Big move, Big day

Good morning!!

As you may know now, I spent yesterday’s packing and moving house. Im now on my way (with the most unbelievably packed car you’ve ever seen!!) to my new home in Ipswich.

Yesterday was a pretty hectic day which started off with banana blueberry protein yogurt (similar to the one the day before except I had turned off the freezer so the fruit was room temp which I squished and mixed in, saving a repeat of the cold smoothie situation again)

I heading to Uni for my final revision lecture first thing. I think it was supposed to be helpful, but actually made me feel really stressed about how much I don’t know :(. My lecturer also mentioned some tips about our assignment that were due in today so in a mild panic, I headed straight to the library, made some alterations and then handed it in.

I then headed home (where it looked like a bomb had gone off!) to carry on packing, the removals men arrived at 2.30 and I have to say we’re pretty speedy…emptying the whole house in about an hour – I hope my things are ok and safe!! I was then left to clean and pack the remaining things into my car…my packing started off very organised in labelled boxes, but towards the end I was running around with black bags throwing in anything I could see before loading them into my car in a VERY unorganised fashion, I’m not sure how impressed James will be when it all arrives!!! ;)!

Eventually I finished cleaning, locked up, (for the last time) and feeling slightly emotional, headed to the estate agents to hand over the keys.

I then had to pop to work to drop some loaned items off (!) where I decide to grab what may be my new favourite drink; a misto (half filter coffee/half steamed milk) with just half a pump of hazelnut syrup (I love the flavour but not the sweetness hence the half pump!)… It was so so good and much needed by this stage in the day!! My friend also wrote a nice note of my cup 🙂

I’d been so busy I hadn’t really snacked all afternoon… i forgot!! which really shows how far I’ve come in my recovery-a year ago, not only was my mind totally obsessed with food but I had to eat every 2.5hrs otherwise I would get shaky and very anxious 😀 but realised I was seriously so snacked on a pulsin protein bar which I’ve been sent to try (review to come shortly!)

The journey time to Ipswich is about 5hrs and I was pretty tired by this point (about 6pm), not feeling like a drive that long, I called my mum; who lives half way and asked if I could stop and stay with her for the night, naturally she was delighted (my sisters also home so she has all her children together…always makes her happy!).

So I eventually arrived, relaxed in front of the tv for a couple of hours with my family and headed to bed ready for a 5.30am start, so i could arrive in time to collect the keys at 9am!

Very hectic few days but I am excited!!

question: what’s your packing style, are you organised? Do you start organised and end chaotic ? Or are you generally chaotic?!!

L x

End of an Era

Yesterday was my last shift at Starbucks here in Liverpool :(!!

Thankfully I managed to transfer my contract to another store in Ipswich which means I get to stay with the company (I just couldn’t let go of all that free coffee!!) and managed to negotiate a 4 hour contract to start with.

I’ve mentioned a few times the amount of Uni work I’ve got going on at the moment and over the next 6 weeks.  Well after that it doesn’t let up for a little longer; I have exams over April and May which will mean 2 things…1. I need LOTS of time to study for them (there is some serious biochemistry involved!) and 2. I will have to make the 9hr round trip in my car 3 times over those 2 months! So as I’m not going to have much free time, not being committed to lots of hours suits me perfectly.  After my exams, hopefully I’ll be able to get lots more hours and start earning some more money!!

We made the decision to move to Ipswich so that James could join his 2 brother’s in a business they started a couple of years ago.  It’s an IT/techie business (I don’t really understand!!!) but they were starting to run short on man power and needed someone to join them, to develop the business and grow it to the ‘next level’.. James is really great at building relationships with people and so is perfect for the job!! What this means though, is that with him on a new business venture and me about to start my final year of study, money is very tight 😦 so I’ll need as many hours as I can possibly get from June onwards!!

I have to say I felt slightly emotional when I left work yesterday, I think mainly because it’s been such an important part of my recovery and the girls I’ve worked with have been so supportive, so it really did feel like the end of an era!!

I’m moving on though to the next stage in my life which I’m ready for :).

Breakfast today (whilst looking out the window at the SNOW – in March…really!!) included avocado that I managed to grab in the reduced section yesterday and toast…

and lots of coffee of course!

Now I’m off to do some more packing!

Questions; have you got any nice plans for the weekend? How do you multitask when you have lots of different things going on in your life at the same time?

Happy Friday!

 

L x

Boxing for fun!!

Good morning!

Hope your week has got off to a good start??

On Saturday I went to a boxercise class at my gym….boy was it a good workout!! It’s now Tuesday morning and my shoulders are STILL sore!!!

Half of the class was a mixture of circuit type training using kettlebells, jump ropes, mountain climbers and the dreaded burpees and the other half was with a partner using gloves and pads.  I was unfortunate in my choice of partner…he was a nice guy, but at least 30% bigger than me in both size and strength, which meant that by the end of the class my whole body was shaking from holding the pads for him!! I really enjoyed it though, it was invigorating and it felt great to do something a little different for a change!

Usually, I go to bodycombat on  Monday evenings but I decided (in the name of listening to my body!!) to give last night a miss last night and let my body rest and recover properly 🙂

Breakfast this morning was delicious but at the same time an epic fail!!…I HAD to take a picture for you guys!

I woke up wanting porridge…I’m slowly working my way through my gigantic selection from Dorset cereals (stay tuned for a review later this week!!) it’s safe to say I think they are absolutely delicious, but with balance in mind I decided to make some banana, blueberry almond pancakes….sounds delicious right?? They were, the problem was they didn’t look so great….

They look awful don’t they!! I think I had the heat on too high, making them burn on the outside but not cooked in the middle so when I tried to flip them they all broke apart 😦 they did taste really good though…honestly ;)!!

I had a little but of mixture left over so I decided to try again, this time cooking them at a lower heat for longer and they turned out much better, still not perfect but better :D…I think I’ll have to work on them!!

 

In the past I have been known to loose my temper and throw away anything I made that didn’t turn out as expected (as my loved one would tell you)!!…I’m much better these days though at accepting the fact that not everything I make will turn out ‘perfect’ and know that I can always try again another time (unless it is totally inedible of course)!

This morning did however grace me with lovely coffee, made in my moka pot, it was smooth with a deep and nutty flavour, everything I want my coffee to be….delicious.

I’m planning to go to ‘legs bums and tums’ at lunchtime and then am working at Starbucks this afternoon until 8pm…in the meantime I have lots of uni work that I need to make a start on; I sense some stressful times ahead!!

I hope you have a productive Tuesday!!

Question; if your cooking goes wrong do you eat it anyway or throw it away and start again? 

L x

Back to blogging…getting the balance right!

Hi!!

I have been a terrible beginner blogger!!

I had the week off from uni last week and spent it travelling around seeing family and staying with my boyfriend who currently lives a 5hr drive away :(!

It was however, a productive week…I visited the University where I will finish my final year of Nutrition, found a house for us to rent and found a gym I will join when I move next month!….result!

I did all of this though at the expense of my blog….I’m sorry!!!

I have always been a very ‘all or nothing’ type of person; sometimes I’ve found this to be a good thing, usually in the short-term.  I’ve also actually found it more destructive (mostly to myself and my self esteem) in the long run so…I’m currently working towards ‘balance’ in as many areas of my life as possible inc. food, exercise, work, uni, friendships, relationships…and blogging!!

Why am I writing about this?? I feel it only fair to talk about my intentions for this blog so my readers (if there’s anyone out there!) know what to expect and won’t ever feel let down. With ‘balance’ in mind, I don’t intend to take pictures of everything I do/eat/see, or document daily food/exercise logs, nor do I intend to blog more than once a day….I do however, intend to post 3-4 times per week with thoughts, facts, pictures, workouts, musings about my boring/exciting life (however you wish to interpret it!!) I  also am hoping to include some product reviews (exciting!!) :D.

SO…I apologise for my inconsistency and lack of posting this last week, and I intend to become much more reliable and balanced!!!

Moving on!!!

I will leave you with a few pics I did manage to snap over the week….

A nice dinner of tomato and basil chicken with roasted vegetables

some dog walking…on a very cold, English winter morning (how cute is he!!!)

practising my valentines ‘latte art’!!

discovering a local vintage fair this weekend…

todays lunch…half a ‘pizza express pollo pesto’ pizza with spinach and homemade coleslaw…

….followed by a mug of coffee and half a square of lindt 85% dark chocolate…tasty!

 

I hope you’re having a good Monday!!

See you soon!!

 

Lx