Thankful Thursday | Window Shopping & Getting My 2nd Job!

I feel as though I haven't written a post in so long, but it's only been a week! Time has been ticking so slow lately.

The picture above is pretty useless in quality and has reflections hitting off the window, but I admit I like it.

I do love window shopping. Just browsing around, scanning over the lovely winter jumpers. In actual fact, I bought that skirt, that the mannequin is wearing, but in black and not navy.

I just thought it would be so pretty with a sparkly, soft, woolly jumper for Christmas, with a pair of stilettos.

So apart from buying a new skirt from 'Next' and oh, also a lovely woolly, dark grey polo neck jumper from 'New Look', my week was uneventful! Apart from the usual stressful things like money, boys and family! Haaaa! Trust me! If you knew the real me, this would probably be a very dramatic blog, but somewhere inside, I feel as though 'those people' could one day see this. So I'm sticking to 'being normal', heehee.

So, my 'Thankful Thursday'

Being greeted by the lovely staff at work (job no. 1) at the restaurant - everyone was singing and laughing aaaaaaand flirting! If you only knew what goes on behind back stage in a restaurant. But getting my wages at the end of the night felt great! Come ta momma!

'Through The Keyhole' - Keith Lemon is disgustingly funny! My Manager and I usually just laugh about Keith the whole time! If you see me sulking, put Keith on the tv! He hasn't failed since!

Dad - you guys must see my Dad pop up the whole time for my Thankful Thursdays. Well, I'm just thankful with the journey he taken in his life. He tries his best with every job he has taken, works to help his family, loves my Mum as his wife and best friend and has therefore been the inspiration for me. For the type of commitment/ marriage that I would  one day like to have.

Email - I've managed to make someone happy this week, with a simple email of encouragement. And I'm thankful that I was able to be there for them and to also have their trust in asking me for advice. Sometimes we can never know what we can do in a certain time or position. We're being tested in these relationships, so it is our actions that speak. How can we help one another? I could have simply not replied back for instance. But I went with my gut and wrote what I thought.

The Body Shop has been very nice to me this week - The face wash I use back in Ireland is the Vitamin E Gentle Facial Wash. Out of all the other face washes, this is my favourite. It's perfect for my sensitive skin and leaves it feeling soft, well as soft as acne skin can get, heehee. The Aloe Gentle Exfoliator is great for when I've been wearing makeup all day, and want to scrub it all off, but without being too harsh on the skin.

And finally, I'm thankful for getting a new job in Marks & Sparks (back home it's Marks & Spencers). So it would seem I have my two jobs and also a bit of babysitting at the side... I am an extremely lucky person!

I hope all of you found things to be thankful for this week.

Thankful Thursday | Farm Animals Escaping & Happy Treats

Hello all,

This week we've been blessed with the unbelievable weather, here in Ireland. It's so strange, that just last week I was talking about SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) and for me it really is hard. I find that the dreariest day can really tire me out and have me left a little depressed. What helps, is waking up in the AM, from 6:00-9:00 and also exercising outside, even if it's raining. I've noticed that when I come in from the rain I feel so glad to be back in the warmth, a little gratitude to having a home.

I'm heading back to England at the end of the month and wanted to take a few pictures of my home. As you can see we have plenty of farm animals surrounding us. The bulls across the road aren't at all dangerous, bit weird at times, like the Mona Lisa, where their eyes follow you when you go out for a brisk walk. And the only sad news I have of this week was that we had to give away 3 of our sheep (Nooooooooo!) due to there not being enough grass for all of them. So we are left now with Johnny (left) and CoCo (right). I woke up this morning to finding that their gate was open. So I'm running like a maniac worrying about where they went. Nope! They were fine. On the lawn, eating Dads new plants.

Most people have pet dogs or cats, and I have sheep, heehee.

My Thankful Thursday

Laughing at Louis Walsh on X-Factor - our family annual tradition

Watching 'The Road to El Dorado' and Jimmy Fallon clips on You Tube with my brother - favourite was 'Downton Sixbey', since we are Downtons biggest fans

Waking up before 6am and finishing series 2 of  'Arrow', all before 10am - pretty happy that I stuck with it and finished it before heading back to the UK

'Xposé', 'Dr. Phil' and an absolute favourite of mine 'Sense & Sensibility'

Having a super moon outside my bedroom window

Seeing some adorable puppies, heading off to a new home

Argan oil hair masks, Wagon Wheels and a tub of Häagen-Dazs Strawberry & Cream ice-cream

Eating possibly one of my last summer cones with Mum, looking at the boats on the Shannon river

Painting the garden walls and feeling happy that Dad is happy

Wishing my little cousin Happy 8th Birthday (sob) Oh I remember her first few words, her first time in the pool, the first time I held her and fed her.... Oh god why is she growing up so damn fast!!!

I hope all of you had a happy week, I know I did x

Thankful Thursday

Over the last few days there has been horrid rain. And it is so cold here in Ireland that it feels to me as though it's Christmas already... Brrrr... so with that I'll lead into...

1 - having hot water bottles. Letting me have that brief moment of relaxation. Oh how good it feels to be warm.

2 - Having the sunlight pour into my room at dawn. I feel wonderful when I have the start of a new day begin with a few rays of sunlight. They may be no heat, but the light to me is a positive sign. A sign that the day will be good if I want it to be. I just love to have a bit of colour in the sky, instead of the boring, grey, lifeless clouds.

3 - Enjoying a mocha with Mum
4 - Sleepover with the little English cousin, Disney movies of course!
5 - Even though I detest the phone, I did enjoy chatting to Edel. We have a friendship where it seems strange to have not spoken in so long... a week for us is long! Haa!
6 - Going round the shops with my brother. He hates town, but thankfully he came and we ended up having a well-entertained evening.
7 - I bought a few DVDs over the last couple of weeks and the one I happen to love best is 'The Mirror has Two Faces'. Peachy, (if you're reading) more movie recommendations please. It's nice to know that I'm not the only movie fanatic freak in the world!

Thanks for reading sheepies,

Much appreciated,

30 Day Snap #23 | Making the right decision in moving to London

I spent yesterday chillaxing. My final day in London. It was lovely to think that I no longer had to have an alarm in the morning as well. I spent the evening in PJ's, watching favourite shows with a bowl of pasta.

Just think tomorrow (today really), I'll be home. I'll be back with Dad and everything will feel fine. I actually start to tear up knowing how shortly the time is coming. I've missed everyone so much, but also leaving, I'll be missing all the lovely people I've met over here.

Last year I had a choice to either stay in Ireland or go to the UK. It was such a difficult choice to make! It's the end of the year (well of college that is) and I'm happy with the choice I made. Even though it hasn't been easy over here, living in a place that doesn't really feel like home, I know that times will change when I move away. There are so many possibilities and opportunities that can happen next year.

This is my last summer as I may have to stay over here next summer for work, so I plan on making the most out of my holidays with my family and friends.

Thanks for reading honey bunnies :)

My Holiday to Mauritius | Part 1 ( The Beaches)

It's taken me ages to sort out these pictures of my recent trip to Mauritius (Ile Maurice), over 400 of them. So I have planned out a series of parts, first up the beaches of Mauritius.

It was perhaps one of the most laziest, luxurious things to do. You just had to grab your kindle, your ipod and just lay down in the sun.

I had a routine with lying out, scorching to death, run into the sea/pool, bring camera while collecting shells on the beach.

As you can see, the ocean was so clear and the perfect shade of blue.

This beach was a private one, belonging to the Plantation Hotel.

It was a lovely hotel, with it's volleyball tournaments, pool parties and sega nights (Sega - Mauritian style dancing)

I loved this beach. We got to go paddling and got plenty of free drinks at the mini bar on the beach.  

There was a waterfall near the beach as well, along with men fishing along the stream. I thought this was a lovely little place, just to have some alone time. Very peaceful setting, don't you think?

This is one of the funniest things that my family does. We go to other other hotels that are beside ours. This one was just across the stream from the one we were staying at. If you can squint your eyes, you can see my little cousin wearing a shower cap. She likes being different! So you can imagine the embarrassment her mother had to face when she walked in that hotel.

There's a reason why I took this photo. In the water there was this family; young parents with a 2 year old daughter and a disabled 11 year old daughter. They were staying at the same hotel as us for the 2 nights. And every evening I would see them at dinner. At first all I could think of was, "Their relationship must be tested to the extreme point with having that much stress." But looking at them, they were so happy. The husband adored his 2 daughters and would give a quick peck on his wife's cheek as he would play with the 2 year old. One night the parents were out dancing, as though they were this new lovey-dovey couple. Even knowing the stress they were going through, I couldn't help but feel a somewhat envy from this family. It was their faith and optimism that really shined through their happiness.

I was just happy that they were like shadows in the ocean, so I could snap a quick shot of them. This picture of the family, out of the hundreds of pictures is a favourite of mine.

Having a sunset every evening made this time even more valuable. When in Hertfordshire am I ever going to get such a sunset like these again!

We went on a glass-bottom boat. Looking at all the fishies and corals. We even had a chance to go snorkeling, jumping from the boat and diving under.

My cousin and her dad collecting shells. It's one of the loves they share. Having a fascination for nature and life. Both share interests such as cooking and gardening as well. With my dad, it's music, music, movies, music, certain foods, history, chocolate, meat & potatoe pie, sci-fy movies and tv shows & music again.

My dream job would be a singer. My dads, a music manager. 

This was a little island 15 minutes from the east coast of Mauritius.

It was as though I had stepped into a dream. I'd never seen the sand so gold before, or the water so clear. It was as though there were diamonds in the water. Ooooh SPARKLY!

We brought back some starfish as well. All the time I was picturing the starfish from 'Finding Nemo', haahaa :) 

I have two more parts belonging to this holiday mini post series. This blog after all is for memories. And I'd love to share them with you.

I'm planning on doing the next post (Part 2) on the places I went to around Mauritius.

If any of you that have traveled, what was your favouite holiday and what were the highlights?

Cheers for reading,

Thankful Thursday | Peoples Opinions

Hiya guys, I just wanted to show you some of my pictures from Instagram over the last week.

This picture was taken while I sat out in the sun at the local park.

I took out my book and skinny vanilla spiced latte and sat out on the bench.

Just having the sunshine back makes me happy. Oh how I've missed it!

As you can see from each of these pictures I was looking for peace and quiet. Just anyway to relax. Tea, candle and reading in the park. The main highlight of the week was not exactly drama as such but learning more about people and becoming shocked.

Friends you make judgments behind your back and have categorized you as a certain type of person really don't deserve the friendship that's been given to them.

In all honesty I could cry and winge and become very angry like a little angry garden gnome but what is the point. It won't make the situation any better.


So today I was sent an email from Lauren Formosa (that's right sheepy your name is visible to all :D)
She has become such an amazing friend to me over here. She makes me laugh, and feel inspired with her unbelievable confidence. Seriously the girl will not care what others will think, she lets it out! Amazing! (her very own catch phrase, heehee). So not only am I feeling down by the silly girly silent treatments but so has Lauren. She sent this email today, relevant to what has been happening.

People's Opinion of You Everything about you speaks volumes to others.  And everyone is going to have an opinion about you.  You can't stop people having their opinion, but what you do with those opinions is entirely up to you. Are you going to let it bother you, be offended, worry about it, do something to change their opinion...? How are you going to handle people's opinion of you?

VISIT WEBSITE FORWARD ON UNSUBSCRIBE

Inner Space Website

How am I going to handle these opinions people have on me? Well first off, we're supposed to have a big discussion about our feelings and opinions tomorrow with our head tutor... Oooh will there be tears, shouting or will there be forgiveness? Who knows but I myself will sit back and hear what everyone has to say. I plan on keeping it cool and just ignoring what has happened in the last few weeks. I'm only going to be here for another 4-5 months so my aim is to respect everyone, no matter how they act. I'm going to meet people who will be difficult to get on with. And I will have to get used to taking peoples bullshit.

So on to the little things that managed to make me happy throughout the week.

Thankful Thursday

Honesty to friends

Coffee, Barrys Tea, hot chocolate (with my usual huge amounts of cream) and skinny vanilla spiced lattes

Me time - cafes, parks, libraries, gym

Being overpaid for babysitting

Interview and offer received from a University

McDonalds

Kinder Bueno Bar (last one before lent... long difficult journey)

Oscars - Who doesn't love Ellen!

Reading in the bath

I'm grateful for even though my family over here are miserable from school and work, my parents are happy. They love life more and more it seems. Their best-friend, soul mate, cringy relationship is something of which that I do hope to achieve someday.

And lastly, having the sunshine back in my life. It forces the corners of my mouth to transform into a smile. That kind of power makes me happy knowing I can always depend on the sun when it comes out.

Thank you so much guys for reading.
I will have another post up for tomorrow sometime hopefully.
I promise you there won't be any more moaning from Moaning Martel here :)

x