Nivea Visage Pure & Natural Regenerating Night Cream 

I went to Superdrug the other day, in search for a reasonably priced night cream. For a while now, I have been using Niveas combination day cream on a morning to try and combat my horrible combination skin. When I say horrible, I am quite lucky in the fact that I don't often get blemishes, I just have patches of dry skin, and patches of oily-prone skin. Although Nivea seems to do the job throughout the morning, by the afternoon the patches of dry skin are surfacing. 

So I wanted to try something more intense. I've never used a night cream before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. After staring blankly for half an hour at an aisle of face creams, I eventually picked out Nivea's Pure and Natural Regenerating Night Cream. It was the only one that suited all skin types, and didn't create a burning hole in my purse. I was also reassured by the fact that I was getting along quite well with Nivea's day cream. 

Tonight, I washed my face with Neutrogena's Pink Grapefruit daily scrub, and then I got out the night cream. Oh how I wish I had paid more attention to the writing at the bottom of the box. Bio (?) ALOE VERA. I hate Aloe Vera. Oblivious, I unscrewed the lid, and put some on the tip of my finger. Dabbing it on my face, I started to smell the Aloe Vera, which only got stronger, and stronger. So if you don't like strongly scented moisturisers, avoid this like the plague. When I started rubbing it in, it felt very thick, and not oily, but as though this was never going to absorb into my face. 

Currently, I'm sat in bed, smelling of Aloe Vera, and with a slowly absorbing night cream on my face. I'm not sure if night creams are supposed to be of a thicker consistency, maybe I need to try a few more out to see if this is a trend. 

I will follow up with a blog post, with the results, in the morning. 

Catch up on Lent!

Thursday, was the day to be more giving.  Generosity is something that many people overlook on a day to day basis, I can safely say that I am guilty of this. The challenge for Thursday was to get a jar and put small change into it each day, so I grabbed a nutella jar that was about to be recycled and put my change in that J I will be donating my money to Cancer research.

Friday, was an eventful day. I woke up in the morning with my right eye nearly shut, purple and puffed up. I went to the doctors, who gave me some eye drops, and antibiotics as it looked as if I had a bad stye. Coincidentally, today was also the day to care for those in need. “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6.8 . Later that night, I took a moment to say a quiet prayer to give thanks that I have access to free medical care, 24 hours a day whenever I need it, and to pray for those who don’t. Sometimes I feel incredibly guilty that I have this massive privilege and the majority of the world doesn’t.

Saturday, unfortunately I was not getting any better. I had started to have a reaction to the antibiotics I was given, and was in a great deal of pain. Saturday night I gave in, and went to an out of hours doctor, who took me off the antibiotics, and gave me some medication to settle my stomach. This meant that I was not able to do Saturdays task of planting seeds and caring for them as they grow, however, my mother Saturday morning had decided to clear out the greenhouse and start planting seeds for this year, so here are a couple of pictures I managed to get.

Monday I was feeling a little better. Today called for us to be more creative, as god-like as we can, as God loved to create, bring things to life. I have recently started a sewing project, as with university work taking up a great deal of my time, I needed to do something more creative, so here is a photo of what I have been making J

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your father”. Today called for us to be more mindful of caring for our world that god created, by turning the lights off in rooms that no one is using. Thankfully, I am already mindful of this, as my father watches me like a hawk, and if I don’t turn something off I certainly will know about it, so this challenge was quite easy for me J

Wednesdays challenge, was to be more loving. Never leave it to doubt for someone whether you love them or not. Unfortunately, both of my my parents health has been deteriorating as the days go by. I have experienced far too much heartache to ever for a second let them be doubtful as to my love for them. My daddy never lets me leave the house without a kiss from him, and every morning and night I tell my parents I love them and kiss them. Some may say, wow, you’re 22 and you still kiss your parents?! Why yes I do, and I am not ashamed, the love me and my parents share is unshakeable, and I wouldn’t change how I show my love for anyone. I am an incredibly loving person, and I always show my love for people, tell them I love them everyday, because you never know what tomorrow might bring. But telling people you love them is one thing, showing them is another, so never hold petty grudges, or argue over stuff, it just isn’t worth it. Love is the strongest emotion anyone can feel, and the magical thing is, it’s limitless! So tell the people you love that you love them, don’t tire of doing it, show it everyday, because love is easy to show, and it’s all that matters J

Thursday called for us to be more curious about the world. The monotony of every day life can grind anyone down, so taking time to wonder about the little things takes you back to the present here and now. I find often appreciating the little things does the trick. Ever think about more about why that person held the door open for you? Or why someone took the time to appreciate a nice message you left them? Or why the weather is so great on a certain day? Let your mind wander. you can come to some pretty great conclusions J

Friday was a day to be thankful. If you are ill, feeling upset, stuck on a question etc, it is very easy to carry on with whatever you are doing once someone has helped you. Taking time to thank someone, and mean it, is not only just a gracious act that you should do anyway, but will make that person feel better, rather than used. Friday I took the time to thank my mum for taking me somewhere to get some stuff that I needed. Although she needed to go to the same place anyway for herself, it was good of her to wait until I could go and take me. I was recently reminded of how being gracious and thanking people can help make their day just a little bit brighter. I had got to know a shop assistant in my local pharmacy quite well recently, she would go to great lengths to advise me on the best product, to ask how I am and how my family is doing. A few days later my dad came back from picking up his medications to find out that this womans son had recently passed away in an accident. I am sure that by me saying thankyou made very little difference to how horrible each day is for her, but it didn’t make it worse, by being arrogant, and selfish. You never know what is happening in every persons life that you encounter, so it is best to be as polite as possible J

Unfortunately, I did not do yesterdays challenge, which was to go outside and look at how pretty the world is, and appreciate it. I didn’t fancy the -2 temperature, and the on and off snow. However, earlier on I did go for a walk on a rare bright sunny day, so here is a picture of it  J

And now I am back up to date! I did contemplate giving up, but I thought it is better to be late than never. Hope whoever silently reads this is doing well in their lent endeavours, and if you aren’t doing lent, you should consider doing some of these challenges to make positive changes in your life J

Valentines nails 

Just thought I would share my Valentines nails! I used Kiko Nail Lacquer in 219. My friend bought me this whilst she was on an ERASMUS scheme for a year in Italy. It is a beautiful delicate pink, with tiny iridescent blue sparkles. For the heart, I used Nail Inc's Henrietta street. Hope everyone has a nice Valentines Day :)

'Do good... be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.' 1 Timothy 6.18

'Do good... be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.' 1 Timothy 6.18

So, I heard about Love Life Live Lent on twitter. Love Life Live Lent is a program that was created by the Church of England. Its aim, and emphasis is to empower people with creative ideas to make positive change to their lives and others around them throughout Lent, and hopefully outside of Lent. Using the stories of the Bible, it illustrates each day, one positive action to make, the idea being that instead of taking away from life, i.e. giving up chocolate, you add lots of positivity to life. 

The first challenge yesterday before Lent, was of course to have a pancake party on Shrove Tuesday. I don't really like pancakes, so instead of having a 'party' I just made one pancake. The idea of Shrove Tuesday is to have one last day of eating fatty rich foods, but I don't really like fatty rich foods so didn't really see the point. 

Todays challenge was to repent, to say sorry to someone for something you have done wrong, in keeping with Ash Wednesday. I've always found saying sorry a difficult thing to do. Not because I don't think I am sorry, but I'm never able to truly express just how 'sorry' I am just through saying the word 'sorry'. I find it hard to forgive myself for whatever I did wrong, and hard to move on. But you have to forgive yourself, otherwise how do you move on to create more positive changes for yourself and those around you? Freeing yourself of guilt is one of the most challenging aspects of life for me, and something I need to learn to do. 

I couldn't think of anything I had immediately done wrong to those around me to say sorry to, but I can think of plenty of past mistakes I have made which have hurt people, so I think trying to let these mistakes go will be my way of saying sorry...

Caring for your nails.

I know more than anyone, just how easy it is to neglect your nails. It's not something that you really think about on a daily basis that fits into your routine, like brushing your hair, or putting make up on. But our nails are constantly exposed to everything that we touch, such as other people, typing, washing up, touching our faces and our hair, opening jar lids, biting, all sorts of activities which are damaging . These make our nails weak, brittle, and easy to break. Not only are they unattractive, but they leave our nails prone to more serious breaks, and nail infections. I thought I would share my routine which I aim to do twice weekly, which doesn't take long, and leaves you feeling happier :)

So as you can see, my nails are unsightly. I was unfortunately blessed with the smallest nail beds on the planet. My nails are jagged from things that they have caught on (and occasional nail biting) and I have dry cuticles, and ridges. First things first is to wash your hands with an antibacterial soap to get rid of any grease and impurities.

Next, I like to use a cuticle oil, specifically Nails Incs Vitamin E Oil Pen, which leaves my nails looking like this:

Next, I use a file with a ridge removing side, a buffer and a shine side. People tend to keep these block shaped pieces of equipment for years, but they harbour germs and all of the bits of nail that you have had over time. They are incredibly cheap to buy, it's best to get a new one every 3 months to avoid infections.I also use a cuticle stick to push back my cuticles, and use cuticle clippers to remove excess cuticle. Again, it is essential to keep replacing these tools. Lastly, when filing your nails, only file in one direction. Sawing away at your nails can actually encourage infections.

I then apply Sally Hansens maximum growth. As you can tell, my nails are the size of a 5 year olds, so I need all the help I can get with growing my nails. It's not that they don't grow quick, it's just how brittle they are. I can safely say that this stuff does work for my nails when I bother to use it, and apply it daily. My nails feel harder and don't peel at all. I highly recommend it, but you do have to keep up with it. 

This is the end result! I no longer have horrible dry nails and cuticles, and they are ready to grow grow grow. Taking the time to maintain them really does help them, rather than letting them get into a state and encouraging infection.

This quote, is the one that has stuck with me the most from watching the Shaytards. I think I truly realised the meaning of this quote from Shays first marathon vlog. I had watched Shay change from a man who was just at the very beginning of believing that he could make changes, that he had the capability to do them, to someone who had followed them through and made so many changes to his, and his family's life, and signified this by running a marathon. Moving a wife and 4 children to LA, with not much money, creating an incredibly successful business, and losing 110lbs cannot be easy, but he showed that it is possible, by creating small changes day by day, so small that you barely notice them. The small changes build up, until eventually you have reached your goal. 

I recently tried to make a very personal change, in order to reach a goal. Although I was able to make that change, it took a great deal of effort, and left me exhausted, emotionally and physically, and more stressed than I started out with. I guess some goals are harder than others.

We should all make goals, no matter if they are tiny, such as having one less can of pop a day, or big such as quitting smoking or drinking alcohol. Making one small change each month, will lead to twelve changes in a year, which in itself, is a big change. The pursuit of happiness and positivity should never stop, it's what we all want, right?

Here are some of my changes that I have been trying to make:

1. Cutting down on sugar - At Christmas, I noticed just how much all of the extra chocolate and sweets affected me. I wasn't able to relax as much, I felt horrible and bloated inside, and had heartburn. One day I decided to not have any sugar that wasn't naturally occurring (such as in fruit), and I instantly felt a change. I didn't feel as jittery, or bloated, and I didn't have heartburn. So this year I have decided to cut out all sugary foods that aren't naturally occurring. So far it's going okay. I have slipped up a couple of times, but this doesn't mean I am going to give up and say I can't do it, I'm going to keep on trying. 

2. Treat myself more often - For some reason, for a while now, I've sort of told myself that I don't deserve treats. I think it stems from the fact that a couple of years ago I did put on a fair bit of weight but I didn't really notice, until I started noticing when I lost the weight and a lot of ignorant relatives started saying I looked a lot better, and what was my secret for losing the weight. Equating my stupidity of putting on weight, to not deserving things started to occur, but now I've started caring far less what people think, and therefore I am learning to treat myself to stuff now and again. 

3. To start a blog! - I feel like my law degree and other aspects of my life sucked away any life that was left, out of me, and I can't really remember the last time I did something creative. So my resolve is to start doing things that I want to do that are fun, and stop putting so much pressure on myself to do what other people want me to do.

I hope I manage to achieve these goals , and I hope if you haven't made any goals, that this inspires you to make some :)

Friendship

In life, you go through times where you think you will never see the light, that it's impossible to ever get through that time, and you don't know what you're gonna do. Then, that certain person who you can ALWAYS rely on, comes running to your aid, to walk with you, side by side, to get you through to the end. That person for me, is my best friend Clare . We've been friends since before we can remember, and have always been there for each other in times of need. 

Now we're moving on, and live far apart, Skype has become our lifesaver, and whenever she comes home from University, we always without fail, first thing, go for a walk around our local park. Today was a cold miserable day, but the swans were out and about which is always pretty! 

Moral of the story is, always make time and effort for the person who always makes the time and effort for you. Keep building on the friendships that have survived the test of time, and don't worry about those that haven't. 

25 facts about me...

1. My middle name is Mary, as both of my grandmas were called Mary, and I have a lot of family in Ireland called Mary (you can only imagine when someone shouts 'Mary!')

2. I nearly didn't make it into this world, my mum had bad pre-eclampsia, and I had to be born on my mums 8 month check up, by caesarean. A few hours later I was born, 4lbs at 3.02pm. Me and my mum had a few health problems for the first few years of my life but it's all settled down now. 

3. Favourite shampoo and conditioner by MILES is Aussie Haircare. So. Damn. Good. 

4. I love the DIY/Crafts section of Pinterest. I used to love crafts and arts, but University kinda killed that side of me, so it's good to start feeling creative again.

5. I love cooking healthy food. There's nothing more satisfying knowing exactly what is going into your body, that it's good for you, and that you made it. 

6. I am a bit of a spelling geek, especially when I was younger, so much so that every Tuesday afternoon a teacher used to do spelling tests with me and this other boy to see how far we could get. 

7. I love being outdoors, by lakes, in fields, anywhere that is away from the suburbs and cities. 

8. When I find a song I like, I play it to death.

9. Speaking of music, I love country music. Luke Bryan, you can shake it for me any day, any time, any place, I don't mind.

10. Speaking of country, it's my ambition to somehow have a farm and live in the middle of nowhere.

11. I am an irish dancer. I started when I was 3, and was quite competitive until I was 13, when school started taking over. I started dancing again when I started University, but again, my studies are taking over.

12. I would rather stick pins in my eyes than go for a 'night out in town'. I hate the idea of spending a ton of money on taxis, where the driver likes to drive like he is on a rollercoaster, and then get groped by drunk men all night. 

13. I don't drink alcohol, and I am quite proud of it :)

14. If there was a degree in procrastination, I would have a first class degree in it. 

15. I hate any programs or films that are gory/horrifying/scary. I much prefer to fill my mind with funny happy things. 

16. Cleanliness is next to godliness. I love keeping things clean and tidy and pretty. 

17. I'm obsessed with Instagram and could spend ages looking at pictures people have taken of their little corner of the world. 

18. I am incredibly impatient, and if someone takes too long doing something or someone walks too slow infront of me, my head implodes.

19. My first job was working at a juice shop creating smoothies. We all quit one day together when our manager installed a webcam in the shop so he could spy on us from his laptop and ring us up and shout if we did something wrong. 

20. I am obsessed with Great British Bake Off, SpringWatch, Countryfile, First Time Farmers, and Antiques Roadshow. I am old before my time, I know. 

21. Twitter is where I like to moan and complain so I don't do it in real life. 

22. Before both of my grandmas went to heaven, they used to buy me lovely porcelain dolls with curly ringlet hair, and pretty dresses. I had them on a shelf in my room, therefore no one would ever come sleep over at my house as they were too scared of them during the night.

23. When I won a major competition in gymnastics between all the sports centres in my city, my coach asked me to join the competition class, but I soon stopped going because all of the other girls were way more advanced than me and I got disheartened. I wish I had used them as inspiration and kept going, as I loved it.

24. One of my greatest achievements is jumping over the toadstool, moving from Brownies to Guides. Best day ever. 

25. I am obsessed with Nails Inc and Essie nail polishes. I wish it were possible to paint your bedroom walls as frequently as you paint your nails.

My biggest inspiration to start my journey of finding happiness, has to be Shay Carl. I discovered Shay and his family, at possibly one of the lowest moments of my life. I had come home for the Summer from my first year of University unhappy, and unwell. One day I was searching on Youtube for videos of cute things (as you do) , and came across my first Shaytards vlog. Mommytard had taken her children to watch her dad and his friend play at a bandstand in their hometown of Pocatello in Idaho. It was a sunny, hot day, and they were just a normal happy family, doing normal happy family things. From then on, I was hooked.

I watched Shay put his thoughts into action. They moved to LA to pursue their dreams, Shay lost 110 pounds, and ran several marathons, Mommytard juggled being a mother of four, with furthering her own youtube channel, and being a part of the Moms View. The children have flourished into the most well mannered, kind, patient, outgoing friendly people I have seen. Seeing how Shay made his dreams into reality, and seeing how he did this little by little on a daily basis, has made me realise just how possible it is for anyone to do so.

One of the greatest quotes that I have found from Shay, is this: "Nothing is personal, you’re not having a bad day, you’re just allowing outside unrelated stimulus dictate how you feel! How you feel doesn’t necessarily matter, the reason it doesn’t matter is because it is not the truth. Your feelings is nothing but internal interpretations of outside stimulus and a lot of time we misinterpret the outside stimulus to mean things it doesn’t even mean!" What Shay is trying to say is that, you can wake up in the worst possible mood ever, but that doesn't need to be how you feel for the rest of the day. You can determine how you feel, change your outlook, and your mindset into whatever you want. 

So this blog is going to document every area of my life where I try to turn it around into a positive aspect of my life. Healthy food, healthy thoughts, conquering fears, my passions, and any obstacles I may face and how I will overcome them. 

To end this post, I will leave you with a quote from Joseph Smith Jr ... "Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.”