5 WAYS TO NOT GO INSANE

So, being long term sick is NOT what I had planned for the beginning of Summer 2017, let me tell you that much. I was talking to my dad the other day about my blog and how I've been brain storming ideas to blog about/topics to talk about, etc. He said 'why don't you write about things to do while you're ill?', which got me thinking. I am sick at the minute, which means I physically can't go to work with the job I do, but that doesn't mean my brain or legs don't work, yano? 

Its hard to not feel like you should be cooped up in the house all day, or do nothing but stay in bed. Don't get me wrong, with how I'm feeling at the minute, thats what I do spend a lot of my time doing. However, I thought I'd write about a few things that make me feel a little less house bound and stop me from going bloody stir crazy over here! 

TEA & CAKE WITH FRIENDS - Maybe my favourite thing to do. I have a very close knit of friends that have seen me at my very worst, which means I'm not afraid or embarrassed to be in front of them in slouchy clothing and no makeup, feeling like a piece of poo. Nothing beats laughing until your tummy hurts and reminding yourself that you WILL be back to normality again soon enough, this isn't forever. This photo was taken at Boston Tea Party, I honestly didn't realise they made their cakes on site, and even include more than one Vegan option! 

FIND BEAUTY IN EVERYTHING - I'm pretty good at this on any day of the year. I'm very observant to my surroundings, whether that be what the sunset looks like, the intricate details of a restaurant or naturally memorising peoples outfits or lipstick colours on a night out. (One of my favourite morning after quiz's). I'm constantly taking photos of the sky, certain lighting, flowers, trees, animals & general picturesque scenery. I think it's important to focus your mind on beautiful, positive things, when you're sick, I find it really helps to take my mind off any pain/upset or frustration I'm suffering from. 

KEEP YOUR MIND MOVING - Try and do things that keep your mind moving. Whether that be reading, visiting new places, surrounding yourself with countryside or creating new and tasty recipes. (All of my favourite things to do). Some days I find it hard to get out of bed because I know as soon as I even sit up I'll be in pain. However, once I've forced myself to get up and out, I find great inspiration and joy in getting fresh air and exploring places I've never been before. 

FUEL YOURSELF WELL - I love food. Fact. Theres not many foods I dislike and I'm always up for trying something new. Whether it be green, smelly, a weird texture - I'll always try something once. Try making a new recipe including some of your favourite ingredients. I find it fun to attempt dairy free/gluten free recipes, as I find them quite a challenge (for example, will the cake rise with an egg substitute, or will it resemble a shit pancake?). Creating new recipes is also really rewarding, especially when the result is tasty and other people approve. 

GET FRESH AIR DAILY -  Admittedly, this is sometimes one of my biggest downfalls. Most days when I'm unwell, I wake up in such a bad mood, I just don't even want to get out of bed to wee, let alone go outside. Once I have made the move out of my front/back door, I do feel 10x more productive and positive about everything. I suggest going outside at least once a day. Even if its just to eat your breakfast, or stand with your face to the sun and inhale the morning breeze for 20 minutes.

Thanks for reading, as always

I hope you get well soon if you're currently sick too! 

Madi x

MAY ROUNDUP

Here we are again, ANOTHER month has just flown by before my very eyes. I can't believe I'm sat here and its currently the beginning of June. June always reminds me of 3 things - Summer, my oldest friend's birthday, and feeling good. June is usually when things seem to turn themselves around from hoping and wishing for good weather, to actually getting good weather (pfft, alright Madi), holidays start to crop up, you hear stories from everyone about new adventures they've taken, and everyone just seems to have a little more spring in their step. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this months seen any sunshine. If anything, we've had a serious case of weather bipolar!

I'm pretty sure this month kicked off with me being ill. (wow, what a surprise). In general I've been completely and utterly exhausted this month - with everything! Mind, body and soul. Even putting my trousers on in the morning has been a struggle for me. I couldn't really tell you why though, I'm not sure if its because my general health and auto immune condition has really fucked me over this month, or my mood is just generally a struggle to pick up. Alas, I have done some nice things - of course including Budapest! (See previous post for photogs and recommendations!)

WOODS, FRIENDS, & PUPS:

Look, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know by now that my life pretty much revolves around dog walks. Luckily for me, my friends live pretty close by, and when the weathers good, its pretty easy for us to just drop a message into the Whatsapp group to see if anyones down for walking the dogs in our local woods - Snuff Mills/Vassels Park. I think this was a Saturday, always a day guaranteed to be filled with all sorts of dogs/puppys - what could be better, really?

FAMILY ROAST:

Best. Meal. Ever. One of my favourite things ever is when me and my little friendling family get together to cook meals. For some unknown reason, I'm always left with the simple jobs out of our little group, like - the cheese grater, or the carrot chopper... its as if they just KNOW I'll probably kill myself when it comes to boiling water or hot ovens.. cute. Just looking at these photos, I wish I could demolish it all over again. 

TRAIN RIDES & MORE FOOD:

I spent a substantial amount of time on trains this month, going to and from Cardiff to visit a guy I was dating. Something I've never done before - 1. Just casually dated someone without prospect of a relationship and 2. Dated someone in a different country. Both of which, intrigued me and confused me. Alas, a good experience! It was cool being able to jump on the train/in my car and escape life in Bristol. It was like my uni days all over again! HOW CUTE, is this puppy on the train though?! I purposely followed this man from the platform right to his seat so I could sit opposite. This day my mum came to meet me in Cardiff for the day to have a mooch around the shops - how funny that we turned up in the exact same jumper. 

More meals! This night was a Mexican with Esther and Austin. One of the cute things about going to my friend Esther's, is that I can take Theo with me to 'play' with her dog, Dylan. I say 'play', because most of the time, Theo either spends his time annoying the shit out of Dylan, to the point he'll just go and hide himself away in another room, OR, just just tries to hump him. Sorry Dyl. We did however, get them to have a mini photoshoot together, with the bribery of 'chewy's' (see photo of said 'chewy' above Esther's iPhone - worked a 'treat' wheyy ;)). 

WESTONBIRT:

Would a monthly round up of mine really be a monthly roundup, if I didn't include photos from Westonbirt Arboretum? Don't think so! Every time I visit this place I'm instantly googling new camera equipment as soon as I get home, (before realising I can't actually afford it right now). This day we bumped into a pure Toy Poodle (Theo is a cross between a Miniature and a Toy), she was SO CUTE and SO SMALL I couldn't quite believe my eyes. Literally the split of Theo except even smaller - and I thought Theo was small! (Heres me forcing Theo for a photo with me in the hand made wigwam esque creation we found in the middle of the woods). 

FUDS:

Heres photographic evidence of me really trying my best to make healthier choices. I am OBSESSED with making pancakes recently. I seem to have a recipe NAILED and I enjoy it every time without fail, (remember when I said I'd do a blog post about said recipe? yeah.. I'll get there.) I also had a catch up with Elly this month, we've seemed to make it a little fortnightly thing - seeing as our rota's seem to match up quite nicely in that way! We devoured a Nando's, followed by looking round all the baby shops we had within walking distance. For the first time in my life I GENUINELY felt broody, I can't get over how cute some of the clothes/shoes/prams/accessories etc are, for tiny humans these days. I mean, of course that feeling left my very soul as soon as I left Mothercare, BUT, I guess it was a warm and fuzzy little feeling while it lasted.  

MOL'S (ANI-MOLS)

Something very essential to my de-stress and unwind process in life, is spending time surrounding by my mol's. I don't even need to be touching them, or that close to them. As long as I can see their little faces/furry bodies, I'm pretty content with that. I've been super duper sick with my skin/immune system playing me up lately, and every morning without fail, Theo will come and greet me with a kiss, shortly followed by him nestling himself into me and falling back to sleep. I'm just so thankful for their little souls. <3 

May's been weird for me! A pure mixture of ups and downs. I feel as though I need a change maybe? but my body says 'um...no?' to literally anything right now. My current state of health is not even being able to get dressed so, yeah, thats fun. It's been pretty hectic, but at the same time not a huge amount has happened, asides from Budapest, life's been pretty standard I guess! 

Hows your month of May been?

Thanks for reading! 

Madi x