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Saturday 21 September 2013

What haaaaave you been doing Mrs O?!

I know, I know, we all have busy lives and so that is no excuse, but to be honest, its not because of that that I haven't posted recently, but I have set myself so many new life challenges that I just haven't been able to just sit down and write!

So I thought I would take some time to write. I've had to schedule this in! How annoying is that?! My life at the moment is full of lists.

At the end of each week, I start to write down what to do for next week. These can be from things such as need to get when doing food shopping, things to blog about, things to check out all the way down to silly little reminder. I even have a special little pink book purposefully for lists!

I came across this on facebook a few weeks ago and I have saved it to share with you all as I thought it was quite funny. 

I am so glad that 'Eating Ice cream' was on there! I don't know where I'd be without it! (Maybe a lot thinner I am thinking maybe?!)

 
But the main point of this post is to ask: What haaaaave you been doing Mrs O?!
 
Well, since my birthday, I have been focusing on three main things which are:
 
1. Living a healthier lifestyle
2. Crafting a lot more
3. Using my new vlogging camera and trying it out etc.
 
You may have seen that I posted about going on the Harcombe diet, which, let's just say, 'ain't happening'. I have such a sweet tooth and I need to eat more than meat and salad! However, the best thing that has come out of it is that I have now not had squash in over 2 weeks. To some people this isn't a big thing, but as I don't rink tea or coffee it was all I used to drink. Actually, I lie, I have had two glasses at the weekend but that was something out of my control! AND when I did drink it, it made me just thirst more and so I could tell how bad the squash was for me.
 
Anyway, back to the point, as you could see on THIS VIDEO I bought a bottle to help me keep drinking water and it has really helped and worked. And now instead of flaring my nostrils and thinking that water was vile to drink, I have it lots and lots. Plus I even have a sip after every few mouthfuls of food.
 
~Wow, who knew I could write so much about squash?!!~
 
Not only have I been doing all of that, I have also been going swimming nearly every day for at least half an hour each day. And as for the eating.... I have a surprise in store for you all about that but that will all be revealed in due course.
 
Crafting a lot more.... hummmm well I have started the Homemade Christmas challenge and so the 'September Challenge' has helped me with this. Although I haven't blogged about this challenge, I aim to do one big write up at the end. As you will see from THIS VIDEO (from when I went up to Warrington with the International Staff Songsters of The Salvation Army) we had a very long coach journey up so I used this time very wisely and decided to get going on one of the presents (which can also be seen in THIS VIDEO).
 
Using my new vlogging camera and trying it out etc. - Well to start this I had to kind 'gut' out our second bedroom as we had used it as a bit of a dumping ground for stuff we didn't have a home for. Tonight I aim to make a video to post up explaining all of this. But, it is now completed, Mum and Dad slept in the room last night as they came over and it is all set to go. But I have made a few videos which you can see HERE and HERE using it. I also bought a tripod to set up in the spare room so I can do tutorials etc in there. All exciting stuff.....
 
Do any of you have funny little things that you make lists about?

Is there anything you would like me to make / do a tutorial on / vlog about?

Let me know and we will go from there.

Take care, and speak soon!

Love, Mrs O x

Monday 9 September 2013

New age, New start

This weekend been I celebrated my 24th Birthday. You can watch my vlog for Saturday HERE and my vlog for Sunday HERE.

As I said in Sunday's blog I have decided that me turning 24 is a new start to life and in order to help me do that Mr O & I are changing our way of life and our ways of eating for good. I know, I know, I'm always on diets etc but this time it's not a diet it's change of a way of life.

As you may have seen on facebook last week I asked for some advice on what to do. I decided that the best way to help me loose weight was to just eat healthier and move more. That is why we have chosen the Harcombe diet as it gets you eating all fresh unprocessed foods.

I did the 5:2 diet for a while and yes, I did get results but I need to eat! My body was not built to starve!!

The first week / phase is a bit like a detox. It is a way to detox your body of all cravings and help you eat healthier.

I have devised up this little chart of 'yes' and 'no' eats to make it easier for us to eat from.
 
Yes
No
· Unprocessed meat, Fish, Eggs, Salds, Vegetables, Olives, Tomatoes, Olive Oil
· One of these once a day 50g Brown Rice / Pasta or 75g Porridge oats
· Drinks – Water, herbal tea, decaf tea / coffee with no milk
· Natural Live Yoghurt (NLY)
Potatoes, Mushrooms, Fruit, Caffine, milk, cheese, butter, Sweeteners, sugar-free drinks

I then took this information and built up a food plan for the next week so that we could do a food shop and also to help us keep on track.

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Monday
75gPorridge (made with water)
Boiled Egg Salad
Steak
Tuesday
Egg & Bacon
Tuna Salad
Chicken & bacon Salad
Wednesday
75g Porridge (made with water)
Chicken Salad
Runner bean salad (make enough for 2 meals)
Thursday
Omelette
Runner bean salad (left over from last night’s dinner)
Cottage Pie (make enough for 2 meals)
Minced lamb & swede & carrot
Friday
75g Porridge (made with water)
Tuna Salad
Cottage Pie (left over from last night’s dinner)
 
 
So today has been day 1. I have done a video of it all for you all to see and to see what the meals looked like. The porridge with just water was vile so I added some cinamon which was even more vile! So during my lunch break today I put a message up on the facebook group which I joined and asked for some help. And they suggested to have oats with yoghurt and cinamon so I may try that on Wednesday as tomorrow I am going to have a fry-up!!
 
Lunch was pretty easy as I just bunged in a tupperwear box some salad leaves, chopped peppers and cucumber and then in another box I popped in 2 boiled eggs that I boiled the night before.
 
I think the key to this diet is going to be preperation.
 
For tea tonight I have got a lovely steak and salad waiting for me! I can't wait! If I get peckish then I can have some olives.
 
I think I am defo going to miss my fruit this week and my squash.
 
Oooohhh yer, that's the biggest thing or craving I'm probably going to have is squash. Someone suggested to me to have fruit tea hot or cold. To be honest, it is vile but apparently it gets better with time. I just keep thinking to myself that next week I will be able to have a slice of lemon or lime in with my water to add some flavour.
 
I already know that my challenge will be this weekend when I am away with the ISS as I wont have much control over my food but I will try my best and take packed lunch and a packed return home tea with me.
 
Fingers crossed and wish myself & Mr O good luck.
 
Love, Mrs O x

Thursday 5 September 2013

From Little Acorns....

... From little things great things grow ....


In light of my recent amazement on how quickly I reached my first 5,000 views, I thought I would bring you all that little quote. 

My Mum and Dad used this quote to lean on when they started their own business up (http://www.nameitplates.co.uk/). So much so, Mum decided to re-name our family home to 'Little Acorns'.

I also wanted to say a huge congratulations to my friend Samantha Giles.

She's an old school friend who, when she had her little girl, started her own little business out. It originally started as a small hobby with sales only really to friends. She calls it a hobby that got out of control! But to me it sounds like a dream! She is now currently out in Australia and she now sells internationally to places throughout New Zealand, America and Canada.

As a creative person, I just love this.

However, as of today, Baby Bands is now a registered business. 


She originally started out making baby head bands but has now widened her stock to things such as nappy cases, wipes tubs, wipes cases, blankets, dummy clips, strap pads and many more baby related things.


Please check it out - wherever you are in the World!


Congrats again Sam and all you mummies, aunties, grandmas, anyone with a baby in mind please check it out, her stuff is so CUTE!!!

Keep it going hun!

Love, Mrs O x

... And we're there at the Give away!

So I have now reached 5,000 views. May not be a lot for some, but it's a lot for me!
 
I have decided to give away my new favourite beauty item which is Superdrug's Collection's concealer.
 
Collection 2000 Concealer Lasting Perfection Light
 
You can see my review and tutorial HERE.
 
 
So what do I have to do to claim it?....
 
All you need to do is comment below here and say:
a) Why you are enjoying my blog
b) Why you would like it  
 
You have until Sunday 29th September to comment below.
 
The winner will be announced on Monday 30th September.
 
Good luck!
Love, Mrs O x

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Throw back Thursday - September

As this month hosts my birthday, I thought I would take this month's throw back Thursday back to September 2007 when I held my 18th Birthday. 

The theme was X Factor. Lots of people dressed up as celebrities and it was a great evening packed with lots memories. 

Check out my tan and skinniness! 

My teen years were full of lots of fun but also sadness but my best years were from my year 11 plus. That was when I enjoyed life the most. Oh to be there again! No worries apart from getting a few bits of coursework in and if a boy fancied you or not. 



If it weren't for those years, I wouldn't be the person I am today. 

What are your favourite memories?....

Love, Mrs O x

Johns of Appledore


I just found this post that needed editing from our holiday. As Johns was such a main part of our holiday I thought I had better edit it and post it! I have also just realised that I hadn't uploaded my final Appledore video which I will get onto now!

Pretty much everyday in Appledore we either had a coffee, a bite to eat or bought something from a shopping chain, called Johns, in Appledore. They had a grocery store, a delicatessen and a cafe all next door to each other but in separate buildings and rooms. They were very quaint and gave you a real feel for local produce. 



The food from the cafe was good. Although the food was fresh, sometimes it came cold or took a while to arrive to us.



The food in the deli was fresh nearly everyday and the bread and french sticks went very quickly!

You can see from one of my videos (http://youtu.be/if9ssOr4cFA) of my little secret video of them here and you can also see the combined video of the week here.

As you may know by now, I love local food so this was a great little find.

You can find out more about them at their website here: 


Have any of you been to Appledore? And have any of you been to Johns?


Love, Mrs O x

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Appledore - so what happened?

Here are some of the highlights of our lovely holiday....



I spent some lovely quality time with family, especially Mr O

As you may well know, we recently became an Aunty and Uncle again so we were so happy to be able to spend a whole week with our niece and nephew and being able to gain some lovely memories as well as getting to know some other family members better.



We fell in love with a shop/cafe called Johns. - I will be doing a post on it soon - so keep your eyes peeled!



We ate lots of Hockings Icecream
This is like the most yummiest and scrummiest ice cream EVER. Mrs O the 1st and I ate a few sneaky icecreams, but enjoyed them as we ate them!


We spent hours upon hours crabbing. 

Mr O was obsessed with crabbing. As soon as we got there on the first day, before he did anything else he went straight to the Quay and went crabbing. We spent many hours crabbing. Lots of fun. 


Mr O & I took our nephew to do some pottery / painting. 

On researching on places to go before we went away, I found this brilliant place called the Hubba Cafe. All items were 50p and it was run by adults with learning difficulties. Alongside that was the place to do pottery. The whole place was lovely and had my favourite shabby chic feel to it.

Have a look HERE at their advert - I can't find a website for them. :(



We went shopping - of course! 

We went to the Atlantic Village which is a big shopping outlet centre. We didn't buy much as I did set myself the challenge to only buy local products whilst we were away (minus the trip to Asda & Sainsburys - we know how to roll!!)



Collected lots of shells

I decided to help me with a new project for the September crafting month I decided to collect lots of shells from the beach in the week.

I came accross lots of shell crafts and I think I have decided to do something like the following:



We fed the seagulls

At the end of the day after crabbing we had the fun of throwing the fish heads and meat to the seagulls and watching them fight for the food. At the end of meals we would throw the scraps out off the balcony and watch the seagulls dive in and catch them.

We wandered down the little quaint streets of Appledore

We visited Tapley Manor

I will do a better blog on this - coming soon - but it had lovely gardens all full of history.
Check out my Irish white legs!
There was also this lovely little shell hut where it was decorated all with shells - don't worry, I won't try to re-create it! But look at the cute little heart shining through.



Did some exercise with Felicity 

During our time in Appledore, Mr O & I spent some quality time with our niece and nephew as I said above. One day we took Felicity out for a walk but with her wrapped around my neck in a sling. It was hard work in the end as you don't realise how heavy they are!!



Made a scrummy apple and pear crumble

We all took it in turns to cook meals. Tuesday night was our turn. Mr O took charge of the main meal and then I took charge of dessert. I decided to make a simple pear and apple crumble with a cinamon topping. As we had very limited kitchen essentials we had to improvise. A saucepan became a mixing bowl and instead of using scales I just had to guess the quantities.



We went to an art exhibition - more to come....

Saw lots of boats

As we were right on the quay, we saw lots of boats, including this RNLI boat. I will do a post and accompanying video for this in due course.



And lastly, we got stuck behind lots of caravans!
Check out my videos on youtube with kinda daily vlogs from the holiday.
Click HERE to see Day 1 video

Did any of you go on holiday? If so, where did you go?

Love, Mrs O x

Monday 2 September 2013

Holiday do do doooo

Hello all. 

So, as mentioned in my last post, I have been on a lovely family holiday with my hubby's family. We got up yo lots of fun, which will I am in the middle of writing up and editing the videos of ATM. It was then finished off with spending some quality 'cousin' time (Mr O's cousins) in Bristol as I was singing at Bristol Easton Salvation Army on the Sunday night and Mrs O the 1st accompanied me. 

So keep your eyes peeled as I upload posts onto here on the fun of an Owen holiday.

I am, however, very excited about getting these posts done as I can then start doing some fun crafts and get started on my September challenge! 

I brought tonight in with collecting my boys and having a catch up with the beastie accompanied with Ribena and a Yankee candle. 


Speak soon, love, Mrs O x