Going in to 2016 I didn’t make any New Years resolutions, instead I just said to myself “you need to get to happy & healthy” – so I pondered on how I could enhance my life, I’m slowly making slight changes to my diet again and I am looking to return to the gym (ASAP) but how on earth do I work on being happy? Now it seems such a silly question but I thought about it, I am happy. I enjoy life. But, what I think I meant to say was “appreciate being happy.” When I read Erin Louise Hunts blog post on apps to help with any goals or resolutions an app called “Mindfulness” popped out. I’ve heard a lot of people bleat on about this term & literally did not have a clue what on earth it was.
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
It’s about being self aware with the thingas that go on around you and how we can react to it. I’ve mentioned before that my mood swings can go from hero to zero and whilst I’ve rarely thought about going to the doctors about it, I decided that I could at least take back control and learn to be more appreciative of what’s happening in my life to help channel that energy. Some great bloggers such as Lorna, Sophie & Katy create posts about what has made them happy that week so I thought “Mindfulness Monday” would be a good place to start, a weekly segment on things through the week that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Especially after seeing my twitter poll results about 2016 content, you seemed to like my Lifestyle posts.
I actually intend to start writing this through the week so it feels almost like a diary entry, adding segments each day – whilst I will be doing these posts week by week for my first one I am drawing inspiration from the last few weeks from Christmas as it was a lovely happy time.
1. Christmas & New Year
It seems a pretty legit (mundane/run of the mill) one to start with – but actually, I really enjoyed Christmas & New Year. It was a long slog to get to that point but as soon as I started wrapping the presents a couple of days before Christmas and the living room filled with glitter, ribbons and bows, it was all a little bit too exciting for me! We spent Xmas morning with my family and then headed over to Jame’s Grandparents house where we all ate salmon and sticky sausages, drinking plenty of fizz and eventually in the late afternoon we headed up to Jame’s parent’s farm to have our turkey & trimmings. Despite Boxing Day being thigh high in pig shit (the in laws farm got flooded) we all sat down together at the end of the day, with a warm meal in front of us, under a dry roof. You can’t be more thankful than that.
I don’t know if anyone else is a bit of a killjoy when it comes to New Year, but I just really struggle to get motivated – it’s possibly because you’ve already plied yourself with enough food and alcohol to last you the next year. But, this year I made a conscious effort to get my glad rags on and have a good night. Despite the people we were meant to spend the night with sidling off early we got talking to some other friends and ended up having a real laugh, a laugh that lasted until 4.30am in the morning. We were so ready for our cooked breakfast on New Years Day!
2. Spending the dark nights looking for our next Holiday
Let’s face it, I’m not getting any younger & if one more person asks me when we are going to have a baby I might have to shove a bottle of talcum powder and a box of rusks up their arse and send them marching. But, having said that I will be 27 this year (can I just have moment please?) and yes, babies will inevitably coming (one day!) so Mr C & I are making it our mission to go on lots more holidays and live our life exactly the way we want to before we ever decide to make a huge decision in our life. James bought me a Galaxy Tab for Christmas and we’ve done nothing but search Sky Scanner every night together trying to find our next jaunt. We already have trips to Madeira and Oslo booked and we are now looking for a holiday for September. We’re trying to decide between Lesbos and Santorini! So any advice or suggestions would be greatly welcomed.
3. Meeting with Capital FM Yorkshire
I was thrilled at the back end of 2015 to receive an email from the Marketing & Events team at Capital FM. They had reached out to me and wanted me to come to their offices. We organised a date & put it in the diary for the New Year. I met the lovely Verity and even got to sit in and listen to some of Pete Allison’s Drive Time slot. Getting to go in to the studio and watch him at work was amazing, I have always said that I’d love to get back in to the Studio again and pick up my training where I left. We had a fab chat about how Capital want me on board for a big campaign they have coming up in February. I can’t wait to discuss the final details once it’s all been arranged, it was a real pat on the back and my testament to driving my blog harder and better. I’m actually starting to be “good” at something!
4. A morning to myself
Now, I know that sounds so hostile but really it is all I could have ever needed right now. With Christmas festivities you are never not in someones pocket, so it was nice to just enjoy some “me time” on Saturday morning. I put on a face mask and managed to get some downtime with the blog. I had some really good posts go up and then it fell a bit flat for the nost part of the week, it meant I could get out with my camera and snap some shots for this blog post – working with brands is great, especially when you can form lasting relationships with them! I couldn’t believe that I had been bestowed with a pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglasses from The Sunglasses Shop!
5. Colouring In
This one is great for “mindfulness” and relaxing. There is nothing more therapeutic to me (other than a spa day!) than grabbing my colouring pens and my colouring book and filling in swirly whirly patterns till the cows come home. I’ve noticed that I’m really stressed and anxious at the moment. I’m beginning to accept that I need to find ways to combat this. So taking half an hour out or using my lunch break at work to colour has done me the world of good. Not only is it really soothing, I am so switched on whilst I’m doing it and generally more focused when I need to get back to work. Who knew that this crazy invention would take off, but it seems that it’s keeping a lot of people in the same mind set, like Laura for instance.
6. A Late Christmas Present
But boy was it worth it. My Aunty had been quizzing me on what I wanted for Xmas back in October, and I casually hinted I needed a new watch, a Larsson & Jennings to be exact, in the hope that Mr C might be within earshot. Well, Santa didn’t put one of those under the tree, but my Aunty had been frantically trying to find out where the watch she had bought had got to, and this week it reached me. My goodness, she is beautiful. There’s something so timeless about a classic watch and it makes me look semi-mature. I couldn’t be more chuffed if I tried. I really do have an awesome Aunty!
7. A Surprise 30th Birthday Party (& an engagement!)
We’ve been in on a little secret surprise birthday party for one of our longest & dearest friends Mike for sometime now. My BFF Rachael had whisked him away to Chester for a couple of nights. but before the suprise party he turned the surprise back on her and popped the question. We are so so so excited for them both & can’t wait to start planning another hen do. The party was filled with lots of dancing, drinking (oops!) and laughing whilst celebrating one of the loveliest people’s birthdays! Plus, it was double the celebration too.
8. My first YouTube Video
I bloody well went & did it, didn’t I? I went and did a little “vlog” – having always hated my voice, I bit the bullet and just did it. So far, the response has been great. No amount of editing will disguises the crazy face pulling & the double chin, but I’ve finally conquered a little fear of mine. Woohoo! You can read the post here and watch and subscribe to my channel here !
9. I weighed myself
Yeah, and it wasn’t good. I’ve put on 8kg. That’s since September. Now, despite feeling totally rotten with myself I am more determined than ever – especially at my heaviest to get back to where I was last summer. I stocked up on vegetables, fruit and everything fresh in our weekly shop and I made a conscious effort to walk to work this week. I will not let a number define me in any aspects, but, should I feel a little negative about it – I am going to do something about it. It’s back to the gym and just being a little more careful with what I put in my mouth. I’ll report back next week just how many lbs I have lost. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
10. Quality time
Sunday night our phones were firmly put away, we cooked fajitas and watched a David Attenborough documentary called “Wild Canada” – it was nice to just sit back and not look at our phones and actually look up & talk. I’ve been terrible recently (so has Mr C) of not paying attention to what’s going on around us and always playing on our iPhones. I’m going to start making sure we both spend more time just chatting to each other and enjoying one another’s company without having to sit on our phones.
I really hope you enjoyed my first “Mindfulness Monday” post – it was really nice to just chat about the lovely things that have happened this last week or so, big or small. It’s definitely made me feel much more positive about the week ahead! I hope you feel revitalized after the weekend and have lots to look forward to!
Bee xxx
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