mixed with lots of other students and professors from other Universities in order to learn more about the subject than we normally would with just our own professor. 

We stayed in a Church but it was really strange because it was also a hotel! I shared a room with Conny but all of us were on the same floor, in neighbouring rooms. The first day was more or less an introduction, so we were sat listening to presentations and finding out about the next couple of days. In the evening, there was a film showing but we all decided to sit in a little common room, Conny would play guitar and sing and we would all sing along with her to the best of our abilities. We were there for something like three hours, all choosing favourite songs and singing and laughing. It was such good fun! 

The next day was pretty intense. I spent the whole day learning about 90's feminism in the form of the punk movement Riot Grrrls. As I was born in the 90's, for me that decade is dominated by the Spice Girls and I'm a massive fan and I don't care who knows it! However, for more cultured people, the Riot Grrrls provided a political alternative of Girl Power and although my brain was completely fried in feminist juices, I really enjoyed the day. That evening, we sat in the food hall playing cards, drinking wine and just generally having a good time. The techno/eurodance music got too loud so we decided to go and sit down in the corridor by our rooms and listen to Conny on guitar again. We played some amazing songs; Super Trooper complete with *sup-pa-pa troo-pa-pa*, Hallelujah and 500 Miles! Amazing times!

Our final day went quite quickly; we were all too tired and our brains were fried so we didn't really take in much but we had our last lunch together before all making our own way home. 

Me and Conny stopped for McDonalds on the way home so I finally got my McNugget fix. Just in case anyone was interested ;) 

So now I have an idea for my essay! I just have to write it! 
Such a good couple of days - YES to making YA Kassel memories! Finally :D

Happy Days!

For anyone who reads all of my blog posts, I'm sorry you spend your time this way! One minute I'm complaining about everything and anything and the next I'm having such a good time! It must really hurt your head listening to me...

This post is a happy one :)

A friend from Cardiff Uni messaged me a few days ago and suggested we run the Race for Life in Swansea on July 21st in honour of our Italian Professor, Giuseppe Vatalaro. Of course, I jumped at the chance and this is now happening! If you haven't already, please please please sponsor us. It would make us both so happy and it really does mean a lot!
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/beckyandtassia2013

Also, after waiting 10 days for my parcel, my Converse, Viva Forever shirt and face creams finally arrived in the post and I haven't yet taken my Converse off my feet. I can't wait to be wandering around Venice and Parma in the summer with them :D Yeaaahhh! 

I'm actually really enjoying how I'm spending my time here in Kassel. I have completed my first draft of my Year Abroad Essay and in between blogging and cooking mashed potato, I'm going through and checking it. That will be one less thing on my mind! I'm on the ball with translation and I just have to work out what the hell I'm going to do for my Pop Culture course? Help! But I'm spending almost every waking moment (and many sleepovers!) with Conny. I haven't got a picture but I actually have a cup with my name on and my own toothbrush in her bathroom. Moving in or what? ;) We're reading Der Kleine Prinz together and I'm being educated in film and music by her and her house mates! So far, I've watched Love Actually (yes, despite the fact it's on ITV every Christmas, I hadn't seen it!) How to train your dragon (Epic!) Stardust (Also epic) Eat Pray Love (Brilliant) and Spring Breakers ;) Okay that last one is a joke and was a mistake but was REALLY funny to watch and take the piss out of in the cinema! 

And on top of all of this, I am constantly reminded how amazing my boyfriend is. If you have no interest in this part of my life, then I suggest you skip this paragraph. However, me and Joel had a lovely conversation today and he came out with something that brought a happy tear to my eye 

"I can’t even think about my life after we break up, because that life doesn't exist. There's an infinite universe theory which proves that there exists an infinite number of universes that each have their own version of the current universe that we live in, each displaying a different story where different outcomes occur for each moment in life. This means in every universe our relationship will have started in a different way, or hair colour could be different, we could have won that award we came second in. But in every single one of those universes, we exist and we are together, there isn’t one where we aren't together because we were destiny. Get me?"

How brilliant is that? I'm so excited to get back to Britain and start sorting my life out with him. Can our forever start now please? :D 

So to recap, everything with me is pretty dandy!

With regards to my last post, I shall still be doing my PGCE and I will be the best Italian teacher there ever was! Well, second best, nobody can compare to Dr. Vatalaro and it would be stupid for anyone to try. PLEASE DONATE!

Also, it's 70 days until I leave for Venice. And counting. Bring. It. On!