What makes me smile:

A message from a friend. 
- Be it letter, a post on Facebook, an e-mail or sms. A cheerful message from a friend will always make me smile.

The few songs I have on my phone.
- I don't have much music on my phone, and it hasn't been changed in ages, but most of the music there makes me smile. Everyone else think my taste in music is weird, but they usually smile, dance and sing along to the music. It's what I like to call good mood music.
- I hate the question: what bands are you into? Or: what kind of music do you like? I like anything that puts a smile on my face. It might change from time to time, but as long as it makes me smile I like it.

A picture. 
- It can be a picture of anything almost. A picture of a friend will make me think of happy memories or just how much I like my friend. Funny pictures might make me laugh. Pretty pictures make me smile.

Funny quotes.
- The first time I read the following quote was before work one day and it cheered me up for the whole day:

Laughing babies.
- It's one of the best sounds in the world, how can anyone not smile at that. And their smiles as well of course.

Seeing a friend.
- They are friends for a reason...

Seeing a good-looking person.
- Don't necessarily mean a man that I fancy, but anyone that looks good. It can of course be a man that I fancy, or just a man that I think looks good. Or it can be a woman that looks good and I'm just happy for them because they've obviously found some clothes that enhances their beauty.

The sound of the wind through the trees.
 - I just love sitting inside when it's really windy outside and I can hear the wind through the threes and around the corner of the house. It's one of the things I miss now that I live in Oslo; people here hardly know what wind is.

A pretty sunset or sunrise.
- I just love the beautiful colours. My favourite sunrise so far was at Yulara, looking over at Uluru on ANZAC day. (here)

The kindness of strangers.
- Just a smile from one, or a compliment. Seeing someone help someone thy don't know. Seeing someone pick up something someone's lost and give it back...

The seasons.
- The colours at autumn.
- Thick white snow at winter. The thicker the blanket the better.
- The new leaves and flowers in spring.
- The flowers and sunshine in the summer.
- Really heavy rain.

Someone giving me a compliment when I have a bad day.

A good film, or even the laughable rubbishness of a bad one.

Seeing a friend or family member happy.

A good book.

Nice decorations.

The kindness of friends and family.

A nice blog post.

The smell of clean clothes that's hung outside to dry on a warm summer day.

Seeing wild animals in the wild.

Going somewhere new, meeting new people and learning about other cultures.

The English language.

Old buildings and ruins
- York! And most other places in England
- Rome!

Thinking about and seeing the reaction of a friend when I hope I've found a suitable gift for them.

Tasty food.

A kind and good-looking man.

Cats.

A man in uniform or suit.

There are many more things that makes me smile, and sometimes new things can be added every day which makes the list endless!

What are some of the things that make you smile? Leave a comment or make your own post and leave a link below.

Share the happiness!

One person is all it takes...

Yesterday I wrote about how one person can make you feel negative (here). But it works the other way as well.

It only takes one person to make you smile. To get you in a good mood. Luckily there are more people that can make me in a good mood than in a bad mood. Unfortunately the bad mood often lasts longer.

Sometimes one person at work can make me smile as soon as I see them, it might last for a few minutes, or it might last for a whole day. It helps when I have someone at work that I really don't like to have someone that makes me smile as well. Evens it out a bit. There are some people at work I try to stay close to. They have a positive effect on me. I only need one of them at a time, but when it comes to positivity the more is merrier.

It's not just at work though. Have you noticed that sometimes when you're in a bad mood a smile from a stranger, or maybe even a compliment from someone you don't know, can brighten up your day? This is why I always try to smile when I catch a stranger's eye on the street; maybe it will brighten their day. I also try to compliment random people I see sometimes, without it seeming creepy of course, and only if I really mean what I say. If someone has a really nice handbag then I will tell them, If their hair look really nice I will tell them.

A message from one person that I haven't seen in a while makes me smile for ages. A picture of a friend makes me think of the happy memories.

When you don't like one person it's usually very specific  it's THAT person, and possibly anyone that reminds you of him/her. But when it comes to someone making you happy it can be anyone! All they need to do is smile at you, or say something nice. There is a lot more positivity in the world than negativity if you think about it, but with most people the negativity sticks with you a lot longer.

A lot of people or things can get you in a good mood and make you smile, but you only need one at a time. One person is all it takes to get you in a good mood, sometimes that person only make you happy occasionally, sometimes they make you happy no matter what.

If you find the person that can make you happy no matter what, make sure you don't lose that person!

Spread the happiness, you never know who you might cheer up with it.

(source)

One person.

That's all it takes.

One person that I really don't like at work that makes me dislike work so much I really don't want to go anymore. And he's on my team so I can't "escape" from him. He's making me want to hand in my resignation. Only reason I don't is because I feel bad about doing that so short after getting a full-time position. I try to avoid him if possible though, but without being to obvious about it. He doesn't like me either, any time I try to tell him how to do something, because he didn't listen the first 10 times, he gets mad at me and tells me I'm singling him out! Only because you're not able to do your job properly dude.

I don't want to say I hate him. It's a strong word, but I really cannot stand him!

I used to kind of look forward to go to work before. Now I want to leave. Just because of one person. I'm glad he only works until 11am. At least I don't have to deal with him ALL day.

This is one of the reasons I've never really wanted a leader position. I just thought it would be good experience and a good thing to put on my CV.  But I take things too personally. I get in a bad mood if things aren't done exactly the way I want it to (possibly minor OCD). I'm one of those leaders that I hate.

I try to improve.

I want to go to the manager and see if something can be done, but I'm worried that the only reason I don't think he's doing a good job is because I just don't like him, and I would feel bad about getting someone sacked or anything just because of personal feelings.

So I try to "suck it up".

It's strange though... That ONE person has so much power over my negative feelings. Of course it goes the other way as well, but that's a post for another day.

Is there one person that you really can't stand but can't avoid  That make you in a bad mood as soon as you see them?

(source)

The Bell Inn

While I was in Thetford I stayed at the Bell Inn.

It's a really old building, but the bathrooms are modern and the rooms are a good mix of modern and old. Although the staircase, doors and hallways are really narrow and crooked, which was annoying with my suitcase, it was also kind of charming.

There was a perfect size TV in my room as well as hot chocolate instead of just tea or coffee. And both the room and bathroom was quite big.

The pressure and heat in the shower was great.

Its location is really good.

The staff was really friendly.

There was free WiFi but it was really bad.

The food was really nice in the pub downstairs. In the restaurant downstairs where I got my complimentary breakfast the food was really nice as well. As well as the continental breakfast with fresh fruit and croissants (even chocolate ones!) I got warm breakfast included, and there was a big selection, from full English to just an omelette, which is what I had both mornings. I would have been disappointed if I didn't get any breakfast included though as it's not the cheapest hotel in the world.

The hotel is apparently haunted, which is kind of exciting, but also a bit scary; I used to watch a lot of horror movies when I was younger... I wish I had had someone to snuggle up with in bed while I was there just to feel a bit "safer".

Thetford 08.11.12

I have been lucky with the weather while I've been in Thetford so it's been nice to just stroll around.

I headed to the Priory of the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, another ruin, much smaller than Thetford Priory and not quite as peaceful as it was closer to houses and one of the main roads.

After a little walk I found an old town sign which had a picture of a Viking king on one side and Thomas Paine on the other.

I also headed back to Thetford Priory, this time there wasn't a single person there at the same time as me.

There is a Gatehouse belonging to the Priory, but it stands on private property. You used to be able to walk to it, but the path was closed while I was there. I did however find a place where I could see it over a fence. It looked like there was some work going on on the Gatehouse, maybe that's why the path to it was closed?

Thetford 07.11.12

Before I went on holiday I printed out a couple of maps of things to see in Thetford. One of the maps was a map of haunted places, which was slightly scary, and exciting, as one of the places on the map was my hotel!

One of the first places I checked out today was Thetford Priory. Thetford apparently used to be the religious centre of England back in the day, and Thetford was the 6th largest city in England, which is funny considering how small it is today. The ruins of the Priory were really beautiful! It would have been amazing to see it while it was still standing. I could just walk around there for ages. It was really peaceful. There was hardly any people there, just a few people walking their dogs.

After the ruins I went to Ancient house, it's a really old house serving as a small museum. It was free and really interesting. 

Thetford is such a cute little village. There are so many old buildings here and so much history. It's a relaxing place and so many pretty things to take pictures of.

There is a man made mound that I thought would make a great lookout. I got about halfway up before I gave up. It was really steep and muddy and I did not want to risk falling down with my dad's DSLR. It was even worse trying to get back down, I'm glad I didn't go up to the top.

Another thing I found out as I was checking out the Thetford website is that it was used as the exterior scenes in the TV-series Dad's Army. Not that I have ever watched it. I had heard of it but I didn't really care. But for those of you that do: there is a Dad's Army museum in Thetford as well as a statue.

Just in Case

Just in Case
By: Meg Rosoff

Outer back cover: The day David Chase saves his brother's life, his whole world changes. Suddenly every moment is fizzing with what ifs, and it's up to David to outwit fate. Or try to.
He changes his name and the way he looks. He leaves home and finds himself caught up in a series of strange and extraordinary misadventures. He even falls in love. 
But is David really in control of his life? And if he isn't - who is?

Interesting book, it's quite well written and points out the dangers of focusing on the what ifs, even if it is pushed to extremes.

It's a kind of depressing book because of the mood of the main character. I didn't really like David but he was interesting.... I did like his brother Charlie though. The insight Rosoff gave the toddler was quite cool and funny.

Chesterfield Hotel

I could have stayed with friends in Chesterfield, but since I figured I would be staying out late some night I didn't want to have to wake up anyone or anything to come and go.

While I was in Chesterfield in stayed at the Chesterfield Hotel.

The hotel was nice and central, a big reason for booking it.

The hotel is quite old, which can be charming but not really in this case. The lift was really small and there were two doors to it, one which didn't open automatically, annoying when you have a big suitcase to try and squeeze in.

The room was okay, the bathroom was quite big, there was even a bathtub.

The staff was friendly. They locked the front doors at night, which of course is good security wise. I came back at around 3am one night and the doors were locked. I could ring a doorbell or a phone number to get them to let me in. I'm glad there was a doorbell as my phone was flat.

For breakfast they had the usual cereals and toast as well as fresh fruit and croissants. I could get eggs and stuff as well, but I had to pay extra for that so I didn't bother.

The sound really carried in the hotel. There was a concert or something, maybe just loud music being played one night, and even though my room was on the second floor it sounded like the music was coming from the room next door! It's a bit annoying, I realize they have events and stuff at the hotel but they should really soundproof the rooms better as people do still want to sleep when they are in a hotel.

Chesterfield 02-05.11.12

02.11:

I took the train from Holyhead to Chesterfield, well, trains. The scenery from the trains were amazing. I didn't realize how many ruins there were on top of hilltops, especially while we were still in Wales... I wonder what they were used for? Maybe like the Great Wall of China they used them to alert each other of danger? On the last train, from Stockport to Chesterfield the train was PACKED! Standing room only. I was standing to a nice girl who had also been to Australia though so we passed the time chatting together about what we'd seen and where we'd been. It's really cumbersome to have a giant suitcase when you travel by train by the way, it's just in the way most of the time.

After I dropped my things at the hotel I went to the pub I used to work in, Yates's and said hi to some of my old co-workers.

I met up with my friend Nicky at the Abacus for dinner. It was lovely to see Nicky again, it was like I had never even left, we just picked up right where we had left off. We talked about her plans to move to Turkey; just like I feel more at home in the UK than Norway she feels more at home in Turkey than in the UK. At least she feels at home in a warm sunny country, unlike me who wants to go to a country that's just a couple of degrees warmer than Norway. I hope she gets to move to Turkey asap without having to work herself to death. At least I've got an excuse to go on nice sunny holidays when she moves there, and she'll be able to show me all the non-touristy things!

It was good that seeing Nicky again was great because the food was terrible! Seriously, neither of us finished even though we didn't have much on our plates. We left the Abacus and went back to Yates's where we shared a bowl of chips and cheese while having a few drinks with my old co-workers.

03.11:

It's kind of nice to  be in a place that I used to live: I've seen everything and I can actually relax instead of run around and see as much as possible. Hence the lack of pictures. I had a relaxing morning before Nicky and I went to Meadowhall (aka Meadowhell) today for some shopping and dinner before I met some friends for drinks back in Chesterfield.

04.11:

A nice relaxing day again before heading to Nicky's for some Chinese take-away. Followed by drinks with some of the people that couldn't come out last night. I think my liver will be happy when I leave... But it's nice to feel like I actually have a life again!

05.11:

I had a great dinner with the family I used to au pair for here tonight. It was great seeing the girls again, they've grown so much!  Although the girls have grown, it still feels like I never even left! Their new au pair seems really nice, she's also studying child psychology, so I guess the job is helping her with her studies as well.

November 5th is Bonfire night in the UK so we heard fireworks being sent up everywhere we set off a Chinese lantern. I've never done it before, it looks really beautiful, they even gave me one to take home, maybe I'll sett it off on New Years Eve if it's not too windy.

I had a great time catching up with friends in Chesterfield. I wish I was still living there, I actually manage to have a life there, I have friends to go out with, to talk to. I need to get back to the UK!

One Hundred Names

One Hundred Names
By: Cecelia Ahern

Outer back cover: One hundred names... one hundred people. Kitty Logan inherits just a single list with the promise that it's a story she has to tell...

Magical, just like all off Ahern's books. She has an ability to make you see the best in other people as well as yourself, which is one of the reasons I love her books.

One hundred names was really exciting, it was difficult to put it down. There was no way of ending how it was going to end. The book is a lot less "fantasy" than some of Ahern's other books, it's more realistic.

Kitty has to make a story, she inherits a list with 100 names but with no explanation as to what the link between the people on the list is or a theme or anything at all. And she only has 2 weeks! In addition to that her job is hanging by a thread and her door is being smeared with excrement and her best friend has turned against her...

Uttered by the dying Constance (who Kitty inherits the list from) on page 10: "Seeking the truth - is not necessarily to go on a mission all guns blazing in order to reveal a lie. Neither is it to be particularly groundbreaking. It is simply to get to the heart of what is real."

Witchingham B&B

My one night in Holyhead I stayed at Witchingham B&B.

The B&B was close to everything, although Holyhead is so small it would be hard not to be.

I was positively surprised when I stepped into the room, which was even on the ground floor so I didn't have to carry my suitcase. The room was beautiful, just the kind of room I want to stay in when I'm travelling, actually just the kind of room I would love to have at home!

The en suite bathroom was really small though, and the door got stuck so I couldn't open it properly, good thing I'm not big. The shower pressure was really low so it took a while to rinse my hair properly, but at least the water was hot.

The bed was really comfortable, there was 2 beds, but I guess that's better for them than having a room only one person can sleep in at all times.

The TV was very small for the room, and tucked away behind the wardrobe, but I wasn't there to watch TV anyway. There was free WiFi which was nice.

the breakfast was self service, they had cereals and toast and there was a small fridge in the breakfast room where they had juice and milk and some yoghurts.

I didn't see the people running the B&B at all. They were out when I arrived and I didn't see anyone when I left either so I left the key in an envelope on the hall table.

Holyhead 01.11.12

The Dublin taxi driver that took me to Dublin Port was a proper Dublin taxi driver. The th's became d's and I only understood about half of what he was saying. But he seemed nice.

Now... The "ferry".... Ireland, UK, the ferry going between you is NOT a ferry, it's a ship! It's the size of a small cruise ship! It was nice though. Nice comfy seats, areas for kids to play, even a cinema! It's a nice ship, I'll give you that.

Last look at Dublin

First look at Holyhead

When I got to Holyhead I wandered around for a bit, it's a very small place so I'm glad I'm only spending a day here, not really much to see.

At around 2pm I went and bought some postcards as I always send postcards to some people when I go somewhere. At the store I asked if it was possible to walk to South Stack lighthouse and how long it would take. The guy in the store said it was easy to walk there and that it would take about an hour one way. He said I shouldn't go there alone since it's autumn and it get dark early and he didn't want me to walk along the country roads alone.

I wasn't going to, I went back to the B&B and was about to sit down and write the postcards, when I realized that it was only 2.15 pm! Even though it gets dark early I would be able to be back by around 4 if it only takes an hour to get there, and I'm  a fast walker. So I set out towards South Stack. I also figured that if  I noticed that it took me to long to get there to be able to get back before it got dark then I could just get someone to call a taxi for me, I knew there was a small village not far from the lighthouse.

It was a really nice walk, I think Holyhead is a good place to stay if you want a nice relaxing holiday just walking around the Welsh countryside. I am glad it wasn't dark yet though as there were no street lights, there weren't many cars passing either, but it would be very easy to get run over in the dark since there wasn't a side walk.

I walked quite fast and I managed to get to the lighthouse in an hour like the guy had said, it would have been nice if I had walked to the lighthouse earlier when I got to Holyhead as it would have been good to walk a bit slower and kind of explore a little, but it was good enough for me.

I had walked so fast though that I was exhausted and tempted to go to the visitor centre at South Stack and get the number for a taxi company to drive me back. But I ended up walking back as well as I knew I could make it before it got dark.

Close to the lighthouse there are the remains of some old mountain huts, so I had to take a picture of that as well.

I got back about ten past 4, so I had managed to walk there and back in just under two hours, including stopping to take a few pictures. So if you ever find yourself in Holyhead one day, you now know that you can see the lighthouse and everything else there is to see in Holyhead (that I know of) in just one day.