Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Hello 2017

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On New Year’s Eve I wrote a post reflecting on 2016 and so today I want to look forward to 2017. As it’s already 3rd January I’m sure it’s probably clear that a whole “new me” is not on the horizon. I think I’ve learned from previous years, that that’s not the best route for me. Instead little changes, positive attitude and a hope for better things, is the direction I would like to go.

This Year I will:

  • Get a better grip on my finances. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I have a lot of debt – largely from my time as a single mum (I mean, I’m technically still a single mum but I have a very supportive partner now). For a few years, I just buried my head and the debt got worse but then two years ago it all hit me and I had to stop avoiding it. 2016 was the year I finally started to get that debt down and while I definitely managed to stop adding to it and clear one particular lump of debt, I still have a fair way to go. I have a specific target in mind by the end of the year and that will hopefully lessen my debt by about a third.
  • Work hard on my business, Closet Geek. It would be a lie to say I don’t work hard on it already as to be honest its my main focus, after the kids. I have thoroughly enjoyed working from home this last year and despite how crazy busy it has gotten at times, I wouldn’t change a thing. This year I am aiming to add at least 6 more product ranges (don’t ask me what, I have no idea yet) and hopefully more variations of the products I already sell. That said, I must remember to take time out and relax (which is hard because I often get into a flow).

  • Weight Loss is something I want to focus on this year. I haven’t jumped into any kind of diet yet as there is still a lot of bad food kicking around the house. However I am trying to regulate myself and not eat too my rubbish and when routine starts over again and I start cooking evening meals from scratch, I aim to make healthy dishes and avoid any junk. Last year I felt uncomfortable in my skin and it stopped me from dressing up, cosplaying and even feeling like I wanted to make any sort of effort. Its amazing what a knock on effect feeling overweight can have to all areas of life. I also want to try walking more often, especially as life isn’t so hectic that I need to save every minute of time by hopping in the car.
  • Last year was a wonderful change to family life, working from home instead of feeling stressed in the job I had previously (I actually can’t believe I walked out on that job 2 years ago – I’ve honestly never regretted it). I managed to attend so many of the kids events at school and I’m sure I will be doing so again this year. That said I want to make time outside of those events, to do things as a family. The kids love to play board games (we had a day doing that during holiday), go swimming and play computer games (Lily and I have played Lego Harry Potter for most days of the holidays) so I want to make more time for fun, not just scheduled events. I also want to make more time for Chris as he often gets neglected, just because he “understands more”. On evenings when he’s not at work, I need to step away from my sewing or even my computer and just be with him – doing whatever it is we feel like doing.

This year I would like to:

  • Moving house is definitely top of the list for things I’d like to do in 2017. Sadly not a huge amount of that decision is in our hands, but we need to try wherever possible. From the house going on the market last April, till now, we’ve only had two viewings. I think there has been many reasons to that but largely the price recommended by the agents is too high. We do have another viewing tomorrow so we will see how that goes but at some point this year we will have to make some firmer decisions – perhaps to change agents, sell at a loss, or whatever other options there might be.
  • During January I have a weekend away booked with the girls, to Disneyland Paris. However as much as I’m looking forward to it, I’d really like a nice week away somewhere abroad. Top choice for this year would definitely be Italy and ideally during the warm weather. Chris booking holidays at work can be a pain though as he can often only get out of school holiday time. With Megan now at secondary school I am loathed to take them out of school for a holiday, so it’s definitely going to be a juggling act – and of course available money. If we can’t get away this year, I would definitely love to book something bigger for next year – maybe a two week holiday somewhere further afield like the US.

This Year I will try:

  • Yesterday I was in a position (as I often am) where one of the girls asked if we could do something (something they had been asking for a while and have been saying “soon” to) and my immediate answer was “yes, tomorrow”. Now although that might seen immediate to you, it’s really only because it was that day or tomorrow that we needed to do it, before it was too late. But my reaction was still the latter, not the actual immediate. However after I walked away, I thought “actually, why can’t we just do it now?” and so that’s what we did. Basically I really want to stop putting things off till tomorrow and just get on with them. Because tomorrow never really comes and before you realise it, you’ve been putting everything off and never getting anything done.

  • When we went swimming, the girls and I, I was reminded of how much I enjoy it and, that despite not going very often, I’m still pretty good at it. While I don’t always want to go when they suggest it, I did realise I could take them and just watch (they’re both old enough now), but also I could go when they’re at school and just swim lengths. It would be a great way to make time for me, get fitter and even find time to shower! I don’t want to set myself a frequency but I would like to swim more.
  • As I mentioned last year, our friendship group is a little bit fractured now and so in the past 12 months I haven’t thrown any large group events. I think its probably easiest to just see each group of working friendships, by themselves, whenever there is time, rather than force everyone to get together. Last year we did enjoy a meal out as a group of friends, a cinema trip as a double date and a few times having friends around for dinner. I would like to continue that this year, making more of an effort but hopefully making time for everyone.
  • Finally I should probably give my blog a mention. At this time of year it’s always easy to say “I’ll post more”, or “I’ll post frequently” but the truth is when life gets busy, my blog takes a backseat. I also often find that I lose inspiration for what to write at times and it can become just one big life update that people probably aren’t that interested in. I’m ditching Project 52 (as I did towards the end of last year) as I always forget to take pictures weekly). Instead I might do something monthly, as I did with my round-ups (which definitely suits me better so I will be sticking to those). I’d like to keep updating about books I read (which maybe should have been another bulletpoint as I really should read more) and movies we see at the cinema but past that I’m uncertain of the direction my blog will take. I am considering various options though so watch this space!

Happy 2 Years Blogging!

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Sadly I’m not feeling very well today so I don’t have the energy to make much of a blog post. I had big plans for a Wish List but unfortunately its going to have to wait (along with my review of Into the Woods, Allegiant and my latest “My Little Box”). However my desktop calendar flashed up that today is my 2 Year Blogiversary and so I didn’t want to let the day go past unmentioned!

From what I’ve seen recently, a lot of people started their blogs in January. I guess that’s perhaps a “new year” thing, or a boredom after Christmas has passed maybe? Anyway, Journeys are my Diary wasn’t technically my first blog, but its the first blog I’ve considered myself a blogger with. While it started off similar to some of my other blogs, or even my livejournal account, its definitely turned into something more. While I definitely haven’t had as much time to work on it in the past, I’m really hoping that this year I’ll be able to focus on it more (not so far though sadly!).

So really I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who followers me here. Thank you to the people I now consider friends because of my blog too. I’m not always sure what it is that makes people read along or follow my waffle, but I guess there’s something interesting about people just being themselves. Whatever the reason, I’m glad you do and I hope to continue to entertain you over the next year. Fingers crossed, when I’ve found my footing (recovering from quitting my job and adjusting my tax credits) I’ll be hosting a giveaway to mark the event. However until then, you’ll just have to keep reading my waffle to make sure you don’t miss it ;)

Bel xoxo

Goals and Hopes for 2015

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So its been a week since New Year’s Day and I haven’t gotten around to posting about my New Year Resolutions yet! Part of that has just been because there has been so many other things to do, but partly it was deliberate – to see how the year got going. Last year in January, I posted about everything I hoped to do during the year. I then wrote a round-up post in December, talking about how well I’d gotten on. My hopes and goals covered everything from my blog, to my weight and fitness, to keeping in touch with friends. This year I want to do the same, especially given how much life has changed in the last 12 months.

On New Year’s Day, I involved the kids in a sort of “New Year” game. As I knew I wanted to write some resolutions, I encouraged them to do the same. We then decided we’d write them all down, roping Chris in to participate as well. It only took us about 10-15 minutes but it was a nice and fun activity to do as a family. Once we were done, we sealed them all in an envelope, to open next year and see how we got on. Lily made a copy of her resolutions, to place on the wall of her room to remind her. I’ll still be interested to see how everyone got on.

nyr

Above you can see Chris’, Megan’s and Lily’s New Year Resolutions. For the most part, Chris was just participating because we asked him to, but it was nice that he did. His resolutions included eating healthier, learning to drive and being a better boyfriend (haha!). Megan wants to blog more, start a YouTube channel and write a book. Lily really just wants to join in – writing a blog, helping Megan with a YouTube channel, and basically being a good little girl. A lot of Lily’s were her ideas, but they are based on things she has picked up around her or things she’s been moaned at for recently. Anyway, the point is, everyone wants to try and I guess we’ll see how we get on!

Put on the spot, I couldn’t really think of what I wanted to do. Above you can see what I managed. I’d like to reach my goal weight and maintain it. I’d like to work from home rather than have to look for another job. I’d like to get some of the outstanding DIY jobs done and get the house on the market for sale. I’d “like” to Vlog. I’d like to get more of a handle on my debt and money. I’d like to write a book. However, what I’d really like to do, is expand on these ideas and set myself some realistic targets for the year!

This is what I’ve come up with:

Blog Stuff
– One of the main things I wanted to do this year, was go self-hosted. It was actually something I hoped to get done last year, but what with one thing or another, I never got around to it. Since I was so determined to do it this year, I actually kick started the year that way. While I say it was a goal for 2015, I can actually confirm that I’ve already done it – my blog was officially moved to it’s own little space on January 6th.
– Last year, Amy and I organised a blog meet, best known as #LincsBlogMeet. I was really pleased with how well it went and would love to organise another this year.
– Overall I really just want to try harder with my blog this year. By the end of last year, I was posting daily, trying out new content and had gained almost 700 followers throughout the year. I’d like to continue on with this, making my blog thrive, getting myself out there and really just seeing what the blogging life will bring.

Money
– Ugh. This time last year, I’d gotten myself in quite a bad financial situation. I did manage to sort it out and get myself on a better footing. However, just weeks ago I managed to make myself jobless, so I really don’t know how I’ll end up financially. I’d love to get to grips with it all over the next year. While I can’t possibly imagine being any better off, this time next year, I do hope to have not gotten any worse.
– Sort of connected to this, I hope to be able to earn money in other ways, that don’t require actually getting a physical job. I’d love to earn money through blogging, jewellery making, clothes sewing or writing a book or murder mysteries.

Family
– This time last year, I hope to be able to save and book a family holiday. However this year we are embarking on the holiday of a lifetime – to Florida. I don’t plan to book any other holidays, because of that, but I do hope to provide everyone with an enjoyable time. I also hope to be able to book something smaller – just a few days break – perhaps around October half term time.
– I already know (and have noticed) that not working will make me a better mum. I was genuinely very miserable in my last job and I know at times it made me snappier and angrier than I should be. I hope to move forward in this year, keep my calm more, spend better quality time with the kids and really just be a happier, more pleasant mum to be around.

Friends
– I feel like I should make a resolution to ensure our group of friends continue to get together, though I’m honestly not sure what. With Florida coming up in April, we have basically said there will be no murder mysteries between now and then, largely to save on money. However already I’m itching to have a get together, so maybe I’ll have to sort something out. I guess the best I can do, it attempt to organise one event per month – be it a meal out, a games night, a quiet drink or whatever else. Ultimately money will be a very controlling factor of the get togethers this year.

House
– As I’ve previously mentioned, I really want to get on top of the house this year. We originally moved into this house in Gainsborough, in July 2013. The view was to work on the house for a year, looking to sell the following summer. However that year has been and gone and really only a few little bits have been tackled. This year I really want to get to grips with the house and maybe even get it on the market this summer. It would be lovely to be living back in Saxilby by Christmas.
– I’d love to be a better “house wife” this year. Over the last year, the house has really felt neglected. As well as actually painting and decorating, I’d like to be cleaner and tidier. Little things, even like doing the dishwasher daily, keeping on top of the washing etc. will all make a big difference to our lives.

Health and Fitness
– This is a really big one for me this year. I want to hit my target of 10 stone (that’s from 13 stone 3lb where I started last year), preferably by April and our Florida holiday. I’d then like to maintain that weight, throughout the year. I have already started to eat better, watching the calories, and I hope to actually get a bit more fit, toned and exercise. I’ve already been looking for an online self defense training course that spikes my interest. My plan is to work at home, and I’ve always been interested in learning a bit about martial arts and self defense as a whole, so it should make for a nice and useful workout. Yesterday I bought a sports bra, an armband to hold my phone and some earphones. A few days before, I also purchased an ab roller. Though I will admit I haven’t managed any fitness yet, I do hope to get myself motivated!

Creativity
– This year I will participate in NaNoWriMo. I really really wanted to last year, but it just wasn’t possible with plans for Megan’s birthday and also working. If I’m still not working by November, I will definitely participate.
– I hope to improve any and all creative skills this year. In the last few months of last year, my dressmaking skills really improved. I’d love to get more into my jewellery, try out my new Paper Panda kit, improve my cake making skills etc etc. I really hope with more time on my hands, I can definitely get in touch with my creative side.
– In an ideal world, I’d like to earn a living through one of my creative outlets. See Career!

Career
– I quit my job, literally 3 weeks ago. I didn’t plan to and I felt it was quite irresponsible of me, but I can’t deny I’m 100 times happier now. In the upcoming weeks, I’ll figure out all my finances and see where I stand. However my perfect career move at this time, would be to work from home. I have a variety of options and maybe all of them combined would be the best idea right now. However ultimately I’d like to be able to stay at home and concentrate more on being a mum, being creative, sorting out the house etc.
– While in an ideal world, I don’t want to go back to work, I know that it would be more responsible if I do. Getting a mortgage would be easier for a start, as would providing money into the household. As such, I plan to volunteer in school for some office work, to give myself experience. This to me is giving a negative situation (quitting my job) a positive outcome (getting experience). Once I have some experience, getting a job within school – in the office – would be far more enjoyable, than what I was doing before.

Life
– I wasn’t really sure where some of this stuff fit, so I decided to add an extra category. I guess a “me” category would also work. This year I would like to get a divorce and try to look for a credible divorce lawyer. I have been separated from my husband for over 4 years now and we’re still not divorced. I wouldn’t say I was in a rush to do it but I wish I could just justify £100 for one of these online divorce services.
– Vlogging. Perhaps you’re wondering why I didn’t put this in the blog section – well I’ll explain. I don’t want to vlog, in replacement of my blog. In fact, I don’t really “want” to vlog at all. What I do want to do, is push the boundaries of my comfort zone. Last year on my blog, I did about 3 outfit posts – something which a year ago I wouldn’t have thought possible. This year I’d like to vlog, even just once, just to push myself out of my comfort zone and into untested waters!
– Another tattoo.

Entertainment
– As always, something a little fun to end with. Movies, I’d love to do 52 again this year. I’d also like to have seen at least 6 movies at the cinema. I’m off to a good start, having already seen one in January!
– With regard to reading, I really want to manage at least one a month, if not more. Last year I failed miserably but that’s really because I felt like I had so much to do, that I didn’t have time for “down time”. This year I will make the most of me time and get more reading done. Target is 12 but I’d love to hit 24.

So there you have it – my aims, hopes, goals and resolutions for the New Year. None of them are “unbreakable” which is why I don’t really like to refer to them as resolutions, but I do hope to be able to stick to majority and achieve any goals. Check back in a year to see how I did haha!

2014 in Review – This Year’s Goals

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Almost a year ago, I made a list of all the things I hoped to achieve during 2014. At the end of the year, I wanted to take a look back and see what I hoped for and what I’ve managed to actually succeed in. In a few days time, I’ll be putting together a new list of goals for 2015 and maybe looking back will help me decide what it is I want this coming year!

Blog Stuff
This time last year, one of the things I vowed to do with my blog, was post at least once a week and if possible 2-3 times a week. I definitely achieved this for majority of the weeks, in fact for the last 3-4 months of the year, I was posting every day! As well as that, I said I would try to advertise myself more, mingle on Social Media and make blog friends. I’m confident to say that for the most part, I did do all these things. I know I definitely need to try harder on social media and hopefully in the upcoming months/years, make more friends too. Finally, my last goal with blogging, was to attend a Blog Meet. Not only did I attend one, but I also arranged one, so I’m pretty pleased with that! Also, though it wasn’t a goal, I started off the new year with 53 followers. Now at the end of the year, I have almost 700 more. Though the current total fluctuates a little, at the time of posting, my followers on Bloglovin’ were 735. I’m pretty proud of this!

Money
I’m sad to say, that really my money situation is no better than last year. I made the goals of getting myself out of debt – which I did to some extent – but I also know I could have been much better. I also aimed to save, by starting a saving scheme of £1 in week one, £2 in week two, £3 in week three etc. and about 7-8 weeks in, this all came crashing down. I would say I’m probably in a slightly more manageable financial situation than last year, but having just quit my job – I obviously have no idea how that will turn out.

Family
For the new year, one of the most important resolutions I made, was to shout less, keep calm and make the most of my time with the kids. I think for the most part I definitely achieved this and while working has definitely placed a strain on me, I’ve gradually got better at dealing with it. I’m looking forward to a few months without working so much and hoping it continues on calm and enjoyable like Christmas holidays have been. The other goal I set, was to plan and go on a family holiday – preferably Rome. A few weeks after making my goals, my mum announced she would be taking us to Florida in 2015 so really all savings needed to go into this. We did manage a few nights away in Berwick though, along with a visit to Edinburgh. We also had the odd day out, with visits to The Deep & Hull, Butlins in Skegness (though mum paid for this), Eureka, Adventure Farm, Harry Potter Studios, Warwick Castle, days at the cinema and other fun stuff too.

Friends
I only set one goal this year and that was to host a gathering at least once a month, to touch base with all my friends – especially the ones at a bit more of a distance. I’m trying to work out in my head if I managed this and I think I pretty much did. In January I think we had a games night, in February a Valentine’s Murder Mystery, March had both Amy’s birthday Murder Mystery and Chris’ birthday games night, with April having an Easter Murder Mystery. May had both Erika’s birthday Murder Mystery and my birthday Murder Mystery, along with a Eurovision Song Contest night. June had my brother’s birthday Murder Mystery and July had Chris Boatman’s birthday Murder Mystery. A large group of us also attended Comic Con in July and while I didn’t host it, I definitely organised it. Sadly in September, we didn’t actually hold any official gathering. I’m pretty sure we had a games night or two, but it was just 4-5 of us, which I guess still counts. October had Halloween, November had Nat’s birthday Murder Mystery and December had both Megan’s Murder Mystery (involving mostly my friends) and the Christmas Murder Mystery. Next year will probably be far quieter but I’ll need to make some effort to organise something.

House
Before I even refer back to my goals, I already know I’ll have done badly on this one. Sadly the year has just been so busy and working took up so much time, that nothing ever really got done on the house. One of my goals was to have the kitchen finished, the garden cleared and the hallway painted. In fairness, the hallway is pretty much done and the garden did get cleared, so its not as bad as I thought. Unfortunately nothing really got done on the kitchen so perhaps that’s a goal for this coming year – along with many others. Tidy and clean more was another goal and while I’ve probably done better than 2013, I know it still needs more. Just over the Christmas period I’ve got to grips with certain areas, so hopefully being off work will mean more time spent on the house!

Health and Fitness
This was a bit of a mixed bag, when it came to success and failure. Get back on track with my diet and achieve my 10 stone target, was goal number one. With the help of Weight Loss Wednesday, over at Twice the Mum, I managed to drop 22 pounds. I still have another 23 pounds to go, to obtain my 10 stone target, but I’m confident over the next 3-4 months, that I should hit that goal. I wanted to find a healthy lifestyle and stick to it, along with go swimming more and venture onto the Wii Fit. I can hand on heart say that I didn’t really manage any of those things, except in summer when we went swimming more – largely to get Lily swimming and improve Megan’s swimming. Finally I wanted to quit smoking altogether and I’m glad to say I’ve managed this one. While I will admit I’ve had the odd one here and there, I’m not smoking on a regular basis and I’m definitely not purchasing them.

Creativity
I failed miserably on my creativity goals. I wanted to write more of my book – preferably finishing it – and take part in some sort of writing competition. I didn’t add a single word to my book (though I did help Megan plan one) and while I was > < this close to participating in NaNoWriMo, life just got far too busy and it wasn’t possible. That said, I did write a murder mystery for Megan’s Birthday and I did get creative in other ways – mainly clothes making and sewing. I’m hoping that some form of creativity is going to find me a new occupation in the upcoming year.

Career
My one goal for my career, was to find a way to work at home. While that didn’t really work out, I guess since I did actually quit my job on December 17th, I can technically say I completed this. I’m unsure what the new year will bring but I do know I’m not actually looking for a job. I have several things I want to do, but everything involves staying afloat, building up a business and/or planning for a better future job.

Entertainment
Finally, in my list of goals, were some easy-going entertainment related goals. I vowed to read more books and watch more movies, even setting myself some targets. For reading, I set myself the goal of one book per month. Some months this would have been easy to accomplish, while others it felt impossible. Being out of the house between 8am and 4pm every day, definitely took its toll on my leisure time and I’m sad to say I only got 9 out of the 12 read (and even then only 6 of those were completed). I did enjoy some really good books this year, but sadly I also got stuck on some really rubbish ones too. Next year I hope to improve this figure and read a lot more. With regards to movies, I set the target of 52, working out as one per week. At one point I thought I was nowhere near, but counting up now I’ve actually watched 68 movies this year. 4 of those movies, I watched whilst being on my computer (so didn’t fully watch) but even deducting that, I still clocked in at 64, which is 12 over my target!

All in all, I know that I tried. Looking back, I’m pretty pleased with everything I accomplished. I know its a bit of a cop-out, but working (and specifically the job I worked) was definitely my main stumbling block this year. I felt constantly tired, constantly like I didn’t have time for the things I wanted to do and fairly constantly miserable. I feel very positive, moving into the new year, knowing this hurdle is now gone. I know there will be other things that cause issues this year, but fingers crossed it will be a happier year overall!

Week 5 – Monday Round-up

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I am seriously very excited right now! Last night I hit 200 followers, which is such a difference from the 53 I had only 4 weeks ago! Not only has it made me feel like you can do anything if you really try, but also it has really motivated me to do more with my blog – long overdue posts that have been running around in my head, finally getting put down on the screen. I have several of them planned for this week in fact.

Anyway, on to my weekly round up! I covered a lot of what was happening in my life, in my post Happy February. However there has been the odd thing here and there that I haven’t mentioned.

Monday through Friday was fairly standard. School run, work, school run, dinner, collapse in a tired heap on the sofa. Monday I did get a little time to myself as the kid’s dad had them for a few hours after school and Chris was at work. I nipped to Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco and then Aldi (and bought my ombré hair dye). I also called in to my mum’s for a cup of tea and ended up staying two hours! My brother and I then spent a few hours catching up on OUAT Season 3 (and several other nights this week too!). Thursday was a little different in that I worked some overtime at work. It’s not usually something I do, but since Chris was working anyway and it was being offered, I figured I’d go for it. Pretty sure I’ll end up doing this week too! Friday started off as a horrible day, for reasons I won’t go into here. However it ended up as a lovely evening, when we all had a movie night.

Saturday and Sunday were lovely as Chris had two days off work, meaning we got to spend the weekend as a family for once. Sadly I didn’t get a lay-in on either day (despite it being much needed) but both day times were fairly relaxing so I can’t complain too much.

Those of you who have been following my blog for some time now, will know that we are in the process of doing up the house in order to eventually sell it. Though we haven’t done much over the last few months, Chris and I have spoken about starting to get back into the swing of things. This weekend I asked if he would mind putting up the kids coat hooks (a job that technically could have been done when we moved in in July) and also to change the light fitting in the kitchen. Both these jobs got done about half an hour after I asked him – he’s definitely a keeper!

Left to Right: The girls hooks, the light fitting originally, Chris doing his stuff, the new light fixture!

Finally on Sunday I spent most of the day sorting out my hair. In the morning I gave it a cut, then over lunch and into the afternoon, I ombré dyed it. Since I’m going to make a whole post about that, I won’t share the results just yet!

As part of my relaxing day Sunday, while doing my hair, I also started to read a new book. I technically haven’t finished the last one yet, but since it really wasn’t pulling me in and I was finding that I wasn’t reading at all, I started a new one instead. The new book is called “Love You More” and so far I’m really enjoying it.

So that was my week last week and now I’m onto the next! I still can’t believe we’re into February already but I guess time flies! Look out for upcoming posts; Cards Against Humanity Review, Ombre Hair, The Girls Shop Next, Greek biscuits and more!

Week 4 – Monday Round-up (this time late!)

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I’m writing this update from my phone as I sit on the sofa, watching Franklin and Bash, while Chris rubs my feet. The last few days seem to have been pretty hectic and I can’t find time to relax AND to blog. This way I can at least attempt to do both at the same time!

This week has been pretty up and down. Can’t particularly pinpoint for what reason, but it’s certainly nothing serious.

Notable things that happened this week are; booking Lily’s birthday party, receiving a speeding ticket, hitting 100 followers (on Bloglovin’) and signing up for an online course.

Family life has been fairly stable. Now Chris is back at work and his shifts are up and down, we seem to appreciate our time together a little more. As always time with the kids is precious, to the point that this week my mum didn’t even have the kids overnight so I didn’t have to be without them.

I’ve given up on weight loss (temporarily at least), saving is still going well and I’m a little behind on both my movie watching and reading. Having switched our weekly shop from Tesco to Aldi, we are also discovering a huge amount of new and bargain food. However I did pop into Tesco this week and spotted this funny t-shirt.

Would you believe its for kids and starts around age 5-6?

Saturday night we had a games night at my house. There was eight of us in total and it was a lot of fun to socialise. We only ended up playing one game all night, which I hope to blog about shortly. On top of that Nat and I started the first of our “work from home brainstorming sessions”. We’d set the task of thinking up five ideas for working from home/self employed. Each time we meet up we compare the five and see if there is anything viable. This is something we plan to do until we finally find “the one”.

Finally the biggest news of the week is that next year we will be traveling to Florida! My mum has offered to take myself, Chris and the kids on holiday to Orlando so that we can visit Disney World and Universal Studios (Harry Potter!). I’m hugely excited and I can’t wait to start planning. Luckily savings are underway already which is lucky since park tickets are going to total about £400 each. Oh well, it’s a once in a lifetime holiday!!

That’s pretty much it. Now at midnight we’re heading to bed so I’ll leave you with this picture of hairdye I bought this week. I can’t wait to try (and blog about) this new ombre hair dye!

Week 3 – MONDAY Round-up

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So as you can see, it’s not Sunday today. This is because I’ve decided to move my “Sunday Round Up” post, to a Monday. No real reason except for that I always seem to have a lot going on on my blog on a Sunday, so spreading it out. So this is Week 3’s – Monday Round-up.

I’m just going to put it right out there, that my weight loss is not going well. The first week was when I weighed myself and last week I forgot. However when I actually got around to it, I’d put on a pound. As such I’ve been terrible this week and I daren’t even step on the scales. I know that mentally a lot of the dieting issues have to do with meal planning and so if I can only sit down and organise that a little better I’m sure I’ll get back on track. Not going to force it for now. Weight update will continue once I even start trying again.

With regards to my weight loss, or lack of it – I’ve been doing lots of cookie making this week! After I made this post here, about Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – I went on to make them as per the original recipe, without the cocoa powder. Not going to lie – they weren’t great. For some reason they seemed a little sickly and everyone in the house agreed they preferred the chocolate ones we’d had twice before.

This week has been a pretty good one, though not really for any particular reason. Monday I got a card game called “Werewolf” through the mail. This was a game I had sponsored on Kickstarter ages ago so it was nice to finally receive it. Tuesday we had a Fajita night which the kids really enjoyed and I have to admit, I loved too. They’ve made me promise another movie night AND a milkshake night some time…

Wednesday Chris finally went back to work after being off sick for two months. This seemed to signify the final return to normality again, after such a weird few months. Thursday I baked the above mentioned cookies and ate far too many of them. Friday I finally managed to make a trip into Lincoln and of course purchased myself some “Prince Charming” shower gel from Lush (review to come tomorrow!!). Mum had the kids overnight Friday so this meant Saturday was lie-in day! Sadly it didn’t go that way as Lily decided to facetime me at 8am and neither Chris nor I could get back to sleep after that. I had a pretty lazy day though. Did some work on my blog, did some surveys and click link stuff, as well as worked on Deckleswood. Finally Sunday seemed a little more hectic, though I think that’s because my brother’s children were here overnight Saturday and through to Sunday, which just meant no actual peace and quiet. That said the kids were amazingly good all day, mostly occupying themselves with the Wii, PC and DSs.

Not much to update on anything else. I’m struggling through my Chicklit book and am almost having to force myself to read it. Not a good start to my “get back into reading” plan. I also haven’t watched any movies this week so its a good job I watched a few last week! That said, Chris and I are going to watch Perks of Being a Wallflower at some point this week I think. Other entertainment is coming in the form of a Games Evening this coming weekend. I’m really looking forward to it, even if just to socialise with my friends.

Finally my finance stuff is coming along well. I now feel much more on top and in control of things, even my debt. I have plan that I seem to be sticking to pretty well so far, and my silly little saving scheme is still coming along nicely too.

I’m sure you can see what I’m doing here!

So that’s pretty much my week in short. Nothing especially planned for the week to come, other than the afore mentioned games evening, but I’m sure there will be something unexpected coming along!

Hope you all have an amazing week to come!

Week 2 – Sunday Round-up

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This is my second installment of the weekly round up, since the beginning of 2014. Unfortunately I don’t feel like I have an awful lot to say this week though.

– Weight loss. I’ve been better with my diet, though we all caved and ordered take-away last night. I completely forgot to weigh myself this morning too so I have absolutely no update on my weight loss this week!

– Finances. I’ve managed to get myself somewhat sorted out and it feels so good. Things are going to be a little tighter for a while but at least now I feel like there is some sort of resolution. I continued my silly saving project too.

– Books. I’ve finished my first book of the year and I reviewed it here. I’m already starting on my second book for January which puts me ahead of my target for one per month.

– Movies. So far I’ve managed to watch one a week, as planned. This week’s was part of movie night, Monsters University. However I part watched (I say part watched as I was on my computer as Chris watched them) both The Spirit and Revolver. Both were okay movies but neither were ones I’d recommend.

– Dedication to my blog. I’ve been trying really hard to promote my blog, as well as remain active on it and post regularly. I have increased my GFC followers from 53 at the beginning of the year to currently 67. My bloglovin followers have gone from 20 something to 64 and I even activated Google + which I have 25 people following me on. I’ve managed to post 4 times this week and I’m pretty pleased with that. Going to try even harder this week though.

– Fun with Friends. I said I would make sure I organised a gathering of friends at least once a month. Yesterday I added 4 events to our usual suspect’s facebook events. Our first games evening is Jan 25th and I’m looking forward to it already.

On top of all this, my week has been a pretty good one. Though it included back to work nerves, followed by back to school nerves, it turned out alright in the end. It’s sort of nice being back into a routine and everything feels fairly settled and organised right now. Fingers crossed it will stay that way for a little while at least.

Just a quickie – new look!

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I’m just making a quick post tonight as I’ve been fiddling with my blog layout and its taken WAYYY longer than I was expecting it to!

I really just wanted to post to say – “I have a new blog look!” so you’ll all look, haha! But also because I’m still fiddling and have several things I want to add.

One of the main things I’d like to add back, is follow buttons. When I last changed my layout, I lost most of the buttons for people I follow and had agreed to follow me back. I will be making an effort to look through my favourite blogs and add your buttons, but if you stop by and you’d like your button adding to my sidebar, please post a comment and let me know!

Also if you find anything not working, or glitching, please let me know! Like I said, I’m still fiddling but I won’t necessarily catch every glitch.

Okay, that’s all. Thanks for your time and goodnight!!

2014 – things to come

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So 2014 is here and I saw it in with the exact same 3 people that I did last year, shortly followed by going to bed. In all honesty I find NYE a little overrated and if it wasn’t for seeing the year in with my partner, I’d likely just head to bed before midnight.

Anyway I’ve been thinking a lot recently – not just about the new year but about life itself. Sounds pretty deep but mostly its just been about making myself and those around me happy. I’m not one for New Year Resolutions but I have decided to set myself a list of goals, hopefully to achieve over the next year.

Blog:
– Post at least once a week, but preferably 2-3 times.
– Make more of an effort to advertise myself, to mingle on Social Media platforms and to make blog friends.
– Attend a blogger event. I’ve gotten close but never managed to actually do it as yet.
Money:
– To sort out the debt I’m in. While I won’t get into how much I have, I do intend to get on top of it and then also budget myself for the future.
– Save. I’ve seen a nice idea for saving a little every week. I think I might try it.
Family:
– Keep calmer and shout less. Now that I work I’m finding I cherish time with the kids far more than I did before. I need to try not to spend that time getting mad at them.
– Plan and go on a family holiday. I’d love to achieve Rome but we’ll have to see.
Friends:
– Host at least one gathering every month. It’s usually murder mysteries but as they often require a lot of organising and spending, we only seem to do a maximum of 6 a year. Find something else to do in the other 6 months.
House:
– I think realistically we’re all accepting the fact that we might not have this house ready to sell by summer. It may need another year here in Gainsborough. However this year I want to have the kitchen completely finished, the garden cleared and the hallway painted.
– Tidy and clean more. I’m really the only one in the house who wants to do it, everyone else just gets bullied into it. Even still, with so little storage I need to keep on top of cleaning and tidying more.
Health and Fitness:
– Get back on track with my diet. I was doing so well and then it really slipped in 2013. I want to obtain my goal weight of 10 stone and then maintain it.
– Find a healthy lifestyle to stick with permanently. Cook more balanced food and plan meals, hopefully to aid with budgeting too.
– Go swimming more. The kids love it and it would definitely help my fitness levels.
– Venture onto the Wii Fit. It’s realistically the only actual exercise I might do.
– Give up smoking. It’s not something I usually write about in a public place, but I’m determined to do it.
Creativity:
– Write some more of my novel. Preferably finish it. Big big ask. But doable.
– Take part in some form of creative writing competition.
Career:
– Find a way to work from home by either writing my book or starting a business from home. This year I have realised that being able to stay at home with my family is a top priority.
Entertainment:
– Read more books. I don’t want to set myself an unrealistic target so for now I’m going to say 12. One for each month.
– Watch more movies. This one I will set at 52, one per week. Movies are often important family/couple time so to make an effort to sit down and watch something frequently will be nice.

So its a lot longer list than I first intended as I started to write it, however I think majority are achievable. As I finish this post I definitely find myself feeling a lot more positive about the things to come in 2014. I hope you’re looking forward to things to come too!