picturespingu

Hello! Very excited to be back on a different platform for another year of secret Santa! I know I find the profiles with lots of information in, extremely helpful, so I'll give that a go!

I live in the north of England (Sheffield) with my husband. Work in marketing, I'm 34 (although, I pretty much still feel like I'm 18, just with my aches and feeling tireder!)

I really enjoy going for a walk in the Peak District - even though I will 100% complain walking up a hill, mountain etc - I'll always enjoy the view at the top and be incredibly grateful to be able to do such a simple thing. In fact, we moved to south Sheffield last year, just before Christmas actually, so we could be a 5-minute drive from the Peak District, so I have spent a lot of time doing DIY, painting, decorating and buying really dull adult things like carpets. I don't know if you've looked at carpets before, but to say they are look pretty similar - there is a lot of choice, an overwhelming amount of choice. My husband has been encouraging me to use power tools more - because that way, I can be more confident and not need him to do as much of the DIY around the house.

I likely watch too much YouTube videos that are of no interest to anyone else, I mostly watch gamers playing simulation games (like Cities Skylines, Sims, Flight Sim), I also sometimes play these types of games too. I have a gaming PC which brings me a sense of escape and joy. I'm always open to new games to try out. I used to have Gameboys, Sega Megadrive, Ninentidos and a Playstation when I was younger, but now just stick to the PC and Xbox to make use of the game pass. Outside the simulator games, I also enjoy Fifa - but I realise how terrible I am when I play online! For my sins, I support Liverpool FC and have done so since my grandad used to take me to Anfield as a very young child, it was back in the 90s, I was really disappointed when Micheal Owen left the club. But have seen some joy as a support prior to this season, which is less joyful!

In terms of music - I love it! I play the ukelele (terribly), enjoying the surge in vinyl sales and have a Pro-ject elemental as my choice of vinyl player. It is hooked up to the soundbar at the moment, but I have plans to upgrade the speaker set up to something much more dedicated. My favourite bands are Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Taylor Swift, David Bowie and Arctic Monkeys. But in general, I'll listen to most things once but tend to go off what artist are similar to the ones I already listen to. I'm lucky enough to have a golden ticket to Glastonbury and I love going to festivals. For the days you're at the festival, it feels like a rare moment where everyone is equal and there to enjoy music and the arts rather than not talking to each other as we pass on the street back in the 'real world'.

I am also lucky enough to be able to go on some great holidays, this year I finally got to go on a road trip around Namibia - having been planned for 2020. Incredible scenery of desert, desert animals, amazing people etc. Hopefully next year, depending on costs (and how things go with the economy) we will visit Vietnam and maybe a couple of European cities. With having a full time job, one of my regrets is that I didn't commit to travelling prior to starting my very bumpy career - but hopefully making up for that with holidays. I'd like to get to 40 countries before I'm 40, but this is quite the challenge. Part of the fun is enjoying the local food and drink, and then trying to cook that back home.

I also love taking photos, I have a Canon 700D which I have had since going to Iceland in 2013, and it's served me very well. Got myself various lenses and try to edit photos and pop them into a photobook - you can see a couple of my photos on my Instagram @sbolter88.