I love things that twinkle and glisten and glow in a warm way, this is why my house is filled with things that light up and cast a warm glow over the area. I'd rather have a lamp and a candle going than the main light. Above are a few things I have bought to aid me in my insane quest to only cast shadows in my house!

A lot may be different candles or just holders, but I love them all and if I could afford it I would more than likely light my house only by candle lights and fairy lights, alas eventually they would cost more as unless they are led lights or really really cheap tea light (and I love scented ones) they would not be cheaper than an energy saving and efficient bulb. The world is against my life by candle.

After being off work for 17 days and going back into one mad week, I can tell you that I'm not feeling great right now.

So I work in Tesco in one of the largest stores in the UK, I am a Team Leader on the Checkout and I deal with over 100 staff and thousands of customers in a week. Short of running around for both, I barely get a moment to sit down or take any stock. Our store which was expected to have calmed down now is taking on a mind of its own (fueled by the customers who visit it) and is increasingly getting more and more busy. I love my job and the challenges it brings, I do not however, love the impact it has on my body.

I am a large girl (that is not my jobs fault), I like my food. If anyone calls me fat I fully admit to being the only one in control of my body. I do however have a few health issues that may be exagerated by my weight but not created by it. A few weeks before Christmas I pulled my shoulder in work, Its still hurting and has even increased in pain. it has been almost 4 months since the initial cause and I now have cream that I have been rubbing in for a week with no difference made. My next possible move is an injection into the muscle that only has a 1 in 3 chance on improving it.

I have weak ankles, created from a injury when I was 13, my ankle could give way at any time or I may twist one at any time. This has led me to pull the ligament in my left ankle and twist it so hard it even dislocated. I have never broken either ankle and this is due to the high arch on my feet which makes it really hard for me to break them. This problem has not been helped by my weight, but once again its not the cause either and even if I was normal, I could still easily twist my ankle and when I was a normal size, I still did so frequently.

I fell on my knee onto solid concrete 10 years ago and it has never been right since, it frequently seizes up and causes me so much pain to unseize it that I end up crying. After a long day in work it hurts (and teamed with my ankle this is no picnic). I went to the doctors once and was told it was a genetic condition and was given some anti-inflamitory pills, which did nothing. It also took them 10 years to send me to physio for my ankles and with my shoulder now, I'm not really in any high hopes for a solution any time this decade.

My back is always in pain, even when I don't do anything, its all just varying degrees of pain. I suffer from asthma, which running around all day does not help, but it gets worse in the summer as the heat really gets to my breathing. I suffer from migraines which can lay me up for a day. Constant sleep issues to which I have now (after 15 year) been diagnosed with insomnia, but given nothing to help it. Due to the running around in my job I have developed plantar fasciitis, which is pain in the heel. I tend to have aches and pains, clicks and creaks in most of my joints and I probably have some form of arthritis, but I'm not expecting a diagnosis of any of my problems anytime soon.

So this is me, I live eveyday in pain, some days are easier than others and though I don't have any serious illness that is causing the pain, I wanted to let people out there know that no matter what has caused you pain, if you have any, you should not be afraid to say. I have friends with Fibromyalgia, lupus, early onset arthritis and many other difficulties. Their day to day life is 10times harder than me, but my pain is also 10times worse than others. Also don't be like me, I only go to my doctors when I can't take it any more, because they are inept and nothing ever gets done or I get fobbed off, don't wait or loose faith, your pain could be fixed with the right doctor!

My week has been good and bad, filled with dread at having to go back to work after just over two weeks holiday. So, what have I done: I've gone out and got drunk, seen Oz the great and powerful, Went to the doctors to find that I am slowly falling apart, gone shopping and bitten all my nails off! Yes that was not the best thing that I have done but it happens.

A pretty slow week in some ways and a great one in others, I have almost finished watching all of Greys Anatomy and I have watched Dollhouse. I have been reading a QI book with lots of random facts and generally doing as little as possible.

Inspire by Laura I thought I would join in on this little post. I find it very had coming up with any interesting facts about myself as to me, it's all just mundane and normal stuff.

I have only ever been abroad once, it was to Malta when I was 6.
I don't like spiders, I have nothing against them being in the world I just don't want them in my home!
When I was in High School I actually kept my tamagotchi pet alive until the end though no one believed me.
Until recently I had too beanie/soft toys. When I packed them up to give to charity they took up 5 black bags! I now have 3 shelves full.
I can remember when a can of coke cost 25p not 70p and when a 500ml bottle cost 50p not £1.10.
I love plants, but can't keep them alive for too long.
I'm a coke girl, not a big fan of pepsi at all.
If I won the lottery I would buy an Aston Martin DB9.
It took me 3 driving instructor to pass my test, not because I was crap, I passed each test on my first go, but I started to learn when I was 18 and then got my own place and couldn't afford it, started again when I was 24 but my instructor kept dragging his heels so eventually I moved somewhere else to be told that I was ready after one lesson and that was that, 8 weeks later I was a full licence holder.
If I had the space and money I would pretty much be a hoarder, I hate throwing anything that may be useful away.
My hair is very fine but I have a lot of it which makes it thick, every hair dresser I've ever gone to has pointed this out, and then moaned that because of this combination it takes a while to dry it.
Things always come in 3s for me, it may sound silly but it does, If I break something I break two other things as well, If I hurt myself I have 2 other pains to endue too.
When it comes to Tea, I like Tetley. I felt this was important in case I'm ever invited for tea.
I have 5 permanent scars, 2 of these are on my face, all but one occurred before I was 11.
When I smile, there is more gum than teeth.
I used to have my belly button pierced, but my body rejected it.
I love the smell of book, the paper, the print the binder glue, there is nothing like it for freshness, besides grass.
I don't have any outstanding talents, but I am good at a number of things.
I could re-read the Harry Potter series over and over and never get bored of it.
and finally...
I used to have a goldfish that had black tips on his fins and tail so I called him Finnmeister and I had two hamster and I called them both Carley because as a child it was my favourite name.

February basically consisted of
  Nights out, more than I have in the last 6 months combined,
  Alcohol, more than the last 6 months combined, 
  Dancing, more than the last 6 months combined,
  Watching TV Shows, more than the last 6 months combined,
  Cleaning, yup you guessed it more than the last 6 months combined,
yes, there is a pattern forming with my list, February saw me turning 27 and its as if the closer to 30 the more I have sped up my fun, however with funds now unbelievably short, It will be back to almost nothing for a while. I've gotten hooked on Bones and Greys Anatomy and also Storage Wars, which was entirely by accident.

I have gone out with Laura more times than you can count on a hand in one month and our text conversation have reached a all time strangeness, that can no longer be completely explained without some neurological damage.

This month I have laughed and Cried, been worried and relieved and all in all forgotten more than I have remembered! I've been in lots of pain due to lots of different reason and have to wait another week until my doctors appointment. My husband may have sleep apnea  and will have to wait anywhere between 6 months to 2 years to get into the sleep clinic and in the meantime I have to pick up the slack when it comes to his severely ailing memory, Alas I should be thankful for what I have as its a lot better than most, but I feel we all dwell on the bad!

February has had a lot of ups and down and now going into March I can only keep my fingers crossed that the good remains and the bad goes away. May the spring bring more sun and joy.

what can I say, I needed nothing of this, besides the brush, I just wanted it all.

This is the first hair brush I've had to buy in 10 year, my last brush has been broken for ages and I just suddenly decided I could no longer deal with the broken handle, so I bought this brush, It was £12, which I think is stupid for a brush, but the one that lasted me 10 years cost £5 so I figured that this one should last a while at least 25 years!

each of the nail varnish are from ASDA and are only £1 each, I wanted a bunch of neutral colours for work. However no my work place has stopped all nail varnishes, and I'm gutted as Ive only just got my nails to a decent place and started to enjoy using lots of colours and I can only do it now if I'm off for a good few days!

the waistcoat style cardigan was from a charity shop and was only £1.50, It will look great with a coloured t-shirt, it has studded details on the collar and is fun. The 60's style dress was also from a charity shop and cost only £4.

Shoes, I love shoes and I have way too many, however these don't count towards my allotted amount as they were an absolute steal. They are both from primark, the peach suede heels were only £3 and the gold glitter ones were £6, less than £10 for two pairs of shoes is a bargain.

Monday was a normal day to most people, went to work, looked after the kids, not for me. For me it was my 27th Birthday and to be fair it was one of the best birthdays Ive had in a long time. A lot of my birthdays since I was 18 have been ok but not good. This year I was spoiled and am still looking forward to one more night out, courtesy of Laura as the final celebration.

Lots of presents, went out for a meal and just generally had lots of fun, roll on next year!

I have unfortunately not been posting in the last week this is due to my sudden and inexplicable need to watch bones.

I caught up on season  and that was It I had to start watching them from the beginning, It has taken over my life in the last week and besides normal things such as work and cleaning all my other time has gone into watching this show.

I Love Love Love Bones, the story lines and the interpersonal work dynamic is fantastic, plus David Boreanaz is one sexy man, so sexy that hes one of the only men that my husband would not turn down.

I found a site with the recipe for a DIY Lip Scrub here and I felt compelled to do it myself. I'm not really one for making things myself, I tend to leave it to the people that know best, but as this was so simple and easy I felt that I had to try it. The original turorial link above is much more indepth of properties of ingredients and better photos, but I felt I needed to give it a go to show just how easy it was to make!

all you need is

2 tablespoons of pure coconut oil
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
a mixing bowl
some small pots to put your finished scrub into.

once it has got to the right paste like consistency add the two teaspoons of brown sugar and mix well, if you have any oil from the coconut oil in the bottom of your jar you could add a teaspoon to your mixture to smooth it out more and too give added moisturisation to your scrub.

Once all the brown sugar is mixed into the mixture and covered well, its time to put it into the pots that your have ready and waiting. you can use anything, I had some small jars around but you can use baby food jars or herb pots, whatever you have around.

It's that time of the year again and as the temperature has dropped the bugs seem to hang on for dear life and make you feel miserable.

For as long as I can remember I have been susceptible to cold and flu, where a normal person may have 2 or 3 illnesses a year I tend to get at least 7.

I was born with a hole in my heart due to a premature birth, I believe this has weekend my immune system a little bit, either that or my immune system is just crap at it's job, either way I get ill a lot.

When I am ill, whether it is cold or flu (preferable the first one) there are a few things I do without fail. I don't really know if they even work anymore as I have been doing them for so long.

1) Lots of fluids including orange juice or dissolvable vitamin c tablets, I tend to stay away from fizzy drinks and tea. However I have drunk a lot of Honey tea, just put some Honey into hot water as honey has a natural ingredient that kills off bacteria.
2) Tissues, lots and lots of tissues, my nose tend to work overtime on cold duty and I go through so much.
3) Vaseline, for if my nose does get sore its the least painful thing to use to sooth the area.
4) Vicks Vapo rub or Olbas Oil inhaler. for the chest these are really helpful, they may not be the nicest smelling things in the world and even if you don't think they are working they are usually doing lots of good and helping you.
5) Tablets, cold and Flu ones that help reduce temperature or just normal paracetamol, either way I can't get through a illness without a few, even if its just to ease the banging head that comes with any cold!
6) Wrap up, and use a hot water bottle at night. I tend to try and sweat the cold out , but as I cant deal with too much heat this doesn't really work too well, but it makes you feel cwtchy.
7) Try and get as much sleep as I can, I would sleep through the hole thing if my body would allow it!
8) Eat, even if I don't really want to, I will have 2 pieces of toast, just to keep my energies up and fuel the fight with the cold!
9) Hot baths. not only is the vapor from the bath good for clearing away your runny nose for a while it gives you a boost and relaxes your sore muscles.

There is a lot of advice out there to help you with your cold/flu but as everyone is different, what may work for me may not work for you, Trial and Error is the key!