On the road to a bigger smile

So the post before last was a positive one, I spoke about the extra activities I talked myself into and since then I've been doing a lot more!

Health & Fitness

Firstly, I thought I might tackle the whole mood thing with some herbal remedies. A friend suggested St Johns Wort to me, but once I reached Holland and Barrett I soon discovered I couldn't take it due to the contraceptive pill. Thank goodness for their knowledge! Anyway, I was recommended 5-HTP for mood and anxiety, along with B-100 for tiredness. For a couple of days I took them, I think they were working but I wasn't too sure, so I decided to go off of them for a couple of days to see if that made a different. I didn't really notice much change, but maybe that's me being a little impatient, or it could be that the B-100 is so large I worry I might choke every morning! I haven't taken them for the last 4 days or so, but think I'll try again. If nothing by the end of the bottles then I might not bother again.

Why is there a random PSY mask I hear you say, well this was a present from my friend after her visit to South Korea. It's a face mask and reminded me how much I use to use these things when I was younger. Loved having fruity weird stuff on my face and then peeling it off after.
Last week a guy at work mentioned about doing some Fitness Yoga at a gym near by. Not such a bad idea, Fitness Yoga on Tuesdays and Skating on Thursdays, sounds like a great fitness routine to me! So tomorrow I'm going to attend my first class and see how it goes.  

Doc

Still remains to be the cutest hamster ever and is becoming more smarter week-by-week. The hamster run is proving to be pretty pointless as he's figured out how to climb out of that now, but he can now climb up his slide with little effort. I did mange to capture this lovely shot of him whilst he was investigating the sofa.

Activities

Last Saturday Jerry and I took the train to Cardiff to meet up with a couple of his friends. We enjoyed some lovely food and tea in this quirky little place called Bill's Cafe Bar & Restaurant. The rest of the day was spent playing board games and entertaining the beautiful Ivy. 

One of many great things about that trip was Rachel's amazing 5 Bean Chilli, which I had a go at last night and succeeded! I have no idea why I haven't made it before, was amazing. She also made Bread and Butter pudding of which I've not been a fan of in previous years, think that was due to a bad cookery lesson at school... but I'm fully converted now. 

Other fun events including having some friends round for a Eurovision party. Honestly I think we spent more time discussing the nibbles we had rather than the actual show. My batches of chocolate orange and banana fairy cakes (2 separate flavours) went down well though.

Work life

I love the fact that in my role everyday is different, I know I'd only complain if everyday had the same boring routine. I'm learning to control my work load a lot better now, mainly through writing out lists on post-it notes. I have a white board behind me now, always fun to rub tasks out. Seriously need to start snacking on healthier foods though... oh and drink more water instead of 10 cups of tea a day!

Got an exam coming up in London next week, bit nervous and it's weird going back to revision again after all these years but I'm sure I'll be fine. 

Overall a good couple of weeks, need to keep this up!

Many fun things make a happy mind

So since my last post I've looked at some of the websites that were suggested to me by the doctor. Honestly, I found myself not getting along with them so well. I looked into the help that work offered, printed off the information and the phone number, I never called. I think I feel determined to do this myself for some weird reason, I'm looking at this as a challenge to make myself feel better using my own path. I could be wrong in thinking like this but I'll admit I have become happier over the last couple of weeks. Yes some may say it's the weather but I would disagree, I've just spent a little more time on myself and I'm working on the areas that need to be improved.

Relaxing
Most days when returning home from work, I'm now just chilling out on the sofa and not panicking too much about what needs to be done. I'll still do a spot of washing up, cooking and laundry if needed, but thinking of it all in a more positive light. 

Addition to the family
Jerry and I have become loving parents to Doc. Yes I know, he's just a hamster but I'm not having a kid yet! He's a playful little guy and is currently the tender age of 7 and half weeks. It's lovely spending time in the evenings playing, having him run around and explore.      

  

Activities

I've started doing more activities in the time I have, mainly as I've noticed I don't worry so much when I'm distracted. Probably sounds very obvious, but it get's me out of routine and too much routine makes me worry if something doesn't get done. 

A friend of mine invited me to hers after work for a spot of nail painting and some yummy pizza. That evening made me realise I need to do more things like this, it's nice to have a friendly chat and get creative. 

Organising evenings for myself have consisted of getting creative once again and starting on my new scrapbook, which I admit I haven't actually touched again since I started over a week ago...
If I've had a really busy day, Jerry is on a late shift and I really cannot be bothered to cook, I order some take out and chill out watching TV.

Last week I only realised on the Tuesday that it was going to be a Bank Holiday weekend, so I randomly booked the Friday off and met up with a couple of friends in Bristol. A little retail therapy and chilling in the park was just what I needed. 

Then last night (Sunday) Jerry and I got invited to skate through the new Two Tunnels in Bath. It was hard work but very fun. 

Since doing all of the above I've found that my mood swings haven't been as regular. I've also found myself stopping, taking a deep breathe and telling myself that I need to calm down and assess the situation if feeling really stressed. It's still a working progress of course, but one step at a time and hopefully I'll start feeling a little bit more me again soon. 

I've got an exciting summer ahead of me, Vidcon in LA, SitC in London (also Jerry's birthday) and a lovely friends wedding to attend in Sweden. With that a the lovely weather we have at the moment, I haven't a clue why I'm complaining!