Christmas day 2015

Christmas was magical as always! We had an amazing day with family and I was completely spoiled. This is just a quick post with some of my favourite photo's from the day!

My mum made an incredible Christmas dinner and we even tried the "cheatin' celebration roast" (it was delicious). My Nan also made us a vegan trifle for dessert!
The best part of the day was the game of Trivial Pursuit, even though I lost so badly (I didn't even manage to get one slice of pie!).

I'm so grateful for how well my family know me and how awesome all of my gifts are! I spent today relaxing in my pj's and eating lots of chocolate, isn't that what the holidays are for?

Did you all have a good Christmas?

Intsagram @wolvesandflames

2016 Goals

I'm not usually one for New years resolutions but I do have a few goals that I want to accomplish in the New year. I'm excited to feel the January motivation and to buy a brand new 2016 diary!

Blog in a proper schedule
The plan is to blog three times a week and plan out all of my posts in advance. I haven't decided what days I'm going to post yet but hopefully by having set days I'll be more prepared and less lazy!

Go on holiday
My boyfriend Mike passed his driving test last week and we will be getting a car soon so I can't wait to have more freedom! It's been a few years since we've been on holiday so I'm excited to be able to drive to the mountains or sunny France and to bring my fur baby Sabbath along.

Have an art exhibition
I've really pushed myself to get back in to painting lately and I want to go one step further and push myself to put on an exhibition! I will have to work hard for this goal, not only to get all of the artwork together, but also dealing with my shyness and anxiety. I'm determined to achieve this!

Eat healthier and train harder
Of course, the obvious resolution is to be healthy! I'm pretty good at eating well but I just need to be more consistent and probably eat more fruit. Also my fitness goals are on track so I just plan on carrying on as I am! Maybe I'll do an updated post on my workout routine soon.

Learn to drive
Pretty self explanatory, I'm annoyed that I've put it off for so long but I need to face my fears and get some independence. As scary as it seems I just need to go for it. It will take me one step closer to my white Lincoln Continental dream car as well!

I hope Christmas doesn't fly by too fast, but I am looking forward to 2016 and hopefully I can stick to my resolutions/goals this year...

What are your resolutions for the New year?

Instagram @wolvesandflames

2015 Recap

2015 has been the most incredible as well as the most difficult year of my life.
I've stepped outside of my comfort zone, learnt a few life lessons and it's been quite the journey. I thought this post would be a good way to look back and remember some of the things that I've been through in this crazy year!

Got a new job
At the very beginning of the year I started my new job and I was able to hang up my McDonald's cap for the last time (lol). I absolutely love working at the climbing hangar and within the last year I've been able to find a really great balance of working, blogging and relaxing. I'm a lucky girl.

Started blogging consistently
My new years resolution was to take my blogging more serious and consistently put out content. I'm proud to say that I have stuck to it and have only had a few breaks throughout the year (and I felt guilty for each hiatus). I'm so grateful for everyone who has read and supported me with this blog and I'm excited to see where I can go and how it will grow...

Sprained my ankle
I injured my ankle by jumping off the wall when I was climbing and I had a tough couple of months recovering, it sucked not being able to go to work or walk with the dog! It's taken me a while to get my confidence back with climbing because I'm still pretty scared of getting another injury and the restrictions it brings, but it definitely helped me to improve in other areas of my fitness when I couldn't use my ankle!

Tried modelling
It's been a long process but I've been on a quest to be more confident, more spontaneous and more of a "yes" man. I met a very talented photographer and when he asked me if I would be interested in modelling I pushed myself to say yes and give it a go!
Although I'm still rather shy and often unphotogenic (I definitely need to work on posing!), I'm glad I've tried something new and I've had fun and met some amazing people.

Moved in to our new house
The hardest part of my year has been our housing situation. We planned on buying our first home and in the process we had several mortgage meetings at the bank and viewed and made offers on several properties. Each offer was rejected or outbid or ignored and we were left feeling deflated and slightly annoyed. The situation became even more dramatic when everyone in our building received eviction letters and we were left in a panic.
I know now that it was a blessing in disguise, the flat was in a sorry state, covered in damp and the landlord had no interest in fixing any of the problems. We ended up moving in to my Dad's back room for a few weeks until we found our lovely new house. Who knows, maybe 2016 will be the year that we buy our first home, but for now I'm content renting our little two up, two down terrace.

Cut my hair
After almost having panic attacks over getting an inch off my hair I thought it was finally time to face my fears and get a proper hair cut! Over the last few months I've gone from having hair down my back to my current bob and I love it! It's pretty addictive so maybe I'll keep going shorter and shorter!

Got braces
I've been wanting to sort my teeth out for so long and in July I took the big step and finally got braces! It's one of the best decisions I've ever made and I'm so much more confident now around people (no more covering my mouth when I smile!). I've written a blog post here with all of the details and the fitting process so check that out if you want more information or any advice!

Struggled with my anxiety

After having a bit of a breakdown over the summer I wrote this blog post/rant talking about my ongoing battle with my anxiety and how it has impacted my life. I think it will be near impossible to completely overcome my anxious ways, but I'm seeing improvements every day so I will give myself a pat on the back!

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That was all of the main events that happened in my life this year and it's crazy looking back at how fast it all happened! I'm so excited for Christmas now, the next week is certainly going to be a busy one...

Thanks for reading!

Instagram @wolvesandflames

Christmas gift guide #2.. Boyfriend

Checked scarf - River Island

Delonghi Gunmetal coffee machine - Debenhams

Babyliss super stubble - Superdrug

Adventure is calling mug - Urban Outfitters

Royal blood vinyl - HMV

Cork 2016 diary - Paperchase

Grey floral bow tie - River Island

Bear cuff links - Asos

I prefer it when my boyfriend Mike asks me for something and then I can get him a few smaller stocking fillers to go alongside it. Sadly, this year he hasn't been very forthcoming with ideas of things I can get for him so I was feeling a bit panicked and uninspired!

Putting this list together has helped me to think of similar things I can get for him (of course nothing I've included because that would ruin the surprise!).

Recently HMV have extended their record section and I think vinyl is perfect to buy for music lovers, you can also pick up rather cheap record players from there now so that would be a pretty sweet gift! We have quite an extensive collection of old records already, but it's cool to pick up some new releases (I've asked Mike to get me Tame Impala's latest album Currents so I'm super excited).

Now I totally want that coffee machine, it's so aesthetically pleasing and it would be fun to get coffee shop quality drinks from the comfort of my own home!

If anyone has any other ideas for good boyfriend gifts please let me know, I need all the inspiration I can get!

Instagram @wolvesandflames

Christmas gift guide #1

Black silky pj's - River Island

Check scarf - Topshop

Urban Decay Gwen palette - Debenhams

Barry M Rose quartz nail paint - Superdrug

Too pretty to work mug - Urban Outfitters

Marble ring holder - Urban Outfitters

2016 Diary - Paperchase

Gold pineapple ring - Asos

So my goal to finish my Christmas shopping by December 1st didn't work out, but I have been sensible and sorted the majority of my gifts. I've had two trips to town with a list of gift ideas stuffed in my bag and yet I've still managed to buy myself presents before any family members (oops).
The gifts I've shown above are things that I would quite happily receive, so it's sort of a gift guide/wishlist. Compiling this list just made me want to treat myself to all of the pretty things, maybe I'll splash out in January after the Christmas madness!

How are you all getting on with your Christmas shopping? Hopefully better than I am!

Instagram @wolvesandflames