TFT | Slow Me Down by Sara Evans.

I went through a bit of country phase a little while back and for some reason I am right back there.

I am SO feeling the upbeat melodies and occasionally ridiculous lyrics that this genre brings plus my country playlist will always make me smile.

The song I have chosen is actually a slightly slower option and the lyrics more serious but that's why I love it. It also has nothing to do with the singers rather amazing name.....

Let me know what you think.

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AOTW | Equality Video.

This week is another video and I decided I wanted to share it because as you will already know I am a huge supporter of equality. For everyone.

I think as humans it's one of the basic ideas that people need to appreciate but a lot fail to understand. I don't know where it has come from but prejudice is rife among our species and it needs to change. The only way to do that is spreading messages of love and acceptance of all life.

For our generation the most current and obvious equality issues we face are based around sexuality. This video by FCKH8 (who I have mentioned before here) really brings home the fact that the inequality issues in the past now seem ludicrous. The more people learn about this the quicker they will see that all inequality is just as insane. Whether it be due to gender, disabilities, race or sexuality they are all just as harmful and unnecessary.

People should be considered for their personality and abilities not factors that they have no control over. Humans can be pretty awesome so why make a minority feel less awesome than they are? 

We are all equal.

 

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A Lovely Weekend.

I have struggled to make myself write a post this week because of a few what I call BMHDs (bad mental health days - we all have these days when we don't feel quite ourselves, maybe a bit tired or low, and I think they are a perfectly good excuse for not being able to do things!)

But as I am trying to keep this blog a place of positivity I want to talk about my weekend because it was pretty awesome and nothing brings you out of a slump than thinking about the good times you've had. I actually thought it was going to be a really chilled few days as for the past couple of months I seem to have always had things to do at the weekends and this time I had zero plans
On Friday evening me, my mum and my sister watched Disneys Hercules together because that's how we roll.
Saturday I had my make up test done for my friends wedding because I'm going to be bridesmaid! It'll be my first ever experience of being a bridesmaid so expect another post about that!!

I never really wear much make up at all, a little bit of eyeliner and mascara and that's it so it was very strange to have a full face on! I actually found the process kind of relaxing, I did look a bit like a doll at the end though!
The bride to be and one of the other bridesmaids came with me which was lovely as we all got to discuss what we thought of the look and all the plans for the big day.

My family then had a BBQ that evening as my parents ended up not being able to go away in their caravan as the car gave up the ghost, leaving them with a load of left over bbq food! Of course we couldn't let it go to waste!

We then as a family watched The Incredibles which once again is because we are all very grown up.

Sunday was unplanned but we decided to take the dog for a walk somewhere a bit different and get a pub lunch. Whilst choosing where to venture we thought it would be nice to bring along my Grandma as well.
We went and picked her up and drove to an adorable little town where we had an INCREDIBLE meal!

It was called The Waterwitch and I had a vegetarian fish and chips... what in the hell is one of those I hear you ask?
Well it's chips (duh) and instead of fish it's battered and fried haloumi cheese and honestly I can't describe how tasty it was. Extremely unhealthy granted but I like to think that what's not good for the weight is good for the soul. I don't have a photo of the food as I may have got a little carried away and ate the whole thing before thinking!

Everyone enjoyed their food and after eating we headed down to the canal and strolled along there for a bit - making friends with some cows on the way .... my dog did not enjoy this part so much as he is utterly terrified of them.

We got home at about 5pm and chilled for the rest of the evening and it was just over all a really amazing weekend full of sunshine, pimms, good food and family.

Hope your weekend is just as good as mine was!

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#TFT - I Touch Myself by Blondie.

A woo hoo new layout for #TFT!!! And just FYI that is my dog - his name is Jack and he's kind of awesome.

This might seem like a strange choice but I recently watched all three Austin Powers films and been listening to the soundtracks and I CAN'T GET THIS DAMN SONG OUT MY HEAD.

It's so catchy and highly inappropriate to be singing to oneself whilst at work and yet here I am....

I hope I'm not the only one that absolutely loves this super weird song?

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AOTW | Bunny slugs.

These little creatures are adorable and that isn't a word often used to describe slugs. I noticed them when Green Peace mentioned them on their Facebook page and I saw the pictures of what seemed to be a little fluffy bunny with black ears!

They have come back to the forefront of social media since Japan has being going ca-razy over the sea slugs (or Jorunna Parva) and their little fluffy bodies. Their "ears" are actually what are known as rhinophores which are sensory organs allowing them to detect distance, scents and currents when in the water. They live in the waters around Asia and can be found all over from India to the Philippines to Japan.

They are only about 2cm in size so if they weren't cute enough their tinyness just makes it all a little over whelming!

Watch the video below to see the little peanuts in action!




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I have opinions on fox hunting.

So I wasn't sure whether to make a post about this but I realised that it's something that I feel pretty darned strongly about so why shouldn't I discuss it on my blog?

If you haven't heard or are not from the UK our prime minister Mr Cameron is potentially bringing back the hunting of foxes using large packs of dogs.... without actually having to go through the effort of fully re-legalising it.

I won't go into loads of detail or preach mode about why I don't agree with this because it's not my place to tell you what to think or feel about this situation. The only thing I want to do is let people know if they were unaware or perhaps make others that weren't all that bothered about it think a little more.

Fox hunting is extremely barbaric, archaic and ineffective. The main excuse used for taking part in this activity (I refuse to call it a sport, sports are for equals to compete with fair advantages.) is to control the fox population - more foxes die on the roads than through this form of hunting. It's an inhumane way to remove these animals and often completely deranged in how they go about it. Foxes will be moved from one area to another so they are confused and lost, they will be chased to exhaustion even when they are far enough to not be a concern and vixens are ripped apart even though they rarely come in contact with humans or civilisation - they are also killed whilst carrying pups.

If you want to know more I suggest this article where a former hunter gives his some what altered thoughts and clearly knows more than I do.

If you have any opinions on this please feel free to share them in the comments.

I believe MPs will be voting and making a decision tomorrow, so if you feel the same way as me and wish to do something about it please write to your local MP - you can find yours here.

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Awesome Of The Week | Videos of acts of kindness.

I can't believe that it's been a whole week and this is my first post! I have been utterly useless as my week has been quite stressful, I've actually been busy by socialising a bit and I'll be honest I've felt crappy and struggled to motivate myself to write anything.

I have had an amazing weekend though so have eventually sat myself down with my laptop after forcing myself to the gym to get some words down.

My AOTW came to me via the wonders of Facebook, I just happened to be scrolling along as you do and for some reason I decided to click play on this little video and my gosh is it lovely. Sometimes all you need is a little reminder to keep your faith in humanity because people have such potential for goodness and to be genuinely kind. Simply giving aid to someone more in need than yourself really can turn the world around.

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Awesome Of The Week | Sprilizer.

I first used one of these at my friends house and have been meaning to purchase myself one for an absolute age!!

The idea is that you "spirilize" vegetables (generally courgette) into noodles as a healthier substitute to pasta or regular noodles. I am wanting to really amend my unhealthy ways and thought this was a good place to start as it allows for super quick meals like pasta but that are way less stodgy and carby.

My choice of meal on this particular night was courgette noodles with garden peas, spring onions and mushrooms in a small amount of pesto.

To be honest any sauces you would have with pasta would work amazingly with this or a sweet and sour would be delish!
I personally love it as you can feel less guilty about simple dishes that take next to no time to prep and unlike pasta/noodles courgette brings extra flavour to the whole meal (without over powering at all).

My machine actually came with a couple of different blades - I can spirilize in two thicknesses, grate, slice and juice all manner of tasty things. It was from amazon and you can find it here.

Reckon you'd give this a go?

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June Favourites.

I didn't do one of these for May but I enjoyed Aprils a lot so decided to get back into the swing of it!

June was a bit of a strange month with some crazy stress at work and it really has flown by! I think because it wasn't the greatest of months I want to make an effort to pick out the good parts because there definitely were a few!

1. NYX cosmetics -

For anyone that doesn't know I have recently been struggling to find cruelty free make up that is affordable and actually works. I can't remember how I found this one but I am so pleased that I did because it's AMAZING.

I have tried a few of the products and loved them all, although to be fair if you know me at all you will appreciate that I am no make up expert and so my opinion isn't that of someone in the know! My daily routine consists of eyeliner and mascara and that's about it.
Now that I've found this site though I 100% plan on getting more skilled with different cosmetic pieces. I might do a more in depth post about the individual bits and bobs I bought but as a general favourite NYX is right up there for June.

2. Going to the gym or trying to -

For the longest time (literally years man!) I have been wanting to regularly go to the gym, end up loving it, being a gym bunny and having abs of steel and thighs that could crush a mans skull.
Now let's be honest for a moment - gym memberships are mad expensive but this became less of a problem when I remembered (after sort of forgetting) that my local gym actually has a free outside section!!

Now that I no longer have the cost as an excuse I have been once and also been to a yoga class. I did know but it was oh so apparent just how unfit I am as it took me about 3 days to be able to put my arms above my head without wincing. I shall persevere though and my aim is to try and go 3 times a week.
Wish me luck.

3. FIRES -

The first campfire I had was actually with my Brownie pack as we spent the evening teaching them how to safely build, light and maintain a fire. We also ate sausages and super sized marshmallows in digestive biscuits.....
The second was a simple one in my back garden with my sister and parents. It has been real summer weather recently and as it was warm enough to sit out we thought we'd make the most of it by having a bbq and then lighting a log, sat with my family and animals while listening to music and drinking pimms. Perfection.

4. Making life decisions -

This is a biggy but as I mentioned it's been an odd few weeks and I've come out the other side having made a few decisions about where I want to head next. I thought I was okay with the plan I had made but turns out it's not what I want, regardless of whether it seems like the sensible choice!
For me enjoyment and being happy with what I'm doing on a day to day basis is so much more important than money or job titles.

So although I don't have a specific idea of where my path will take me I do know that I'm going to make it change and am excited to see where it eventually leads!

So there you go 4 things that were pretty cool about June, I hope your month was fabulous!

What were some of your best bits in June?

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Tunes For Tuesday | Shine by Laura Izibor.

This weeks TFT (or TFW as it's a day late!) really connected with me because I'm in a bit of a strange place in my life right now.

I am unsure of my job, what I'm doing with my time and generally wanting to do more and not being able to - it's infuriating.
I'm hoping to change things up in my life soon and it will be that much easier to do when I can drive, which in case you didn't already know I don't yet. Basically I'm extremely unsettled and this song helped me so much when it came on the other day.

If you are possibly feeling the same way or just like feel good songs that make you want to get up and do something you might enjoy listening to this one. You may also recognise it from a Special K advert a little while back!

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