[ A lovely little gift for me ]

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.—Eleanor Roosevelt

These past few months i have come to realise that perhaps i have been keeping myself so busy so that i wont have to face, or have the time to face and think, about all the changes that have taken place over the past year in my life.

Now i think that part of the reason that i have let this go on is because i do like to be busy, i like having lots going on in my life and i feel as though i spent so many years with my ex just watching my life go that now that i was "free" i had to make up for lost time.

Now all of this is good and the things that i have been doing have been to better myself. I have really challenged myself this year and i have done so much growing, so much uncovering of who i am but at the same time i have been afraid too.

I guess that change is scary and when you come face to face with such a big change in your life you do go through patches of emotional ups and downs. Too be fair i have been more up than down but i have also noticed that i find myself battling to make decisions. I used to a good decision maker, i used to decide and stick with it until the end. Now i find that it takes me ages to decided and then when i have chosen i spend so much time doubting my decision that i end up giving up and not seeing my decision through simply because i am afraid that the decision that i have made is the wrong one and i will come out at the end of it having failed at yet another thing.

This is not a good place to be, not for me and not for my dreams. So i have decided that i am going to try to learn to trust myself a little more. To go with my gut feeling and to take a chance. I have a good head on me and my heart is in the right place so i just have to trust that God will work everything out for the best no matter what i decide or how it turns out.

Small steps - that's what they say right. So i have been thinking about what my dreams are for myself and for my future. Eleven months ago all of my dreams seemed to shatter and since then i haven't done much about picking them up. But not any more. I am finding my dreams again, i am taking more chances with my life and with my heart.

So the quote above is just something to remind myself to dream again, to take those chances that i seem to so desperately want to side step.

On a different note look what came through my postbox on Tuesday. I haven't had a parcel in months and months and i was so excited.

Thank you Kelli Perkins for this lovely gift. I have some time set aside this weekend to have a play!

Chattsworth House - Dad's Birthday

As promised here are a few of the lovely photos from Dad's Birthday. We spent the day at Chattsworth Castle and then went home to have a lovely special dinner!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Some lovely clothing from the film Pride and Prejudice

A little something you don't normally find

The birthday boy and Paul

How cool is this sculpture out in the gardens?

The ceilings and walls were absolutely gorgeous throughout

[ So whats going on? ]

Life is finally getting back to normal for me. It has taken a few weeks but life is returning to normality, my routines are starting to settle down again and I am beginning to feel more settled….Life is good again!

My heating and hot water is back up and running as of Monday evening. I can confirm that the heating is ace and the water seems to be alright. Now I say seems because I have not yet had a chance to have a hot bubble bath to test it out ( In case it sounds like I haven’t bathed in weeks I do have an electric shower…..hehe)

I have been at my new temping job for a week and a half now and I am enjoying it. I am starting to feel at ease with the systems and the responsibilities and most of all I love that it is so close to home. 3 miles to be exact. Most of my life now seems to be within 5 miles of home. Work, the gym, my parents, my best friend and my grocery shop. Absolutely fantab-la-roo!

Last night I went to the gym after not going for about two weeks. I had a great class but could definitely tell that I had not been in a while. My legs ache today but I am being a real trooper and have booked myself in for tonight’s Combatt class anyway!

It was my Dad’s birthday on Saturday so we spent a lovely family day at Chatsworth castle. This photo was taken there with my brother and I think it is a really nice photo. Its not often that you take photos of yourself that you just love! I have so many nice photos from Saturday that I think I am going to have to do a separate post for that.

Creating wise I am currently working on one canvas so nothing much there to show you guys but I did find the time to make myself a new jewellery holder for my room. For the past two months my jewellery has been sitting in a bowl in my underwear draw and I thought it was time that I put them out there for all to see. My jewellery that is and not my underwear…hehe.I also had my first date on Sunday. Movies and dinner with a very nice guy. Not sure how things will progress but I know that he is very keen and has already called and asked me out again....

[ Christmas Challenge WI Results Week 4 ]

Week 4 has been a really tough week for me. To be honest, with everything that has been going on, i have not paid much attention to my exercise or my eating.

So lets see what has been going on this week and end of last.....

* I have had no heating

* I have had no hot water

* I had a gas leak Saturday morning, had to call the emergency national grid out who then proceeded to totally disconnect my gas supply to my flat which meant no cooker either

* We have had the first snow fall for the year

* I have been trying to get my refund paid by the local council for an overpayment that i made a few months back - like trying to get water out of a rock

* And to top it all off on Tuesday morning i was made redundant with effect immediately!

I have spent the past two days mopping around at home, feeling sorry for myself and eating myself out of house and home. Not such a good idea but at the moment i am picking my battles and food is just not one of them.

On a positive note though i do have an interview this morning for a temp to perm position which will start in one weeks time. That does mean a week with no money and then a week in hand but i will have to make a plan. If i do get this job then i will try to find a weeks work with Office Angels or something like that. Reception work, tea making, filling - i don't care....just something that will bring some money in.

I have also managed to do some painting these past few days. I am currently working on two canvass's and have almost finished my jewellery holder so I have some exciting photos to share soon.

Bearing all the above in mind, my Christmas Challenge WI Result for week 4 was a gain of 0.6lbs. Not bad at all considering how much i have eaten and the fact that i have not made it to the gym once this week or even last weekend.

Seeing as i feel i need to have some sort of pic to brighten things up, how about my little mushroom.

Ok, so its dead now but hey, that is so not the point!