New Beginnings

Suddenly having a larger amount of free time has really allowed me to think about what I should be doing with that time. I have a lot of time I can now dedicate to myself. They say when one door closes, another opens. I am hoping that now the door has closed on someone else, that I can open the door to myself. 

Over the last couple of years I stopped watching TV. Not for any good reason, just because I’m not all that good at sitting down and relaxing - I would much rather be doing something productive with that time. So I have watched a couple of box sets; Jane The Virgin and Gossip Girl. Any recommendations on what to watch next whilst I wait for Game of Thrones would be great!

In the run up to my holiday, which I go on next week, I’ve been wondering what to do when I get back.

I’ve always loved writing. That is the whole reason you are reading this now. It’s always been my passion and what I’ve been good at. I’d constantly write short stories or essays for fun. Yes, I am THAT person. So, I took the plunge. I have started writing a book. I’ve written two chapters around 6000 words so far and I have loved getting my creative juices flowing. The book will take a back seat whilst I’m away but I’m looking forward to picking it back up when I get home.

Another thing I will be focusing on and that will be documented on here after my holiday is my health and fitness. If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you’ll know that my mental health has taken a significant hit recently. I’m looking forward to taking time for myself and figuring that out. I’m also going to be working on my physical fitness. It’s time to get my diet and exercise back on track to lose some weight. 

I will also be focussing on decluttering my life. I have a lot of stuff, I mean boxes full of it that I haven't looked at in years. I have old things from my childhood that I definitely don't need. Sure, some of it is sentimental and I will keep those bits. But a lot of it can go. I would like my new house to be a modern reflection of me - no clutter, no bits on the sides, just plain and simple. 

I will also be looking towards Christmas. I love Christmas and I am really looking forwards to spoiling my dogs! Now that I don't have a big family to buy for and I am shorter on money than I would like to be, I am looking forward to doing simple things like crafts and baking. I am going to buy stockings for my dogs because I am also that person. My dogs are my babies and who doesn't spoil their kids a little bit at Christmas?

I always suffer from a case of wanderlust and, although I blame one of my friends for this (she will know it is her!), I have a love of new places. They don't have to be abroad, they can be here in the UK. I'd like to go to places I have always wanted to go - California, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai. I'd also like to take my dogs on a little break somewhere (once they have calmed down a little!). 

My final thing I want to spend time on is my friends and family. When things went wrong, they were there to put it back together. I have friends that I hadn't seen in years that I would like to spend more time with and friends who I see almost every day that I'd still like to see. 

So, the future is bright. Things are going to be busy - exactly how I want them to be! 

Top 5: things to do by 2015

Recently, in between my many breakdowns, I have been having one of those reflective thoughts about life. I had a sudden realisation of "oh shit, it's already March", and I realised I have done essentially nout in the last 3 months of 2014.

I thought it would be a good idea to give myself a good kick up the ass and have 5 goals to complete by the time 2015 rolls around, which at the moment seems like it will be in seconds. My logic is that because it is documented, and you have all seen it, that you can all help make sure I actually do these things rather than just sit around and do bugger all. 

I've decided that none of these will include my university work because that is something that I actually have to do whether I like it or not. 

1. Write at least half of my book

Although this is something I have been keeping quiet, I have been working on writing a book for around a month now. It's taking me a fair amount of time to write it because of all my deadlines and other commitments that I have, but I am getting there slowly. I am not going to give you any spoilers because I'm a pain in the ass like that. Hopefully if all goes well I can show you some of it soon!

2. Go on holiday with my friends

I am not talking some huge-scale jaunt off to the Caribbean or anything, but a week or two away with my little group of buddies would go down a treat - I think we all deserve a break. Hopefully this is actually going to happen in June as we have been looking at places to go, so fingers crossed!

3. Lose some weight

Now I don't need to lose any weight as a rule, but I would like to just tone myself up a tiny but just for myself. This isn't to please anyone else, or even to attract guys or whatever, this is literally just because I want to feel a lot better in my own skin. Hopefully that will start over Easter and continue then for however long it takes.

4. Raise money for Cancer Research

You may or may not know that my mum was recently diagnosed with cancer. This news came just a few days after a close family friend died of the same disease, and we have had several family members and friends die because of cancer. A few years ago I ran the Race For Life in my hometown of Swindon, and hope that I can do something like this again.

5. FIND A MAN

I have come to the conclusion that single life sucks dick, and I am feeling a bit lonely. I have not had the best luck with men in the past, and it would seem that I have literally given up hope. So it would be nice to have a nice guy in my life in some way shape or form, but who knows?

So those are my goals for 2014, and I am actually going to work at achieving them considering they are now documented on the internet for the whole world to see....if that isn't going to act as motivation then I don't know what will.

What goals have you set yourself for 2014?

As always, thank you for reading! Don't forget to follow me on all my social media over on the right, and stay tuned on Lovelychubly for more posts coming soon!

My memory box

Hello there, buddies!

As it would appear that my blogger challenge of 50 questions went down extremely well with you guys, that it would be nice to share some more of my personal stuff with you guys.

So today I am going to be sharing with you certain parts of my memory box! We aren't talking of some metaphorical box that I made up in my head, I genuinely have a box (well 6 big cardboard boxes) full of random bits of crap that I like to keep from places I go. So sit back, relax, and hopefully enjoy.

I haven't chosen everything that I have, but only a few little bits. I also haven't included any photographs in case people in them don't want to be included in my blog, but I might do a photo thing a bit later on if I get permission from people :)

The first is this souvenir picture book from Walt Disney World. I got this is like 2007 I think, so it has some pictures of rides and whatnot that don't exist anymore which is really cool. I would show you some pictures from the inside of here but I already packed the book away at like the bottom of the box...oops. But it includes pictures of rides, shows, hotels etc. I think it is really cool.

This is a card I got after my French GCSE in 2010 from my French teacher. This is very special to me as I absolutely LOVED my French teacher. I moved schools at the end of my GCSE's due to personal reasons, so I do cherish this card really. Which sounds extremely sad....

This is my special edition Busted CD! For anyone who doesn't know who Busted are, they were a pop/rock band from the early 2000's. I was luck enough to have the chance to meet them on the set of an old show called Ministry of Mayhem. I don't know if you know what that is but it was so cool and I got the chance to be on it for a year or so. I may or may not still have this CD on my iPod.....

This is my Harry Potter world massive cup/mug thingy that I got given as a present by an old friend. It is soooooo cool, and it weighs a ton! I love it, and have frequently had a massive cup of tea out of it. The lid says "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" on it and it has various images from the books and films around the edges. The backdrop is set like a bridge with the Hogwarts Express on it. I believe you can still buy these from Harry Potter World if you do want one.

This is a bag from Harry Potter World. Yes, I kept a bag. But look at it, it is so awesome! Not many people get the chance to visit Harry Potter World, so keeping this as a memory is awesome for me.

This is the world's shittiest photo....These are my signed JLS pictures from their tour a few years back. Yes, they are cheesy, and yes, I am sad for owning them, but JLS were awesome. I am actually quite sad that they broke up *sniff sniff*. If you don't know who they are, they are a British boy band who rose to fame after finishing runner up on the X Factor. i am currently considering putting these up on my wall...

These are some stupid doodles from the back of my GCSE chemistry book....Shockingly I did pass with a B - not sure how I did that. These were done with a few friends who sat near me, and as you can see, the immature minds of 16 year olds came out here (this is from 2010). I literally have no idea.....

Here is my limited edition 101 Dalmatians mug! It is so cute and I have only ever used it for decorative purposes, so maybe I can sell it one day? It has this design round it, but it sorta wraps around and had Roger and Anita on the other side with Pongo and Perdy. Not really sure when I got this. I think it is from like 1998?

Ah, now this is the message written in my leaver's book by my physics teacher. It reads "To Dani, You know that secretly you love physics - don't fight it. Good luck. Mr D". I would like to point out that I do not love physics at all. I was good at it though, and he wanted me to do it at A Level, but it was just not happening. Sorry, Mr Daws.

EXPECTO PATRONUM! This is my Harry Potter World wand - it is Professor McGonagall's wand! Yes it is real. Yes I can do spells. My patronas is an elephant.

As you can tell, I really like Harry Potter. These were limited edition coins that you got when they sold Chocolate Frogs (back in the day when the Philosopher's Stone was out and Harry Potter World in Florida was not even thought of). Not sure if they did these around the world, but they are so cool! This one is the Gryffindor crest.

I went to see Steps (twice) last year. I also saw them in like 1999 and have their iconic devil horns from then, so I got a new pair. These light up - oh yes. And they flash. I wore them. For hours. So much so that they gave me a headache. There is also the tour book there which has loads of info about the tour and the member of Steps. 

The last thing I am going to share with you is this autograph. This is Nadine from Girls Aloud's autograph! Something I acquired on the set of Ministry of Mayhem in an ad break! Something I am very proud of!

So that was my memory box (sort of). I hope you enjoyed it! Post in the comments box below with things from your memory box - or you can tag me in your post and I will read it and comment!

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Speak to you laters!

Toodle-oo!

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