I'm still Alive!

I know I've been quiet here lately, I just haven't been feeling well... still lacking energy and anything else that I need, I've another month of vitamins to get through though before the doctor will take me seriously (or not!). Last week was my week off and I had the most hideous cough that only flared up at night and I couldn't sleep so was falling asleep around 4am-5am and then I couldn't wake up. I did however make the most of my holidays but as always its sad when they end... 7.5 weeks until my next big one... yeah! Even though Ramadan will start in July.

Anyway I decided to share some pictures of life lately via Instagram...

My baby brother turned 30 last month, it never bothered me getting older but it really hit home him turning the big 3-0. It's weird to think we'll be 40 before we know it. I bought him a lovely fresh cream cake which he photographed but I didn't... I was really puzzled as to why the bakery charged me £2 extra even more so as my husband bought one for his sister this weekend which was.

I'm still enjoying my graze boxes and I can feel the difference with my body in the weeks I do have one. Last week I got a box with a segmented macaroon style on which is the closest thing I've had to one... I didn't enjoy it or my box this time which was so disappointing.

I finally got around to purchasing nearly all the equipment I need to make another 2 sweet trees. I bought plain white pots which I'm going to decorate myself so I hope it works out well. The only thing left to buy are some sticks and sweets. I now need a wedding or event to make one for as the wedding I had hoped to make one for has been and gone. They only gave their invites a week before which left me no time to get organised and as I mentioned I wasn't well so it wasn't worth killing myself for anyone. I've bought the little flowers in case we decided to choose sweets that don't tessellate well then I can put those in to cover up the green foam. We were to have other weddings but so far they are hear say its a case of watch this space.

As I mentioned I had a wedding to go to and when it came to taking a bag, I searched high and low but couldn't find where I'd put any of my bags. I thought maybe I'd thrown them all away when I had a real clear out last year. So when I went shopping I came across this and bought it only then to move some thing and find my other little black bag! This one is far prettier though :D.

Today was such a glorious day that we went to the park to enjoy it after work. The only downside is my husband went too and he wanted to go home after a short while or else I would have spent 2 hours there.

Things right now...

Things I've been up to...

1. Finally getting around to posting The Secret Pen-Pal Scavenger Hunt on my Bubbles blog, I've been bursting to do it since I posted mine out.
2. Taking part in a Doodle A Day Project, I'm not the best at drawing but I'm quite enjoying thinking of things to fit in with each theme.
3. Having fun using all the fancy stamps that I've spent a fortune on buying.
4. Reading the Garden of Water by Alan Drew
5. Writing a super long letter on the cutest bear paper I came across in the city. I haven't found cute stationery here for years so it was such a surprise to find something affordable, cute and of great quality too.
6. Crafting for my Make My Day blog, it felt good to post something after 3 months of posting noting.
7. Waiting patiently for some letters to arrive, I haven't had all that many this year and its been really weird. It just typical though that I always get a whole bunch on the same day or the same week.
8. I came across a really nice snail mail magazine on Wreck This Girls blog which she is one of the workers on. I would have loved to have done the monthly challenge on it but I don't want to burn myself out by doing too much. Hopefully they'll do one in the next issue that I can take part in. Maybe some of you will join me?

What have you been up to lately?

I think I've mastered it...

I thought I'd do a post on life right now...

1. I said this year I was going to try and stay positive, in some cases I am but in others I am really starting to flag. I will try and keep it up as much as possible.
2. My niece keeps begging me to bake. I was talking about it at work one lunch time when a few of us were sat there. Someone asked if I used a hand held whisk which the answer was no as she thought that I might be over whisking it. It was after this conversation that I wondered if I wasn't mixing the mixture enough. I bought 2 packet mix cake mixtures. I made one lemon drizzle cake and it was so nice and baked amazingly after I used a normal hand whisk. I decided to look up a recipe for a sponge cake and have made a couple since using the food processor, I even included blueberries and chocolate chip. They were so nice that my family demolished them and my mum said I should make a couple so she can have with her tea. The other packet mixture was a carrot cake one, I think I'll just make that one and then no others are as they are so fatty that with having made so many so far we are all going to end up even fatter.
3. My health is still not so great, I am just so extremely tired that I can't even focus. Its not even worth having a conversation with me because I end up saying something really stupid or doing something really dumb that I feel quite embarrased about it later. I have 5 more weeks for my vitamins to finish and I've only noticed a small percentage of change. I guess we've hardly had any sun lately with so many snow and rain storms.
4. Someone I know is selling their house. I went to see it and I love the actual house but not the way the garden and road are set out. I'm so stuck in what to do and my husband just won't talk about it. Then this week my sister and her husband stuck their oar in once again, this time by telling my husband that their neighbour came round offering to sell their house and he should buy it. I've always made it clear I hate the area but my husband is really considering it. I'm going to go and see the first house again tomorrow to decide if I really want the house and if I can live with the way its set up outside.... I just feel really fed up with this whole house searching and buying thing now that I just want it to end. I actually wish someone would just go and choose one and then get me to buy it.
5. I feel bad that I haven't commented on any of your blogs even though I have read your posts but I have been spending more time trying to search for a house and just relaxing. I haven't even read a book for a while but hopefully tonight.
6. I now have a weeks holiday so hopefully I'll be able to craft a lot :). I've already made a start on writing lots of postcards for the boys on PostPals

How are things with you?

Life is Short...

QuotableLife

Perfect

By hairbrainedschemes

 

I'm going to try and get back into posting quotes again as it could be just the lift we need sometimes. I'll choose them from Etsy as that way I'll always have a link back to the photo but also if you really like it you can buy it. This little card isn't expensive at all and could always be framed.  

Happy New Year 2013

I wish you all an adventurous, happy, interesting, wish filled and healthy 2013! I hope it turns out the way you want it to!

 

I never keep new years resolutions, I always have hopes and dreams of things that I'd like to happen within that year but this year I'm just going to let it pan out however it does anyway.

 

This year though I will try to do pretty much the same in

• writing letters, I want to get a much better balance as I'd really love to take some new friends on this year as I miss that side of things so much. I'd love some in un-usual places, different cultures etc... but in reality it doesn't matter as long as I get a long with the person.
• continuing crafting and creating projects. I have so many ideas its finding the time to do it. I especially want make my day to be majority handmade as I've ended up filling a lot of the gaps with supplies. Its one of the reasons I decided to end the year with supplies as it will hopefully mean it will give me something else to focus on.
• read as much as possible
• blog as often as possible but also to try and comment on all the blogs I follow which isn't many. I've ended up towards the end of this year just completely stopping almost as I can't balance everything.

These are things I hope to do a little differently but its not a resolution as such...

• watch more what I eat, I hardly eat junk food anymore, as a child we were allowed to buy what we could with our pocket money plus have one of whatever was at home. I always was the one to suffer so over the years I've cut back but I need to add in more healthier options. Especially with this vitamin d deficiency I could have been eating the right food earlier. Its something I've always said but I end up a lazy cook in having whatever I'm giving everyone else.
• I saw an image on Instagram where someone suggested keeping a jar and writing all the happy things that happen on a slip of paper and putting it in there. At the end of the year take all of those out and read them. I will do this as by the end of the year I always feel like I've accomplished nothing but I think its because I'm so focused on those bigger things like wanting a house, to study, a new job but as I mentioned earlier I aren't even going to really think about it... of course I'll search for a house but now if it happens it happens I'm not thinking by this month I want to... as it hasn't worked. People hardly want to sell houses anymore, the same ones have been up for years so its like I've seen it all before. So at the end of the year I'll list all those things on my blog.
• to try and exercise a bit more, I love to walk but hardly do it

There were some other things but I can't think of them right now... Do you have any plans for this year?

 

A Whirl Wind...

Last weekend suffering with a most hideous cold once again, I decided not to relax but to make the most of my weekend with 2 appointments, a shopping trip for my secret santa gift for work and a visit to the cinema with my niece to watch Tinkerbell the movie in 3D. She thought it was brilliant and wanted to know why it ended, she sat and watched everything considering it was her first visit. The only downside to her night was the fact that she had popcorn skin stuck between her teeth... the things that dampen our moods. I really enjoyed it even though I think it would have been the same (possibly cheaper) just to watch the movie in 2D as there was nothing that really popped out at you instead it just had a layered effect. I was given a free book to read so hopefully it will be good even though I have no intention of seeing the movie... I'm just too lazy to sit and watch them but also they never turn out to be the same. Still when at the cinema I realised I haven't felt so relaxed and content in a long time that I felt I should do this more often.

 

Well the weekend ended with a phone call to let us know my dads eldest brother died and things have been insane since which is why things have been quiet on my blog... my mum and brother-in-law have gone to Pakistan. My sister booked her ticket to go in the early hours of this morning and I think she now regrets it as it has involved so much drama... the PIA website and her ticket said 8.45pm setting off time, the website for the airport said 6.15- 7pm setting off time, so they phoned up and were told the 6.15-7pm... so it was a mad rush to get there. Once we got to the local airport it was foggy and I wondered how the plane would land but as nothing had been said I assumed there would be a way. It turned out the ticket time was the right one but at 7pm my sister sends a text saying the plane has landed in Manchester, this meant they had to get all their luggage back and have a coach take them there. It is now almost 11pm and they still haven't set off. My sister is so lucky that my niece isn't one of those moaning crying children even though she maybe restless by now.... thankfully she's also really excited to be going. I'm so grateful I didn't decide to go with her, I may have considered it if I was well but my cold has turned into a nasty cough. I would actually love to go to Pakistan as I last went exactly 6 years ago and I keep feeling a pull to go again but with not having a house or the energy it just makes it all overwhelming then something I can enjoy.

 

As for work what can I say, no day is ever the same and all I can do is dream of the day where I will move on to pastures new and hopefully much more rewarding with plenty of appreciation.

 

Now I finally have 2 weeks off and so far I've done plenty of reading, shopping with my sister as well as getting swept up in her drama. Its only the first day though so I hope the rest will be calmer.