Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts

Friday, 22 August 2014

I've got good news!

Unfortunately it has been a long time since I last wrote anything. After our trip to Finland I haven't been in the mood or even remembered to do it. The holiday was mainly good, we were lucky with weather and my big brother is a married man now. I think my favourite day was when we went horse riding near a national park called Koli and after went to see the landscapes with a friend. It felt so good to speak Finnish and to speak with a girl. About girly things! I have always wanted to take D horse riding so it was really cool.

There's been ups and downs. I guess I've been most worried about D's drinking. He hates his job and it makes him unhappy so he drinks. I feel bad because I can't make him happy enough to make it worth it. Or help enough with finding a new job. Many times I feel like I am not enough or maybe if I was different he would be happier. When he drinks I become a nail biting nagger who wants him to slow down and drink a glass of water. Recently it has been a lot better though and he is really into photography. He is getting really good too! Today we have known each other for 4 years so we will celebrate it with a film and some prosecco. On Sunday we are going out for a meal as well. Can't wait! I do love him so much. :)

Work has been quite stressful because nothing there is organized and I don't get a weekly rota so I'm basically always available and waiting for a phone call that doesn't come many enough times a week. I also lost my chef friend for a few months because he had to go to prison. Now I have a pen pal in prison! Anyway, I sent my CV out to a few places about three weeks ago and guess what...? I'VE GOT A NEW JOB!! Full time, weekly rotas, closer to home. I feel really stressed though. I've been working my notice this week and tomorrow is my last shift at the old place but facing this new challenge just scares me more than I want to admit. I need to learn to carry more plates and I need to learn to silver serve. I'll be trained behind the bar and reception as well. I am so crap at spelling names though... And phone calls still scare me too much. I'm sure this was a good move though. I am proud of myself. I just hope they like me.

I also passed my sommelier course and received my apprenticeship and NVQ certificates. Hmm, what else.. Nero is good. I have been seeing a girl from work in my free time which is awesome. I want to start saving up for driving lessons.. And DSLR.. and a holiday.. and a house deposit.. and and and..

More next time!


Wednesday, 28 May 2014

I have been mean to myself

First of all, I am sorry I haven't been writing for a while (Not that anybody follows this blog but anyway). It just never felt like a good time.

Let's start with the good news. I have finished all my home work and passed all my tests for my apprenticeship and this is my last week as an apprentice. Well, they can still make me work next Tuesday on £2.68/hour but after that they either pay me a human beings wage or I'm not working for them. The plan is that when we come back from Finland I will start looking for something else. Everybody else seems to be more positive about my chances to get a new job than me but that is because last time it seemed impossible. And yes, Finland in 9 DAYS!!!

I feel a bit confused at the minute about what happens when I come back because my manager hasn't come back to me about it. I told him that for me to stay there I want at least 25 hours a week on a minimum wage and he told me he would have a chat with his wife about it and come back to me. The thing is that he doesn't want to spend money he doesn't have to. What they tend to do is to get young waitresses because they are cheaper. But! I know our regulars, I am hard working, I know what to do, you don't have to ask me to do stuff, I can use the espresso machine and I know a little bit about wines. Definitely more than your average 16-year-old. My manager also seems to try and guilt me to stay with little comments like "don't forget I invested a £1000 in you when I paid for your sommelier course".. Well he will be in for a surprise if everything goes well.

Then the bad news. We have recently changed gas companies and were waiting for the final bill when we realized we are in shit. We have been getting estimated bills for two years and because they have been a lot less than what we have actually spent we now owe that gas company about £2500. We don't have that sort of money. Maybe they can offer us a deal where we can pay it every month for a year or two but it means we are going to struggle. We didn't need this. But then again it is partly our own fault. Also I have felt quite depressed recently. It's like going through your teenage years all over again! I keep thinking negative, hurting myself with ugly thoughts, comparing myself to other women, feeling worthless and small. How do I stop this and start loving myself and giving myself the respect I deserve?! Probably it is just all this stress and we have had a couple of arguments recently. I really hope our holiday will help us relax a little. Here's a few positive pictures!

One beautiful Sunday we had a ride to Newark and enjoyed live music and soft drinks. It was a nice Sunday.

Nero likes boxes, Nero is a cat.


I went for a walk on one of my mega breaks.

Saturday, 26 April 2014

Horses, good wine, bad wine, tears and stuff

Ok so since I am home early on a Saturday night and I need to wait for my wine to get cold in the fridge, I have a good moment to write on here. Today we had a lot of staff in at work so you would expect everything to go fine. Well, it didn't. It was one of those days when you make one mistakes and the domino effect happens. Lots of things went wrong, we weren't organised, the manager was in a bad mood and we had a new girl in who felt nervous on her first shift. Because we had too much staff in (rare) the manager said one of us has to go home. The other girls told me to go. I felt guilty but because I was really tired and stressed I didn't say no. I was just about to leave when my waitress friend told me the new girl is upstairs crying because the manager told her off for putting the knives and forks on the table on wrong sides. I went to see if she was alright and to tell her the manager is like that with everybody and has made all waitresses cry. I told her he does it because he is stressed and that eventually you learn to ignore him and his mean comments. Then the third waitress came to the same room to talk to her as well and just when she was going to go back, the manager came in and was really angry because none of us was working and sent us all home! Early night then.. Let's see what happens next week. I don't think I will see this new girl again.

Me and D have both been quite tired and stressed recently and as usual we haven't had a lot of time together this week. We have been arguing over the smallest things and hurt each others' feelings which I feel really bad about. I am also trying to lose a couple of kilos before we go to Finland so I've been hungry and grumpy, D has been tired because of work and unfortunately people seem to be meanest to the people they care about the most so... Well, it wasn't the happiest week but it's almost over now. Now we are good though and D is cooking burgers for us and cuddling with the cat and damn is that the most lovely sight in the world.

<3


But! I have been meaning to write about this horse race I went to last Saturday. The day didn't start too well. I had been looking forward to wearing a dress for ages but the morning was cold and grey so I felt disappointed but decided to put jeans and boots on instead. When we went to meet the rest of the group I saw that I was the only girl who wasn't wearing a dress. All other girls had done their hair and chosen pretty dresses and shoes to go with them. Then the sun came out. I felt so horrible and different that I felt like crying. I don't understand why I reacted so strongly, I didn't know I cared so much. But once we got to the race course I was happy again. :) We lost all the money we bet on horses but that's the idea isn't it? Unfortunately I missed a few races in the pub and fish & chips queues but I did enjoy the day. And at the end of the day I was the winner because the evening was really cold and we had to wait for a taxi for an hour and all the other girls were freezing and somebody said to me she would give anything to have a pair of jeans.





I am also quite getting into wines now. I mean the drinking bit, I love buying a bottle I never tried before but I still don't have time for the books..... Ooops. I really need to start reading. But it is difficult! All them foreign words and every country has different rules and I have no idea how to tell if a wine is full bodied or medium bodied or if it goes with greasy fish or less greasy fish. A couple of weeks ago I bought a bottle that was on offer and when I went home and opened the bottle I realized it was badly oxidized. It smelt sweet and the colour was brown when it was supposed to be a white wine. I should have taken it back but never did. Oh well. But here's some pictures of all the wines I have bought since I wrote on here last time. Once I know a bit more about what I'm talking about I will maybe write something about them as well. But my new favourite red wine is Rioja. At least the ones I have tried so far have been absolutely beautiful.

Oxidized and horrible

I gave Muscadet another chance.

I love it!

I'll open this one in a minute.



More random pictures:


D's Easter surprise for me :)

I had to ask somebody to help me because I was too short to reach for the pepsi max.

I made the most beautiful milk shake with strawberries, Irish cream, vanilla ice cream and milk

Can you tell this was cooked by an English man? It makes my heart melt though. <3


Ps. 41 days until Finland!

Thursday, 27 March 2014

I miss you!

My blog is about my life with an English man. The sad thing is that we don't get that much time together so many of my posts are more about me and my life than our life together. This is what it's like:

A typical Tuesday

7am. The alarm goes off for the third time and D has to get up for work. He is grumpy and tired, he hates mornings just like I do. I can hear him smoking his electronic cigarette for a minute before he leaves the warmth of the bed. When he's ready to go I get a quick kiss and he says he loves me. I try and stay awake to hear him lock the door.

10am. It's D's first brake at work and I get a text from him. This is usually the sign for me to finally get up. The text is always similar "morning princess, how are you? love you xXx D xXx" etc. I reply with one eye open and kick myself out of bed. It's ridiculous that I waste my time by sleeping so much. I still feel tired, have a headache and can't be bothered to do anything.

The first thing I do when I get up is to find out if I have any chocolate or something else I fancy. I know it's not good for me. This needs to change. Then I spend the next couple of hours online. Killing time, checking my Facebook. This is the time I should be cleaning the house. I feel guilty when I can't keep the house clean. My boyfriend doesn't have a warm meal waiting when he comes home.

12:30pm. D's next brake and I receive my second text. "How is your day going?" The thing is, our texts are always similar because every day is similar. Around 12:30 I am always about to take a bath or a shower after which I will dry my hair, do my make up and do my hair. I can't really do my hair so it is always a ponytail which makes me look bald. I hate it.

14:20pm. I set off for work. Half an hour on the first bus. Then I walk through town to get to the second one which will take me where I work. I start at 4pm. but I'm always there for about 15:35pm. Time to send D a quick text because I won't have a chance for the rest of the evening. I start work at 4pm. D finishes work at 4pm. I wish I had a chance to call him quickly just to hear his voice but it is time to face people at work. On weekdays I am the only female in there so I get a lot of compliments and attention. I wish I got more of them from D.

10:30-12:00pm. I am about to finish work so I call D. He has to pick me up on a motorbike no matter what weather. I hate how I can't afford a car. I definitely cannot afford a taxi home and buses aren't running anymore. D arrives, is tired and just wants to go home. I feel guilty and shit about the situation. What can I do? If he doesn't want me to quit there is nothing I can do.

One hour later: As soon as we go home we have to go to bed. D is usually ready first and is in bed before me. He reads the news on his iPad. He is tired. I take my trousers and top off, he doesn't take his eyes off the iPad. I turn the lights off feeling sad he didn't pay attention to me when I was feeling pretty. I shouldn't be annoyed though, he needs to be up early in the morning and we need to sleep. We spoon for a moment which is my favourite part of the day even though I wish it lasted longer. I wish we kissed more. Wednesday will be exactly the same.

Sunday

It's my day off. It's also D's day off. It is our chance to have a good time together. If it is a sunny day I feel we HAVE TO go out. D is always worried about money. He is never excited about going out to start with but is always happy we went. Often we end up doing the same thing. We go for a ride on beautiful country roads, go for a picnic in a nice place or maybe fish & chips. I don't care I just want to enjoy the sun and enjoy my boyfriend. We often stop at a country pub for one drink. I love the atmosphere in them and if it's sunny, there is nothing better than a beer garden. Let's hold hands for a moment. Let's not worry about tomorrow. D is not extremely romantic but I know he loves me. Why would he pick me up after a long day at work in rain on 5 or 6 days a week if he didn't?  Why would he go and buy me medicines when I'm ill or make me a cup of tea when I'm crying? Why would he want to punch my managers in the face when they make me cry? He does a lot for me and is there for me when I need him. And when we do have a really good time, it is all worth it.

In the evening we will maybe watch a film and I will have a long hot bath. I decide this time I will be more interesting than anything that is happening in the world. Tonight he will see me. Black lace, do your job.

Ps. 71 days until Finland!


Friday, 21 March 2014

22

"I'm not 21 anymore" is my new joke I use when I'm tired. I had my 22nd birthday last week which I decided to work so I can have a Saturday off for the first time in months. It was kinda depressing to start with because my bosses didn't remember it even though it had been written in the diary for ages so they talked to me like crap as usual. But in all fairness they did treat me nicer when they found out. Anyway it was quite a funny day at work because two other customers had a birthday as well, we high fived each other, the "happy birthday" -song was heard several times and everybody was in a good mood. I also got to go home a bit early and take some tips home. Wow!

My present from D was a necklace with a real ruby. (No it's not my birth stone) Obviously I love it and carry it everywhere I go with me. :) He also got me a very nice bottle of wine. My mum sent me loads of sweets and chocolates from Finland. I was a little bit sad she forgot the rye bread but I only have 2.5 months to wait so I'm sure I can make it. I also got money from D's parents and some really nice perfume from a girl at work. I'm impressed somebody managed to find one that I really like. Then again 90% of girls probably know cosmetics and girly things better than I do.



On my Saturday off we went to the Tropical Butterfly House near Sheffield. Highly recommended! It is not expensive, something like £8-9 per person and there is loads to see: butterflies, exotic birds, birds of prey, meerkats, lemurs, marmosets, crocodiles, giant tortoises, otters, black swans, farm animals, well, all sorts. I really enjoyed that. In the evening we went to a really nice pub for a meal and a few drinks. After that we were supposed to go to town, go to a few more pubs and have a late night. For some reason I haven't been myself recently though and I was way too tired by 9 pm. and we had to catch a bus back. Booo! It was still a nice birthday and it was lovely to spend more time with D.






Don't read this bit if you're not interested in people's body functions. Since last week's Monday I've been having dizzy spells every now and again and alcohol seems to make it worse. I've also had vertigo twice, you know when the room starts spinning in your eyes and my stomach has been quite upset for a few weeks and either doesn't work at all or is too active. Most days I'm really swollen, so much that I get pains (air) and especially wearing my leathers for D's motorbike is quite interesting. I'm also tired a lot and don't get much done. I was just wondering if anybody knows what could cause this. I thought maybe my blood pressure's low but I had it checked yesterday and it was fine, 111/ 73. Maybe I'm sensitive to something I eat. Or maybe I'm lactose intolerant! I might actually try and drink a glass of milk and see what happens. Anyway, sorry about this bit.

One of my bosses surprised me yesterday by asking what my plans are for the future. It might have been easier to answer if I actually knew exactly what they were but I don't. Well I do but nothing is set in stone. I told him that after my apprenticeship I need evening work on a few nights a week so I can start thinking about going to university. Then he surprised me even more by saying that he wants to keep me there because "I follow him and he can trust me." But he wants somebody there full time. Maybe I could work  full time for a year, save money and then go to uni? I told him to let me know by May for sure so I can start looking elsewhere if they can't afford to keep me there. I don't knoooooow.. In some ways I hate it there but with a normal wage it would be a lot more motivating and in a way it is nice to be in a place where you know your job.

There is another good thing about my work place and managers. They are offering me a free sommelier course. This means that I have to go to the restaurant on one of my days off for a few hours but I do believe it is a really good opportunity and will look good on my CV. There is a lot to learn though! I find the terminology quite challenging. Well, I find it all quite challenging. To get the qualification we're gonna have to pass this test and a big part of it is blind tasting. I'm really going to struggle with that. The amount of information we have to learn in  14 weeks used to take 3 years so it is very very compact. But if I can do this I will be very proud of myself!

Friday, 21 February 2014

Painting, love and shopping


Painting

Painting is one of the only hobbies I have but I haven't felt like doing it for months. On last Thursday I was in the right mood and decided to continue working on something I started ages ago. It didn't go like I planned it though. First I couldn't find my paints.. I spend over half an hour looking for them. Then I realised I have run out of some of the colours I needed so I had to go to town. It was actually quite nice, the sun was out for the first time in a long time and I found a nice set of Galeria acrylics. I also bought a new reflective collar for our cat Nero and a paradise mix -dried fruits. When I came home it was already late in the afternoon but I wanted to do some painting since I had done so much work to get that far. I started painting and opened the paradise mix. A couple of minutes later I tasted paint in my mouth. The paint on my fingers hadn't dried and by that time my hand had been in the bag and my mouth several times. I went to the toilet to clean my mouth very carefully trying to spit all the red out of my mouth. There was more than I realised. With a clean mouth I returned back to the living room only to realise that Nero has walked over my palette and he had already managed to walk on the fitted carpets, sofa, kitchen worktops.. Well, everywhere. After doing my best to clean the paint up I returned to my painting and managed to work on it for a couple of hours. For some reason I haven't been in the mood since.



Love

It was Valentine's day last Friday and because my English man is an important character in my blog I thought I'd tell you how we spent it. I was working. The restaurant where I work was fully booked, my managers were in a horrible mood and I was told to fuck off as soon as I arrived. For the rest of the evening I tried to avoid my bosses and looked forward to going home. I finished after midnight and D had bought me a big beautiful rose, chocolates, a card and sour apple Cactus Jack's. We "cooked" a frozen pizza, had a few drinks and managed to have quite a good night after all. We are both stressed and tired with our jobs, money and all that but I do feel lucky to have him. He is a caring boyfriend but also my best friend.


Shopping

D's birthday is coming so I went shopping yesterday. I can't tell you what I bought him because he reads this blog and it's a bit silly anyway. But I will show you my Yoshi t-shirt and Nero with his new collar. :) 



Thursday, 30 January 2014

The First Post

I suppose you people want to know how it all started. It's not the text book love story (is that even a word?) but it's my story.

Ok, here it comes: we met online. My boyfriend is so ashamed about the fact that it's not "natural" that he doesn't dare to tell his parents or people at work the truth. So let's hope these people never find this blog and recognize me. But noooo, no. It was not a naughty site. It was not world of warcraft. We were simply learning languages. He wanted to learn Finnish. I started teaching him, we thought Skype could be a good idea... Well you may guess what happens next. We liked each other.

We waited 7 months until we met live for the first time. I still think it was a good "test" for us in a way. If we could do it then surely that would mean something? The day we finally met I had my last final exam: advanced maths. I suppose it is possible I was nervous that day. 6 hours for the exam, one hour between the exam and catching the train, 6 hours on the train which was late. I had forgotten to get cash out for the bus to the airport where I was supposed to meet him. I panicked and phoned my mum in tears. The nice couple sat next to me gave me 4 euros for the bus. YESS, my plan worked! Thank you beautiful people!

Eventually I arrived in Helsinki-Vantaa airport.. I just needed to find him. "What would I say.. Should I hug him when I see him? What if I look different than on webcam? What if it's really awkward?" I had many questions on my mind but surprisingly once I got to the airport I wasn't that nervous anymore. And when I finally saw him I just ran to him, hugged him really hard and he almost fell over.. But yes, he was cute. :)

I'm not saying I didn't feel shy or awkward first but we were kinda busy finding the bus to Helsinki and then finding our hostel. But I don't want to make this too long so let's just say that we had a really great 11 days. We went to pubs, we went bowling, snowboarding, skiing, shopping, cinema etc.. Well you don't have to know everything. But by the time it was time for him to leave I felt like I'd known him forever. It was quite sad when he left..


Anyways, next time it was my turn. We had to wait another 5 months.. Not easy.. Not easy at all. But we made it and I would say it was the best day of my life when I met him again at Gatwick airport. I had never been to England before so it was quite exciting. Not just the fact that I was with my boyfriend but also being in a foreign country. I was supposed to stay for a month but I sort of ended up cancelling my flight back to Finland and just stayed.

My next post will be about all the things I found weird about England.

Sorry if I've made any mistakes.

- Millie


A couple of pictures taken when D came to see me in Finland for the first time. I wish I could upload pictures with faces but I want to remain anonymous for now. And my shadow looks fat but I was probably wearing some really warm clothes.