"Your Joy is Your Job"

Hello Everyone :)

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this video (from 24:40 onwards is what I'm talking about) whilst I was planning for a small group that I lead, and it had some very interesting points in it that really made me think...

One of my goals for this year is to be happier and a more positive person and to just enjoy life. So when I watched this video, I decided that I needed to make some changes in my life and in my thinking.

Steven Furtick (a Christian speaker), says in part of this talk that we need to "own our emotions", and stop looking for someone else to blame for our state of minds. So we shouldn't be blaming others for the way that we feel, or for "putting us in a bad mood"...come on now, even I'm guilty of this!

Rather than just letting everyone and everything get to us, we need to own our emotions, and say to ourselves that "our joy is our job"...

This simple saying struck a chord in me and really challenged me because so often I rely on others to make me happy and to bring me joy. But in reality, people will always let us down because no one is perfect. We are all flawed. So if we want to have joy in our lives, it starts with us! We need to make a conscious effort to be more joyful, to fill our lives and our thoughts with the things that make us joyful.

We can't control what happens to us in life but we can control how we react to it. There is a famous quote by Charles R Swindle that says "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.... We are in charge of our attitudes". And I 100% believe this! There are so many situations in life where we can go off the handle and flip out at others or ourselves, this sometimes being the easier way out of things. Or we can choose to ride out the storm in a calm, collected and joyful way.
Now, I'm not saying that this is super easy and that it will come naturally to everyone, because let's be honest it won't. But that's ok!
Good things take time :)

After 2 months of this type of thinking, I feel so much happier and a lot more positive. And sometimes it won't be something that I notice on a daily basis, but more when something challenging arises and I don't feel stressed or anxious, because my way of thinking has changed and I know that those feelings won't get me anywhere. But feeling positive will! 
So, give it a try...

I'll leave you with this thought "Happiness is dependant on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to do battle with society and with others than to fight our own nature".

If you've got the time I would really encourage you to watch the video! And let me know what you think... Are there any motivational quotes that help you to keep your joy? Leave me a comment, I would love to read them!

Have a great week!

Jess x

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

Time To Get Organised

Hello Everyone :)

One of my goals/resolutions for this year is to get organised and to STAY organised for the WHOLE year! Most years I say that I want to get organised and get my life together, but then I usually fail by the end of January...if I even get that far!

I knew that I had to do something differently if I wanted to keep it up this year, so for Christmas I asked for THE most amazing planner/diary so that I can keep a check on what I'm supposed to be doing and when I should be doing it. I also got The Happiness Planner, which is something that I've wanted for a very long time! 

So with the help of both of these things, *I'm hoping*, I will have a very productive and organised year!

This planner/diary is incredible! As soon as I laid eyes on it, I fell in love...and I never thought that would happen to me...with a diary.

But anyway, this is called the Ban.do Sunshine Academic Diary 2016-2017, and it is glorious! I can't say enough good things about it, so I thought I'd write it all down...

I got this planner from John Lewis, after looking for SO long to find it in a UK shop and at a reasonable price, which I finally found here. It costs £26 (which I thought was pretty reasonable as it literally plans out your whole life for you) but you can find it on their own website here as well.

The main focus of this diary is to get your life in order and to make it a whole lot easier. Each month has a "month to view" section, kind of like a wall calendar, and then it splits each week down to have a week on each page. There is plenty of space to write in all the stuff that your busy life entails. But one of my favourite parts about it is that THERE ARE STICKERS!!!! 

These stickers just make this diary a lot more fun! They are so beautiful and well made and are in a wide range of designs; from aeroplanes to nail appointment stickers - whatever you're doing in life, there is a sticker for it (there are also additional stickers that you can buy, if you run out or need some extras).

My favourite part about the whole diary is the colourful design and how easy it is to use! I get a diary every single year, but this by far has to be my favourite one I've ever had!

So to any of you looking to get organised this year, or at least look like you're getting organised (haha!), then I would say that this is the planner for you! It's easy to use, has stickers, and is a nice and usable size (in a5).

Now, this is my favourite thing I think I have ever been given in my whole entire life! This is The Happiness Planner!

I got given this for my birthday last year, in August, but I was waiting for the right time to use it; like a significant thing to happen in my life, or the start of a new month. But with each new month came new challenges and I soon forgot all about this bad boy. However, as it is now 2017, I thought what better way to start off the year than by using my Happiness Planner.

You can get one here, and they have many different designs to choose from, you can also decide the length of your diary too. So you can go for only 100 days (like my one), or you can get the 365 day one. But they are all beautiful. The prices vary, depending on which one you want, which website you get it from, and what country you're in, so make sure you do your research before you buy one!

The main focus of this planner is to "focus on what makes you happy". The whole idea of "do more of what makes you happy" and all that jazz has always been something that I've tried to focus on, so this planner is absolutely perfect for people trying to make the most of life and getting all they can out of it.

The planner starts with "The Happiness Roadmap", where it asks you 13 questions about how you feel right now, about the things that make you happy and unhappy, what you want to get out of this planner etc. Filling these out really helps you to analyse the things that trigger your happiness and unhappiness.

Before starting the 100 days of happiness process, it asks you to rate how you feel, with a scale from 1-5; 5 being the good feelings, and 1 being the bad feelings. Then it begins...

Each week starts with a weekly plan, so you can see what you're up to this week and so you can prioritise your time wisely.

Each day has a quote to start off, for example "The best investment you'll ever make is in yourself. Never stop exploring, learning,experiencing, and becoming a better person every day" - Mo Seetubtim. This is such a great feature as it gets you thinking as soon as you open the page!

You then fill out what you're excited about for the day, what your main focus is, what your exercises are (still not sure if this means physical exercises or mental exercises, but anyway), and what your meals are for the day. This again, just helps to plan out your day, and keeps you organised.

It then asks you to fill out your schedule and make a to do list.... Now if you're anything like me and you LOVE to make lists then this feature is incredible! I just love the feeling you get when you cross off all things you have on your to do list.

Then at the end of the day it asks you to fill out the good things about the day and what you hope for tomorrow, already making you excited for the next day - I love it!

At the end of each week there is a weekly reflection page where it asks you to rate how you feel again, what the good and bad things were, what you learned, what/who you're thankful for and what you want to improve on for next week.

I just can't say enough good things about this planner! It has changed my perspective and my thinking on life in such a short space of time. It just gets you to focus more on the positive parts of life rather than the negative, and gets you to work on the negative parts so that they don't always have to stay negative!

It has such a fun and beautiful design and makes every day a joy. I wake up excited to write in it!

I would recommend this to anyone who is wanting to make the most of life and is wanting to increase their happiness - this planner will definitely do it for you!

Are you planning on getting organised this year? If so what planners/diaries do you recommend for doing so? Leave me a comment, I would LOVE to know!

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

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Finish....

Remember this!

Hello Everyone :)
Week 13:
I've actually done it.....
I've finished college for good.....
I had my last 2 exams this week, and they didn't go too well but I'm just so thankful to finally have college out of the way - especially after the year I've had! Now I am free to spend my summer as I wish (which will consist mostly of sleeping).
Recovery wise things weren't too great this week, but I'll explain later on in this post why.

I started at the ACL class this week. This is a special class where all of the ACL patients at my physiotherapy place come together for an hour and work on their recovery together, whilst listening to some "hype" music. The room is set up with 10 different stations, ranging from the cross trainer to balance boards and all that comes in between, and we then go round in a circuit spending 3 minutes on each station.
However, because my physiotherapist was ill this week, I was left with another physio who ran the class too - but he didn't know what I was good at or what I struggled with. So he basically just observed me the whole time, rather than helping or encouraging me. So I didn't really enjoy it too much as I feel like I work better with a bit of encouragement.
Also my knee was super wobbly this week. No matter what I did it just wobbled like crazy! It was incredibly frustrating, especially when it came to doing the jumping from side to side and then balancing on my operated leg on the trampette as it was too wobbly to even balance. Also when I was doing the step ups and step overs on the step box my leg wobbled and ached so much. The physio seemed to think it was because my knee was tired which would explain the wobbling.
After this session, I had quite a lot of pain in the muscles around my knee and it ached really bad. Hopefully next weeks session will be better because right now I'm not too keen on this new class. I'm not sure if it's just because I don't like change (and this is a big change for me), or because my knee was tired, but I'm really hoping this feeling goes away for next week.

This is going to sound so random, aha, but this week I had a dream that I could run - like a full on sprint! But when I woke up and I still couldn't run I was so so upset :(
It'll happen soon, I just wish it would hurry up. I haven't been able to do it for around 10 months (since I first injured my knee). It's funny because before the injury I was never that fussed about running, but I think it's that thing of whenever someone tells you that you can't do something, and it just makes you even more determined to do it. I think running is like that, because I'm not able to do it and now I would do anything to be able to.
But I will get there!

My scars poking through my ripped jeans aha ;)

So this week was another boring one because I spent a lot of my time revising and trying to get my last 2 exams out of the way, but now they are so hopefully I'll start being a lot more active and fun aha ;)
This week I also wore jeans for the first time since the operation woo hoo! I probably could have started to wear them a while back but I love my jeans to be super skinny, which then requires the skinny jean dance (girls, you know the one...) But I finally did it, I'm getting back to normal, slowly but surely!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

A Concert With A Knee Injury

The limited edition poster for the
Wembley shows

Hello Everyone :)
For the readers that are familiar with my blog, you will know that I had knee surgery in the last 3 months, but for those of you who aren't too familiar I'll give a little bit of background information.
So about 10 months ago I tore something called the ACL. This is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and it basically prevents over-rotation in the knee, and allows you to be able to run, jump and change direction suddenly. After an accident at gymnastics, I tore this, and 3 months ago I had surgery to fix it. The rehab process is rather extensive and takes around 9 months to just about get back to normal - so going to a concert, I was obviously very sceptical!

5 Seconds Of Summer are one of my favourite bands ever and they've put on a damn good live show every time I've seen them - which is 4 times now ;) They are just so energetic and excited on stage that the audience vibe off them, and have the best night ever!
And this time was no different....

Ahead of my attendance at the concert, I emailed Wembley Arena (where it was being held) about potentially moving my seats. This is because my seats were incredibly high up in the arena - and as I was going to be on crutches, I needed lots of leg room, which would not have been possible in my original seats.
They got back to me and told me that I had to print off the email and then on the day of the concert report to the Box Office to see what they could do. As this was left on rather an ambiguous note, I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I knew that I obviously had to go!
I left that whole situation alone as there was nothing more I could do for now, so I started to prepare for the concert!

My VERY excitable countdown ;)

Once the day had arrived (the 12th June 2015), it was like a dream come true! After 337 days of waiting, the day had finally arrived and I was very blooming excited!
I spent the day in and around London as I had some time to kill and the weather managed to stay dry *hooray* so that was a bonus. Although the tube was rather difficult at rush hour and with me being on crutches, people weren't always the kindest...
But this couldn't dim the amount of excitement that I had for what was to come.

Wembley Arena :)

On my arrival at the venue (which is bloody beautiful, may I add), we headed straight to the Box Office - I got there about 1 hour before the doors opened just to give myself enough time to sort things out. Here, I showed the woman the email and she took my old tickets and exchanged them for brand spanking new ones.... WHICH WERE MUCH CLOSER THAN MY OTHER ONES AND I HAD LOADS OF LEG ROOM, HELL YEAH! We were also at the front of our section, so it meant that no one would be in my way of seeing the 5SOS lads if I needed to sit down. I was honestly so so thankful that it actually worked out for the best, and I'd be able to get a better look at 5SOS ;)
All hyped up and happy, I then crutched my way over to the merch stand (which was outside), where a woman who worked at Wembley told me the queue inside was much smaller and it may be easier considering I'm on crutches. So inside I went, and I got all of my merch and whatnot, then me and my sister sat down until the doors were open.
Once we had sat down another woman who worked at Wembley approached us and asked us if we wanted to go up to the Rewards/VIP lounge for free as they had some upgrade tickets left, and it may have been more comfortable for my knee. So of course we said yes! This woman was super nice and she showed us where we'd have to go in to the arena, and was asking us about 5SOS too and how to pronounce their abbreviated name aha ;) The lounge was super nice and comfy and it was great to be away from all of the madness!
Then 6:30 came along and it was time to take our seats in the arena....

Living that VIP life ;)

Ok this post turned out to be way longer than I anticipated, so I'm going to split this post into 2 halves ;) This half is more of an appraisal to Wembley Arena as they were so lovely to me and really catered for my needs so that I could have a great night. I'm honestly so thankful for their service and kindness! But the next post will include LOADS more about 5SOS and the actual show itself, so look out for that!
Leave me a comment if you've been to see 5 Seconds Of Summer before, or if you're going to see them because I would love to hear about it.
Stay positive and keep on being you x

I'm Back....Again!

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year :)

Well look who's back....
It's been quite a while since I last posted on this blog, and to tell the truth I have missed it dearly! But this post is just to quickly say that I am back and that I have some plans for this next year (and onwards, if all goes well haha!)

The next few posts from me will be pretty old, as they are ones that I've had drafted for over a year but just haven't published yet! So I want to get those out of the way first, before I move on to the new ones. 
I am also hoping to give my blog a new look at some point as well, just to keep it looking fresh and a bit more modern.

So this is it, I'm back! And it feels SO good.
Keep an eye out for my next few posts.
And stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm Discharged....

I love this a lot!

Hello Everyone :)
Week 12:
This week just kept getting better and better as the days went on; in terms of recovery, revision and being a fan of a particular band ;)
So if you couldn't guess already, I finally had some more physiotherapy (in fact 2 rounds of it) and they both went well, and then I went to a concert WOOP WOOP! But there will be more on that later, and maybe even a whole other post dedicated to it - who knows hey?
I also had another exam this week which was English Literature, and I know that I messed up on one of the questions but I managed to remember all of the quotes I needed to, and I'm done with this subject forever so I am very happy!
3 down, 2 more to go :)

I'll start with the physiotherapy.
So the first round happened in the beginning of the week and my physio was finally back and I was more than ready to get going again.
This week I tried some new exercises that revolved around the exercise ball. The first new exercise was more of a re-work of one that I had already been doing. Firstly, you put your feet/ankles onto the ball and lie on your back. Then you roll the ball in slightly towards your bum with your feet, and then lift your bum off of the floor and hold for about 5-10 seconds. This exercise is great for working the hamstrings and you can really feel the pull that it gives you.
The second new exercise was a completely new one. First you sit on the exercise ball, then you have to roll off of it until only your head/neck are resting on it. Your knees should be bent at a 90 degree angle and the rest of your body should be resting in the air. You then hold this position whilst holding your arms up in the air and bring one down to each side. This should be done for about 20 seconds. This really works your core muscles and the hamstrings again.
After doing these exercises my physio told me that he could see how much progress my knee had made and how much stronger it had gotten since beginning physiotherapy, so that made me very happy! Although after this session, I did feel an incredible amount of pain in my knee and muscles in my leg. But once I'd had some ibuprofen and some CyroCuff time, the pain soon went away.

I seemed to find my second physiotherapy session this week a lot harder than the first, as I nearly fainted. I was doing a lot of steps and squats with weights and after abut 10 minutes I started to feel very light headed and dizzy so I took some time out and had some water. I did this for about 5 minutes and then I was ready to go again. This feeling may have come from being stressed from exams or maybe just exhausted as I am pushing myself very hard with exercises and revision at the same time.
But despite this, my physio remained positive and told me that he thinks I'll do really well in the ACL class (which I'll be starting next week) and that I may show people up in it haha! So that definitely cheered me up after the bad start.

My (close to) 3 month post-op appointment was this week too! I was really nervous about it, but I think that may be more to do with the fact that I don't like hospitals, rather than being worried about my knee.
Once I was called into the room with my surgeon, he got straight to work. He brought me up onto the chair-bed thing and tested out my new ACL (for those of you who have been through this, you know the kind of tests I mean!). So I had to bend my leg - as far as I was comfortable with - then he sat on my foot and pulled against my bent knee. Straight away he noticed how much stronger it was as my knee didn't really give - if that makes sense? Like it put up more of a fight? Anyway, then he felt all round my knee and normally on my right side (where I had the meniscus damage) there would be a lot of pain, but there was absolutely no pain!

You can see the staples really clearly and a screw in the
right of the picture.

He then sat me down and showed me the pictures from the actual surgery and from my X-Ray and they were SO cool! They took pictures before and after putting the new ACL in place and it really is so amazing the things that surgeons can do nowadays! I was also shown a picture of the meniscus that had been repaired. It wasn't a total rip in it but they thought that they may as well repair it whilst they were in there, so that was also cool to see.
Then he asked me if I planned on going back to gymnastics, and I said yes because it is a massive hobby of mine. But then he told me that if I go back there is a 50% chance that I'll do it again in either knee in the first 3 years. So obviously that terrified me, but it's given me a lot to think about. He then told me that I need to wait 9 months from my surgery date anyway to go back to high impact sports, so that can be my thinking time.
However, after all of this, he then discharged me properly and fully from the hospital for my knee surgery, wooo hooo :D

This week I also went to go and see 5 Seconds of Summer in concert, and they were so so so so amazing!!! I'm not going to go into too much detail about the concert as I plan on doing a post all about that, so you have that to look forward to ;)

The AMAZING 5 Seconds of Summer in their element :)

So this week was probably one of my favourite weeks (ever) as I finished learning about Wuthering Heights, I got to see one of my favourite bands live, and I got discharged from the hospital..... So it was all in a week's work ;)
I would also just like to point out the fact that ONE DIRECTION FINALLY ADDED NO CONTROL AND 18 TO THEIR SETLIST!!!!! I have been waiting for this day ever since the On The Road Again Tour started and that day finally arrived and there was so much happiness!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Exam....

Hello Everyone :)
Week 11:
This week I have been incredibly boring (yet again), but it's the middle of exam season and all of my time is spent either revising, rehabbing my knee or sleeping, so please forgive me!
There was no physiotherapy this week either as my physio was away from work, but that doesn't mean that the exercise stops :)

Something to remember when going
through this process!

First things first, this week wasn't all smiles :(
I went round to my friend's house one evening this week and she has dogs - so I was already skeptical about going round in case they jumped up at me or something like that. But things were going fine, until another one of my friend's started playing with one of the dogs. She had a bone and was trying to throw it in the opposite direction but it hit my knee instead! And then the dog jumped up at my knee, resulting in me crying from all the pain.
It was lucky that I had brought round the CyroCuff to give me some sort of relief, but my oh my did that hurt!
I guess it was the scar tissue complaining again - as it always is!

I also had my first A2 exam this week, which meant that I have just been revising like crazy!
The exam was Media Studies which is probably my best subject and the one that I felt most confident with as I have already achieved a grade A in my coursework meaning that I would have to screw up pretty badly in this exam to not pass overall!
It went extremely well and I managed to remember everything that I needed to, result! I love it when you feel like all of the revision that you did actually paid off :)
2 exams down, and 3 more to go.

The beautiful Hayling Island :)

So this week is a very short post as I really didn't do much worthy of writing about!
The physio exercises are going well, and I'm really trying to work my knee as much as I can to get something from all of the workouts, so that includes upping the reps and adding weights to certain exercises to build up the muscle and strength.
I also took a walk along a (pretty much) deserted part of the beach on Hayling Island whilst the sun was setting. It was truly beautiful, and it felt good to be able to walk all of that way and feel almost no pain - although I must add that the stones were very difficult to walk on but I gave it my best try!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Have Some Accidents....

Hello Everyone :)
Week 10:
As I am writing this post (incredibly behind schedule, I know, but I'm trying!) I am currently watching Gossip Girl...... and OMG - it has changed my life. I've been watching it since the end of May and I'm on season 5 already, and it has taken over my life. It is literally all I think about but I guess that's when you know you've found a goodun!
This week there was no physiotherapy's I had 2 rounds of it last week, but I made sure I stayed as active as I could despite the lack of gym time. There were also a few slip ups this week that will be explained later on :(

My final ever A Level exams are fast approaching and that means that I am spending my life revising and stressing! (this is why the next few posts are slightly behind schedule) I can't wait until they are all over and then I can fully focus on rehabbing my knee and continuing to make it stronger, without having to feel guilty that I should be revising.
I think that's one of the worst things about college; the feeling of guilt you get when you're not revising or doing some sort of work for college. It holds you back from doing so many things, and also it makes you feel like poop. *sigh* Rant over.

This week I had a few slip ups, and by "slip ups" I mean stupidity on my behalf :(
The first mishap came when I was carrying something down the stairs and my foot (on my good leg) slipped off of a step, which resulted in me slamming my other foot (on my bad leg) down to steady myself. This ended with me sitting on the stairs in tears from the pain that was caused. I guess that it was just such a sudden movement that my knee wasn't prepared for and it was just my body's reaction to put my foot down - even though it would be painful. I did, however, get over this pain after having some Ibuprofen and rest.
The second mishap happened when I was round my friend's house and eating breakfast. I wasn't too used to the surroundings, and I stupidly hit my bad knee on a table leg. And you know when you get that sort of pain that winds you for like 5 minutes? Yeah, this was that type of pain! I hit it right on a scar and the pain was unbelievable. So I then spent the remainder of the day with a bag of frozen sweetcorn on my knee. I think it hurt so bad because it was right on a scar, where the tissue is still trying to heal itself - so it may have just upset that a little bit.

On the plus side, my 5 Seconds of Summer tickets arrived :D With 11 days to spare the tickets finally came through! It'll be a nice outcome after all I've been through this year.
I have also emailed the venue to see what they can do about moving my seats, as they are extremely high up - with little leg room - and I would actually like to be able to see without having to stand up the whole time aha! So I'll have to wait and see how that all turns out.

So this week has been a slow week in terms of progression with my knee. But not all weeks are going to be an uphill climb, and I think that is so important to remember when going through something like this. Just because things haven't gone so well one week, it doesn't mean all weeks will be like this. And "things get worse before they get better" :)
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm 2 Months Post-Op....

Hello everyone :)
Week 9:
Where have these past 2 months gone?! I always thought that recovery would be like the night before a concert that you've been waiting months for, and time just goes so slowly. But surprisingly, it's gone pretty quickly!
Despite this quickness in time, it has been no less of a struggle! But I truly believe that staying positive is the key to a healthy and happy recovery.
It's been a good week :)

Okay, so first things first, I finished college for good this week (apart from exams). This is probably the most exciting thing that has happened in quite some time haha!
Finishing college meant that it was time for my Sixth Form Leaver's Ball. It is a dance type thing that happens at the end of the year to celebrate the end of college, and people dress up all fancy and it is an evening to be enjoyed by all. However, despite wearing flat shoes (and most others wearing heels) and taking it as easy as I possibly could, I still ended up sitting out the majority of the night because my knee was just far too painful. I got up to dance to "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls (let's face it, who doesn't?!) and that was it, my knee was done for the rest of the evening. This was extremely frustrating and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did but there was nothing I could do about it at the end of the day.

I had 2 rounds of physiotherapy this week, and I felt that both of them were victories in the recovery department.

Knee flexion is flexing ;)

In the first session I had my knee flexion and extension measured for the first time since the day after my operation. I have gained 30 degrees in flexion and my knee extension is nearly at 0, so I'm very nearly back to my full range of motion in my knee! This was such great news and it put me in the absolute best mood ever :D
The proper full range in the knee is around 135 degrees in flexion and 0 for extension. So I am so very nearly back at the full range of motion.
At this physio session I also went on the rower for the first time post-op. It felt super weird at first but after the first few rows, and going quite gently, I got into the rhythm of it and built up the right amount of momentum. I love adding new exercises or pieces of equipment to workouts because it makes me feel as though I've progressed enough to be rewarded with a new exercise, and that makes me happy.

In the 2nd session of physiotherapy, my physio measured my flexion and extension again because he forgot to write it down the first time - how professional?! Anyway for 2 months after ACL reconstruction, the knee flexion should be at 120 degrees, but I'm at 130 degrees. So when he told me that it made me extremely happy because it means I'm further on in my recovery than I should be, and further on than most other people.
I also started doing some leg stretches this week. This included sitting on my legs, so that they were bent underneath me. I couldn't get my bum to sit directly onto my feet, but I was really close and it was a good attempt for the first time trying it. I then tried standing up and holding my foot where the shoelaces are and pulling it up behind me - so pulling it towards my bum - whilst balancing on my good leg. Both of these exercises felt very relieving once I had completed them, almost as if I had needed to do them for a while.

So this week has been very productive, recovery wise.
In the gym at physio, there was a woman who was wearing the clunky knee brace that I had and could barely do anything. And whilst I was doing all of these crazy (well crazy for me) new exercises, I watched this woman and it really made me appreciate just how far I had come in terms of my recovery! Going from being bed ridden and barely being able to walk, to 2 months later and I'm relatively back to normal. Life is crazy :)
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm Boring....

Hello everyone :)
Week 8:
I'm not even gonna lie, this week has been proper boring, and I sincerely apologise for this post because it may bore you to tears.
Anyway, the reason for this boringness is because I had my first exam of the year, so all I have been doing is revising like crazy! The exam was AS Ethics, which I was re-taking from last year because I did awfully. And it went surprisingly well, so I was glad that I did spend a lot of my time revising as I felt like it actually paid off and wasn't all for nothing.

This week I had another physiotherapy session where I progressed to some exercises using props. Last week I was doing the same exercises but just on their own. So I was doing the bridging exercise on its' own. But this week I did it with an exercise ball under my heels/legs. This meant that I could really work my hamstrings and could work on my core muscles to keep the ball in place - without moving it too much.

Great things take time :)

Another exercise that I did last week without a prop was balancing on my operated leg. But this week I balanced on my operated leg whilst holding a football in my hands, with my arms out straight. I then had to lift the ball above my head, then back out in front of me, and then I had to turn to the left and to the right holding out the ball - whilst balancing on my leg. I had to repeat this 5 times. I also did this exercise on a blue foam block - so the surface was uneven and really tested my balance! By the 5th time, my leg was quite wobbly but at no time felt like it could give way.
The third, and final, exercise that I did last week without a prop was the sit-to-stand. But this week I was given a 1kg ball to hold out at arms length in front of me. This was so that my muscles really started to work again in my legs. By the 15th time doing this, my legs and arms were shaking like crazy!
In this session my physiotherapist kept saying to me "this is too easy for you", and then he'd find a way to make it harder. This made me feel as though I was really trying to push myself, and as though all of my exercise at home was really paying off.

I went out on a few outings this week, these included going to see Pitch Perfect 2 (which was amazing - maybe better than the first one?!) and going with my friend to get her nose pierced.
On both of these outings I wore a knee support to compress my knee and to help me feel some sort of comfort. I found that wearing this made me feel a lot more confident when walking - with it still feeling quite wobbly.
Walking is still quite difficult, and I'm still slow, but I know that with more time spent on my knee it will get back to normal.

I told you that this week would be incredibly boring *yawn*, and if you made it this far then I applaud you!
I'm not taking as much Ibuprofen anymore because there isn't as much swelling or pain in my knee, which is amazing! The only time I feel like I need it is the day after physio when I feel some muscular pain from the strain in my hamstrings.
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm Free....

Hello everyone :)
Week 7:
I'M FREE.......
I ACTUALLY DID IT!
As you may be able to tell, I am pretty darn excited and happy this week. I love weeks like this, they really make you appreciate your progress and show you just how far you have come since the first day of recovery when you couldn't even walk. I also have the truth about what happened in last weeks blog post which you can read about later on.

I'M FREEEEE :D

This week (if I didn't make it clear already) I GOT MY FRIGGIN' BRACE OFF :D I'm also crutch free too! It feels so good to not be restricted by the knee brace anymore, and to be able to feel normal again, despite the scars all over my knee. I'm not getting so many stares when I'm out and about, but I'm really slow at walking, so people are getting frustrated because it looks like there is nothing physically wrong with me, but there is :(
Oh well, I'm just so happy with my progress to this point to actually be able to get it off. I was always told by my surgeon that I would need it on for 3 months, but the fact that my physiotherapist didn't think that was necessary makes me insanely proud of myself; as if I'm further on in my recovery than they thought I would be.
Freedom has never tasted so sweet!

At physiotherapy this week I used the trampette for the first time post-op. I only did gentle - almost stepping - from one foot to another, and then landing on my left leg in a bent position and holding that for 5 seconds. Adding new exercises to my workouts always make me feel like I've made a bit more progress so I can add something new.
He also told me that he believes my consultant at the hospital will be really happy with me and my progress when I see him in June - which, again, made me really happy!
Ok, now for the truth about my wobble last week. I asked my physiotherapist what he thought it could have been and he said that he thinks it may have been the scar tissue in my knee still healing, and by twisting it a little bit, I may have just pulled it almost. It is nothing to worry about, and it happens, he said that there was no way I could have torn the ACL again just by walking.
So that put my mind at rest and made me feel so much better.

After this physiotherapy session, getting the brace off, and no longer using the crutches, I may have pushed myself a bit too hard. So rather than taking it easy for a few days (like I was told to do), I carried on as usual. This led to me feeling an immense amount of pain in my hamstrings and bum, I was also quite wobbly when walking - which is one reason why I was walking slower than normal. Stairs are also an issue again as lifting my legs and putting all of my weight onto one of them to get up and down is hard, but I want to push myself to make sure that I get this skill back again as you can't avoid stairs in life.
I only have myself to blame for this pain, and it's like they say "no pain, no gain"!

Indeed.

So this week has been incredibly eventful and full of happiness and smiles, hooray for progress! 
I managed to have my first bath post-op this week (I know that you can have one 48 hours after getting staples out, but I was just incredibly nervous that the wounds would open up - which they didn't). I obviously still had showers, but having a bath is so relaxing and it's something that I've missed greatly in the past 7 weeks. 
I also managed to go back to my own bed this week :D Because my bed is a cabin bed (so my wardrobe and desk are under my bed), I couldn't use the ladder with the knee brace, so I was sleeping in my dad's bed. But I'm finally back and it's never felt so good!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Wobble....

This is probably my favourite quote that
I've found from this whole process :)

Hello everyone :)
Week 6:
Recovery is hard..... It just had to be said.
Honestly, I have never been through something as physically and mentally challenging as this. But every week that I get through is like a huge pat on the back for me, like a "congrats, I know this is hard, but you're getting through it" type thing. It also makes me feel really good when I think that I can't do something, and then I push through and do it. It's true what they say "My knee may never be the same, but neither will be determination"....

This week I had my first physiotherapy appointment with the new physiotherapist, who deals with the ACL patients. He had me on the wobble board (for the first time post-op, hoorah!) which was incredibly difficult at first, but once I got into it my balance seemed to improve - which may be my gymnastic skills slowly coming back aha! My physiotherapist was really impressed with my balancing and thinks I'm doing really well with my recovery. I also continued with my strengthening - gentle - exercises. I was informed that for the first 12 weeks this is all we can do, as before that time is when your body is still getting used to the operation, and is still adjusting to the new ACL. So the heavier exercises (like running and jumping) will come after that time, just to be on the safe side.
He also told me that my recovery may be a bit slower than other people's because of the tear in my meniscus that had to be sorted out, which is frustrating but it has made me even more determined to prove him wrong.
My brace should be coming off next week too, and I am very very excited about this! I'll finally have freedom :)

However, despite the positives, I also had a bit of a wobble this week. I was in town shopping, with my brace on and using my crutches, when I felt a sharp pain go through my knee. I'm not sure if I stepped funny or twisted my knee a little bit, or something like that, but I suddenly felt A LOT of pain.
I then had to stop for a few minutes and gain my strength back (and calm myself down as there were a few tears), but then I got going again but didn't put so much weight on my left leg.
I'm still not sure what exactly happened, but it did put a downer on my recovery this week as I've been trying to take it as easy as possible to not aggravate my knee :( At my next physiotherapy session I will ask if he knows what could have happened.
I know that I won't have torn my ACL again as it would take much more than a little twist when waking to do it, but you can't help but have a fearful mind, especially being so early on in recovery, that you've done it again.
Hopefully I'll be able to shed some light on this in next week's post.

This week also saw one of my favourite bands, 5 Seconds of Summer, begin their first headline arena world tour (I know, what a mouthful) *sounds of me sobbing from being so proud*. You may be thinking "what the heck does this have to do with your recovery?!" Well this first show brought about 5SOS' new song "Permanent Vacation" - which may I add has been on repeat for days. And this new song is bloody great to do physio exercises to and I would recommend it to everyone. It is incredibly catchy and sounds brilliant live. The chants throughout the song make it an absolute anthem and get everyone so hyped when listening to it. I love it!
It has also got me super excited to see them in June :D

5SOS in Lisbon.

So this has been a pretty calm week (apart from the wobble when shopping) in terms of recovery and progress being made. I'm still taking Ibuprofen regularly for the swelling in my knee, which tends to be worse after any exercises, and I'm still using the CyroCuff for this reason too. But things are still going well and I can feel my knee and muscles getting stronger every single day!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x