I've Been Defeated, But I'm Ready to Bounce Back

So I realise its been quite sometime since you've seen a post from me pop up. I think I lost my love for it a little as doing the 30 day challenge was a lot harder then I expected. It was tough to write a bulk of posts and on the other hand its as difficult to write them each day. As the subjects were also set in stone I did feel really claustrophobic almost, I just wanted to write about the lipstick I'm loving at the moment. FYI its MAC Lovelorn!

 

 I don't think I'll ever be able to blog every day but I'm glad I had a good go at it!  I have to say I have missed typing away and nattering about all sorts, especially makeup and I cant wait to get back into the swing on things.

 

Normal Along Came Kelly blogging will resume next week with lots planned!

Days 13, 14, 15 & 16 | Catching up!

Oops, I really fell off the blogging band wagon this weekend! I'd like to blame the World Cup but I hate football! I've just been a busy disorganised bee all weekend, I'm sorry guys! I was kinda thinking about stopping this whole blogging every day thing - I just cant keep up but then Alexandra said what's stopping you! And you know she's right, I'm the only one stopping me! So here we go...

Day 13 - What's Inside My Fridge

As I live at home with my parents I don't tend to have any say in the bits we have in the fridge as a whole, although I do have the top shelf which is filled with a few little things. I've got some Almond milk which I'm trying to get to grips with, some sweet potatoes *nom nom* various dips and sauces. I also have a few Lush Face Masks, but I have to say they have been in there months! I just never know how long they will keep for but I think maybe I need to get rid. Although I will keep the containers as you do get a free face mask with 6 (I think!) empty pots! 

On another note - how cute is the pink Smeg fridge! I would love to have that kind of fridge in my kitchen. It would look so cute!

Day 14 - Three Healthy Habits

I'm trying hard to be healthy at the moment but I'm finding it so difficult! I just love food! So these are going to be three small healthy habits that will help with the bigger picture...

Always take the stairs - If there's less than 3 flights take the stairs, it wont take long and all it all go towards extra steps a day. If possible try running up too! 

Drink more water - I am terrible when it comes to drinking in general let alone drinking water! Some days I can get to my evening meal and not have had a drink all day! I just don't ever feel thirsty which Allan thinks is pretty odd! So first off I'll try to drink a glass of water with each meal, at least!

Dont always go for the easy option - This can be used in so many different situations, like when I'm choosing what to have for dinner or when I'm at the gym! Easy doesnt always mean its the best option, sometimes taking time to do or make something will help you get the results you want - as they say nothing worth having comes easy! 

Day 15 - Where Will I Be In 5 Years

I'm a girl with a plan. I know what I want, but not necessarily when I want it. In 5 years I'll be 28, so I'd like to think I'd be settled down in my own home in Brighton hopefully with a ring on my finger and if I'm lucky a little bubba on the way! Its no secret that I want to solely be a mum so although sometimes I think the sooner the better, I do know that there are so many things we want to do before settling into that part of our lives. There's so many places we want to visit, so many things we want to buy, including a second place (Allan already owns his flat, lucky sod). I also want to do my ARLA exams which means I'd be able to open my own Letting Agents which might come in handy when we have our own property empire!

Day 16 - Thoughts on Education

I have such mixed feels about education. Whilst I loved learning new things at school I hated putting it into practice in school work and homework but all the same I left secondary school with some pretty average grades. College was worse, I couldn't get myself motived to do the work and always did just enough work to scrape through even thought I knew if I actually applied myself I could do quite well. I knew uni was a no go for me although I would have loved to have gone for the experience! I don't think though that missing out on uni meant missing out on job opportunities. Okay so maybe you have to start further down the food chain then someone coming out of uni, but on the other hand it does mean that you have plenty more on the job experience. These days there's such a fine line between whether a degree is worth more than 3 years of actually doing the job! 

For me I think its such a personal thing, some people love it some people hate it, but I do think education up until college level is very important, anything after that is just personal preference. It all depends on what you'd like to aim towards. 

Now I know each topic is pretty short and sweet and I'm only scratching the surface but I didn't want you to be there all night reading my ramblings! One thing I do know though, I'll never be able to blog everyday! I think I was being quite ambitious and maybe next time I need to remember to go at my own pace, but you live and learn. 

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 12 | My Favourite Childhood Book

Growing up was so fun, but at the time all you could think about was becoming a grown up because you could do what you wanted when you wanted. Little did I know that I would give anything to go back to the days when I didnt have a care in the world. 

I was a pretty big book worm when I was younger. My mum encouraged me from a young age that reading was fun and I loved it. Whilst I don't remember any of my favourite books when I was really young, one part of my childhood I do remember is Jacqueline Wilson books! I loved them. All the different books she had (and still does have!) was amazing, I'll always remember wanting to be the first to read her latest books. The thing that drew me to them first off was the colourful covers, each with its own little illustration which ran through the book. Each book had a different story line with some books running through a series. 

On our regular trips to the library I always headed to these books first to pick out one I'd yet to read! Whilst I cant for the life of me remember any of the storylines I do know that at the time they had me smiling from cheek to cheek and sometimes having a little tear when they got sad! 

Doing a little research now I can see Jacqueline has written so many more books with I can just imagine are as good as her old stuff. I wish it was socially acceptable to read these at the age of 23! 

What books do you remember from your childhood? Did you read any Jacqueline Wilson books? 

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 11 | Top 10 Favourite Foods

Okay so I'm a bad blogger. I forgot to post AGAIN! Now I'm not going to apologise too much as this is a hobby, well I wont go on you know the drill. I don't know why I didn't get round to this post as food is my favourite thing to talk about! Now I wasn't sure what whether it should be meals or actually food items (?) so I've kinda stuck all sorts in there to be honest! 

My top 10 foods are:

• Cheese (no surprise there for regular readers!)
• Pasta
• Pizza
• Chicken
• Pancakes
• Sausage Casserole
• Fry Ups
• Sweet Potato 
• Indian Curry
• Bananas

So from the list I'm sure you can gather I am a bit of a greedy guts and I just love the unhealthy stuff! Dont worry though I don't eat everything on that list all the time. Although I kinda wish I could but it would mean I'd look and feel unhealthy inside and out! 

What food do you love? Do you love cheese as much as I do?

Day 10 | Best Trip of Your Life

Back in 2012 me and Allan went on our first city break together! For me it was the first time a holiday abroad didn't mean cocktails and lazy days by the pool, but it was such an amazing trip! 

We visited Rome on a lovely hot Septembers weekend which was just perfect. We spent the days wondering around all the usual sights, taking in all the culture which usually I hate. My favourite trip was when visited the Colosseum, you just don't realise how big its going to be! As we were walking around you could envisage thousands of people sat in stands waiting for the next gladiatorial event to start, there was just so much to take in. 

We ate lots of yummy ice cream which was one of the highlights in the food department, unfortunately we were left very disappointed with the food that was on offer in Rome. It seemed a lot of food was precooked and then frozen until required as a few restaurants were trying to win us over by saying the food was cooked from fresh, which I kinda of hoped would be the case throughout. Later we realised that we were going to all the commercial tourist friendly places so next time round we'll do our research first as Italian is our favourite type of food!

The trip to Rome really taught me a lot of things, mainly that history and culture isn't as boring as I had first thought, I just need to take a slight interest and soon I'll be hooked! I also learnt that if your walking round a city for hours on end for a few days make sure you bring comfy shoes and drink lots of water! My poor feet were so sore by the end of the weekend, I was grateful for the plane ride home to have a rest! 

Day 9 | What's in Your Bag

Okay I admit I am most definitely cheating on this post but I'm a creature of habit and don't believe in doing the same thing twice. So I'm going to be cheeky and direct you to the What's in My Bag post that I did back in February as I'm not kidding you I have exactly the same things in my bag then as I do now! You know me, I just don't like change!

What's in My Bag

Although I will leave you with a new addition to my bag collection - my first DKNY bag! It was a birthday gift from my very lovely boyfriend and I love it! Roomy enough for lots of my crap but not so big that I have to lug it about.

Dont you just love it?!

Day 8 | 5 Current Goals

I have goals coming out of my years, some are more long term whilst others cover me for the the next month or so. I'm pretty good at setting them but bloody awful at seeing them through to the end and achieving them. I've figured that it may work best if I have bite sized goals that help to achieve a bigger long term goal but for now here are my bigger goals which I am going to be aiming towards:

• Become a lot more healthy and enjoy exercise - The thought of exercise is always a lot more pleasant that actually doing it, I want the end result without all the hard work but of course that's not going to happen at all so I really need to push my self to make healthy choices and look forward to exercise more

• Take more pictures - I really want to include more of my own pictures here on my blog rather than using other peoples as I think its so much more personal. I see so many wonderful things during the day but never think to get my camera out and start snapping away 

• Get to goal weight before my holiday in August - May was a bit of a chubby month for me, it was my birthday and then I went away to South Africa and since coming back I've carried on eating crap and not exercising so unsurprisingly I've put on weight and I'm at the heaviest I've ever been! I go away at the end of August and I want to be beach confident

• Grow my blog - Now I don't mean this is a follower sense although that wouldn't go a miss! I want to get lots more content from my head into posts. I have so many ideas and I cant wait to transfer them all for you to enjoy

• Work through my 101 things in 1001 days - Since creating this list back in January I haven't really made a conscious effort to get things ticked off, so I'm going to go through and make a plan to get things completed. Many of things will bring me out of my comfort zone and will also be new experiences - I don't know what I've been waiting for really! 

What are your goals? Are you good to sticking to plan or do you find it difficult to achieve goals?

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 7 | Five Favourite Songs

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Like a lot of people I'm sure, music is a very important part of my life. Whilst I have no idea how to play an instrument or even read music I do know how much it can make a difference to your mood. Different songs can pick you up when your feeling down, lyrics can help you make sense of things when your mind is all over the place. Sometimes music will just be on in the background whilst I get ready in the mornings but then there are times when I just sit down to listen to certain songs, to take in their lyrics and enjoy the music. Its been quite tough to pick just 5 favourite songs but these I think I've done a good job narrowing it down. These are in no particular order...

Carrie Underwood - Just A Dream - The first time I heard this song I cried, now not just a little tear, I sobbed. I told you I was a cry baby. Its about a young girl whose boyfriend dies whilst serving his country and the words just really hit deep. Although its such a sad an emotive song I still cant help but play this all the time even after all this time.

Nadia Ali - Rapture (Avicii Remix) - I don't know what it is about this song but when ever it comes on in the car its like I HAVE to put the windows down and turn it up loud! It really makes me dance and sing along, and because of that I love running to it because it gives me lots of energy! 

Jason Mraz - I Wont Give Up - Every couple has a song right? Well this is mine and Allan's song, it has such a personal meaning, its like it was written for us! It was only right that it ended up in my favourite 5.

Mr. Probz - Waves - This is a new favourite of mine, its definitely going to be my summer song! Its really chilled out and I just love Mr. Probz voice on this song. 

K-Ci & JoJo - Crazy - One of my favourite films is Save the Last Dance and this song comes from its soundtrack. Shock horror its another slow and soppy number but this has a really R n B vibe as it is from the R n B gods K-Ci & Jo Jo. I love the video because it incorporates bits from the film and the lead male is hot! 

So I think from my favourite songs it just confirms that Allan is right, I am the biggest wet lettuce going, but I just cant help being an emotional person! Dont think that I just listen to the slow stuff though because that's not the case at all, but I tend to just like what ever is popular at the time! 

What are your favourite songs? What kind of music do you prefer? 

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 6 | What I'm Afraid Of

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Okay so already on day 6 I failed to post *sadface* I told myself that I'd plan ahead so I kept on top of things but I wasn't as organised as I'd hoped! It was a long Friday at work and when I got home I just wanted to hang out with my boyfriend who'd just completed his penultimate exam! Roll on next when its all over and he can go back to being stress free! Anywho I hope you don't mind this is a day late, and I will posted day 7 a little later when I've come back from a little bit of retail therapy. 

In all honestly I'm not scared of the usual spiders, the dark, heights or anything of that kind. I was thinking about it yesterday I may be a wet lettuce (the bfs words not mine!) when it comes to feelings and emotions but when it comes to physical things there isn't anything that I immediately fear. 

The one big thing that I am without a doubt scared of it is change. I hate it. I think it boils down to the fact that I am a little bit of a control freak. I like knowing what's going on and when, if there is the slightest bit of change that I just cant handle it and I feel a little out of my depth. 

For the past 3 years change has become a big part of my life thanks to my boyfriend but yet I'm nowhere near accepting that change can be positive too. Logistics hasn't always been the easiest for me and Allan, he lives in Brighton and I live an hour and a half away in Camberley. Until very recently he worked away meaning from week to week he would be at a different location around the South East. With every location came panic that things were changing and it was going to be difficult for us but every time Allan proved that it didn't matter where he was, he'd still come to see me whenever possible. Many evenings he drove 2 1/2 hours just to spend the evening with me, which of course made me a very happy bunny. 

Now he's no longer working away he's only 30 minutes from his in Brighton and hour from mine so things are a lot easier although I am just waiting for the time when he says he has to work away again! But hopefully by then I would have made the big move to Brighton...another change which whilst I'm nervous about it and I am excited too! 

What is your biggest fear? 

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 5 | My Proudest Moment

I have to say that it has taken me quite some time to think of what my proudest moment is. I didn't do very well at school, or college for that matter, I haven't been to uni, and it took me a bloody long time to pass my driving test but when the thought struck me I wondered why I didn't think of it earlier!

I work at one of the major estate agents in my area, I'm quite proud of that fact after working hard to get where I am now. From starting out a very small independent (crappy) agents I managed to bag my self a Lettings Negotiator role, whilst the hours were a lot longer the money was better and I felt valued. After a year in that role I decided that the hours were just too long and the pressure on hitting targets were just too much so when a spot opened as a Letting Co-Ordinator I jumped at the chance! Less hours, similar money and no walking around in the rain waiting for late appointments, score!

Across our company there are lots of different departments, we cover sales, lettings, new homes, and auctions just to name a few and within each area there are quarterly awards and annual awards. During a very busy Q2 last year I picked up an award which meant a trip to London with all the other award winners. We went for dinner at Dans Le Noir which is a very strange concept - you eat in the dark! Wining that award was a great feeling in itself but was nothing like the Christmas Party....

Our Christmas Party or the Annual Awards as they like to call it, is a big deal. Everyone gets dressed up all 500 of us and there's a big sit down meal (with copious amounts of wine of course!), then its the awards! At the beginning of the night we find out who has made the shortlist, and last year my name was down! I had butterflies, I was really nervous thinking it could be me but deep down I did figure that it hadn't been a great year so its doubtful I'd win but to be nominated at least was good enough for me! The winners are calculated on targets, figures, additional services etc so its not just a case of being the boss's favourite which is really good! 

When it come to our category it was very tense we all wanted to know who would be jetting off to South Africa but again I didnt for one minute think that it would be me...until my name was called out!! I have to say I don't really remember much about walking up to the stage, I'm not sure if that was the wine or the adrenalin! To make things even better my friend Sarah had also won so we strutted down together, both in awe of what we had achieved! We would both be off to South Africa for a trip of a life time! 

All those days that I'd worked late, came in early. All the times that I pulled my hair out stressing because references had failed again, all the times I had cried because a landlord had shouted at me, it all seemed worth it. I was proud, very proud and the big smile I carried on my face all night, and for days to followed proved that! 

Find out what I got up to in South Africa here. 

What has been your proudest moment? 

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 4 | My Dream Job

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I am happy to admit that I am most likely the least career driven person you will come across. Now that doesn't mean I am lazy bum who sits at home all day because that's most definitely not the case. I have worked full time since I left college all them years ago, working in a busy hotel on front reception and now in a one of the areas top estate agents. I feel I work very hard in a highly pressured stressful environment and for now its working, but I have totally different ideas when it comes to my future career. 

Although pretty controversial, my dream job (when the time is right) is to be a full time stay at home mum. I want to be there to look after my family, watch them grow and be the best mum and wife I can be. Whilst I know some people would think this is a bit of cop out and that I should want to have my own career and life, I would say the opposite. I am a very traditional person and choosing to give up a career for your family is a very respectable thing, it means you are putting your family before anything else to make sure that your children have the best upbringing they can have. This doesn't mean I don't have respect for working mums or think that their children would have less of a better up bringing, I can only imagine how hard it must be to juggle everything all at once and I dont want to have to compromise. 

I've seen the situation from both sides. My mum had my sister (Abbie) when I was five and from then until I was about 10/11 she didn't work, even when she did go back to work it was during school hours so she was always around before and after school which I loved. Whereas on the other hand my step-mum went back to working full time after my two sisters (Alice and Emily) were born. Whilst we all had a good different upbringings I do feel that staying home and looking after my own children will ensure I can give them my undivided attention. 

Luckily my boyfriend feels the same so hopefully when the time is right I will be able to step into my dream job of being a Mum. 

What do you think about stay at home mums? What would be your dream job?

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 3 | My Favourite Quote

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I'd like to say that I've read lots of heartfelt books where I've scribbled down the quotes and live by them but instead I spend hours scrolling through Pinterest finding quotes that fit my current situation. It was pretty tough coming up with just one favourite quote as I do think there are so many good ones out there but when I first saw this one it struck a very deep chord in my life.

Its not about 'having' time. Its about making time. 

Quite often I don't get things done because 'I dont have time', I mean of course I have time, I'm not super busy 24 hours a day. I just prefer to do other things, read - be lazy. I say I want to go to the gym but I just don't have time after I finish work at 5pm when in reality I have plenty of time, I just need to factor in one hour into my evening of surfing the web and pampering myself. Which in all honestly even a nice pamper session in the evening has been given the cold shoulder because I would prefer to rush everything and jump into bed so I can refresh my Bloglovin feed to see if anything new has come up. 

So from now I'm going to stop using the excuse I just don't have time and I'm going to start making time. Making time to go to the gym. Making time to cook a proper dinner rather than something quick and convenient. Making time to choose an outfit in the morning rather than staying in bed an extra 5 minutes and chucking on the first thing I see. We all have the same amount of hours in the day, just some people take advantage of them more than others. Lets all make time. 

Whats your favourite quote? Do you think you make excuses and not make time for things?

You can read all my posts from the 30 day challenge here. 

Day 2 | 20 Facts About Me

Today you're going to learn some weird and wonderful facts about me. 

1. I am the worlds biggest procrastinator.

2. You'll find notebooks filled with lists all over my bedroom.

3. Cheese is my biggest downfall in life. I love the smelly stuff.

4. I dislike change more than anything.

5. I can watch QVC all day without getting bored. I haven't even bought anything from there before!

6. I really enjoy my own company, especially when it comes to shopping.

7. It took me three attempts to pass my driving test.

8. Originally I studied Travel and Tourism at college but I now work in Lettings and have done for the past 3 years.

9. Crying could be a hobby of mine. I cry at films, books, anything remotely emotional - I get it from my mum!

10. Purple is my favourite colour.

11. I love CSI!

12. I hate my big feet - size 7 is just not dainty.

13. Brighton is my favourite place in the world, hopefully I'll be calling it home soon.

14. My boyfriend is my best friend and knows me better than anyone - he's a keeper.

15. I am crap at saving money, its made to be spent not kept in a bank account!

16. Morning person I am not! I am not remotely sociable until after my first cup of tea.

17. I prefer watching series to movies or normal TV. Dexter is the current series of choice - only on series 2 so no spoilers please!

18. I have over 50 nail varnishes but only ever paint my toenails.

19. 11 is my lucky number.

20. I bruise so easily. I always have at least 2 bruises at one time, 9/10 I have no idea where they came from. 

I thought this would be an easy post to write but its more difficult then I first thought! You can read all my posts from the challenge here. 

Day 1 | My Blog Name

Thinking of a name for my little place on the internet was the hardest thing ever! I really wanted to get started with blogging but I knew I couldn't rush the name as it would stick and I'd be reluctant to change it once I'd got started. I had my boyfriend and mum on the name hunt but everything they came up with I seemed to turn my nose up to. Although I wanted to write about beauty I didn't want the name to be specific as later down the line I may have wanted to change the direction of the blog. 

After what seemed like weeks of adding names to the list and immediately crossing off, I finally had a light bulb moment. I was going through a bit of an obsession which generally happens with me, I was addicted to crime thrillers, specifically the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. Those of you who have read or even started to read the series may know where I am going with this...Well I had just started reading Along Came a Spider and had the film on repeat constantly, and just couldn't help but think what a ring Along Came Kelly had! So after consulting with Allan and my Mum it was decided, Along Came Kelly was born! 

That's day one of the 30 day blog challenge completed, only 29 to go. You can read all about the challenge here. If your taking part please do leave your links below as I'd to read your posts. See you same time tomorrow.