Live Brave: Life

The day is here - its finally Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone - hope you have a wonderful day filled with special people, love and lots of laughter. Today, my family are coming over to my house to open presents. We are then going out for our first ever Christmas meal in a restaurant and then will come home to enjoy more time together and probably watch a movie of some sorts. Enjoy your day!

These past several weeks have been so busy and I have done zero blogging. I have however been doing lots and lots of other things - some boring and mundane, some not so much.

I've done a lot of traveling across England. From Newcastle in the north, to Staines in the south. I actually don't mind all the traveling that I do, if anything, it is a great way to see more of this country. Newcastle has got the most amazing bridges throughout the city. I loved driving over them and under them and next to them. Further south, in a town called Stratford Upon Haven, you can find the most quaint, English buildings. Its so beautiful.

I have bought so many new clothes lately. Jeans, boots, jumpers, work trousers, blouses. As I have been trying to lose to weight I don't often buy clothes but with all the sales that have been on recently, and with my job involving client meetings, I had no choice but to splurge. This cat jumper is one of my favorites.

This December I decided that I didn't want to do the normal chocolate advent calendar countdown. I had a look at several options including the Benefits advent calendar and Boots No7, however I wasn't prepared to spend so much money on these items. So, after much internet searching, I came across NaptimeDiaries advent calendar. I loved that it was faith focused and that I can use it year after year. It has become a favorite part of my morning routine and I know that I will genuinely miss it come December 26th.

One of my clients invited me down to London to attend an awards evening as one of their guests. I managed to get down a little earlier than required and did a bit of Christmas shopping in London. The lights were lovely and I always find London so magical this time of year. I got to get all dressed up and even had a henna tattoo. The awards evening was an Arabian evening theme and it was a lot of fun with great food.

I have also been doing a lot of prep work. Looking back over the year just gone and looking forward to 2015 and all that I want from it. I still have a bit more work to do on the 2015 planning but I'm definitely on the right path. I am genuinely excited for the new year ahead and will share early next year some of the things that I plan to do and how I hope to get their. The below quote is one that really spoke to me while spent time writing in my journal.

This photo that my mom took isn't the best but that is OK. I don't mind. I love spending time with this woman and am so very proud of her. This year she has worked so hard and managed to lose over 60lbs. I am sure that under those clothes she wears her superwoman costume!

A huge part of my free time these past few weeks have been spent completely de-cluttering, re-organizing and deep cleaning my house. From top to bottom, inside and out. I have been ruthless. If I hadn't used an item in the last twelve months it was out - either sold, donated or thrown. I love that it is now done and how my house looks...more importantly, I love how I now feel about my house and myself. It has definitely been worth all the hard work and long hours. (please ignore the wall paper. I have yet to redecorate the house since moving in).

With only three more days until Christmas morning, I finally put up my Christmas tree. I wanted to get my house completely sorted before putting the tree up and today has been that day.

Thursday I celebrated my thirty third birthday. Normally I take the day off work and treat myself to a full on pamper day starting with a lay-in, moving onto a spot of leisurely shopping, a spa treatment of one sort or another and then an evening with friends or family. But not this year, this year my birthday feels a little different. It feels like just another day which I am fine with...but it wont be becoming the norm.

My thirty-second year of life has been filled with so many blessings and so many memories and while my focus is currently on my ever closing exams, I dont want to miss the opportunity to capture just some of those blessings and memories.

I have made some amaizing friends this year and grown other beautiful friendships. My life is richer for having these people in my world.
I learnt a lot about who I am as an individual - some of it I love, someone of it not so much.
I've opened my heart to dreaming a little more than I used to.
Smidge means the world to me and brings me smiles each and every day.
Health has taken on a different meaning than what it used to for me.

I can't believe that it has been a few months since I last posted on my blog. Life has been challenging the past few months and is probably going to continue to be for the next few. Right now I'm still working through it and waiting to see what the outcome will be but I wanted to take the time out to capture some of the more positive things that have also been going on around here.

The past few weeks I have been taking a much more intentional focus on looking after my skin, in particular my face. So I treated myself to a few new items from the BodyShop and am really loving them - especially the Vitamin E Overnight Serum. I have also been watching more beauty channels on Youtube and have fallen in love with Essiebutton. Head on over to her blog - you wont be disappointed. Watching her vlogs has got me thinking that I would love to have a go at doing some of my own youtube videos....but they will have to wait until the exams are done before I have a go.

Graze boxes have been around for a couple of years at least, but I'm very seldom one of those who jumps on the bandwagon until its still new and shiny. Anyway, they make healthy snacks and then send it to your home and I absolutely love them. I love how you can state what you like and don't like, and that they are nutritious and good for you. Definitely a keeper for me.

Home grown vegetables are the best and boy where these delicious! Its the first time that I have had a yellow courgette and as I am always on the lookout for new fruit and veg to try I will definitely be adding these to my shopping list in the future.

There is nothing nicer than freshly cut hair. It instantly makes you feel gorgeous and beautiful. And I came out with an impromptu fringe - I always forget how much I love a side swept fringe and how much shape it gives my face.

The very cute and mischievous Smidge turned one year old yesterday. He had a lovely day and was thoroughly spoilt - although it must have been just like every other day for him as he is always spoilt!

Yesterday also saw the one year anniversary of me buying my first house. I cant believe that I have been here for so long already - time as flown by. I'm really hoping that at my two year anniversary, Ill be able to share some of the changes that I have made in my home to make it more my own.

Hopefully it wont be as long a wait until my next post, but I'll definitely share all that has been going on once those exams are done with.

My right now story - I love that I can capture it almost like a photo. Building these month on month is producing a cute bundle of snap shots. Do you have a way of documenting snap shots of your day?

When life gets tough, I try to focus on things that make me happy. Here are ten things right now which bring a smile to my face:

Morning cuddles with my Smidge. Each and every single morning. It's the best way to start my day!
Spending time in the pool - relaxing or exercising.
Working on my art journal and One Little Word project.
Reading in bed.
Dancing my heart out in Zumba.
Lunching with the ladies at work.
Seeing my gratitude journal coming together.
Enjoying breakfast in my conservatory.
Visiting with friends and catching up over coffee.
Exploring photos on Instagram.

These are things making me happy right now.

I love handbags but have been really good and haven't purchased any new ones for months now. I have simply been rotating the bags that I have and making the most of them...saving me money and space in the process.

However, i started to notice that my go to daily bag has seen better days and should probably be thrown out. The fabric is coming away from the handles and the lining has many tare in it. So, I decided to take a quick look around the shopping centre near work and happened to come across this beautiful satchel. And best of all it was on sale for only £5.

Isn't it just beautiful. I love the color! One of the hassles with having a love of handbags is the dreaded moving everything that I've collected in them from one handbag to the other. It's sort of the downside to a predominantly positive experience...hehehe.

This is what you would normally find in my bag. My work phone and pass, a plaster for those pesky blisters, some tinted Vaseline, two lipsticks, painkillers, bobby pins, a mirror, a small notepad, hair-ties and hand sanitizer.

One day I was sitting sorting through my handbag when I thought that there has to be an easier way to do this than how I was doing it. There are so many cool inventions out there that someone must have come across this dilemma before and created a solution to it. So I started searching the world wide web. It took me a matter of seconds to come across this handbag organizer on eBay.....and at a cost of £2.99 I couldn't pass it up.

I am so impressed with this thing. It has numerous pockets of differing size, it has zips and rivets and is made of really good quality fabric. It's also a major help when changing handbags as all I need to do is lift this organizer out and transfer it to the new bag.

All in all a great purchase. What do you currently have in your handbag?

I have been loving my apps lately and thought it would be fun to share them. This is what I have been using on my Iphone lately:

Do! - Over the years I have tried many "To-do list" apps and all of them have fallen short for me in some way or the other. But then I came across the app called Do! and it has been perfect for what I need. First off it's free. Second off you can use the color coding flags however you wish. Thirdly its easy to use and lastly it keeps items which have been completed and crossed off the list.

Rhonna Designs - I have followed Rhonna's blog for years now and have always loved her stuff. When her app came out I knew i needed to get it. The thing that I love most about it is the number of options that you have. Different fonts and different colors. Backgrounds or your own photo. The options are endless and allow you to make your image your own.

Happy Scale - Happy Scale I have only been using for about a week but so far I like what I see. Basically it allows you to enter your daily weight into the log and then not only does it predict your time to goal, but it also irons out those irregular highs and lows which we see from day to day. So far its interesting to see the graph...but I guess the true test will be if it lines up with my weekly Slimmingworld weigh ins.

Be Funky - If your looking for a few new filters then Be Funky is a great app to check out.

SuperNote - Now I have heard people using this app for all sorts of things. From leaving themselves important reminders to shopping lists and everything in between. What I use it for is for my tutorials and study for my degree. The great thing with it is that you can start and stop it at will very easily without losing where you are or what was going on. The downside though is that its a little more difficult to go back only a few seconds of the recordings - so if you are looking more for a Dictaphone then perhaps this inst the right app for the job.

Instagram - Instagram. I'm sure that everyone knows this app but I had to share it as it is my all time favorite. Not only can I share images with friends and family across the globe, but i can get inspiration for everything from Slimmingworld recipes to project life layouts. If I was only allowed one app - this would be the one I would choose.

Dropbox - This goes hand in hand with Instagram and basically allows you to very easily upload your photos from your phone to your laptop or computer. You can log into your dropbox account anywhere online which is another good feature of it.

What is your favorite app?

Easter teaches us the meaning of Faith and what it is to feel the Lord's blessings in our lives.

Happy Easter from me to you.

Once again I thought it would be fun to capture and share my "right now" story. If you haven't come across the #Currentlylist then make sure you check out Kristen's blog and Instagram.

If you decide to join in leave me a comment and a link to your post.

Today has been the first real day of sunshine and warmth that we have had this year and it is gorgeous! This morning we decided to make the most of the sunshine and made our way up to Thormby beach, a two and a half hour drive.

Growing up in South Africa, the ocean has been a huge part of my childhood, so the opportunity to spend time there now as a grown up, was far to exciting to pass by. The alarm was set for 6 am and we were out the door by 7:30. A glorious morning drive northwards and by 9:40 our toes were wiggling freely in the sea sand.

One of the things that I love about the beach is that I can walk for miles and miles while the fresh air fills my lungs and blows the cob webs from my mind. I always feel refreshed ( and completely exhausted ) when I get back home.

Today is no exception. I am home now, ready for a shower once my Asda delivery arrives. Such a lovely day today, it was so nice to see you sunshine!

January | My Word for 2013 was Grace. And grace is what I have been blessed with this year. I am so grateful for all that God has blessed me with and all the grace that he has given me.

February | I started taking part in High Five for Friday and loved it. Its such a great way to capture the things that are going on in your life without taking too much time out of your day to day activities.

March | March was a very exciting month for me. The first few months of the year at work were horrendous and in March I managed to snag myself a new job. You can read all about it here.

April | My new job from the month before required me to do a lot more travelling than I used to do in my previous role....meaning that I needed to buy myself a new car. My old one was great, it just had too small an engine for motorway travel.

May | May gave me the opportunity to take part in a monthly challenge and this one was one of my favorite. Day 8 was what piece of advice do you have that you share with others. I try to remember this on a daily basis and it has made a real difference to the way I look at life.

June | June was a really busy month for me but one of my most favorite memories of the month was the day trip that my family and I took to the beach. It was a gorgeous day.

July | July was the month that i spent a week completing my residential project for my psychology course. I was so nervous about this but in the end I achieved a fantastic grade for it.

August | This was one of the most memorable months in my entire life so far. This was the month that I purchased my very first home, on my own, and the month I picked up the keys and moved in. It was one of the best feelings ever and I cant believe how much it feels like home already.

September | September is my birthday month and I love celebrating it in style. One of my favorite events on the day was going to lunch with my friend Julie. I had a wonderful birthday!

October | Two big things took place in October. Firstly, I wrote my second last exam for my psychology degree which I was pretty pleased with. And secondly I had a new addition to my family! Smidge came to live with me and he has become such a part of the family so very quickly! We love him to the moon and back.

November | November is another celebration month for the family as its both my mom and dads birthday this month.

December | There are so many lovely things to share about December. What i have decided on though is my taking part in my first December Daily scrapbooking project. Sadly it has been so long since i have done any sort of scrapbooking, but I know that I loved it and am going to make an effort to do more of it next year.

This is my 2013 in review. This year has been one fantastic year with some of my dreams becoming a reality. Thank you Lord for this amazing year that you have given me.

For now this little guy's name is Squidge. I picked him up from a lovely family this evening and he has been settling down in his new home.

He is so playful and just loves any attention. The moment you touch him he purrs his little heart out and he insists on sleeping under your chin and snuggling your neck. And adventurous! A few moments after exploring the lounge he went straight up the stairs to investigate the bedrooms. I love him already!

I haven't yet decided if I am going to keep his name or give him a new one. He already responds to Squidge but he is young enough to learn a new one. Ill see what he is like over the next few days and then decide.

But for now, he is making himself at home and following me around where ever I go.

Exams completely took over my life and now that it is finally done I wanted to share some of the highlights from these past few months.

I bought myself some beautiful flowers just because I wanted to.

I packed up my entire flat within about two weeks - I kid you not!

I purchased and moved into my very first home - I still have some unpacking to do but I'm officially moved in.

I have completed course number six for my psychology degree with only one more to go. In eighteen months time I should be graduating if all goes to plan!

I turned thirty-two in September. I didn't go as all out this year as I did last year seeing as I had just moved into my new house but I did have a lovely day and was spoilt by friends, family and colleagues.

I have spent a lot of time travelling these past few months and have therefore spent a lot of time in many different hotels. This is a tree creation ( for lack of better words ) at one of the hotels and it made me feel so happy each time I drove by it.

The past few months have been hectic but oh so good!

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