Lovely Things || January 2017

Hello and welcome to my first instalment of lovely things in 2017!

Did you read that in the voice of a man introducing an american TV show? Coz I did a bit. Ha.

Anyway…come on Alice stop getting distracted already!

I seem to be slacking with my lovely things posts, and my round up of each month slips away from the 1st and meanders its way into the end of the first week of the next month. Sorry January, but at least I got around to it in the end!

The first month of the year has got off to a pretty tricky start if I’m honest. Filled with energy to jump into some spring goals, I started the year incredibly optimistic about what 2017 might hold. As per life itself, nothing is predictable and actually there have been some real lows this month. Just an FYI, I won’t go into a huge amount of detail here, as it’s not a lovely thing, but I promise I’ll end this post on a high!

In other news, I’ve also started Slimming World which, 3 weeks in, has been actually really great! I’m half a stone down and have a long old journey to go, but I’m feeling in the zone and ready to take on the challenge! This sort of fits neatly alongside another spring goal to run a half marathon! I’m starting to really question my sanity with this one. WHY did I sign up?! It seemed doable at the time. Now, you ask? Bloody nightmare! I don’t even like running that much! Haha *insert crying emojis*

I’ve managed to get in quite a few runs over the last few weeks, but I’m still only working at a handful of miles, and have found it hard to get out and about in the evenings. The perils of winter + living somewhere without street lamps! I had a long chat to my friend Sally last night about it which has given me the motivation to get out more and actually achieve my goal. 13.1 miles come at me (Buggerrrr!!). However, onto the round up of my January…

Zara and Luke’s Wedding

Right at the start of the year Adam’s cousin Zara got married to her childhood sweetheart Luke. It was fun meeting the few family members from that side that I haven’t had the chance to yet and a wedding is always a pretty happy affair! We danced away the evening in style to the likes of 90’s R&B/Hip hop, as you do!

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Photo courtesy of Vintage Fox Photography

Plymouth Bloggers Brunch

As ever, January hosted a lovely Plymouth bloggers brunch, and after trying to get into a new venue, Fred’s Kitchen, then giving up half an hour after they were supposed to open, we ended up in an old favourite – Boston Tea Party. At this month’s brunch I was accompanied by the wonderful Emily who does most of our organising and whom I keep forgetting to swap books with, Ellie who managed to squeeze in a brunch before heading back to Falmouth (lucky old bean!), Hannah, who has total #hairgoals at the moment, Milly, who had just got back from Copenhagen and made me want to jump on a plane straight away, and Geraldine, who was super brave and keen and had literally moved to Plymouth with her family the day before funnily enough from my home town! If you’re in the south west and want to join our monthly gatherings for brunch and chat (and often  a whole heap of ridiculousness) get yourself on the Plymouth Bloggers Facebook page!

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Epic work Roadtrips

This month has been one of epic roadtrips. Twice on the road for 10+ hours a day for meetings far and wide, I will admit I was a bit apprehensive about keeping the old conversation going for that length of time. Turns out, what was there to worry about?! My boss Mark is pretty laid back and we just chatted away like I would with anyone. Morning wake up calls before 5am are not appreciated, but the outcomes of the meetings and the ease of company actually made both trips pretty A-OK. Plus LOL hello Hi-Vis selfie. CRINGE!

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January Bakes

In between some busy weekends shifting furniture, I’ve managed to bake a fair amount of goodies too – including these super little gingerbread bad boys and some carroty passion cakes which are fat and sugar free (and if you’re doing slimming world, bonus as they’re only 1 syn each!!). Plus, the lovely Hannah from A Bond Girl’s Food Diary wanted some eager tasters for her new brownies by post venture, so I (of course!!!) signed up straight away and had the best brownies I’ve ever tasted delivered to me. I’m not even joking, they were incredible! Three cheers for chocolate orange and pistachio squares of gooey delight by post! If you pop back later this week, I’ve also cooked up a treat in the form of a macaron recipe. The first time I’ve managed to make them successfully!

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We sold the flat!

Hooray! January finally saw us move out of the flat! I mean, hooray for having money and not worrying about it falling through, but actually moving out was pretty sad. We put a lot of effort into that place and spent over half our relationship living there! Still, a mad weekend of moving (tirelessly helped by both our wonderful families I might add) and all of Adam’s worldly possessions are currently stacked up and stored in a barn right next to the new house.

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We’re STILL buying a house

Now there’s a smooth little segway for you huh…other than it’s not been so smooth! Buying a house is stressful and confusing and downright frustrating at times! We expected to be moving in during January, so we’re pretty disappointed that it’s not yet happened. Every hurdle we seem to clamber over simply reveals another in our path. But do not fear, February may bring us more luck and I’m seriously hoping we’ll soon get to the bottom of all the issues we’ve had so far!

**The below photo is entirely unrelated but I don’t have any recent ones of the house and it makes me laugh looking at Dan falling off my knee!**

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Derek

On 29 January 2017 we lost Adam’s grandad, Derek. It was all a pretty huge shock really. We’d seen him on his 85th birthday, less than a month before and he had a bit of a cough. It then worsened considerably, requiring hospitalisation a couple of weeks later. Sadly, much to the huge sadness and dismay of everyone who loved him, he died on the Sunday morning surrounded by his whole family. We were lucky in a lot of ways that we had the chance to spend his last few days by his side. Like I said above, I won’t go into it in too much depth, it’s still very raw. However, what I can say is that he was a truly wonderful man, a gentle, kind and hilarious man who treated me like one of his own grandchildren and who really lit up my life. I will miss him dearly, and am so grateful to even have known him for just 4 years.

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An Influx of Baby Animals

As a blog is for life’s truths and hardships as well as happiness’, I thought I’d end on a happier note and show you a few of the new additions for people around me currently. Since getting back from Cambodia, my boss and his family have had a few new members, including the wonderful pup Floyd and kitten Luna. We’ve also had a puppy, Trigger, come to live with our next door neighbours! Spring is very much the time for new life, and I’m loving the number of lambs and calves flocking the fields around us.

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So there you have it, a very challenging month in many ways, and one I probably won’t ever forget. I have, however, felt incredibly supported throughout it all, with our families providing a continuous stream of advice and love. In tough times, you realise who and what matters most, and on that note, I’ll leave you with my favourite January post from Mr Husband himself!

The time I shot my boyfriend 1