Absence makes the heart grow fonder… right?

I know, I know. Yet again I’ve left it ages since updating my blog. But once again I’ve had so so so much going on in my life.

Let’s start with the obvious: the dissertation.

I handed it in…. and I handed it a day early. Yayyy! I am so very relieved to have that done and out of the way. Here’s a picture of Ash and I just before we handed it in. It was a huge weight off my shoulders but it also came with a feeling of ‘what now?’. It didn’t feel real.  A year of hard work has culminated in a 20,000 word document  entitled ‘ The Evolution of Erotica in the 20th Century’. And now it’s over.

So now what? Well that bring me round to the second reason why I’ve been absent – I have a new job. Now the codes of conduct and all that jazz say I’m not supposed to talk about it, so I won’t. But I can tell you I work night shifts with some really nice people and I’m enjoying it.

Next up is that a member of my family is in hospital, again I’m not going to dwell on it because right now I don’t want to. I’ll come back to that when it’s more appropriate and when I have the right words to say. I just hope that my family know how much I love them and how I’m only ever a phone call, text, e-mail, facebook message, bus ride away.

And finally brings us to the weekend. It was my Nana’s 70th birthday and so we went to Pontins in Brean Sands for a family weekend. It was amazing, funny, tiring, drunk and filled with memories and songs from my childhood.

This is a photo of just some of my cousins…..yes, there are more than that!

I also got to spend some time with my siblings, all three of them in one place at the same time!! That’s no easy feat as we all have  busy lives right now.

And lastly, it was my birthday. I’m the big 23. Twenty three years old. Me. Jeez. I guess I really am an adult now, even though there are days when I’m watching anime, sewing felt animals, making cakes and feel like a child. My husband and my family made the day great. I felt so loved and was seriously spoilt with a new bag, make-up, crafty things, books, manga, pug make-up bag and glasses case, shoes, scarf, money and jewellery… I love my birthday.

This week is also our wedding anniversary – one whole year. Holy cow, hasn’t that come around quick! I’ll be writing about that later this week, but I still can’t believe I’ve been married a year, and that neither of us has killed the other.

© hannamonika.com

So that’s why I have been away from my lovely little blog. I hope you’ll forgive me and my sporadic posting. I am still here and I will still keep blogging even though you’re probably all fed up with me by now!