This Weeks Ups & Downs #20

Evening lovelies, taking some time out from the #bbloggers chat to write this post - I never seem to have enough time to blog at the moment! I didn't get an Up & Down post written last Sunday as I was at my parents having a well earned rest, so I will include everything in this one!

Ups:

- Half Term - this week has been a much needed week off. I've slept, been home, caught up on cleaning and jobs, written plans and reports, slept some more and had a nice week that I really needed. This weekend has gone too fast sadly as it's back to work tomorrow.

- I've done quite a bit of shopping recently, so have lots of lovely new things to show you, as well as some things I've lusted after for a while, including my gorgeous new IPad.

- 5 weeks and 4 days until the summer holidays, bring it on! Really cranking up the exercise now, I'm feeling much better physically, need to increase the amount of cardio and resistance that I do.

Downs:

- Last weekend I was hit with an awful cold - it literally lasted a day but I felt so rough, one of the joys of working with small children all the time.

- Back to school tomorrow, we are still waiting for our HMI visit so still feel very on edge really, hopefully it will be soon and it will go really well.

1. My hair feels amazing, 2. No makeup makeup
3. Look what I got, 4. Think boy Soy Sauce
5. I want this chair, 6. Meatballs at IKEA

7. Yesterday's Face, 8. #photoadayjune day 8 - 6o'clock
9. Totally true, 10. Don't want to use these
11. #photoadayjune day 7 - drink, 12. Posh Tea

13. Current Obsession, 14. Max reading Glamour
15. Andy wearing a crown, 16. IPAD!!!

17. WTF?, 18. At the park
19. Mum didn't want it, 20. Home cooked roast dinner

Sorry my photo's are a bit naff - my photoshop has decided to crash and needs re-installing :( 


How was your week?


xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #18

Evening lovelies, hope your well - I'm currently very chilled out nursing my poor shin splints after a very long walk today :(

Ups:
- Two weeks until half term :) I can't wait for my week off, I really need just a few days to get back on top of things with school.


- A few good hauls this week that I'm in the process of writing up, I love having a bit of extra money to treat myself for once.


- Minbin is nearly all fixed, she's been in the garage twice this week to get set up so that she doesn't sound awful and runs smoothly.


- Yesterday we went to look around a new flat. We're hoping that the new development will be completed by the summer next year which gives us some extra time to save up the deposit for our own place. We have enough to pay half the deposit so could reserve a place now - can't wait to start house shopping!


- I'm nearly at 200 followers on blogger, hellocotton and bloglovin, so I'm planning 3 small giveaways to say thank you - just need to decide what to buy and when!


Down:


- It's looking like our HMI visit at school could be anytime in the next two weeks, this means lots of added stress :( Just need to make sure I'm fully prepared and my boards and books are up to date.


- When will we get some summer?


Its been quite a nice week this week, although I've taken a step back from the blog and twitter to try and focus on school. I'm trying to get lots of posts written up over the weekend for a few guest posts as well as to get myself ahead so that I don't have to worry about the blog as much as I do.


How was your week? xx

1) So much product left in there, 

2) I shouldn't be left on my own for very long, 

3) I'm sure June needs a capital letter, 

) One of my favourite words - Summer, although cockles is pretty funny!

This Weeks Ups & Downs #17

Evening lovelies - who else is sat watching Twilight: New Moon at the moment, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?


Ups:


- The Sun is finally back. I love the sun, it makes every day seem better and what I choose to wear is starting to get brighter.


- Something amazing happened on Friday, I didn't hate how I looked for once. The diet and exercise craziness is starting to kick in at last :D


- The exhaust fell off the Mini last night as we were travelling on the M25, so sitting on the hard shoulder, some random man stopped and helped tie it back on with the cable from a lamp! I'm incredibly grateful to whoever he was, and my dad has been down today and fixed her up again!


- I Colour B4'd my hair on Monday, and it went really bright orange(see here) but now its much better, and I'm loving being a brunette again.


Downs:


- The boy's Granddad's funeral was on Friday. It was both a sad day as well as a celebration of his life and the family that he built. With 5 children, 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren he was loved by a lot of people and this showed with the people who turned up on the day - the sun shone and it made the pain a little less.


- The Mini has been really poorly recently, not sounding great and drinking up fuel. This got worse until last night the exhaust fell off on the M25!! That was very scary!


This week's been quite quiet really, can't wait until half term - thee more weeks and then a week off!

How's your week been? xx

This Weeks Up & Down #16

Evening all, so nice that I'm not at work tomorrow!!


Up:


- Thank God for Payday - this means I did some serious shopping this weekend, I'll post that haul soon.


- Good Observations at school, had a surprise observation which I hate but it turned out ok thankfully :)


- Starting to embrace my skin a bit more, after weeks I split personality, it's finally calmed down and I'm not having to mix up quite as many concoctions!


Down:


- Never enough money for all the things I want :( one of the problems with blogging is the lack of money for things, but spending a lot of time window shopping on blogs.


- Work is stressful, we're tired, the kids are tired, and we have 4weeks to go until half term :(


- Still fighting the scales, think this will always happen, but things are moving slowly, just hope I haven't undone all my good work this weekend!


So there's my week, an up and down one but not as bad as last week, plus my week in pictures as well!

How was your week? Xx

This Weeks & Downs #15

Evening lovelies - sorry this is a day late, but this weekend has been very up and down - shall explain why in a moment!

Up:

- On Saturday I went up to London to meet my mummy who had come down from Lincoln for the day. We spent the day wandering about the V & A museum, looking at the stunning Jewellery collection as well as the Theatre and Production collection thats on show there. I want to go back when they have their classic ball gown exhibition on display!

Me and Mummy

- My mummy treated me to some lovely bits from Benefit in Harrods. I was colnour matched by a lovely girl, and we chatted for ages about blogging and instagram - its always nice to chat to the make up girls, sometimes they can be really pushy but she wasn't (I can't remember her name, but if your reading this then please let me know!)

Down:

- The rain wont't go away!

- Recently the boys Grandad (Pop) hasn't been very well, and has spent some time in hospital. We rushed down to the hospital last Wednesday night to see him as he was meant to be having quite a serious operation but it was called off as he wasn't well enough.

- We spent Saturday night and Sunday at the boy's mum's house as they needed to be at hospital for Pop, but sadly he passed away on Sunday afternoon. The moment he left, the sun shone into the room and we knew that that was Nan finding him on the other side - reunited after 4 long years. He will be greatly missed by the whole family so please excuse me if I go quiet at some point.

So there's my week - very up and down,still feeling a bit all over the place, but I'm focusing on this and work to help me though.

How was your week?

This Weeks Ups & Downs #14

Evening lovelies, another late post but I'm feeling very low and kinda swamped at work at the moment so it's hard to be in the mood to post.


Ups:


- A good first week back at school. The week started off well, with the kids excited to be back, and the new Smart boards being amazing to use!





Downs


- Its been one disaster after another with the little mini - first she started to run really round and grumbly, next one wiper broke during the worst week of rain ever and now she has a water feature inside! Sadly it's a design flaw in classic Minis so we are constantly praying for no rain to get her dried out again! 


 - Me and the gym are not really friends at the moment, but thats another post for this week.


 - I have so much work to do. At school, we are waiting for our 6month check up from Ofsted/HMI inspector to see how we are getting on and I feel like I've lost all will to live at the moment with it :( Oh to go back to being an NQT again.


 - Although I have no time, I'm desperate to start using my brain again. I'm looking at doing an online course in something, but that will depend on money and time more then anything.


 - The boys Grandad is quite poorly at the moment so its awful when the phone rings, just incase he has to make the dash to his parents house.


- That there are no more ups this week :(


Not a great week for me, I hope your week was a bit better, just hope that this picture means that something good will come out of the darkness for me. How was your week?

This Weeks Ups & Downs #13

Evening lovelies, this is a really delayed post but I need to get back into the swing of posts after a stressful Easter Holidays!


Ups:


- Easter Holidays!! It was nice to have two weeks off, even if i actually spent most of it in school working, teaching year 6 but I got some time off. 


- With my time off I spent quite a lot at my parents house. It's nice being there as it's a lot more relaxed and it means I got to spend time with my family. We didn't do a lot but sometimes thats nice.


- On Easter Monday, the Boy and I headed up to Birmingham to meet his lovely friends Dale and Emma. We decided to head to Cadbury World which was great! We bought lots of chocolate, ate lots of chocolate and felt very sick! Even the air outside the factory smelt of chocolate! It was nice to meet some of the boys friends, and we already have plans to go camping at some point!


- The mini finally came home! It's taken my dad 7 years but she is finally finished (as a classic will ever be)and I'm loving running about in her. On Sunday we took her back up to Lincoln to attend a Mini show, with about 100 other minis, it was great fun driving in convoy with some others. It was a long day but I loved it.


Downs:


- Being back at school. Two weeks go far to fast, although I got a lot done, it wasn't really enough and now I'll spend the rest of the week catching up what I needed to get done :(


- We've only been back a day and already I feel stressed out :(


- The scales were not kind this week but I guess that's because I ate lots of chocolate as well as constantly eating over the weekend. Things will get better once I'm back in a routine.


So there it is, my belated weekly ups and downs, how has your week been?

This Weeks Ups & Downs #11

Evening lovelies, how gorgeous has this weekend been!?! This weeks been a bit of a drag, but as ever there have been ups and downs.


Up:

• The weather has been gorgeous! All week the kids have been out enjoying it and it puts everyone into a good mood which is nice

• Its the last week before the Easter holidays which means 2 weeks off plus then only 14 weeks until the summer holidays!

• Today my gorgeous friend had her gorgeous baby christened. It was a short catholic service and then over to a community centre for the bit after. It was nice to see her again as well as meeting some of her family.

Downs:

• The dreaded low self esteem and body image has struck again. Woke up feeling great and then took OOTD pictures and decided I looked like a whale in a dress so those pictures will never see the light of day. I need to get tough with myself, this weight needs to come off!

• I did something really stupid this week. Frustration with school has taken its toll on me and so I headed to the gym to clear my head and ended up punching the reaction trainer at the wrong angle and ended up damaging my knuckle. A trip to A&E showed that there are no breaks but sadly the frustration hasn't gone away yet.

• Two more members of staff have decided that they no longer can work at our school. Its hard as we know we are a good school but sadly OFSTED have come in and made some massive demands and now we have lost 6 teachers just this year. This puts massive pressure on the rest of us :(

 I probably have more ups and downs from this week but if I listed everything then this would be mega long. Also thought I would link you my Instagram pictures from this week. 

- Swatching Maybelline Colour Tattoos, New Sunnies, My poorly hand, The boy playing with the wash basket.

How was your week? Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #10

Evening lovelies, hope your well and the weekend has been a good one for you?!




Ups:

• Spring is on its way - the blossom is out, the daffodils are here and I have frog spawn in a bowl in my classroom! The kids love looking at them every day, I was shocked when a lot of the teachers at school told me they had never seen any!

• Finally found my fitness mojo again. This week I've managed to spin twice, Shred most days this week ( I can't seem to get into a routine with this) and I'm booked onto 6 classes next week! So I'm back trying to get into some sort of shape. Question is would you like to see a photo diary of my progress?

• Finally dyed my hair again, back to bright red. I've ummed and arrghed all week about doing it as I can't decide if I'm missing my natural colour but now I've done it I love the red again!

• Superficial I know but my skin is finally clearing up, I've switched up my skin care and gone back to an old favourite product which I will review later on.

• Things are slowly settling down at school so I'm getting a life back. I can get back to the gym as well as blogging more which puts us all into a good mood!

Down:

• The weather's been poop this week so my clothes choices at school have stuck to trousers - I feel like I've kinda lost my identity since I started working because we have to look semi-professional, but working with children means I need to be decent! I can't wait to go through my wardrobe at some point and start really getting back to what I used to be like!

• Although work has settled down, its still pretty tough going and a lot of times I've wanted to quit but I get through it and just get my head down.

So there's my week, an uneventful one really but then thats how I like it! I've got lots more posts planned for this week so keep checking back for those!

How was your week?

Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #9

Afternoon Lovelies, hope your well and having a nice weekend in the gorgeous weather. This weeks ups and downs we're really easy to write but not so nice to read but please bear with me.


Up


Yesterday we went egg hunting around London. We hunted around the City as well as St James Park and Green Park. it was such a nice thing to do, just wander about and take lots of photos. il do a separate post soon about that.


This week is over, thank God.


Downs:


The week from hell. This week we've had parents evening which is always two nights. I don't mind parents evening, I just incredibly tired and often lose my voice,especially this year as I'm still fighting off some illness.


As well as parents evening we had to write our reports in pupil progress. To do this we have to do lots of assessments of the children, analyse how much progress they have made and then give reasons for those who haven't. This would be ok if I didn't have to do two reports, each being 12 pages long, plus we were told Friday that it needed to be completed by wednesday, and we had to test and mark the reading papers. It was all too much and by Monday night I was ready to quit.


Added to all the above we also have to keep teaching with the knowledge that we have observations again this week, so my life seems to revolve around school at the moment which I hate, I actually have no life outside of school!


As a result of all the above I have not made into the gym once, instead eating my way through my stress, which means I've gained some of the weight I had lost :(


So there you have it, me week from hell, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, although at this moment the tunnel is very long.


How has your week been? Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #8

Afternoon lovelies, is it really Sunday evening already! 


Up:

• Yesterday one of my best friends from home got engaged! I've known her since we were 3 and even though we now live 100 miles apart when we get back together nothing has ever changed, but I am so happy for her. We even said when we met up at half term that she would be first!

• Yesterday was a good day, it was nice to go on a friend date with my friend from work - it was great to have a catch up and a nice meal out. Her exciting news was that they are getting their daughter christened in a few weeks which is great as baby is so cute!

• Finally went and spent some money yesterday. All the bills are paid for this month so what's left is mine to play with - but I didn't go too crazy so will do a haul post soon to show you!

• I've had a nice relaxing weekend, I've had no work to do all weekend for school so I've gone round and got all the jobs I need to done as well as taking the time to take lots of pictures for the blog and read some blogs and magazines!

Downs:

• Although its been nice to have the weekend to myself, its also been quite lonely as the boy has been away but he's back soon and promised to take me egg hunting around London next weekend!

• From Wednesday until today I've been really ill. Think I had tonsillitis which really knocked me out, and its taken until today to feel back to normal again.

It's not been a bad week really, and now I'm going to go and order a takeaway before the Just to Dance final tonight on Sky1 at 6!

How was your week? 

Yummy!

Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #7

Evening lovelies, hope your well and had a great weekend - this week has been a rollercoaster!


Up:
School was good this week, busy but uneventful which was nice. Nearly up to date with all my planning and marking which is nice :)


We went to the zoo today! Didn't realised how close Whipsnade zoo is to us, but it was a great day, wandering about. I'll write up a post soon once I've sorted the photos - took over 100 so need to pic and choose! 


Down:


Still battling with the scales but I'm back on Weightwatchers, tracking on my phone. Ive had some nice meals but I need to get better at tracking!


Saturday was a really low day, i don't know why but I woke in a really bad mood, nothin could shake it, the boy even offers to buy me some nail polish and that didn't cheer me up! Thank you those people who tweeted me, I feel much better today!


Still hating my fringe, but learning to style it slowly!!


So that was my week, ups and downs all over the place! Hope this week will be better - how was your week?


Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #6

Evening lovelies, hope your well and have had a good weekend. Every teacher across the country at this point can breath a sigh of relief!


Ups:

• It's half term which means a week away from the children but I'll still be in school as I have a list as long as my arm that I need to get done!

• The snow has been great fun this week, the kids have enjoyed it and this has put everyone in a good mood for the week so really it was a good final week at school, plus its the half way point of the year!

• PS I Love You is on, need I say more then 
• Gerard Butler.

• Up to 109 followers on the blog so a massive thank you!

Downs:

• I'm having serious fringe regret, since having it cut it I have had a constant battle with it and really just want it back to how it was. People keep telling me its nice but I HATE it :(

• Having to work even though its half term, seriously the next person that tells me that I have a week off to relax I am going to scream at, I have so much to do before we return so thats my week gone already!

• There's no more snow forecast at the moment so I feel sad, I love snow.

So thats my week in a nutshell, not a bad week but not a great week. I look forward to this week as I'm heading home for a few days to see the Fam, so will need to write some posts for while I'm away!

How was your week?

Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Down #5

Evening lovelies, hope you've had a good one and are nice and chilled out after a weekend of snow! 


Ups:

• Snow!! I love the snow, I love watching it, playing in it, knowing that its outside makes me very happy, I even don't mind driving in it!

• New hairstyle, I love having my hair cut, but I get bored very quickly and so decided to have my long sweeping fringe cut into a blunt fringe and I like it - what do you think?

• This weekend we went up to Leicester to celebrate Andy's friends engagement. It was nice to be with his friends from Uni and also nice to be away from the flat for a night, makes a difference just getting away for a bit.

• We had a work night out on Friday and it was loads of fun. I don't often drink as I need to drink a lot to get anywhere near drunk so I tend to just have one and then full sugar coke and I'm ready to dance all night! I wore my new dress which I haven't managed to take a picture of but I will try!

Downs:

•  Being on a spending ban is really hard as suddenly I need to payout for a lot, hair cut, dentist, 2 nights out, petrol, so I really am now living on very little but thankfully all the bills are paid so just need to find some money for valentines day and my nephews birthday!

• No snow day tomorrow, still have to go to school which means I can't go out and play in the snow again :(

How was your week?

Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups & Down #4

Afternoon lovelies, hope you've had a good weekend, can't believe how quick Monday has come around again!!


Looking back over this week, it seems it's been really quiet!


Ups

• This week I've had some great success with eBay, making £60 to go toward my camera fund, so hopefully will be closer to buying a camera soon!!

• As well as eBaying some items I didn't want I also donated a massive Ikea bag full of clothes to some different charities. I was holding on to stuff I didn't wear in the hope of slimming into them but I haven't in 4 years and won't any time soon.

Downs

• Having no money. It's nearly payday but I've put myself on a spending ban as I have too many clothes and products that need using and I need to clear my cards and overdraft, but still knowing that I have no money makes me nervous.

• Seeing my reflection. The diet and exercise isn't going so well and has kinda stalled so the mirror has been covered up in my room as I hate looking in it. I don't know what's gig on as I'm at the gym most night for classes but seeing no difference on the scales, need some motivation and something :(

So that's this week, sort of a blah week really.


Thanks for reading xx




PS here's a picture to make you smile :)

This Weeks Ups and Downs #3

Evening lovelies, hope you've had a good weekend and are enjoying your Sunday. Another week has passed and it feels like it got away from me a bit but looking back it was quite a good week!


Ups:

• I finally got my bedroom table sorted out and had a good clear out. I posted a picture on Instagram and it looks amazing now, just hope I can keep it like this! 

• Had an observation on Friday by our new headteacher. It was the first time he's seen me teach and I got really good feedback which I'm really please with as I wasn't sure about my lesson but it went well and the kids enjoyed it as well!

• I'm enjoying being back in a gym routine, it is still really painful but I'm getting back into it. I go to 2 spinning classes, 2 BodyJam classes, 1 BodyCombat class and then if I can get in the gym as well then thats a bonus. I'm going to take a photo of what I look like soon and then compare in a few months.

Downs:

• It's over a week until payday and there are so many things I want to buy! I'm also on a spending ban to help me save up for my camera and then clear my debts on my credit and store cards.

• It's got very cold this week, which makes it hard on playground duty but I'm enjoying wrapping up in lots of layers.

Not many this week as its been a busy week but life is ok at the moment. How's your week been this week?

On a separate note, I'm looking for bloggers to guest post for me during February with posts on low cost products, money saving ideas, tips and tricks, and anything under £15!!! If your interested leave your e-mail below and I will contact you! 

Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups and Downs #2

Evening lovelies, hope you've had a good first day of the week.


This weekend was a bit hectic so I didn't get a chance to write this yesterday as it was my birthday weekend, but I shall tell you more in another post. On with this weeks ups and downs.


Ups

weheartit.com

• It was my Birthday on Saturday!!! Ok so I couldnt resist mentioning it, I had such a lovely weekend and was totally spoilt by my family and friends! Spent Saturday in London with my mum and sister and then had a nice Sunday with the whole family and went out for a yummy meal!

• Camera fund is growing nicely :D So I asked mostly for money for my birthday as I really want a Digital SLR, and I think I want a Canon EOS 600D as I'm planning on taking a photography course at some point and want to get better at my pictures so I'm about half way there now.

• America's Next Top Model is on right now! I love Top Model and this series is going to be amazing as its all the favourites from the past 16 series and today is Makeover day!

• My friend finally had her baby. Well she actually had her before Christmas but I only met her last Thursday and she is the most adorable little thing in the world! So tiny and pretty, could just cuddle her all day!

Downs

• I'm having serious skin issues at the moment. Don't know why but my skin is really bad at the moment. I have lots of little non spots under my skin on my cheeks and so I'm hoping now I've picked up a new head for my Clarisonic that it will clear up.

• Stress at school. Its still there, its still building but what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger.

• Birthday is over :( I love my birthday but I also hate the fact my Birthday is in January as it means I have nothing to break up the year, next set of presents will be Christmas again, but oh well, I shall live.

So there you have it, lots of ups and downs but really this week has been a lovely week. How was your week?

Thanks for reading xx

This Weeks Ups and Downs #1

Evening lovelies, hope your all doing well and enjoying your weekend.

I thought I would start a little thing where I recap my week based on the ups and downs of my week - very much inspired by Leanne over on http://www.leanne-marie.com/ where she recounts her highs and lows or the week.

Ups

• *      This week the Xmas holiday’s ended and we headed back to school. I always enjoy going back as I look forward to seeing my children and finding out what they have been up to – also our topic this half term is ‘Blood, Bones and Body Bits’ so its really gruesome and gorey!

• *      Next Saturday is my birthday and I am so excited for it! It feels like ages since I last had a birthday at a weekend and we have so much planned for that day, with my mum and sister coming down to me and we’re spending the day in London! Also the boy bought my present yesterday so it is now sitting wrapped up in the living room but I’m not allowed to peeky at it L
• 
  
• *      Over Christmas I have been loving my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and have finally got into a routine of cleaning my skin every day twice a day which is wonderful for me!
• 
  
• *      Yesterday I dyed my hair bright red again. I’ve had it red for some time but it had started to fade and my roots were screaming at everyone who dared to look at them. So I picked up a couple of boxes of dye is a brighter shade then my normal one and I am loving it! Will try and get a decent pic tomorrow!

Downs

• *      Although I love going back to school, I’m feeling very low about it. There have been a lot of changes recently and this has added a lot of pressure to everyone and it doesn’t often feel like we are getting any positive praise from our senior management. I’m sure things will settle soon but it’s tough at the moment.

• *      As well as feeling low at work, I have had someone comment on my blog in a negative way. They have been posting anonymously on my last 10 posts commenting on my posts, my writing style and one comment even went as far as commenting on my appearance and body size. I nearly deleted the blog this week but my wonder blogging family convinced me otherwise on twitter so I'm still here!

So there you have it, my ups and downs of the week – hopefully will get some more of these each week.

What have been your ups and downs of the week?

weheartit.com

Thanks for reading xx