January Round-Up... The Month of New Beginnings

Hello Everyone :)
January is always seen as the month of new beginnings and the month to start new, and healthy habits, and it is for that reason why January is one of my favourite months! I know, I sound crazy, like come on who actually enjoys January?? 
But I love the idea of trying to better yourself and trying to make a better life for yourself. And this is what this post is all about.

I worked out EVERY day in January.
This is something that I never thought that I would ever do, because I'm quite a lazy person haha! I normally start working out and then give up before the month is over. So this is quite the achievement for me!

I used the January 2017 Blogilates Work Out Calendar (which you can find here, sign up to the newsletter to receive the password). Here it tells you which part of the body you'll be working on and what videos you need to do to complete the work out. Each work out is around 30-40 minutes long each day and it works you HARD!
I wanted to do it because I wanted to tone up all over my body, and this is something that I've wanted/needed to do for a while. I would always find some sort of excuse as to why I couldn't work out and complete the calendar. But this month I finally did it!

I drank 2 litres of water EVERY day in January.
Drinking enough water in your day can help with a lot of things! The right amount to drink in a day is around 2 litres, and whenever I thought of this number it would terrify me because it sounds like a heck of a lot of water!
But with the help of this bottle, I found it 10x easier! You can get them here and in all sorts of cute colours and with different motivational quotes on them.

Drinking more water has always been something that I've wanted and needed to do, so when I got this bottle for Christmas, I decided it was the perfect time.

Since I've started drinking 2 litres every day, I've found that my skin is a lot clearer and is glowing almost. Now, if that isn't reason enough to drink more water, then I don't know what is! I'm also not as tired during the day and I seem to have more energy, which is always great!

So I would recommend anyone to try and drink more water, it really is the secret to a good life.

I kept a thankful journal EVERY day in January.
Thankful journals have been something that I've kept over the last year, but I've never really stuck it out for very long, but then life gets in the way and I'll forget all about it. But as January is the month for new beginnings, I told myself that I would try to keep it up!
I wanted to do this because I want to be more mindful of things, I want to be more grateful and to think differently about things.
It's a great way to start off the day as well. I list 3 things that I'm thankful for, I then sit and think about these 3 things and then get started with my day. It has changed my outlook on life, and makes me look for the positive in things.

I planned....a lot!
I also planned for a lot of things that I will be doing in the months to come of this year. 
Me and one of my friends wrote a whole list of all the things that we want to do together this year, and let me just say that I have some very exciting things coming up, if all goes to plan!
I also planned out the itinerary for my Amsterdam trip in March, which also includes a lot of fun things to do.
And finally, I GOT ED SHEERAN TICKETS!!! So I'm going to see him in May at the O2 and I cannot wait! 
This is going to be one great year.

Looking to February...
Already, my February is shaping up to be pretty darn exciting! 
I'm going to see Busted on the 13th, in my hometown woop woop! Which will be a very exciting night, and from looking at the setlist, I can tell that my 5 year old self will make an appearance.
My church is then holding its annual 'Winterfest' as well, which will make for an amazing weekend.
And finally, it's my friend's birthday towards the end of the month and we're doing a cocktail making class, which is on my list of things to do this year! So that will be a crazy and fun filled night.

What exciting things did you get up to in January? Do you have anything coming up in February that you just cannot wait for? Leave me a comment :)

Have a great week!

Jess x

2016 Review

Hello Everyone :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So this is the first "official" post of 2017 and it feels good. I'm so excited to get going with this blog again, and I have a lot of exciting things coming up this year that I can't wait to write about.

2016...
What a crazy roller coaster ride of ups and downs, eh? So in 2016 I started off not living at home (I was doing a 1 year theology course), I got discharged from physiotherapy (and all things knee related WOO HOO!), I had 3 jobs, and I also moved back home in July. It had it's share of good and bad moments and really made me grow as a person and learn a lot about myself.

It's always good to start with the highlights of the year, and this year had a fair few of them!
So I saw 5 Seconds of Summer for the 5th time on their Sounds Live Feels Live Tour back in April. And they were incredible (as usual, what else is new?!). They create such an amazing atmosphere in the arena and everyone has the best night of their lives and just forgets about everything else that they've got going on. And that is why I love concerts! I also brought one of my best friends with me, and it was her first concert! So it was super special to be able to share that experience with her too!
I also saw Busted this year too, on their Pigs Can Fly Tour in May. I had been looking forward to this night for quite some time, as some of you might know that I was meant to go see McBusted in 2015 but couldn't go because I had my knee operation (which you can read about here). So when I heard that Charlie was coming back to Busted and they were touring again, I just had to go! It was an insane night! It brought me right back to my childhood, and they sang all of my favourite songs and all of their lyrics came straight back to me. I saw them with my sister and we honestly had THE best time just acting like we were 5 years old again and jumping around our living room. It was all VERY exciting! I am also seeing them again this year in February.
The final highlight of this year was when I moved home in July. Don't get me wrong, I loved living away from home, getting to be semi-independent for a year and living with my best friends. But after a year of doing this I was more than ready to get back home to my family and back to normality, of some sort.

Now for the lessons...
This year I faced some pretty big challenges in my life but it meant that I learnt a thing or two about myself. 
Firstly, I learnt that I am capable of a lot more than I think I am, and that I am stronger (not in the "do you even lift bro" sense, but mentally) than I thought I ever could be! This became clear to me as I was completing my physiotherapy sessions. I used strength and determination that I didn't know that I had, and when I felt like giving up; I would find that extra push from somewhere to keep me going! And that is something that I will keep within me for a long long time yet!
The other thing that I learnt this year is that when you get knocked down, you have to get back up and be stronger than you were before. But a piece of scripture that I read during a hard time this year really kept me going. And that was "Don't worry about anything: instead pray about everything" (Philippians 4:6), this really reassured me that everything was going to be OK and that God is for me, not against me and that He is on my side.

My hopes for 2017...
Now I didn't enjoy 2016 all that much, but instead of sitting and complaining about it, I'm going to make some changes and set some goals for this year so that I don't make the same mistakes.
My number 1 thing this year is to JUST HAVE FUN!! To not take life so seriously and make the most of every single day. Along with this I want to try and be a more positive and happier person, even when things don't seem to be going right or when times get hard.
My final hope for this year is that I can just be myself and just do what I want to do, and not worry about what other people will say or think about me. I've been thinking about this goal for a while now, but I finally feel like I'm in a good place in my life for me to finally take this seriously. It's the start of a new year and I am ready for what life has in store for me!

A Canal in Amsterdam

Finally, my plans for 2017...
This year is going to be great, and I believe that if you declare it, it will happen!
There are a few things that I am pretty excited about, one of those being that I am going to Amsterdam in March - which is going to be AMAZING!! I'm going with one of my best friends and I haven't been on holiday in about 4/5 years, so it's going to be great to explore a different country and get to experience new things.

Another thing that I am excited about this year is that I'm seeing Busted, and in my hometown too WHOOP WHOOP! Along the lines of music, there is also going to be new releases from some of my favourites in the music world this year; from the likes of Ed Sheeran, The XX, and John Mayer. And I cannot wait for those, and from what I've heard already, it's going to be a good year.

I hope you're all having a good start to 2017, and that it will continue throughout the whole year!
What are some of your resolutions/goals for this year? Leave me a comment and let me know what they are.
Happy New Year everyone!

Jess x