2016 - A fresh start

Hello 2016 and Happy New Year!!!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and fun filled, slightly over indulgent New Year celebrations!

I have had a nice relaxing Christmas, lots of food (far too much) and alcohol. Good company, good TV and a few games (I won at Scrabble for the first time ever!). And now I am facing with the beginning of a Brand New Year.

I LOVE New Year. The 1st of january screams a fresh start to me. The days are slowly getting longer, the weather, well the weather remains balmy (cheers el nino and global warming), the lifeless plants begin to awake and green shoots start to appear and trees begin to blossom. Every issue, every struggle of the past year, is offically in the past. It is an opportunity to make a change, to set new goals, aim for new heights. Have new experiences, meet new people and go new places. All of these things, can of course, be done at any point in the year, but for some reason to me, it always feels as though the start of a new year means any ambition is completely achieveable.

In a previous post i set out my goal to sculpt my body. This remains my goal. In a few days when i have plucked up the confidence i will put up a brutally honest blog with pictures. I'll put my weight and measurements up. I'll hide nothing. I'm not going to lie, i do not look great. To create the best version of me by my 30th Birthday is my resolution.

But I have other goals to achieve. I want my brown belt in Judo. To run my second half marathon, to run a 10k in under 50 minutes. To learn to have guilt free time, where i actually rest, a day where i do not go to the gym, where i do not do PhD work (unless completely unavoidable), where i enjoy tidying the garden and growing my own food, or curl up on the sofa and read a nice book. Or just to go out with friends for a coffee or lunch and not worry about everything that is waiting for my attention. Honestly I am probably going to find this more difficult to achieve than sculpting my body! I'm not good at going guilt free.

I hope that you all have a fabulous new year!!

Festivities abound!

Well is that fantastic time of year, where the shops are forcing Christmas down your throat as you battle the crowds and food and alcohol find its way abundantly into your life. 

I swear that Christmas comes earlier every year! Everywhere you go, decorations, tinsel, 'bargins' to buy for stocking fillers. It all very quickly becomes so very overwhelming. And frankly, I can not be the only person who finds working full time (ok researching) and continuing a normal routine, a clean house and food shopping, all of that and frankly Christmas seems like a chore.

I'm sounding a bit Bah Humbug right now! I know! But their is one thing I really look forward to every year! 

The Lincoln Christmas Market is my very favourite weekend in the year!! I take a three day weekend, using the Friday to finish any christmas shopping, pick up any odds and ends i need in town, treat myself to a coffee or two:

What a TREAT!! I'm going to pay for this in the gym! haha! :D

NOM NOM. And then normally one evening into town to enjoy the market. This year, due to appalling winds and rain (send a prayer to the poor folks flooded out in cumbria) we went on a Sunday afternoon. I LOVE IT. The smells of German sausage (their is a joke their somewhere), freshly cooked Belgium waffles (delicious), mulled wine, normal wine, cinnamon cashews and fudge (I clocking hours on the treadmill for this). All of the beautiful craft stalls set in the heart of the historic part of Lincoln. All round the Cathedral and inside and surrounding the Castle and all round the Bailgate. Simply the most beautiful parts of Lincoln to be seen.  

The atmosphere was brilliant, the aroma's were mouth-wateringly delicious and the Company was the best. Going round with my dad and his best mate (a long time family friend). I mean that is what christmas is really about, the company of those you love, having a laugh, catching up, telling stories and jokes. Learning that even the closest people in your lives have hidden depths. It was a couple of hours truly well spent.

Right i'm off to spend my few remaining hours at home with the family and doggie before I head back to uni. Remember this season is really not about the gifts but the people that share your life.