The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Reading books like this one, make me miss my childhood. it fills me up with such warmth and comfort, and a longing for so long ago. I do have to admit reading as an adult how much i loved reading it and how good the book still is after all these years.

It will always be a classic tale about a toad and his friends who no matter what happens and how many seasons go past they will be there till the end.

The Wedding

Planning for a wedding is extremely hard and stressful but, rather enjoyable. My partner and I have figured that out in the last few months, with our wedding coming up in October. We decided in the beginning that we would try and cut costs but still get the wedding we want, so we have decided to do most things ourselves or get others to help us.

For example, we have made the invitations ourselves, and decided do have the wedding,reception and photos all in the same place, we are doing the deceleration ourselves with the help of my partners father, catering is being sorted by my mother and my father is helping with me getting to the church and walking me down the aisle and I am making the cake, and with everything else we getting help from friends, family and our local church.

To us a wedding isn't just a day but it is a start of a brilliant future with the person I love. I am very privileged to be marring the person I love.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

I am usually one that doesn't like an unfinished book, but on this case i had to stop half way through as I found it dull, uninteresting, and very hard to read as it didn't seem to flow well. In parts it had to much explanation and felt as the author was trying to hard.. I will not be able to recommend this book at all to anyone who wants a good book to read.

Say YES to the Dress!!!

It it usually a once in a lifetime experience to be able to choose a wedding dress with some close friends and ones mother, but it is a privilege i have had this morning. To Cherish, a bridal shop across the road from Barrinton Mall in Christchurch, had the warmth and the knowledge to help me choose a dress that i would absolutely love.

When I arrived with my mother and friends, I was welcomed with a friendly and warm welcome, then we were taken to a private room for use to use and given the round rules for the day. We were made very comfortable, relaxed and happy and choose out four dresses.

Four dresses was a good start and I tried the first dress on, a strapless dress which i found i did not like, especially with being bigger busted and a bit chubbier it did not suit me at all. Strapless was defiantly out!!!

However in what i would consider a strange thing i tried the second dress on and it was perfect, i wasn't expecting to find a dress i loved and wanted that quickly, best of all within budget!!! so i said yes to the dress. So i paid the first half of the amount, with a fitting in September, so alterations can be made in time for the wedding the big revel will soon be here.....

New Year, Same me

New Years is usually the time when most are deciding on their new year resolutions,which is a good thing, change i will admit is always good and one most adapt, grow and change in order to survive or get something better in our lives. Yes i do want more, but i have decided i will let things just come my way, and to just focus on my wedding, my writing and this blog (which i must admit i need to water this blog a\a bit more so i can watch it flower a lot more) and of course my "9-5" job.

to give you a bit of an update on my progress on my lists i am still reading atonement, which is taking forever to read, and my bucket is in need of being pushed into my front view again, as i have ignored it lately. It will be an aim to try and get more down with both lists..

Another aim is just to write more personal updates and logs here just for consistency in blog updates and feeling like i am getting somewhere with the world. however in the end lets see how 2017 pans out...

When The World Stops

I hated it admit it, more than anything i hated it. It has taken a bit of time to say.... I've got a cold!!!
And what is worse that its no normal cold, it has hit me almost instantly, i lost my voice to even add to the annoyance of it.


It had hit me on the Friday and went home half way through work, took the day off on Saturday. I thought id still go back to work on Tuesday thinking 'I'll be fine' but NO, i was not fine my voice continued to disintegrate even worse and finished work a little earlier and worse i had to admit defeat, i am sick and i need to go to the doctor\r and was then told to take a week off to recover..


Now that I'm halfway through my sick leave and still recovering but not 100% i am getting bored, i know resting is good for you to recover but its frustrating, it does make me realize that i do work to hard and don't put in anytime just for myself, or that i don't have to do everything, as i feel the fact that i am sick even with its worst timing ever is because i'm putting to much on myself and that i need to take better care of myself.

Orana Park - FEED THE TIGER - OMG

Over the weekend, i got such an amazing an awesome opportunity to feed an tiger at Orana  Park, it was amazing to not only look at all the amazing animals, something that you don't get to see often, but to feed a beautiful thing like a tiger. While feeding the Tiger, i learned more about the tigers and how they were being brutally hunted and there homes destroyed and how Orana Park is trying tosave the habitats and the Tigers in the wild. I am so lucky to be able to look at these animals at the zoo and be able to feed the Tiger, it is an experience i will never forget.



If you want to donate to help the Tigers go to the following link to see what you can do: http://www.21stcenturytiger.org/

On the Gym

It was roughly two months ago when i decided it was time, to join a gym. the decision came when i am realizing that i am not happy nor healthy at my size i have started slowly getting into the gym and am slowly getting myself into a routine.

The truth is that, i am 5'1" tall and weigh 91.1kg and when i look into the mirror i do not like what i see, so alongside the gym i am slowly working on my nutrition so i can be a lot healthier and happier in who i am and with what i look like, this is only for me and it only has to be for me, or there was no point.

To help i joined a gym that is close to where i work and is fully supportive and easy to get to from both home and work and just put into my life and so far it has helped it has became something fun and enjoyable.

Now ti take on the world!!!!!

I am now back to blonde (bucket list)

Back to blonde

March, 2014 i had the chance to shave my hair off, for the blood and leukemia foundation. It was a great chance to help raise funds for the cause and help me regrow my natural hair color of blonde hair and now 1 year, 9 months later my hair has grown out some and is showing its nice blonde color which is something that i had missed since my hair had been dyed.

On the right is a current picture, and i must say how much i love having that color back and am looking to having it grow out even longer.

Now that i have written that i must mention why i have been absent from here for so long when i intended to keep posting weekly at least. My personal life has taken a shift for the better, which means i have now moved back to Christchurch and am now living with my fiancé who has re inspire me to do what i love the most, reminded me to live my life, and to be true to who i am as a person. so with that i am happy to continue this journey of self discovery with him and within myself.

The Psychopath Test: A Journey through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

This is such an amazing topic to read about and to experience, you can tell it has well researched and well-written. The author was given a chance to delve himself into a world of madness and let himself become involved in an unknown.

The thing I liked about this is the author starts to question his own convictions and that of his findings but helps the reader to question their own beliefs. The test itself that pucks up on Psychopath’s needs to be taught, properly and softly so that it ensures that the result and the care afterwards is done correctly and safety and the author has shown that there is still lots we do not know about the mind and that the way we help those with mental illness and look at those who have them still has a long way to go.

The Dancing Jax Series

The first book in this series, was good and full of promise. The idea was very interesting. However the second was good but started to feel rushed and lie the author was getting tired of writing the series. Now with the last and third book, I had trouble reading and getting through the book was difficult as it got to far fetched for me and not the greatest.

The book is good but not what I have personally like. The idea of book is good but not well delivered, so if you  read, don't be disappointed when you get to the last book.

Where we are laying.

Hello everyone, I hope all of you are having a fun time, and school or work isn't getting you down.

Over here I am almost finished a trilogy (from my reading list) the dancing jax series. Which I will post at the end if the week.

Now after the post at the end of the week I will be completing something from my bucket list,  this list has been a little ignored lately, which is a real shame as it has quite interesting things placed on this  list. 

While I am doing the bucket list, I have had the idea of running some possible competitions, during the next few weeks, so keep your eye out for the upcoming weeks.  :D

Christchurch's Quake - 5 Years Today

Five years ago, On the 22nd of February 2010 I was on the corner of Colombo and Hereford St in Christchurch, on the phone to my friend who I was meeting when in the matter of minutes things changed forever...

That event was the second Christchurch Earthquake. after all the aftershocks we had since the first quake in September the year previous, we all hoped that the shakes would stopped, but instead we got one that did way more damage and we lost many lives.

It was the day for us that were there will never forget, each person will remember exactly were they were and will always tell there story. It will be the one of the few events that will shape Christchurch and our country in a different way forever.

After that quake I moved to Auckland, but I am back to see family, and it coincided with the fifth anniversary of the quake, it made me feel more connected to Christchurch that I ever was and I am glad as Christchurch will always be my home and have a place in my heart.

And to Christchurch: WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER AND WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It is no wonder this book is considered a classic, the way he writes is simply superb and the way he creates the relationship between John and Sherlock, they are the missing parts if each other and they both fill the void within each other. This is a true platonic friendship

The stories will always stand the test of time as they already proven to do.

Christchurch Holiday

While I am writing this, I am checked in and so has my luggage and am now waiting near my boarding gate, the issue is I am way to early.

I am such a nervous wreck when it comes to flying, and I am not to sure why. Buses and trains are fine, but flying makes my heart race and mind  wander, even though I know it'll be fine.

But despite that I am excited about my trip back home to see family and friends. Here's to Christchurch!!

Auckland!! Where A Book?

Auckland, What a city! It is what I call a book lovers dream; it has a lot of independent bookstores if you look hard enough. So far, I have fallen in love with 3 of them.

The first being one that Is in the heart of Mount Eden , open 9-9 everyday including the weekends, with a great selection and it’s shelves filled with books, and even has a great loyalty system. It even sits near a great coffee shop, which is open from 6am till very late in the evening. It is one of the small gems that inhabit the inner city.

The second book store is one that was recommended to me by a friend at work, she said that it has such a large selection of books and is stacked from floor to ceiling with books, and boy was she right!!! This book shop, I take two trains to get too as it lives in an area of Auckland called Onehunga, and the name being ‘Hard to Find’ and no the shop isn’t hard to find, but It does have loads of selection that the big stores like Whitcholls or Paper Plus don’t have and it is like a Tardis, it seems small on the outside but is so much bigger on the inside and is wonderful and magical. There is the bottom floor, and there are two top floor sections and you could easily spend hours in there. There will always be a place in my heart for this store.

The third store being somewhat amazing, its name… Bookmark, and what a name that its. Bookmark lives on the main street of Devonport; it has a feeling of adventure to get there, crossing the ferry from the city to this store, which has so many choices and beautifully bound books, and dose of fresh air, mixed with that special aroma that comes from books. This book store becomes a part of your soul and once you leave you feel like you are leaving somewhere that you wish you could stay forever, but once you are outside you are just a few steps away from the water and the ferry, and even if you sit near the water to read or on the way back to the city on the ferry, you feel way more alive.

These three bookstores are only some of the many that lie within Auckland, so go out and explore, who knows what you will find or where you will end up. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, what can I say, simply superb!! Pride and Prejudice is such a fantastically written book, one that no matter how many times it’s read It gives you the real emotion of each character and even though you know that Mr Darcy and Miss Bennett end up together you still fear that they won’t. 

Jane Austen is one of those authors that made each character real and unique, she makes you laugh, cry and at time angry and then makes you sad, I only wish she were still alive to write more books. I will always carry Elizabeth Bennett in my heart as well as Mr Darcy.

We Will ALWAYS Remember...

This week we the world have lost two great legends.... David Bowie and now the Great Alan  Rickman who played the sheriff of Nottingham in the 1991 movie Robin Hood and the Prince of Thieves and Professor Snape from Harry Potter just to name a few.

The news is devastating to all those who personally knew them and to the acting and music communities. The world will never forget them, may they rest in peace.

Jimmy Carr (Bucket List: Comedy Show)

Oh what a night it was! Just being able to watch how perform was priceless, and to hear that famous laugh of his was perfection. Jimmy Carr is a wonderful comedian. He is definitely a man to see.

What made the night more perfect, was being able to meet him and get his signature after the show. 

The comedy was gold, the evening great this is an evening I will remember forever.

Hello New Years!!!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years and here at the Nerd Over Haul blog we wish you all a great new year.

(Blog post will restart on the 11th of January)