Exercise Class

This is potentially one of my last blogs because I may not survive tomorrow. My sister and I go to an exercise class, which I really enjoy but I don't really venture to do any other ones... Until now.
My sister has talked me into trying a new class, which she says 'I may die.' I think the biggest misconception for me is that I am fit because I am skinny. Let me tell you now that I am skinny but I am in no way shape or form fit- I am as about fit as a cake... 
This class, Boogie Bounce, includes jumping on a mini trampoline for 45 minutes that focuses on small controlled movements that work every muscle in your body. I have found some photos from Boogie Bounce and want you to make up your own mind about the fun factor...

I am looking forward to it because I think it will be a lot of fun and I will end up laughing at how rubbish I am at keeping up with the moves and the bouncing all the class but I am scared. I am so unfit and I hate embarrassing myself. 

I'll let you know if I survive it... If not, I'll see ya later!

My Greatest Love

In 2017, I have had such a big thing for chicken nuggets. Now, don't get me wrong, I have had a great love affair with the chicken nugget since I was a child- I was such a fussy child (as most children are) and I refused to eat anything other than chicken nuggets. It was brought to my attention one day that chicken nuggets can also be shortened to nugs and my life has been changed... I now talk about chicken nuggets as nugs and I found a brilliant meme for nug life!

I felt it wasn't right for me to not have dedicated an entire blog to my absolute, all-consuming love of nuggets at the start of 2017!!

Tattoo Plans

I have always enjoyed looking at small delicate tattoos and have loved the idea of it. I have always been scared for two reasons:
1. They are permanent- call me stupid but the idea of having something on my body for that long makes me a little scared. Although, I seem to be gaining unwanted sun spots on my body that I have no choice to live with so I guess living with a tattoo I have chosen is less of an annoyance.
2. It has to be for a meaning- I always said that I would never get a tattoo out of a whim and it needs to have a meaning behind it but I never found something that I wanted to be meaningful.
Recently though I have been looking at tags on Instagram and Pinterest to find small delicate tattoos that I may want. I found a few that I liked and with the help of my friends and family, I settled on the sweet little dandelion seed.

You may now ask, why a dandelion seed? When I was younger, I was always this child that would believe in magic, dreams and wishes. When you blow a dandelion seed, I was always told to make a wish and then I would watch as the dandelion seed would float off into the distance with hopes my dream and wish would come true. The dandelion seed resembles hope and wishes- I lost a few family members and I also feel the dandelion seed has something angelic about it - that it can float up into heaven. Some may call that silly but I don't care. It is meaningful to me.
Once I had decided on my design - I needed to decide on where to put it on my body. I thought about having it on my wrist and had a trial drawing but because I'm a teacher, I just thought something that obvious would make my job prospects a little more difficult. So instead, I settled on my side. I have an appointment booked in the next coming weeks so I'm sure I'll show you later when I have it done!
EXCITING!! 

A Day in the Life...

It's Monday morning, the first day of the week and the day that most people dread. I don't enjoy Mondays but I don't exactly dislike them either. The day that I do find the hardest is Wednesday because it's always the day I stay later at work. 
I thought for today I would let you see into my life with the times that I do things- compare it to your day or just enjoy knowing what I do on a Monday each week like a stalker... I don't mind you stalking me this way- the other way however is a bit weird so here's my schedule:
6AM - I wake up and have breakfast. I usually have 2 Weetabix because in my mind, it's a breakfast that is kind of good for you and it keeps me full for the 6 hours before I get to eat again for lunch.

6:55 - I leave the house at the this time but recently I've been leaving a little earlier because it has been so cold and frosty that I have to defrost the car. I drive for the shortest amount of time ever because in the morning, there is NO traffic at the time I leave.
7:10 - I arrive at work and immediately get started on my day. I set up my classroom, print resources and make sure everything is ready for the day when my children arrive.

8:40-12:00 - My Monday sometimes varies but between this time, I am always teaching regardless what subject it is and the children sure do keep me on my toes. People think that being a teacher is easy but you are always talking, running around and looking like a headless chicken juggling 10 million things.
12:00-1:00 - Lunch break. In reality, my lunch break is usually 30 minutes of breathing, eating and socialising with my friends and then the next 30 minutes are spent setting up for the afternoon.

1:00-3:30 - Again, various teaching of subjects happens and once again headless chicken teacher act comes out.

3:30-5:30 - The rest of my working day is either spent in meetings, marking or planning for the next week. I usually go home between 5:30 and 6:00 on a Monday.
6:00-10:00 - This is the best part of my Monday because I get to come home. Usually, my nephew Jacob is still at home so I get to come home and play with him for a little bit. I eat my dinner, watch some crap on TV and catch up with my family. Then I do the usual wind down things of having a shower, brushing my teeth and scrolling through Facebook and Twitter all night until I can't keep my eyes open.

I live such an exciting Monday... I can't say that my life is exciting but it definitely is busy and I do enjoy the fact that my day is scheduled down to the minute. My job as a teacher means my days fly by and I never look at the clock waiting for my day to end because I never get bored. I never have a second that is not filled or used productively and that's just how I like it. I could never spend a Monday clock watching. 
How different is your Monday to mine? Do you hate it? Love it? Do lots? Do little?
Share with me a snippet of your life! I'd love to know!

Sunday Subject

I didn't know what to write about for today's blog but I knew that I wanted to blog. To find something to talk about for this Sunday Subject, I did the most exciting thing ever... I went on a random subject prompter on the Internet- I find this the funniest thing I've done in a while. Clearly any imagination that I used to have has gone.

Rather coincidentally this subject came up. I say coincidentally because this moth is January and usually during a new year in January the focus on everyone's mind is food. Thinking about all the food they have consumed, regretting all that food and trying to rectify any damage they did over the Christmas period. I thought it was quite fitting to dedicating a blog towards my relationship to food in the past and now.

If you have read a lot of my blogs, I have touched on my relationship with food and how at a low point in my life, the relationship I had with food was very toxic and turning into a real problem. I always liked the wrong food but thankfully maintained a slim figure. It was in uni that my problems with food started and then it was after uni that I finally got a hold in making food a positive experience.

Like many other people in January, my relationship with food at the moment is trying to be a little healthier- not to lose weight but to simply be healthier and more balanced. It is not a secret that I love all unhealthy foods and because I can eat "whatever I want" without really putting on weight, it makes it even harder to resist. 

I'm not making big changes to my food intake but small manageable changes such as eating salad in replacement of chips or potatoes and eating at least 4 pieces of fruit in a day to increase the vitamins and needed nutrients. I also am trying to drink more water and consume more vegetables. It isn't always the most exciting but my family are also on a very big health kick at the moment and that makes it a bit easier.

That being said, I do not believe in going cold turkey- I don't believe that you should cut out all the things that you crave. I do enjoy some chocolate or sweets when I want them because if you can't indulge every once in a while then what is the point? 

At the moment, that is my relationship with food but I know that I also have the potential to slip back into old bad habits regarding food and restriction of calories so whenever I embark on making changes, I am always mindful of what I want to achieve.

Coming June 2017

I have been biting my tongue and biting my tongue with this secret but I can no longer hold it in...

I'm going to be an auntie again with a new little squirt. 
To add to my already 2 gorgeous nephews who have grown SOOOO big over the past couple of months that I have been absent!

           

I love these boys with all my heart!

Breast Enlargement

You are going to be here reading this for one of two reasons- one you are thinking 'Nicole, what are you doing talking about breast enlargement. I'm worried- let me check on you. OR two 'is there a pic of before and after...' I really hope that the majority of you are thinking number one and if you're thinking number two, you will be severely DISAPPOINTED...

I know it's only a Thursday and this stuff should probably be kept for a Saturday night drinking session but as I get older, I realise that these sorts of hidden truths are what makes taboo subjects so hard to talk about. For months now, I have had a laugh and a joke with my family about starting up a 'boob fund' so that I can achieve a body that I am proud of. Now before people get on their high horses about 'you have a great body, why are you moaning?' I want you to all just take a step back with a deep breath and hear me out. Yes, I am potentially moaning and yes for some people, I may have a 'desirable' body but the part that most people miss out on these subjects is not how YOU feel about my body but how I feel about it.

I am naturally skinny and I thank the Lord for that because otherwise I would literally be the size of a house but I was blessed/cursed with being tall and skinny, which resulted in a body that never really looked feminine. When I first went to uni, I put a bit of chub on and my boobs were of a reasonable size- I was really happy with that aspect of my body but unhappy with the rest of it. To cut a story short, since then, I lost weight and the skinnier frame became my norm but with a skinnier frame came zero boobage. Now, some people rock this look but for me, I just didn't feel like a woman and I didn't feel desirable. I hated the way I looked- I shied away from any male contact because I could NOT imagine getting my kit off with being so unhappy with myself. That was when I seriously looked into surgery to help me and if I'm honest, I do still think about it as an option. It's hard for me to see such beautiful woman that are so confident with their body and not want that for myself.

It's terrible but it's actually 'jokes' and comments like these that hurt the most. 

That was a couple of months ago and since then, I've tried to be positive about my body and help from natural ways like putting on a little more weight just to fill it out a bit and there are days when I'm happy with the way I look. Naturally, there are days when I still consider getting a boob job. I wanted to share with people that no matter what size you are, there is usually SOMETHING you are not happy with- however small it is. I want to tell people that you shouldn't stop sharing these things just because people tell you that 'they would kill for a body like yours'. That is not the point- the point is you want someone to listen, someone to understand and not judge. It is terrible that we judge people on their insecurities before helping them. I hope that this blog post makes you stop and think that next time someone wants to share a worry or an insecurity that they aren't compliment fishing but actually honestly wanting to share.

I have not yet decided what I want to do with my body but it's important that no matter what we feel. think or want; we are always allowed those opinions and thoughts of ourselves. Never silence them for someone else because it's important to share them. Everyone just wants to feel comfortable in their own skin- regardless of their size, shape or colour. 

Love you always. Be kind to yourself today!

New Year's Resolutions 2017

Okay, so I never said that I could keep up to date with blogging anymore but I really didn't think it had been as long as it had. As usual, it's my spiel of 'I'm back' again after an absence but I decided that given it is a brand new year, I thought I might come back to my home.

I did an assembly today with the Year 1s and 2s of my school and I thought that it's never too young to get children thinking about their goals and what they want to achieve. Naturally, my assembly was all about New Year's Resolutions.
If you're a regular to my blog... unlike the blogger is... you might know that the past couple of years I have shunned resolutions because I feel that it is too hard to keep to them throughout the whole year- I instead like to make monthly resolutions... not that I always stick to them either. But today, I decided that I would talk about what I want to achieve.
My new year's resolution since I was a child was always to stop biting my nails- I shared this with the children and they had a little giggle. I honestly believe that the children think adults and teachers are some divine being that are never wrong and are always perfect. Who knows where they get that idea from but it certainly is not me... The teacher that hardly has her act together but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, during that assembly, my colleague shared what her resolution was, which was to run more to get fit and healthy and although my family are on a health kick at the moment, I didn't consider it a goal. I would like to say that my goal is to blog more but we always know how that goes.
I started my 2017 with my family that happen to just be some of my closest friends too so I guess my resolution for this year would be to not lose sight of those that are important to me. The nature of my job ends up being all consuming- when you add children into the mix for any part of your life, it does become all consuming but I am determined to find a work-life balance. That included seeing family and friends but also making time in my life to find someone special that I am spend my life with.

There can't be THAT much wrong with me... except my love of Snapchat filters... #oops #sorrynotsorry

That being said, I have always been a true believer of respecting and loving yourself, which I think I may finally be doing. I do want to find someone that I get on well with and a relationship comes naturally. I have only ever felt that true connection with a couple of people in my life and unfortunately timings or circumstances have always got in the way. Perhaps my new year's resolution is to make time to form those connections- however they come around...

It also wouldn't hurt for me to blog more often either but we'll see how well that goes...
For now, love always,

August!

Hello 1st August. I was meant to blog earlier and do the whole cheesy "pinch punch first of the month" but I didn't because two little boys came and kept me preoccupied all day. First, we dropped the cats off at the vets to get their injections, then we played in the garden before their naps. After that, I created a 'picnic fairy' for the boys to wake up to and we sat in the living room having a picnic with our lunch that the 'picnic fairy' left for us! Then we went to the shops and it was such a busy day that I almost forgot to blog.
Not only did I have a busy day with my little nephews but I also had to do my sister's gel nails for her holiday. I bought a cheap UV lamp to cure gel nail varnish and I've been practising on my sisters. I'm doing quite well with doing them- the only problem is that my nails are shocking since I had acrylic nails on so I'm waiting for them to get back to being healthy before I apply more crap to my nails.
Although it is the month that everyone associates with summer, it rained today- typical. Anyway, this is what I'm doing for the month of August!
- 2nd August: This is Jacob's 2nd birthday so I will be spending some of the day with this little dude and eating cake (which is my favourite thing ever)!
- 3rd August: We are going to see Aladdin in the theatre, which should be amazing. I have heard some good reviews about the show and I love the Disney film so I hope it lives up to my expectations- I shall let you know afterwards, as always!

- 4th and 5th August: I go to an exercise class called Clubbercise, which is basically a fun dance based class to keep fit. I don't really go for losing weight but it is so much fun that I do love going anyway.

During August, I am going on holiday to Cyprus, which I can't wait for. My legs are currently the exact shade of milk so it is not a good look to get them out- not that we have much chance of that anyway with the weather.

I don't have anything else planned really throughout the month that are set plans because now that I'm off, I live day by day not necessarily planning it all.
My friends and I are planning a trip to the cinema at some point to see Finding Dory and we also want to go crazy golf. We'll see when we fit those in!
I hope wherever you are in the world that your weather is much better than it is in England right now. England seems to get confused by the concept of summer and doesn't actually get the memo that it's meant to be sunny and hot. Never mind, summer is always about the sun and a tan but it would be nice for one year to live up to the season.
What are you doing this month? Let me know if you want, in the comments below- I sure do read them!
Also, before I go, I've been loving this song (Shawn Mendes- Treat You Better)  and the girl that sings this cover sings it so beautifully that I had to share it with you! I found Georgia on Youtube a couple months ago and when she sang this cover, I fell more in love with the song!

Bye for now

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday was such a long, yet exciting day at Peppa Pig World. It took us about 1 hour and a half to get there, taking 3 separate cars with a limited signal in Southampton and a little cloud but we all made it there. It was incredibly busy with so many little children. I thought I would share with you my most favourite picture of the day- me, my sister and Jacob (the early birthday boy). We were in the exciting ride on Grandpa Pig's boat. It was very thrilling...

The other thing that I would say is that unless you have lots of little ones, Peppa Pig World does get boring- naturally as it is for little humans and not adults. It is so precious seeing their joy when they catch sight of one of the characters as well as going on all the rides. The theme music that constantly plays throughout the park can bugger off because it gets too annoying!!
As part of this blog today, I thought I would give you a bit of a summary of this week- I have managed to blog most days but I wanted to anyway. It's the last day of the month, which is insane thinking about. I shall do a 1st of August blog tomorrow to let you know what my August looked like!
Monday- I crapped my pants thinking about my driving test and grilled my dad on the worst roundabout where I live- there are way too many exits and too many lanes and that's without mentioning other drivers that literally cut every lane at any opportunity. I also babysat my nephew Jacob, who I adore!
Tuesday- I crapped my pants again with my driving test but thankfully passed with flying colours! I also went to see Tarzan with my friends- you can see my review for this using this link: http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-legend-of-tarzan-review.html

Wednesday- After having such a busy day yesterday with my driving test and my cinema date, I chose to spend this day lazily. I took a couple of driving adventures and even did my first solo drive, which was both scary as hell and exciting. I even put the radio on - how very cheeky of me!
Thursday- I went out for some drinks with my friend from school who had left last year. We had such a great year working together and I was devastated when she left but it makes me happy that we still see each other- what was meant to be low key drinks at 6PM turned into drinking until half 11 and then rushing to catch the last train home... Oops.

Friday- I don't think I actually did anything... Ultimtely lazy day.
Saturday- Peppa Pig World
Sunday- Cleaning my room. I feel like Sundays are always reserved for some sort of cleaning or tidying... It's just the rules.
I feel very lucky that I get to spend this part of the year off of work and take time to just look after myself. I'm really trying hard to not think about work or do work because I know that once it gets back to being September, I'll be back to being stressed. I also take this opportunity to blog again, which is why every half term/summer holidays, I go back to blogging regularly. I just wish I could sustain it throughout the term!
Never mind. I love you all as always!