Life Lately - On Turning A Year Older, Being Away From Home and Sensing A Change

It seems as though the older you become the busier life gets. Not a complaint I am making rather just an observation. I'd rather be busy than sit and watch time whittle by, however the last few weeks have been exhausting: hectic for both brilliant reasons and stressful ones too. Suddenly I find myself another year older, 23 sounds so much older than 22? Especially when it feels like turning 18 five years ago was just in the blink of an eye. I feel as though I've hit an age now whereby I need to take the future ahead of me seriously because time is vastly on my tail. When I think about the next five years I realise that a lot could happen.

2014 At A Glance

So its quickly come round to that time again where we begin to look back and reflect on our year, on ourselves and what we have achieved or maybe the things that we haven't achieved.  Mostly I find the end of another year to be a bit of a bitter sweet moment: I'm excited for the new year ahead and for the prospects of a fresh start and new ventures that lie ahead but I also find it quite sad that another year of my life is about to end.

I've long since abandoned New Years Resolutions, and because I'm usually always thinking way ahead of myself,this year I decided to set a sort of bucket list of '25 Before 25' instead. I definitely found this a more fun approach to setting myself goals as it wasn't like resolutions where you basically just set yourself up for failure year after year.

And so when I think back on my 2014, I have to say that it was certainly a successful, healthy and eventful one. When you can glance back on a year and honestly say to yourself that you achieved something, were fit and healthy and did things that made you happy I think its safe to say it was a good year.

The game changer? Qualifying in my profession, starting my own business, quitting a job that made me miserable and starting one that brings me such an amazing sense of satisfaction and purpose. Doing a job that I enjoy and can be proud of has changed so much for me. I feel at ease and like my life is finally going down a path that it was made for. I'm more confident in myself, my abilities and I've done things this year that I never would have dreamed of doing before. I feel grateful to have had the support of everyone around me in my ventures, in letting me take a few risks and hopefully continue to watch them pay off.

I was lucky enough to go on two holidays this year, it was the first time I had been abroad since getting the dogs in 2011! I also got to see Taylor Swift perform her Red Tour at the 02 back in February - I LOVE Taylor so that was amazing. I spent quality time with my loved ones, celebrated quite a few big events with my family over the course of the year, dad won some money on the lottery in January and took us all out for a lovely meal, then my mum turned 50 in the summer and we also had a pearl wedding anniversary in 2014.

Something I never imagined I would be able to do, but did this year and that was learn to crochet. I've watched my mum crochet on and off all of my life and have always thought it beautiful. Over the summer and thanks to much patience from her, this cack handed leftie somehow managed to pick up the art of crochet. It was so rewarding when I finally got it - I've loved making things for myself and to give to other people its been a really lovely skill to learn and hopefully it will be something that sticks with me.

I know that sometimes its easy to take things for granted, but looking back at this year has made me realise that I have so much to be thankful for. I wish that I could learn to better appreciate every single day the health of my loved ones that are all at arms length to me. Next year may not be so smooth sailing, but I will try my hardest to remind myself of the enormous sacrifices my family are about to make. I live in the hope that my parents' utter selflessness will be worth it in the end.

Sunday Catchup #5

Today I really wanted to sit down and take a minute to reflect and write about things that aren't lipstick or lipstick related on my blog. I haven't done a chit-chatty casual post like this since Spring and so I figured I was due an update.

Now that we're in the final few months of the year its getting to that time where festivities are around every corner, Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas and then a brand new year to ring in all over again. I truly love this time of the year because of the celebrations, the beautiful colours on the trees, cosy nights in under blankets watching films, lighting candles and of course all of the decorations - we currently have a pumpkin from our allotment sitting in the front window.

Since I gave up my job earlier this year I've had a lot more time on my hands and while I'm not trying to build up my business I'm really happy with some of the accomplishments I've managed to achieve. Over the last few months I've been trying to make a conscious effort to be a little more present in the kitchen as I've been learning to cook. I don't mean like cakes and baking but rather meals and so on. I guess it kind of linked in with my healthy eating habits earlier this year. To some people this may seem a basic thing but I've come a long way from knowing nothing to pretty much feeling confident in the kitchen with a recipe at hand ready to try out new things.

And while I'm on the subject of food and eating healthy I am still striving to make the right choices with my diet - despite the last month or so being a little off track I'm slowly getting back into the swing of clean eating again. In the autumn and through into winter I always find myself slipping off the rails a little with all the sweet temptations and hunger cravings as the weather cools down, however I'm really trying to keep a balance this year.

I've also taken up crocheting over the summer. With great guidence (not to mention a hell of a lot of patience) from my mum I've gone from helplessly not knowing how to even hold a hook to making blankets and *trying* to read and follow patterns. Crochet has been a welcome outlet for me as I've never had a creative streak in my body and so its extremely rewarding to watch something I'm making go from a ball of yarn turn to something cute and pretty. I can't wait to make some festive decorations over the upcoming weeks!

Have a lovely weekend!

Sunday Catchup #4

Its been a little while since I did a Sunday catchup chit chatty kind of post so I figured today was a good opportunity to have an end of week ramble. I can't believe we're almost half way through the year now, when I gave up my job I thought that the time would go slower but I have been packing quite a lot into my days and trying to keep myself busy.

For a good few weeks now its really begun to feel like Spring has set in for the most part, I think everyone has been enjoying the sunnier days and lighter evenings here in England. I really love this time of year - seeing the freckles start to appear on my nose, waiting for the fruit to be ready at the allotment, the countdown to my birthday and of course welcoming delicious BBQs back in our lives. The last post I wrote like this I was sort of outlining my intentions to eat better and generally aim to be healthier. Since writing that I have been incredibly motivated and dedicated to those intentions and I am already feeling and seeing the results.

Recently I have been obsessing over Coldplay's new album which I have virtually been playing on repeat all week (I never thought I would be a Coldplay fan but I am in love with this album) and it was time guys.... I'm onto the final season of Breaking Bad! I already get the impression that I'm going to ball my eyes out when its finished. I don't want it to end!

Plus on the blog this week:
Topshop Pansy Print Dress
Top 5 Mac Lipsticks for Spring

How was your week?

Sunday Catchup #3

Hey guys, how was your week? I've been home from my course for a fortnight and I feel as though my normal routines are back in full swing now, which makes me very happy indeed. The one thing I dislike most about being away from home is the disruption of my day to day habits. So it certainly feels nice to have a sense of normality back.

I'm going to be talking about something a little different in today's catchup and that is healthy eating. In the last few weeks I have been making a conscious effort to really try and eat more healthily. The reasons for this being that I want my body to benefit from natural, wholesome foods as apposed to feeding it any artificial processed nastiness. And obviously I wouldn't mind shifting a little bit of weight in the process too. Easter last week was a minor blip- I was quite behaved and stuck to nibbling on Mini Eggs and a few small Creme Egg sized chocolates from Aldi. But this week I was pretty much back on track with healthy intentions.

The main areas I want to improve are snacking and controlling portion sizes. How many times have I said that? But its time to go back to basics keeping things straight forward and simply try to ensure I'm snacking on good-for-me foods rather than quick convenient options and aim to reduce my portion sizes. I'm making small steps towards healthy changes, I stocked up on some seeds, nuts and fruits to snack on the other day and even got inspired into some baking after drooling over a recipe from Lydia Rose, which by the way is delicious and so simple, win win.

On the flip side of keeping healthy and staying active, I have no problems at all. I'm more motivated than ever and practically find myself skipping out the house to my Mini to get to the gym. I managed to do seven classes this week: incorporating everything from high impact cardio, to yoga to weight training. Plus on the day I was at home I did the first level of the 30 Day Shred. Tuesdays and Sundays are turning out to be my rest days lately. Hopefully if I stick to it I should begin to see some positive results come summer, new bikinis = motivation...

I also wanted to really say a really quick thanks to everyone who helped my blog reach 200 bloglovin followers the other day - I know that numbers aren't what matters but I still appreciate any bit of support I can get, so thank you.

Plus on the blog this week:
Beauty Haul
Empties #2

Do you live by any healthy living standards?

Life Update

Over the last few weeks I've had to take a little back step from my blog, with the promise that I would do an update as soon as I got the chance to. So today I am going to be delivering that promise and dedicating a post to talking about all the changes that have been occurring in my life in the last month or so.

Warning - text heavy post!

When I began blogging again this year I wasn't sure how much of 'me' I was willing to share through this outlet, however I also didn't want this space to be reserved strictly for beauty related purposes only. After all I think its great to have a mixture of interests, and perhaps because of the circumstances I am going to discuss below I have decided to include a wider range of non-beauty topics here in between the bulk of my usual ramblings. There have been a few quite drastic changes in the last month that are going to impact the dynamics of my life which as a result could have an effect on my blog from time to time.

Firstly, I quit my part time job of almost six years this month. This factor alone has been a huge deal for me as its been a part of my life since the tender age of sixteen. There were a lot of reasons for doing this but the main reason is that I felt that the time was appropriate to finally let go and move on to something new. I've watched many people, who have inevitably become my friends leave and I've also left behind friends too, but there comes a point when you have to do what is in the best interest for you.

Luckily I have had a goal in my mind for a while now and it was only a matter of time before I decided to give my part time job up to do what I have been wanting to do for the last god knows how many years: focus on a career. That career is exactly what I have been working towards, and for the last fortnight I have been away training to qualify as a Foot Health Practitioner. This has involved months of theory based learning and then hands on experience dealing with patients in a clinic.
 

The hard work does not stop there though as I am now faced with the task of setting my business up, but I am so excited and ready to dedicate my all into making this career successful for me. It feels like all I've done is study and to finally be out there and making a go at a career is completely liberating but also daunting too: I realise that with like all new ventures, this will take dedication, time and patience.

 

I guess that the reason I wanted to share this was for one, I hoped that this could be relatable to others who may also be at a stage in their life with an odd transitional period, of life as you knew it to life on the brink of a big change. Also I thought that it would be good for me to reflect back at this stage of my life down the line and see what I have managed to achieve.

 

So what does this mean for my blog? Well one of the reasons that I wanted to embark on this career was because it enables me to work for myself and so I have every intention of carrying on with this blog because I have enjoyed doing it so much. Blogging again has reminded me just how much I love writing - I kind of feel like myself when I'm pouring words out (in most cases just bloody well rambling on to myself and boring you in the process I would imagine!)

 

And by the way this leads me on to saying how much I appreciate anyone who takes the time to even look at my blog - thank you! I can't deny that some weeks may be a little quiter while I have these new priorities arising but you know what, everyone has those moments and so at least if things seem absent its only because of that reason and not because I'm stopping! Hopefully this update has cleared up a few things that I may have seemed a bit hush hush about in recent posts.

 

Apologies for the long post - not my usual style but this was sort of just a one off that I felt should be shared x 

Sunday Catchup #2

I can't believe an entire week has passed since I was writing my last Sunday catchup post. I've had such an overwhelming week away, busy doing my clinical training. If stuff has seemed a little absent on the blog front this has been the only reason why. After battling the dreaded M25 Friday evening I've been thankful to spend the weekend back home (while squeezing in many pug kisses and a Breaking Bad episode, naturally) However its back on the road again tonight as I have to be ready in the clinic again on Monday morning for another full week of hands on training.

Rather than make this seem a little disjointed I will write a full update when I come home at some point in the next little while. I have two fun posts scheduled for the upcoming week, so be sure to follow me on Twitter for updates on those!

Plus on the blog this week:
Monthly Favourites | March 2014
MAC Painterly Paint Pot

How was your week? x

Sunday Catchup #1

 

Hello and happy Sunday to you - plus an extra special mention to all the mothers out there as it is Mother's Day over in the UK today. Following in the theme of other bloggers who do a sort of weekly round up I have decided to incorporate a 'Sunday Catchup' here on my blog as a light hearted chit-chat, what I've been up to kind of post. I really like to read these sorts of posts and get an insight into the blogger behind the blog so I hope you will enjoy these too.

So obviously today I will be spending the day with my mum. I consider myself really fortunate as I get to spend a lot of time with her even though we both have busy lives we always try to make time for each other even if its just going to yoga, or popping to the shops to get stuff for dinner. On saying that the last two mothers days I haven't spent it with her as last year I was actually at Crufts and the year before I had to work but today I get to spend it with her - nothing major planned just the usual Sunday stuff.

This week has been quite a busy one as weeks go, I'm going away tonight as I've got the first of my two weeks clinical training to get my foot health qualification tomorrow. Although there has been an attempt to get organised throughout the week I sense a last minute emergency throwing of things into a suitcase before leaving tonight. Its too far for me to travel up every day so have to stay in a B&B until Friday. I'm very excited and also nervous too. Hopefully once I'm back I intend to write a full update all about what I've been up to but for now there will be a few scheduled posts going up while I am away.

I managed to squeeze in all my regular classes at the gym this week - Monday morning Bounce Fit, Yoga Monday night and on Friday morning, spinning Wednesday and Thursday night plus a Power Weights class straight after on Thursday, and then yesterday morning I did Boxercise. So I'm pretty pleased about that - I'm going to miss it so much while I'm away! Sad but true.

Despite spending 3 evenings at the gym I've also been crazy addicted to watching Breaking Bad, and finished season two I think on Tuesday it was? Record number of viewings in one session has been four episodes... lets just say there has been a lot of late nights recently due to this programme - which is quite unconventional for this early bird!

Plus on the blog this week:
The TMI Tag
MAC Perfect Topping Mineralize Skinfinish
On My Face #2

How was your week? Have a lovely Mothering Sunday x