The Guest Bedroom

 

This is our new guest bedroom!

It's not perfect, its a bit of a small space and there is a duvet rolled up between the beds to make them 'meet', but hopefully it will work. It took a lot of work and we had to enlist the help of our friend James to move some of the bigger furniture.

 But we did it.

I'm sure my inlaws will let me know if it works.

And I will let you know if I get more sleep as a result.

Parental problems

Today was my last day at work for two weeks! 

It cannot have come at a better time as i seem to have developed a wrist problem which according to one of the in house physios may be due to typing too much in a bad way at work (ahem please pretend I am not typing). 

So he has charged me to rest my wrist for the duration of my annual leave, which is all very well, but that means no knitting and no typing! (I have decided a little bit of typing can't be too bad especially as I am holding my wrist in a different position using my laptop to how I hold my wrist at work)

Any way back to the post title. During the next two weeks a few things are happening. We will be going to spring harvest for 5 days, and both sets of parentals will be visiting. Now please don't get me wrong (especially any of the a fore mentioned parentals reading this!) All of these things are good and in many ways exciting. 

But they all also give me a little dread. All for the same reason, I have decided to call it 

sleep anxiety

As many of my friends and family know last year I suffered a horrendous prolonged bout of insomnia. It was horrendous I am not exaggerating. I can't really remember a whole month apart from a blur of exhaustion and distress. Eventually I reached breaking point and I went to the doctor. She was AMAZING especially considering I cried at her for about an hour just repeating the words, 'I'm too tired'. She gave me some amazing sleeping pills just to let my body have a rest and then referred me to a cognitive behavioural therapist because she concluded that I was too wound up and anxious to sleep.

Anyway to cut a long story short I still have sleepless nights, but thankfully they are less frequent and so far haven't lasted for more than a few nights since. But I am left with my Sleep Anxiety- It is a fear that if my sleeping routine is altered I won't sleep.

To go to spring harvest requires me to sleep in a building I don't know in a bed  don't know, I have already convinced my self I won't sleep for at least the first night.

For our parents to visit in any comfort we give them our bed, and sleep on a blow up in the spare room. This means that my sleep will be disturbed. (My cognitive behavioural therapist would tell me off ALOT for thinking this way but, right now it is how I feel.) Which in turn means I will most probably be grumpy and a little unsociable for both parents visits. This is not ideal.

We don't get to see our parents that often as the live on the south cost and we live in't north.

So to rectify this I have a plan. We have less than two days to implement it before Jamie's parents arrive. And Jamie doesn't seem too enthused. But the plan is to make our now dumping/washing/gettingreadyinthemorning room in to a 'proper' guest bedroom! (with a double bed and everything)

To make things more difficult we have no budget... But we do have two useless single beds that we could improvise with.

 I can't believe I am going to show you this but right now our 'spare room' looks like this...

Yes it is a massive mess and does not even resemble an inviting spare bedroom. It is going to take quite a lot of work and some imaginative thinking but the hope is I will be able to show you pictures of our new spare bedroom before Saturday evening. If I can it will make a big difference both to me and those who have to spend time with me!

So in conclusion the parentals aren't actually the problem it is the moving bedrooms that is, which at the moment I associate with them. But that is going to change -Watch this space.

Sorry for the ultra long post, I just needed to unload.

An afternoon with James and Hannah

I'm sure everyone knows that the weather has been unseasonably warm and this Monday I was able to make the most of it by spending the afternoon with James and Hannah. Two wonderful friends who are getting married in June!

I also took the chance to practice my photography, when better then a relaxing afternoon in the sun. 

I love my chats with James, he is really easy to talk too and there is never an awkward silence.

James snuck off to have a smooch behind a tree, he thought I couldn't see. I think its a nice photo...

I had such a nice time resting in the garden with my feet up being able to be completely relaxed with my friends.

Hannah and James are hoping to be able to grow the majority of the salad to go with the hog roast for their wedding reception.

 So there was some serious garden talk.

This last photo I am particularly proud of, I think I captured Hannah well.

 Hannah has such a lovely sunny demeanour and laid back personality that being around her is a joy and pleasure. 

Both she and James always make me smile.

Date Night

 Well I have got to say my Husband is awesome and very hansome!

Last week was a bit tough, nothing too drastic I just felt a bit down and he knew just how to cheer me up.

First he sent flowers to my work. Unfortunately he forgot that I had a training day so I was not in the office when they arrived but it was still lovely. 

Then as you may already know my favourite restaurant is Artichoke Jamie booked us a table for Friday night so I could get all dressed up and we could eat AMAZING food and drink yummy wine.

What I wore...

Shoes and Cardigan: Newlook, Top: Fat Face, Tights: H&M, 

Necklace: Accessorize,  Skirt: I made out of my friends bridesmainds dress.

 Belt: a gift

Chirk with the ladies

This weekend Myself, Luci, Rachel, Jen and Abbie had a weekend away in Chirk.

We stayed in Newhall a beautiful house owned by a lovely guy called Mark who we know through Church.

I took this photo of Newhall at about 6am Sunday morning. It was beautiful.

The weekend was about relaxing, laughing, baking, encouraging and drawing close to God.

 Rachel (or Shanners as we call her) made some awesome pancakes for breakfast on saturday. This was our digesting phase of the morning.

We walked to Chirk Castle and after having a look around the house we wandered around the garden and stopped for a photo shoot.

 I mentioned that we encourage each other, well we also like presents...

We bought presents for each other and wrapped up a huge pass the parcel. 

Abbie organised for each layer to contain a promise from God.

Needless to say it was really fun.

 

This is Jen, she is beautiful.

We also had a bake off, watched a film, chatted lots, ate really good food and saw lots of really cute new born lambs. 

Somehow I didn't take many photos, but you have to believe me the cakes were awesome!

I absolutely love spending time with these ladies they are all so special and have enriched my life greatly since I joined the house group nearly 4 years ago.

Rode Hall farmers market

Last Saturday because of my job as the Community Fundraiser for 

The Neuromuscular Centre (find out more here) I had to go and hold a collection at Rode Hall farmers market. 

Often collections days are less then glamorous and generally centre around supermarkets so this was a treat!  

I took along Jamie and Alison my two willing volunteers to help man the stall.

We didn't need all three of us to be there but it did mean we got to enjoy the farmers market. It has to be the best I have seen, a large number and selection of stalls and a huge amount of people.

 By the end of the day over half of all of the stalls had completely sold out!

Towards the end of the day I managed to take a few photos...

It took an hour to drive to from Chester as it is nearer Stoke

 but it is well worth a visit.

Especially as there is a stall dedicated to mushrooms... It was magic. (oh so cheesy)

 Needless to say Alison and I bought a punnet and ate them for dinner - Delicious.

If you would like more information about Rode Hall Farmers market check out their website here

Lent

So lent is a pretty big deal in the Christian calender. The purpose of lent is two-fold; 

1. To remember the time of fasting that Jesus went through in the desert, He gave up earthly things like food, human company and showed through the series of temptations that he faced that he also could withstand greed, pride and other sins.

2. It is a time of preparation and reflection a time when we think more consciously of Jesus' human life and divinity. We not only think of the miracles and wondrous acts he performed but also his friendships, earthly hardships and of course towards the end of Lent His inevitable death and glorious Resurrection. 

Reflecting on all of these things leads us naturally to be more mindful of our own lives and actions.This is why many Christians give up or take up something during lent.

Christian Aid have a great resource for individuals or families who would like to be more purposeful in loving others and remembering how blessed we are.

Have a look at their calendar its not too late to start.

This year as well as going out of my way to bless others around me (either through buying someone a drink or making sure i am being kind etc.) 

I have given up buying clothes...

For some people it is not a big deal not to buy clothes for 40 days or so. And in some ways it isn't huge for me (I have gone more than 40days before) but this is different because it is a positive decision not to and a change in my attitude towards my appearance and self worth. I am not saying for a second that i get my self worth from my clothes, but if i am feeling down, shabby, low in confidence buying a new dress or pair of jeans can really help!

That is exactly what I would like to change. If I'm feeling low or that I have nothing to wear because my confidence has taken a dive. I should look to Jesus and be reminded that He thought enough of me to come to earth in human form and die, taking my sins and the rest of the worlds on to himself, and after descending in to Hell (complete separation from God and all things good) He rose again, proving his divinity and purity. 

No amount of clothes, or praise of my appearance could ever live up to that.

Wow this was deep, I wasn't expecting to preach so much. but it is something I feel passionately about. So it is right that I talk about it.

On a slightly lighter note I have been giving myself some great temptation!

This jumper, this dress, these shoes oh and this dress. Not that I have been looking or anything!