New Year, No Resolutions

2016 marks nearly 4 years of blogging for me. It's so great to look back at what is essentially an online diary for me and see so many memories of events and things I have loved. However, its also a bit sad because when I first started I was at uni, with plenty of time and was truly dedicated to this space. A full time job, a big break up, multiple house moves and a really tough year mentally have made me really neglect this space over the past two years, especially in 2015 so my blog isn't really how or where I want it to be.

Instead of setting myself multiple goals of where I want to be within life, the blog etc, I am making one goal and that is to be happy. How cliché but its true. I always set myself up for a fail with my whole life plan, my fitness, beauty, health, blog goals and the problem is I end up comparing myself to other people instead of focusing on the positive things about what I can do, lose motivation and then am unhappy with where I am again, so its like being stuck in a vicious circle.

So I'm not making any promises about these things to myself or others, but have decided to carry on the positive lessons and mindset I have learnt over the last few months and hopefully that will trickle down to lots of other areas of my life.

I'm truly excited for a fresh start and I hope this year brings lots of happiness, positivity, health and loads of new experiences and memories. 

Happy New Year! xxx

My Beauty Resolutions for 2015

Pinterest

After spending New Year's Day writing about my general wishes for 2015, I thought it would be a good idea to note down some beauty goals for myself as well seeing as this blog is predominately beauty based. There are a few bad habits I need to break as well as some fun goals that I would like to achieve. Hopefully buy putting them out there for you all to read, it will give me some extra motivation to achieve them.

1. Drink more water: Quite a simple goal, but something I am absolutely terrible at! Normally most of my water intake is with meals but in between I am awful at drinking anything. I enjoy herbal teas so will try and drink more of those and am planning to use my water bottles that are gathering dust at the back of a kitchen cupboard.

2. Wash my make up brushes more often: Something I am very lazy with. I do spot clean them regularly but deep cleans take a lot more time and then I hate having to wait for them to dry. Hopefully Sundays will become my new deep cleaning brush days as there is nothing better than clean brushes and I think they apply make up so much better.

3. Invest in products: There are loads of great brands available on the high street, but in 2015 I want to discover some of my holy grail products, particularly in skin care. There are loads of higher end brands which I have lusted after and put off purchasing but I think it is worth investing in one amazing product rather than lots of mediocre ones. Skin care brands that I want to explore more are Rodial, Caudalie and Sarah Chapman and for make up brands I'm thinking of Dior, Laura Mercier and Chanel.

4. Be kind to my hair: I'm normally pretty good at looking after my hair with various products, but again I want to invest in some more natural products rather than those stuffed with silicones and sulfates. I want to use more oils and also try and get more regular trims to keep it in good condition, as normally I leave it months and months to get my colour re-done and even trim my hair!

5. Try some beauty DIYs: There are a whole host of pins on my 'Beauty' Pinterest board that are waiting to be used and following on with my natural theme I think this year would be a good time to give some a go. A few things that I would like to try are a DIY body scrub, hair mask and face masks.

What are your beauty resolutions? xxx

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

Similar to most people this year, I feel like 2014 has flown by. At the start of last year I was still looking for a full time job after graduating from Uni in December, although I wasn't sure exactly what path I wanted to take. I thought it would be good to concentrate more on my blog which I did do very well at the beginning of the year and I started my YouTube channel too. However, fast forward to 4 house moves (the first which was leaving home for good), embarking on my first full time job and having Reuben join our family unit to name just a few land mark points to have happened in 2014, what I thought was going to be achievable was not.

I ended up feeling drained, stressed and really worried about the small details in  life rather than looking at the bigger picture, as well as feeling guilty that because of all this I couldn't dedicate time to the hobbies and people I enjoy. 

A lot can change in a week but it wasn't until I looked back at the year and saw how much I have actually achieved and been through that I realised I was being way too hard on myself about the little things I didn't do. 

One of the best things I have achieved is changing my thought process, although I still  have a long way to go. I feel as though I am stronger at removing negativity from my life and try harder to be more positive and kind at times when I am at my lowest.

After looking back at everything that has happened in 2014, I feel like I'm in a good place to set some realistic and positive goals for the new year. These will be flexible and are small steps to my overall goals because 2014 has taught me that  life gets in the way and you can't always be perfect, no matter how hard you try.

1. Read more: My commute to and from work used to be the perfect time for me to catch up on reading but since I started driving I have found it really hard to find any time at all. Reading is one of my favourite hobbies and now I am starting a new job and will have to commute on the tube I am hoping that I can pick this up again.

2. Stress less: Since moving into our own home I have become really controlling and almost obsessive about everything looking and being perfect, which has in turn extended into other parts of my life. Being away and spending time at both our families homes has really put things into perspective. I want to spend more time on my hobbies, relaxing and making memories than obsessively cleaning and worrying about stupid things.

3. Focus on my health: Quite a broad resolution but I want to continue working on my mental health and positive well being as well as building on our healthy eating and exercise plan. We tend to eat quiet healthily anyway, but we want to invest in a juicer and make a bit more of an effort. Exercise wise I was doing nothing because I couldn't find the time but now I'm going to make time as much as possible, even if its just going for a brisk walk through the fields with Matt.

4. Spend more 'me' time: Like I said before, I seem to spend most of my spare time looking after the house and our little unit and feel guilty when I spend anytime doing something for me. I'm going to put my happiness first and start doing more hobbies. I want to learn to sew properly, do more crafty things in general, blog and youtube more among other things. At the same time I am not going to pressurise myself at consistently posting here as it was making me quite unhappy when I wasn't fulfilling the targets I was setting. This blog was always for fun and I want to keep it that way.

5. Make more effort with family and friends: Spending more time with our families over the festive period has really put things into perspective. Its so easy to get caught up in your own life, especially as time goes so quickly at the moment. I'm going to make more of an effort to text back (I am so awful at this), give loved ones a quick call when I can, and pencil in diary dates to see people.

This has been quite a serious and personal post, but I've always felt like this blog is a bit like a personal diary which I can look back at and see all the wonderful memories I have made and what I have achieved. I am really looking forward what 2015 has to offer including starting a new job later on this month!

Thank you for every view, comment, tweet and like in 2014 - I look forward to interacting with you more over the coming year. Please leave me links to your own youtube channel or blogs so I can take a look!

What are you looking forward to in the near year? xxx

All pictures are from Pinterest