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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Awesome Of The Week | Sisterly nights out.

FYI none of these are my sister!

Last night I was supposed to be going to the cinema with two of my friends but when one of them flaked in the afternoon we didn't go (meaning still no Jurassic Park for me, I'm very sad about this).
I mentioned this in passing to my older sister just as she was going out the door in her glad rags to meet a work colleague for a meal out.

Whilst eating their dinner both my sister and her friend decided they wanted to move on to somewhere with drinks and dancing! My sister then text me saying I was more than welcome to join them as I had now been left with bugger all to do on a Friday night.
At first I was unsure - buses had stopped as I live in the arse end of nowhere so they stop at about 8pm and also taxis are fairly expensive. I decided to message both the guys I would have been seeing the film with to ask if they wanted to join me for some drinks etc.
Toby, who was the friend still intending to go to the cinema, replied and wanted to come along but as he had things to do in the morning would drive and not stay too late. Win for me as that way I wouldn't need a taxi - woo hoo.

So he came and picked me up we headed to the pub where we were meeting up with the girls to find they weren't there.....
Turns out they'd bumped into my sisters friends on the way and got caught up chatting and also noticing her ex was out and it was the first time she'd seen him since they broke up. Just so you know he's a massive douche bag.

Once they found us and we had some drinks we obviously hit the dance floor and the tunes were being blasted my friend. They had everything from a live band playing Jungle Book songs and Bruno Mars and then once they left stage we enjoyed a bit of MJ, Beyonce and Grease medleys. Basically everything I would want on a night out!

Toby had to leave at about midnight and the ex made it a tad awkward by being weird but all the friends he was with were lovely. They danced and chatted and the whole night was amazing.

I don't know if it's just me but I always find that spontaneous plans always seem to end up being the best. Perhaps it's because any that you organise and think about too much have way too much pressure and expectations surrounding them and it inevitably doesn't live up to them

We stayed out until 2 and oh my did we crack out the moves. So spending time with my sister is awesome, which I knew anyway but it's always nice to share!

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Bonus picture for you:

Out is In.

Recently a whole troop of people have decided to take the leap of faith and open up about their sexuality. I'm mostly talking about Youtubers in this instance, youtubers such as Joey Graceffa and Ingrid Nilsen also in the past we've had Troye Sivan, Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley just to name a few.

And I love it.

I am so pleased that more and more people in the public eye feel comfortable, confident and supported enough to talk about things that are clearly very personal to them. It's encouraging a whole generation to not be afraid of being themselves - whether that is to do with sexuality or any other insecurity - it's all good with us.

I've been an LGBTQ supporter forever and although I myself am straight it doesn't stop me from feeling super happy about the love that is being spread through these videos. 

Even in this day and age it can still be a scary prospect to be openly gay or bisexual or anything other than straight lets be honest. All these "celebrities" that have a mass following and who aren't straight is only going to encourage the acceptance of love in all it's forms.

No matter who you are attracted to love is always something to be celebrated. Always. So to all those who have made the decision to be public with their sexuality, and those who haven't, I salute you, keep doing you!

I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting and expecting a time when coming out isn't a necessity for anyone. That you can bring home a partner of any gender, race or background and the only part of it being judged is that you are both respectful, caring and loving towards each other.

So here's to spreading love, however you want to take it!

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Tunes For Tuesday | Four Five Seconds by Katja Petri.

Obviously this song is everywhere and originally by Rihanna but I came across this version on spotify and fell so in love. I kinda liked the song when I heard the original but there's just something a bit more special about this one.

I think it sounds more emotional and Katja manages to truly connects to the song plus unpopular opinion alert but I've actually never rated Rihanna so it was interesting to hear one of her songs sung differently.

Let me know what you think of this version?

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Awesome Of The Week | Game of Thrones.

Before you read any further I want to put out a disclaimer that I will not be giving away any spoilers as I am awful at watching shows at the time of being aired so if you are yet to get around to watching season 5 I won't ruin it for you!!

Game of Thrones has been a massively well received TV series and once you start it yourself you quickly see why. For me the main reason for my interest are the plot twists, everyone loves the unexpected and J.R. Martin does it like no one else and you're always left shocked and often highly emotional!

Season 5 was no exception with new alliances, huge turns, dragons and a number of  deaths that honestly I'm still not over. No matter how mentally scarring this show is I can't help but go back for more, the allure of the unpredictable, characters that become family and really one of the best theme tunes ever it's not surprising I'm an addict.

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Tunes For Tuesday | I Just Can't Help Believing by Elvis Presley.

I am done with being ill and hoping that sheer will power is enough to improve the state of my health!

Anyway on to this weeks TFT - I have been listening to a fair bit of Elvis over the past few weeks, I'm not entirely sure where it came from but I've decided to share my latest fad with you.
As with all his stuff this one just makes you want to don a poodle skirt and dance the night away and I am always a fan of songs that do that, if you aren't moving in some way by the end then you clearly aren't human.

I hope you get as much from the king as I have been:

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Being Sick.

I am currently off work with what can only be described as the grossy gross lurgy.
I have been feeling drained and a bit rubbish for a couple days now and had to properly debate going to work or not - I'm one of those people that always feels guilty about letting people down and have only had 2 days off in two years. This added to the fact that I recently took annual leave during the busiest time of the month for my job aaaand I have had to do the same for next month made it a tougher choice than normal.

There are times though when it gets to the point where your health is more important. I did not sleep well due to my reduced ability to breath and woke up feeling even worse than yesterday. I got myself out of bed and mulled over getting ready for work but I have run myself down and if I don't allow for rest I'll end up needing even more time off - taking the day should mean I'm more equipped for tomorrow.

So many people hate calling in sick and worry about the consequences but I am here to tell you that every single human being gets ill and needs to take time for themselves. Listen to your body and learn what it needs whether that be a kick up the butt to just get on with things or a serious sit down to rid you of any sicky demons that might be hanging around. You don't have to feel guilty or like your causing issues for other people regardless of how hectic your job might be or if someone might need to pick up a little of your work. In the long run if you don't allow time you will run yourself into the ground and end up at a place that takes a hell of a lot more effort and time to come back from.

Allow yourself to get better.

Take time.

Feel well.

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