Let's get rolling

I picked up a load of sturdy cardboard boxes, bubble wrap and packing tape on Friday, and yesterday I started packing all of our worldly goods ready for our move!

This in itself has revealed more reasons to validate our moving out. I've started by packing away all of my pictures and ornaments and decorative nick nacks that serve no purpose other than to brighten up our day. I started by taking down a pair of oil paintings that were painted and gifted to Ben and I by Becky and discovered that the wall behind them was litterally dripping wet...thankfully, the paintings themselves seem to have survived without any damage that I can see...but "ewww" is the only way I can describe it!

And then there was the box. This was one of the plastic boxes we had in our bedroom, you know, the tiny wee bedroom that I've said is only big enough for a double bed and some stacked storage boxes? Well in this box we were storing the cardboard boxes for the Wii, Xbox etc...figuring it'd be a good idea to keep said boxes to provide protection for our consoles when we moved. Well out we dragged them, and found that the undersides were black with mould and the plastic box in which they had been kept contained an inch of water in the bottom.

I mean, seriously, how damp can a place be to get to the point where walls are slimy and boxes fill up with water?

On a note, we aren't completely naive, we knew they place was suffering with damp, but it's only the external walls, walls that we generally don't touch or go near anyhow.

But yes. That was quite a revelation, and only makes us feel even better about the fact that we have less than a month now until we move!

In other news, it has to be said, my weight loss efforts seem to have gone flying out of the window. I think the stress of sorting this move out and trying to juggle our new financial situation hasn't helped, but I need to stop making excuses again and get back on track. I've been trying the Slimming World way, however I find it difficult to stick to this. I'm pondering paying for Weight Watchers again, as that really seemed to help me keep focussed and whilst I wasn't necessarily loosing at a rate of knots, I was loosing. The way the new system works, not having to count fresh fruit or veg, and a more flexible approach than MFP's brand of calorie counting, was the best combination of healthy eating and calorie counting to work for me.

Well anyway, we shall see what we shall see. For now I have to get back to life and to packing!

Happy Blogoversary to me!

It was my "blogoversary" yesterday and I totally forgot because right now, as you may or may not have guessed, I have a lot of things to juggle, organise, sort out etc...

More so than I did at new years I'm thinking back at the year that has been, possibly because I started this blog for a very specific reason, but that reason is now completely irrelevant and I find myself in a position I could never have guessed at this time last year.

Instead of being ensconced in the North East as we had planned, we're still in Liverpool but finally in the process of upgrading our castle to a larger model. Ben was (thank God) not made redundant after all and is still in his same job, whilst I find myself employed in an area I never imagined I'd ever be employed in (it's not that exciting...just not what you would think of immediately for me!) and, surprisingly, enjoying it. I've made new friends and reconnected (however loosely) with old ones. I'm the lightest weight I've been in years, although the going is a constant struggle and very slow. I now eat mostly fresh home cooked meals from scratch (ok, minus the odd packet of ready chopped onion because I'm lazy) as opposed to the pie and chips of this time last year (which I justified with "it's still under my calories!"). I exercise. I have a freaking gym membership! I volunteer my time freely to a cause I believe in passionately in an area I'd love to eventually build my career in. I'm in the process of getting back to college to get the qualifications to forge that career and have been invited to a skills assesment (though I'm having to wait for a new date...that whole being employed thing can get in the way!). I'm more confident, more self assured, more me living a life that whilst is not perfect is not out of control. I no longer merely exist, but I have take control and am steering things in the right direction and I'm doing it my way. Not my mothers or my friends or anyone else I've tried to pander to in the past. This is all Bex, baby.

Oh, and Ben, but he said I can decorate the house however I like so I guess that makes up for any influences he may have over my life in general!

I hate to be gushy and cheesy...nah, I don't, I love being gushy and cheesy! I'm not the biggest interactor in the blogosphere, I'm actually a quiet and shy person and I don't comment very much...I struggle to come up with replies, but I try to spread out and offer comments when I can think of them! But anyway...you can think this absoloute BS if you like or you may think it's over sentimental or just a load of old tripe, but I want you all to know that either through your comments or through your blogs which I have been following (and lurking upon, even if not commenting) and through having this blog in general to put things down in writing, have that space to think and read it all back, having challenges to do with like minded people who offer support...through all of this, it played a very big role in shaping me over the past year, in spurring me on to take control and make my life what it is today.

Like I said...you can believe me or not, or you can say I'm full of nonsense, why did I need a blog to do it, the blog did nothing, the blog was just here. But it's true :)

Basically what I'd like to say is...

Thanks, guys :)

Six word Saturday: Time to move on

We're moving to an actual house!

I've lamented to you all before about the serious lack of space in our flat. It is a one bedroomed thing, it's at the top of two steep flights of stairs (Which, despite what one would think, has done nothing for our health!) with a kitchen in the lounge and a bedroom big enough to fit the mattress into it (and some boxes stacked in a free corner!). I've moaned about the trouble of house hunting and the pitfalls that await you and I've recently had a major security issue that has been the straw that broke the camels back so far as tolerating the place as somewhere livable is concerned.

Well, our landlord took us around a small two bedroomed house in the area yesterday, and whilst it is neither huge nor elaborate nor sparkly fantastic, it is a major improvement on what we're coping with now. Being that we're staying with him we've no deposit to pay, we just start paying the higher rent next month and move on in.

Aside from my womanly glee and day dreaming about the wonderful things I plan on buying for my new home, I'm excited about this for a number of reasons;

• The downstairs is laminate flooring throughout, a blessing for my asthma!
• Two bedrooms means space for eventual babies, but more immediately, space for guests!
• Mould is not creeping in, a bonus for our health in every way imaginable (especially as our current bedroom is on the edge of being over run by the damn stuff)
• We have drawers as well as many cupboards in the kitchen!
• There is space for a tumble dryer...no more mount washmore because we ran out of space to dry laundry!
• It is around the corner from one of the biggest parks in Liverpool, great for perhaps starting going for some jogging?
• It is a self contained house, not a flat/appartment in a shared block, meaning no more drug addled neighbours stealing/opening my post before I get to it!
• The bathroom is downstairs, so my Granny can come and visit!
• It has a fitted wardrobe with mirrored doors so we won't need to fork out for a new one, and I'll finally have a full length mirror!
• It has a proper sized oven! BAKING SHALL HAPPEN!
• There is space enough for a dining room table, we can host parties and people will have chairs to sit on!
• Both the gas and electric meters are "normal" - no running out of gas and having to run to the shop to top it up in order to keep the heating on!

All in all, many many many reasons to be feeling excited about the move. We have a month to prepare, and I am starting today by doing a mega junk toss. Next weekend (ie pay day!) I shall be fetching some sturdy cardboard boxes and beginning to pack all the nick nacks that we don't use day to day. The place will be bland and undecorated, however I can live with that for a month given what will be waiting for us at the end of the road!

So yes, todays six word Saturday is a very happy one, and I can't wait to show you around my new house ^_^

What do you hate the most?

We're always told to love our bodies, that we should not hate what we have. People have been parading that picture on facebook and pinterest lately, that when did stick thin become sexier than "old hollywood" glamour picture. Other, similar pictures show stretch marks and tell us to embrace them, we're tigers who earned our stripes. The message is that we, as women, are all beautiful and all sexy in our own way. All our imperfections are beautiful in their own way. We should not hate our bodies, we should not even hate a part of our bodies. For the most part I would agree with this.

However, I want to talk very candidly about one particular aspect of my body that I hate with every fiber of my being..

It's not my belly.

It's not my bingo wings.

It's not my bum.

It's not my boobs.

It's my beard.

It's getting out of control and it's downright depressing. It's dark and coarse and long. Well actually, I don't know how long it is exactly because in general I shave every other day to keep it under control.

I've been trying to keep off the shaving just to see how bad it gets. This week I've had a holiday from work, so it was the perfect opportunity to let it go wild. I put down the razor a week ago today and let nature take its course.

By Monday it was bad enough to move me to tears in my GP's office, but I'd seen it that bad before. I've let it grow on further and I physically cannot allow it to get worse. It is dark, and it is long. It looks like Ben with maybe two days post shave stubble, and he has a very thick, luxuriant, and quick growing beard.

In the summer when I started really knuckling down to loose the weight, I honestly thought certain aspects of my PCOS symptoms were getting better. I didn't seem to have to shave so often, and I even had (albeit only very tiny) a period. Alas, things aren't going so well now. I've lost all but two or three pounds of my Christmas gain, so really I'm around the lightest I've been for a few years, and yet the PCOS symptoms aren't showing any signs of loosening up.

Aside from more weight loss there's nothing the doctor can do, and she's giving me support in this. She was yet again a new doctor (le sigh) but at least for now she's listened to me and my concerns and we've come up with what I think will eventually be a successful course of treatment for me. It's going to take time and I'll probably shed a few more tears before the end, but it's the most hopeful I've felt about it for a long time.

For now I've got to go back to shaving. I used to believe that by shaving I was making it worse...you create a standard you want every day, and of course there's the old "it looks coarser" thing...but actually having let it "grow out" a bit I can see that this is really not the case. There are areas of my face that I shave that have very, very little hair growth (barely any noticeable at all) and then there is the fact that underneath my chin is way way worse than my upper lip and sideburns, but extends up to either side of the point of my chin.

Euch, it's gross and unnerving to describe it in such a way, but it is what it is.

And facing up to it is maybe what is going to make me stick to this treatment. Infertility sucks, but my mum told me when I got married that unless you are ridiculously rich you will spend a lifetime waiting for "the right time" to have a baby, financially at least. So whatever and whenever something like that happens is still almost an ethereal concept to us. Being fat is unhealthy and it sucks, but I've been fat all my life and I'm pretty comfortable looks wise in that sense. But the body and facial hair? It's just too much. I don't want to shave forever, I don't want a hairy chest and an ape like back (yes the start is there), and I don't want to be a bearded lady. I just want it to go away :(

Something positive

Something really scary happened to me yesterday. I mean, really freaking scary, and not in a "Bex is being a sarcastic bee-hotch again."

As I've moaned about before, we live in a tiny wee flat. It's not in a big block of flats, it's one of three in the building. I think the row of buildings used to be a row of shops before our landlords company bought most of them and converted them. He's been doing a pretty good job and over the years the place has gone from a run down looking thing into something that looks like, eventually, it could be quite nice and presentable. The building has a heavy, reinforced front door, and each flat has its own key and an intercom system. Given the area we live in (one of the main roads leading down to Liverpool Football Club's stadium) it can get noisy and a little busy outside. There's been a few occasions where we've locked our door and drawn the blinds as it were (well no, that's not true, Ben ALWAYS pokes his head out of the window to see what's going on!) but we're pretty damn secure in here. It'd take a lot for someone not only to break into the building but then to get into our individual flat.

So yesterday, with my door locked, I'm pottering around. Well, to be precise, I'd decided to have a shower. Yes it was just before 4 in the afternoon, but I just really really felt the need to freshen up (have been feeling a bit run down lately). I potter on into the living room where my clothes are all neatly lined up for me. Oh yeah, my flat is so small that my bedroom is litterally big enough for our double bed and some boxes of detritus we've no where else to put, so my wardrobe and ottoman are in the front room and we get dressed in there. It's ok, because we're on the second floor. Who is going to see us prancing around naked humming the Skyrim theme to ourselves up there?

Who indeed.

So humming the Skyrim theme (I was about to play it, you understand) on went my lovely undies (and thank God they were clean and generous in their coverage of my ample body) and I slipped on my white blouse and began buttoning it down when I hear a key in the front door of my flat. Not the building...my own, individual, sacred and secure little flat

Now my mind instantly leapt to one thing...Ben is home early. It was four in the afternoon, and he doesn't leave work till six. However, he was meant to be going to the gym after work. And he would have told me he was coming home early. He has played a little trick on me before where he didn't tell me he was coming home....however he always called out through the door...and all I could hear were strange voices outside.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" shout I, going to see who is waltzing through my front door. He hadn't opened it fully, I couldn't see who it was. One of those adrenaline pumping, everything slows down moments I think, because I was pooping myself. It definitely wasn't Ben, because he would have called through by that point.

Keep in mind right now that the hallway goes from my front door straight into my living room so I'm stood there in full view not knowing whether to protect my dignity or protect myself or protect my property because I haven't a clue who is opening that door.

Despite me shouting out, the guy on the other side opens up and steps inside...the door is pretty much fully open and he is a step inside my flat, but face to face with me in naught but my lovely undies and my half buttoned up blouse. I'd never seen him in my life. Given he was dressed in a white hoody I thought at first he was one of my landlords workmen, but they've always knocked before now, and the landlord has always let us know that he is having work done in a letter which he personally delivers.

I waved my hand at him in a "get out!" kind of motion because I was absoloutely gobsmacked. It then really hit me that my lower half was naked so I kind of tried to hide behind the door frame, still waving frantically at him to go. He made a strange, strangled noise. He could have been anyone, but he was clearly as shocked as I was, in a way. Eventually I found my voice, and in a clear, assertive tone (which surprised me when I was looking back on it later...adrenaline survival instincts I guess) I just said "Could you please get out?"

No swearing or hollering, rather polite in fact.

He legged it.

I heard him say something to whoever it was he was with, and I ran and locked the door, for all the good it would have done since he clearly had a working key to my flat.

I called Ben first because it was my first reaction, and then I called the landlord. He was fuming, and told me he was looking into it. Ten or fifteen minutes later he called back and said he'd found out the intruder was an employee of a lettings management company he uses to find and vet tenants. The other person I heard him speaking to was the person he was showing around. He was supposed to be showing him around flat two downstairs (the one with the big brass numeral two on the door...perhaps sir requires some basic maths lessons?). Landlord had given them a master key and evidently mister stupid had never been to the building before. Complete, utter stranger.

There was nothing much that could be done. The young man in question never came back. I heard him in the flat downstairs and then they left. Not even so much as a knock on the door to appologise and explain who he was and why he was there. My landlord has had very stern words with the company in question...I don't know whether he is taking it further.

But something positive may well come from this.

My landlord has always done good by us and has been understanding and patient at times when we've struggled. So I said to him, after everything is said and done I don't feel so secure in here. Other peoples guests feel free to roam the stairs and knock on the door, and that wasn't a problem before because frankly I just ignored them, but having someone just unlock the door and walk straight on in is a bit of an "enough is enough" moment. I explained we were looking for a two bedroomed house and wondered if he had any.

As it happens, he has an empty one that he is managing on behalf of another lady a few streets away from us. We know the area and the transport links. It's within walking distance of the gym. Our parents won't have to struggle to learn a new area of the city. I won't struggle to get to work, and we're still only a bus ride away from our local ASDA. The street backs on to a huge park. Yes we're still just down the way from the stadium but it's off the main road. It was slightly over our budget, but he says it's been empty for a while and so he can probably get it for a better price. All things going well we'll be looking around it a week today, and because he knows us and we're sticking with him he doesn't require a deposit.

I'm not putting all my eggs in this basket but it could be just the kind of place we're looking for, and if we get things our way we could be moving out at the end of February. I'm really excited at the prospect, and can't wait to see what the place is like next week!

I believe everything happens for a reason, so whilst I'm rather shaken and completely enraged by that idiot of a lettings agent, whoever he was, and embarrassed and humiliated that he saw me in my most vulnerable state (at home half naked) which is a state which only my husband is allowed to see me, I'm rather pleased that we have the prospect of something rather positive coming out of it all :)

Win a Kenwood Smoothie Maker to Go

I'm coming up to my first blogoversary. Indeed, I do believe it is the 24th January.

Before I started my epic blogging adventure, I never really read blogs, and as well you know I started this one as a bit of a me and mine only. Alas, the world of blogging is a vast and many splendid thing, and in this seemingly ridiculously short year I've been dragged into many a challenge, community, whatever. Some I've passed with flying colours, and some I've failed miserably. Remember that photo challenge I signed up for at the beginning of the month? Hardy har!

But right up until now I've never signed up to a giveaway. It's one of my 101 in 1001 blogging goals to host one, so I thought I'd better see how it is to be on the other end first ;) But I'm not one for entering any old carp (glub glub). This is no flimsy little gift from a blog who wishes only for self promotion. Nay lads and lassies. This is a smoothie maker.

A smoothie maker to go.

Indeed, it is a kenwood smoothie maker to go.

Why am I so thrilled about this? You've all seen the piccies from my kitchen in the summer when I did my big clean out. It is tiny. It occupies the slightest little corner of my living room. If you have not seen them, then here is one;

You see that thing that looks like a microwave with hobs and knobs in the background? That's my oven. It's a brilliant little thing, don't get me wrong, we made Christmas dinner in it and it was a damn fine Christmas dinner at that! But my point is...I have no room for real, full sized kitchen utensils. My space is limited, and it's frustrating because I can only achieve so much with what I've got to hand.

This may well be just me, but if I had my hands on one of those there smoothie makers, it would become like many things in this here little flat of mine; multi functional. Smoothies, yes, delicious as they are, would grace my smoothie maker, sweetned with honey and thickened with the most delectable of 0% fat greek yoghurts. I'm drooling already. But also soups, purees and juices, all would I spin out of this pint sized wonder. What is a happy little gym gadget for some would mean a whole new lease of life in the kitchen to me.

So here's the deal. Check out Rebecca at Weight Wars and see what you think. And enter your little self on in there. Men and women of tiny little kitchens, take heed, and dream yourself up the wonders you could create with such an awesome little gadget.

And Rebecca, I know it's all randomised and everything....but please please please please please pick me!

Resipe: Chorizo and Chickpea Tagine

We had this last night, and can I just say...both me and Ben absolutely wolfed it down! The chorizo means it's not exactly amazingly healthy, but you could substitute it for paprika marinated chicken for something healthier. Also, we served it with couscous again (The third time this week I've eaten couscous...I've not eaten it since the first time I tried it when I was 13 and decided I didn't like it!) but it would go amazingly in a pitta bread. I'm considering making it one night and saving it for work the next day, but I don't think it'd last long enough! Oh, and I think I've figured the secret of using the tagine...cook my chickpeas first, and it survives wonderfully under a higher heat than I used the first time!

Chorizo and Chickpea Tagine

Serves 2

200g tinned Chickpeas
1 desert spoon of olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pepper, finely chopped
1 Chorizo sausage, cut into rounds
1 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp dried sage
2 tsp dried thyme

1. Cook your chickpeas however it is you like to cook them (saucepan, microwave, however it is you like to do it)
2. Heat the oil in your tagine or heavy bottomed caserole dish 
3. Saute the onion, garlic and peppers till soft 
4. Add the chorizo and cook until it begins to brown
5. Add your chickpeas, chili powder, sage and thyme, stir in well, and cover and cook for about 15 minutes 
6. Enjoy the delicious yummyness!

Recipe: Carrot and Chickpea Tagine

My mum got me a Tagine cooking pot for Christmas, and I thought that it might be a great idea to make use of the recipe book that she got me to go with it and put the pot to its intended purpose (as opposed to using it as a pretty Moroccan style piece of decor.)

Being that we're trying to get back on track with the healthy eating (though, to be honest, not necessarily succeeding so far!) I took the chance to make a mini resolution of trying to have at least one vegetarian day a week, as there are some lovely sounding vegetarian recipes. I cooked this last night, changing the original recipe here and there to make it more healthy. I've still got to get used to cooking with the Tagine pot - it's meant to be used to cook tagine stews slowly on a low heat, and will apparently sustain damage if used on a direct, high heat...as such the carrots were a bit tough and the chickpeas a little undercooked...but the flavour was good, very earthy and wholesome. I served it with couscous and a salad of finely chopped onion, pepper, chili, cucumber, garlic mint and parsley, and dressed in freshly squeezed lemon juice.

If you don't have a Tagine cooking pot you can use a heavy bottomed, lidded caserole pot, or other pan you would use for making stews on a hob. I used a low heat throughout but I probably should have gone up to medium or increased cooking time.

Serves 2:

1 Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large carrots, cut into rounds
1 tin (410g) chickpeas, drained
1 desert spoon of olive oil
1 desert spoon of clear honey
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp hot chili powder
Fresh coriander, roughly chopped/torn

1. Heat oil in the pot, and sautee the finely chopped onions and garlic till soft
2. Add the carrots, honey and spices (except the fresh coriander) and mix in well
3. Add enough water just to cover the bottom of the pot, cover and leave to cook for 15 minutes (I actually left mine on for about 30 mins on a low heat, so stick a knife in there and test your carrots to see if they are cooked to your standards!)
4. Add the chickpeas, top up water if neccesary, and cover and cook for another 15 minutes (I did leave it for that long, and as said, my chickpeas were cooked but not particularly soft)
5. When it's cooked, stir in the fresh coriander, and serve

Later this week I'm doing another one, but made with Chorizo and chickpeas. I'm really looking forward to it as I love chorizo, but am not a huge fan of pulses (hence why I'm trying to make these chickpea tagines, to  introduce them more to my palate and get myself used to them...same with the couscous...I did it with pasta so I can do it with these!) so I hope the one will cancel out the eww factor from the other! I will let you know how it goes!

Something you adore

I had to plan ahead, in a way, with this photo. It would have been so easy to give you another picture of mister Ben! But if I did that, he'd probably be popping up every other day of this here photo challenge, so instead I give you...

A clock!

Please excuse the dust!

Of course this is a very lovely clock, and was a gift for our engagement from Ben's aunt (she seems to have my personality and likes down to a fine art!) which gives it a lot of sentimental value anyhow, but it's the birdy on top that is what I adore.

I love birds, and when I finally get into a place where I have a bit more free reign over the design the place will be practically an aviary.

Birds can be graceful, stupid, clever, ugly, magnificently beautiful, clumsy, clutzy, bright, dull...but always, always quirky, and they can all reduce you to feeling like a dumbass when they turn their heads in that way that they do and fix their beady little eyes on you.

They're like fish, but there's something a bit more sentient about them. I think it's because they have a little bit more movement in their faces than fish. You can also have a cuddle with a bird. You can't with a fish.

Breakfast

Photo number two...breakfast!

Mmm...appetising...can you guess what it is?

Happiness in 2012

Well they say to start the year as you mean to go on...so in this case, productively!

I've signed myself up for two challenges this month. Well, one is for this month and the other is for the entire year. A year seems a long time to think about but when I think that this year I'll be celebrating my third (yes, THIRD!!!) wedding anniversary (holy cow, where did the time fly to?) a year really isn't that much.

The first challenge is from the wonderful Rebecca over at Weight Wars, who never fails to come up with wonderful ways of keeping us challenged and motivated! This year she's going back to basics and offering up a little pearl of wisdom of what really helped her to get into the right place to start losing weight the right way. I'm not going to go into too much detail about what it entails and why here because you can find out all about the Happiness Project over at her blog, so if the following lists confuse you and you really need to know, go check it out!

Happiness Project 2012: My own personal guiding principles in life

1. Remember that small victories add up into big victories
2. Eat well 
3. Make time for friends
4. Enjoy what you do
5. Just because someone else thinks it's a drag doesn't mean you have to!
6. Go forth and be creative
7. Always have some kind of goal to work towards; if the big one seems unachievable, make a smaller one to get you on the way
8. Actions make things happen, so just go and do it!
9. Don't change your priorities just because someone else thinks you have them all wrong

The rules of adulthood

1. The best way of building trust and reaping the rewards is to fulfill your responsibilities, whether those be to your boss or to your friends
2. Friends can be just as important as family
3. Sleep is a precious commodity
4. You have to give to others before they will give to you
5. Some people are poisonous to you and need to be cut from your life for your own benefit; but remember that to someone else they are more precious than diamonds
6. Treat everyone as an individual who is the result of their own, unique experiences; their outlooks, relationships and priorities are not the same as yours, but their feelings and needs are no less valid
7. You must respect yourself if you expect anyone else to
8. A year can make a world of difference

January Resolutions - Vitality

1. Get to bed no later than eleven
2. Eat your meals regularly
3. Get to the gym twice a week
4. Make a to do list each day and stick to it
5. Get back into the chores routine

Challenge number two is a little less introspective than this...a playful, light hearted challenge in which you take a photo a day. Sadly for you guys, the first photo is a photo of me, and today I have bummed around doing nothing in particular and generally feeling delicate and sorry for myself after last nights frivolities. For this reason, I've kept it till last. Happy new year!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 everybody!

I didn't blog at all through the last couple of weeks of 2011, because I was having way too much fun! But it wouldn't feel right to not check in today!

This year I have a lot of things I want to do, many goals, wishes and resolutions. For many of these things I already set the ball rolling in 2011 so I'm looking forward to seeing them to completion or to get well on my way. These deserve a post in and of themselves though, so I shall be writing more about them later.

I'm hoping to give my blog a little bit of a makeover so I hope you can bear with me whilst things get changed around!

The big question of course is that of weight. Ive no stats really to post this month as I didn't really do much in the way of working out anyhow. I put on ten pounds in total over the Christmas week and a bit, although I've already lost three of those by Friday. I'm not at all phased about the prospect of loosing it again.

All in all I'm feeling so optimistic about this year, there are so many things to do and complete and start. 2011 was a great year and I started 2012 in such a great place in my life by comparison to last year, I can only anticipate all our hard work and efforts will pay off in an even better year this time round.

Wishing you all the best and can't wait to share the year through all of your blogs!