Everything I Loved in August
August seems to have been the slowest month of the year so far, which is weird because I always say, as do a lot of people, that it goes by so quickly. For me, August just seemed to drag on and on, so it's amazing that it's actually come to an end. August is probably my least favourite month of the year, purely because I'm not someone who loves the summer season.
I'm one of those people who wishes it could be over and done with as soon as possible so I can wrap up in my blankets, slippers and hoodies again. I feel like, although September is still quite a warm month, we're drawing ever closer to cold nights, crisp days and crunchy leaves on the floor.
So what have I loved over August? A lot actually happened this month, but it all happened towards the end, for the most part. Maybe that's why it felt like August took an age to end? Anyway, let's get into what you all came here for, shall we?
Watching Tom graduate
Tom graduated this month with a PhD. He should have walked across the stage two years ago, but Covid put the dampener on that one, didn't it? But nonetheless, it was a really lovely, proud day and one that I think we'll all remember forever! We even got given a free glass of prosecco and then we went home, got changed and then had a BBQ with family as a celebration of his achievement.
Having my brother & his girlfriend over to stay
We had done up the spare bedroom so that my brother and his girlfriend could come and stay with us and I'm so glad that we did because they absolutely loved it. We wanted them to be as comfortable as possible and that meant ripping out all of the old skirting boards and flooring etc (both of which were cheap and nasty). We also gave it a coat of colour paint because it was painted trade white before. Once the room was done, we were relieved that they loved it so much and had such a comfortable stay with us!
We went out into our village to explore some of the pubs and bars that are around there because it was the first time Tom and I had ventured out to do that since we moved here because the renovation work with the house was so intense. We stopped for lunch which was like a tapas-style dish together with a few beers. We then went to a tiny micro-pub that sold local ales, lagers and ciders and that's always an experience because we had been there before.
After that, we came back to our house and sat in the garden with a glass of wine before heading out for dinner at our local curry house, which was also fantastic. We did all of this to mark Tom's birthday, but the next day, we were going to be celebrating our engagement which was, basically, the whole reason why we wanted to get everyone together. But it was an amazing weekend, made all the better with my brother and his girlfriend being there as well and we were pleased to host them as well.
Decorating our guest bedroom
When we found out my brother and his girlfriend were coming to stay, we pulled out all the stops and completely redecorated the place. It's had new skirting board, new architrave and a new window sill (inside) because the old one was plastic and went over the top of the original window will, which was rotten.
We also sanded down all of the walls because it was really badly painted by the previous owners and filled in the hairline cracks we could find. We then gave the skirting boards three coats of gloss, not including the undercoat and we laid a whole new floor. Afterwards, we gave it a fresh lick of white paint and then whacked the colour on and this is the result! I'll do an entire blog post all about it soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
Getting my engagement ring back after having it resized
When Tom and I got engaged back in June, the ring he got me was actually too big. Although it did fit (sorta) for most of the time we were away, it was about 35 degrees Celsius the whole time and, when we went on any rides (we went to Walt Disney World), I had to move it to a different finger so it wouldn't fall off, it really did need resizing.
When we were in room temperature or somewhere with the air con on, it was really very loose, so as soon as we got back to the UK, we took it to the jewellers to be made smaller and, they managed to shrink it from an O to a K for us and I was so happy to get it back. It was away from us for about six weeks and it was the longest six weeks of my life. I was just so relieved to get it back and it's something that stuck in my head about August.
The reasons why we didn't just swap it for a smaller one was because I wanted that ring. That was the one Tom took from the UK to Florida, took through the gates of Walt Disney World and proposed with. I didn't want to give my ring back and have it end up on someone else's finger, that's my ring that's meant for me. It's such a sentimental thing and we were really disappointed that the place the ring came from couldn't see that.
They didn't even try and make is smaller for us, they simply told us I should get a brand new ring that's my true size. Of course Tom isn't going to know my exact ring size. He wanted it to be a surprise and he wanted a ring to propose with. It's even more special because we was the one who chose it, it wasn't my choice or ours together, it was his alone and that's something to be cherished in my opinion!
Tom's birthday
I've already touched on Tom's birthday celebrations, but even so, we all had such a great day! We went for breakfast with his family, then came back to ours for some cake. Afterwards, my brother and his girlfriend arrived at our house because they were staying with us that weekend and that's when we ventured out for a walk and something to eat, which involved a lot of tapas and some delicious lagers and beers. Tom had a wonderful day.
Celebrating our engagement at Brown's with the whole family
Just following on from our engagement, we finally managed to get the entire family together to celebrate the occasion. My brother and his girlfriend came up from Wales, my godfather was there, my parents, Tom's parents, Tom's granddad, my sister and Tom's auntie, uncle and two small cousins. It was such a wonderful day filled with amazing food and drink. I'll write a blog post about the whole thing so that's coming very soon!
Finally finishing our living room renovation
We started our living room renovations back in November 2021 and in August 2022, we finally finished everything. It might seem like a long time to decorate a room, but it wasn't just decorating. It involved a lot of re-plastering, sanding, new skirting boards, moving two radiators from one wall to another, a new door, installing new radiators, glossing the skirting boards, architrave and the new door. We have a brand new floor down, new chrome sockets, a different fire surround.
The ceiling was a mess and cracked to high heaven. It really was a project. Hence why it's taken us so long to get to this point. but I'm so glad we took the time and care preparing everything because it now looks incredible. I've given a sneak peak of what it looks like now but I'll do an entire blog post detailing the before and after, together with a lot of pictures throughout the entire process.
Having lunch with friends
We met up with our friends, who also have a one year old little girl, for some lunch. It was supposed to be a traditional Sunday roast, but by the time we got there, we actually weren't too fussed by it, so we each had something different, other than Tom who actually did have the roast dinner, which he thoroughly enjoyed by all accounts. I had hunters chicken with a glass of wine and no pudding. Tom didn't have pudding either, which was unusual for him, but we had a yoghurt when we got back!
Anyway, the whole reason for meeting up with our friends was to learn how they both were and also to see their little girl, who is absolutely adorable. They're both getting married in June next year so they dropped off a suit for Tom and we gave them a present for their daughter's first birthday. It was a bit late, but we couldn't actually arrange a time before that because we were both so busy. But we had an amazing afternoon with them and we can't wait to meet up again and do something similar again :)
Game of Thrones
I know I'm Superrrrrr late to the party with this one. I did try and get into it about five or six years ago but I just couldn't get into it. But I'm now hooked. My dad and brother watched it from start to end, throughout the years, so when the ending came they moaned about it non-stop, so I know who ends up on the Iron Throne, but I want to know what happens to all the characters along the way.
Right now, (SPOILERS), I'm up the point where Jon Snow has worked out he's not actually Ned Stark's son and he's now fighting the army of White Walkers. I'll let you know how I get on, probably in my next monthly favourites post because I can see it going on for a long time to come.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post? Let me know in the comments what you've been loving throughout August and I'll see you again very soon with a brand new blog post :)
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