Thursday 25 December 2014

2014: The Round Up


So a very Merry Christmas to you all!

Hope you are all having a lovely day so far and looking forward to your Christmas dinner as much as I am...

Today's post is a bit of a round up of my year in pictures, I was hoping it would be an easy post to write and read but I seem to have been up to a lot in the last year!

One of my favourite pictures from the year of myself (in a non up myself kind of way - good way to start a post!) is the one below, I finally fitted into a dress that I've had for a while without looking like a right pig. I really liked this dress from M&S Limited Collection when I bought it but although the zip did up it never looked right and I certainly didn't feel comfortable in it.


My actual weight hasn't changed much but my composition of muscle and fat has changed and hopefully will continue to.
Going to the gym initially was something to stop me gaining weight and to get me active again whilst at uni doing my masters. Now it has become habit I enjoy going a few times a week and it feels weird if i don't go; hopefully throughout the next year I will see further improvements as I plan to work harder and push myself even more.


Next up was my first ever festival, Glastonbury. 
I'd also never stayed in a tent before so it was a lot of firsts all rolled into one and I loved it!


I saw so many bands and ate so many different meals it was GREAT. I'd love to go back again but I've no idea what the future holds and the tickets completely passed me by this year, maybe I will have to try another festival.

Not long after I went to Edinburgh on a hen weekend and it was AMAZING. We went to the dungeons and wandered around Edinburgh shops for a bit and also went to the zoo, as well as karaoke and a night out - so much fun and I can't wait to go back to Edinburgh again as it was so beautiful.




I can see exactly why JK Rowling managed to write Harry Potter in a place like this.

A few weeks after this I spent a long time making a decision to leave a job that I thought would be a career that lasted years, if not the rest of my life. It was a massive and scary move to leave a job that I knew I would never be able to get again as they are like gold dust. I also didn't have another job to go to, and leaving a job (albeit one that made me feel like shit) was a pretty risky and some might say stupid move. Thankfully it has all worked out for the best and I have a new job now that I love and feel so much more comfortable and happy in and am really looking forward to the future there.


Around the same time there was a lot of other things going on in my life; my mum was also ill and had to go into hospital to have a tumour removed so it was stressful and definitely taking a big leap into the unknown. Thankfully everything is ok, her recovery has been pretty good and fingers crossed it's all over now and she can enjoy her early retirement (and make me extremely jealous with all of her holidays!).


I'm so unbelievably proud of myself and M for completing a Tough Mudder challenge in August; it was one of the hardest things I have ever done before both mentally and physically and the relief of getting to the finish line was overwhelming. But we both managed to do it and get there to claim our tshirt and most importantly, the headband and the pint.

We've just signed up for another for next year to get the green headband so I feel like comparing it to childbirth (not that I know what that feels like) but in the way that the pain doesn't seem to last as long as the feeling of triumph! Training begins after the Christmas food is out the way.


In fact leaving my job, my mum being in hospital and Tough Mudder all happened within 4 days so it was a pretty stressful, crazy and emotional few days and I'll be grateful for that to never happen again.

I've also been on a lot of walks around Wales that I am really looking forward to doing more of in 2015. My dog loves joining me and with views like this who can blame him?! It has certainly been an active year.







Beauty wise a few things have changed too. I had highlights and ombre in my hair so many times my hair was unrecognisable from its natural state. After a summer in Glasto and multiple hen weekends it certainly took a bashing so I've decided to go back dark again to my natural colour. You can see the massive difference in the photos above! I'll be staying dark for a long time now.

I kept telling myself I'd be restrained in 2014 and not buy so much....I did a lot better than previous years but seemed to have 2 rather large splurges at the end of the year. Oops!


I managed to use a lot of points, vouchers etc to get these and even cashed in a few Back to Macs this year so I definitely can't complain. The Pulp Fiction collection has been a firm favourite of mine and Nars is my latest favourite brand as I've been so impressed with everything I've tried from them.


2014 has been a massive whirlwind and for the first time since I started working at 16 I actually have time off over Christmas; and I'm not just talking the UK holidays, I have a whole 10 days off!

This year I'm really looking forward to spending the day with my family, eating a lot of good food and of course our annual Boxing Day walk on the beach (yep, you read that right!)



Having such a busy year has been both good and bad but I'm keeping everything crossed that next year will be happier and more successful than ever.

What are your plans for 2015? Do you have any hopes and dreams or resolutions to complete?


I'm having a little think about mine before publishing them next month!


L xxx


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Sunday 20 July 2014

Life Update

Hi all!

Apologies for the serious lack of posts from myself recently; not only have I been living it up at Glastonbury and hen partying it in Edinburgh I have also had a lot going on at home as my mum is ill and my job isn't working for me so I'm having to look for another .

It's extremely frustrating and heartbreaking to admit defeat and give up on everything you worked so hard for but I cannot continue to work for a company who promised me so much and yet have given me so little. It takes up a lot of my time, energy and finances to even get there and my lack of training combined with minimal financial gain, no chance of this changing in the near future and no real career development I'm absolutely gutted to think I might have to call it a day. 

I'm still trying to make my decision as after telling them I was going to leave a month ago they promised me that things would change if I gave them a few weeks to prove it but unfortunately not enough has changed.

I'm trying to stay positive and tell myself that it's giving me a new start and that everything happens for a reason but it's extremely hard to think like that sometimes. I feel like my job was all I really had going for me and without that I'm not really left with much.

That aside I've been so busy with social events that I've barely had time to breathe! My friend had her hen weekend in Edinburgh and it was amazing, I've always wanted to go there having never been to Scotland and it didn't disappoint. 



We managed to fit in a trip to the dungeons, karaoke, food, dancing and the zoo, though we missed a time slot for the pandas so we couldn't see them! I definitely want to revisit and wander the cobbled streets for hours and hours, its so beautiful.



This weekend I have had another hen party to attend for the same group of friends but for a different bride to be, this one involved GoApe, Ann Summers party and lots of games so was a lot of fun but unfortunately not many photos were taken! Next weekend is her wedding so she's keeping everything really close together which is a nice change from those that are planned so far in advance; though I can't say I wasn't worried when she was swinging in the trees! We had to dress up as animals so a few of us clubbed together to buy face paint to make us into zebras:

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Me and M have also been out a few times recently. We went out a few weeks ago for food to catch up after Glastonbury and just have a quiet evening after the madness of the festival. We went to a place in Cardiff called Got Beef which was amazing, mostly selling different types of burgers but they also have beef brisket and loads of other things. My brother is a big fan and told me to go just so that I could have the Heisenburger: any Breaking Bad fan would be crazy NOT to order it, so of course i did!

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I mean blue onions?! how amazing. Definitely a fun kind of place and I'll be going back again to try more!
We also went out for drinks for her birthday and managed an impressive 6 cocktails in 3 hours before getting the last bus home, we know how to live...!

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Hopefully this week will be a little quieter and I will have some time to catch up with myself and write some posts. A lot are overdue but unfortunately there's only so much that one person can do at one time!
I could do with Hermione's time turner right now...


L xxx


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