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Showing posts from October, 2024

1 Month Trip Travel Essentials (USA and Canada 2024)

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I don't normally buy additional things for my holidays in terms of travel essentials, but with it being a one month multi-city trip, I felt I needed to be extra organised and have a few extra bits for organisation, security and comfort. Starting with organisation, this time I've decided to print all my bookings and insurance documents so that I have a paper hard copy. I've bought a folder to safely store everything and organise each city. I also bought some packing cubes in the hopes of being able to fit everything in the suitcase! With some many flights and different trips to different places, plus with my dad recently loosing his luggage on two different occasions, I thought I would invest in some AirTags . I had planned to eventually get these for kids but it would be perfect for luggage and expensive belongings especially. For added security, I've got a couple of padlocks and a portable door lock for the hotel rooms.  I've also bought a few extra electronics w

Get Well Soon Present from Heavenly Boxes (Review)

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Heavenly Boxes is a beautiful small business that specialise in curating small gift boxes for a present at every occasion. They have many themes from seasonal boxes, to birthdays, bridal, thank you and of course, get well soon.  I got the Rest and Recharge Hamper , which specialises in "goodies that will help her relax and unwind before bed, it's sure to make her feel refreshed and energized in the morning". It includes a variety of sleep aids like pillow spray, aromatherapy candles, soothing tea and eye mask.  My favourite item was actually the cute grey stretchy headband, but of course the chocolate was very quickly well enjoyed and I can't wait to have a nice relaxing pamper night soon. My plan is to have a candlelit bath with bath salts, candles and the face mask! The package arrived safe and sound in a lovely box. It had a huge ribbon around it and then was in another cardboard box for delivery. The inside was perfect. It smelt amazing, whilst also looking beauti

My Experience: Advanced Midwifery Practice at Anglia Ruskin University

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I've officially got my final transcript through and I will be graduating from my  Advanced Midwifery Practice Masters at Anglia Ruskin University . I've completed the degree part-time over 2 years, as a distance learner, whilst working almost full-time for the duration. I did a summary after the first year , but I also wanted to share my thoughts after the second year.  I've absolutely loved being a distance learner again . I think working from home is defintely my preference and if I had a career that would allow me to work from home full time, that would be ideal. Of course, with my chosen profession, that's not really possible but maybe towards the end, nearing retirement! I love being able to flexibly work, in my own space, around my own time and scheduled plans. I love being able to do activities midday and then work later into the evenings when I feel the most awake. I also love being able to take my break and eat when needed, rather than relying on someone else t

Holiday Clothing Haul (USA and Canada 2024)

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I'm not very confident in my body  at the moment and as long-time followers will I've struggled with this concept for a long time but it's come back with a vengeance over the summer especially as I've been very inactive between summer plans, writing my master's  dissertation and being unwell . All that being said, I started to try on my holiday clothes wardrobe and I felt terrible in them all. I've been trying to save money, but ultimately I decided I needed to feel comfortable on my travels and of course, it would be nice to have some new clothes. It's been a while, but I did a little try on in the vlog. You'll have to ignore my face as I was still a little unwell and pale! The main priorities were a couple of outfits I needed for some themed cruise events I needed a tropical night outfit and a rock night outfit. I bought three options for the tropical theme and instantly loved them all. In the end I decided to keep just two of them. The first green

Pneumonia Recovery, Side Effects and Fit to Fly (Part 5)

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After a week in the hospital, it was nice to be discharged home  even though I didn't feel ready. I have my own sats machine and so I was comparing it to the hospital one and it was pretty similar. My sats were consistently 93% in hospital for the last 12 hours or so before I was discharged, which seemed really low to me but nevertheless, they discharged me home.  The second day at home, I started to feel a lot better in general and my oxygen levels improved to 94% consistently which made a nice change. Over the next 4 days it slowly increased to 95% and then 96 which felt great. I still had a high heart rate the entire time which was worrying me a bit. My resting heart rate is usually 60 - 75bpm and it was 110 - 120bpm, even when lying down. I didn't do it regularly when walking around, but even just walking to brush my teeth and back, it increased above 130bpm. I felt well otherwise, but got very out of breath when I would do anything. I felt so unfit and unhealthy, it was de

My Master's Journey: Modules, Reviews and Grades!

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With my Master's university journey almost coming to an end, I thought I would link all my posts in one place for reference! I've had 5 modules, one of which was worth double the credits, and for each module, I've tried to share my thoughts before and after the module. Then also share my experience of the assessment and the result.  Of course, I also shared my thoughts of  getting accepted  into the course,  funding  and of  starting university  as a postgraduate student.  Promoting Normal Childbirth is worth 30 credits and I got 58%. Pre-Thoughts  After Thoughts  Assessment  Result Facilitating Complex Childbirth  is worth 30 credits and I got 66%. Pre-Thoughts   After Thoughts  Assessment  Result Professional Midwifery Advocate is worth 30 credits and I got 55% and a "pass"  Pre-Thoughts   After Thoughts  Assessment: Part 1 Essay and Part 2 Booklet Result: Part 1 Essay and Part 2 Booklet Before starting the second year of my part-time Master's Degree, I

Royal Caribbean Hawaiian Cruise Nightmare and Changes (USA and Canada 2024)

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I feel like I've been really messed around by Royal Caribbean and this Hawaii Cruise that I booked well over a year ago. First of all, it's very frustrating that their single occupancy rate is almost the same as their double occupancy rate. For an all inclusive, all you can eat and limited but all you can drink 14 day cruise, it was just the taxes that were an extra to book for 2 people instead of 1.  The original cruise I booked was literally a dream come true and I couldn't have been happier to find it. It ticked off all the places I wanted to visit and was just wonderful. I was originally booked for the Quantum of the Seas ship. It started in Vancouver, British Columbia and then travelled down to Victoria, British Columbia, before stopping in Seattle, Washington. I loved that this allowed me to visit 3 cities in Canada and spend 1 - 2 days in each and Seattle was a place I really wanted to visit because of Grey's Anatomy (although I know little is filmed there nowada

Pneumonia Care, Oxygen Requirements and Discharge (Part 4)

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After spending almost 48 hours in the private ward , the following morning, we turned the oxygen down to 2L which I felt very comfortable with and my saturations remained 94% the majority of the day. In the evening, I asked to reduce it to 1L overnight but because they were still borderline, they were reluctant, understandably. It ended up getting turned down to 1L in the morning and then when the consultant came round for ward round, she turned it off completely. It had only been 3 hours and I had already started to struggle with my breathing again but she didn't seem to care.  She came back into the room less than 30 minutes later, checked by saturations and they were 94% so basically said I was fit to go home which did not feel good. Especially, given what had happened last time. I knew it would still be a little while before I could go home as I had to ait for medications and things, but I also said my mum had just gone back to Leeds as yesterday the doctor had said it would be

Pre-Warning and for Vlogs

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This is a very quick post just to say that there will be no vlog this week, so I do apologise. I am hoping vlogs will be back at the end of the month, otherwise it will be November (!) and be prepared for probably a few extra bonus vlogs as I then catch up with holiday content! 

Final Master's Module "Major Project" Dissertation Feedback

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I shared last week my final assessment mark for my Master's degree, which was documented as 71% but I got such detailed feedback, I thought I would share exactly where I lost marks. I was genuinely really happy when I saw my score, but with being in hospital and having pneumonia, it took me a couple of weeks before I looked through the feedback and with that I ended up questioning my grade.  The project was marked by two separate markers but it looked like the first marker gave me a much higher mark, so it was a little disappointing that there was such a large difference, but the biggest error was that the marks given correlate to my total score. I'm sure it was just an admin error, however when I added up the individual section scores for them all, Chapter 3 totalled 20 and not 17, therefore I actually got 74%.  With that being a very clear mistake, I then questioned a couple of the other sections as the marks had boundaries and the actual mark given wasn't documented. In

Madagascar the Musical (Review)

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Pneumonia Treatment, Ward Experience and Ear Infection (Part 3)

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After spending the night in A+E , I got woken up bright and early with an ambulance crew. I hadn't been told but they were transferring me to another hospital who were apparently more specialist for respiratory care. I was still on 1L of oxygen and my chest still felt tight, but nowhere near as bad as it was. The second we got to the ward, it was a Respiratory Assessment Unit, they turned the oxygen up to 3L because my saturations had been consistently 92-93% and I still had a very high heart rate and respiration rate. I was absolutely shattered because I'd been awake all night, so just wanted to sleep but they kept doing my observations hourly throughout the day.  Towards the end of the day, I was then moved to another ward. It wasn't great as they were over capacity so I ended up sharing a bedspace with another woman, which then meant my oxygen cable didn't reach and kept coming undone, it also went over her head, there was no call buzzer and the curtains couldn't

Getting Better, Holiday Try-On and Travel Packing!

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The last week has been a little hectic between doctors appointments and holiday prep!  Click here for the vlog or watch below.  After almost a month of feeling absolutely terrible, I was finally starting to feel better and with the all clear from the GP and consultants, it was time to focus on my travels. I bought a whole bunch of clothes and things from Amazon so a try on was much needed to ensure I had some nice clothes that fit. With a few hours at the salon for hair and nails being done.  The weather took a turn for the worse. The last time I left the house it was lovely and hot. We've had a few days of rain and storms, even with thunder and lightning! The temperature well and truly dropped so it was defintely time for a thick jacket weather. I did have to go to the GP to get another blood test but the healthcare assistant was lovely.  I spent the rest of that day trying to charge all my devices and the most frustrating thing was my GoPro. It worked, it recorded, it took pictu