Five Ways to Kick January's Butt

"Morning. How is your head?"

There. Did you see it? That was January. January peering over it's glasses with a patronising look. January knows what you did last night, probably better than you do. And January knows what you've told yourself you're going to achieve this year. January is laughing.

Because let's face it, with all the best intentions at heart and all the powers of positive thinking in mind, yesterday was a day of promising things to ourselves and eachother and now we've woken up and we realise what we actually have to do. 

Shit.

Fear not, Fee is here. I am a master of organisation, the Queen of grand visions and, in total and complete honesty, a black belt at kidding myself. So let's get real together. Let's kick January's arse.

1. Just because you resolved to stop smoking/lose weight/boost your blog or whatever else in 2015, doesn't mean it needs to happen today. If you eat a cheeseburger or don't write a post today, you have not failed. January just wants you to think you've failed, so that you don't keep trying. Realistic goals are continuous processes, not one-shot deals. Don't pressure yourself to go full-throttle on day one. Ease into it, mama! You only need to answer to you!

2. On a practical note, go eat an orange. Fill one of the empty bottles I'm sure you've got laying around your bed on this January First with water and down the whole thing. Drink something effervescent. It can only help you right now. Trust me. And for the love of God, eat.

3. Take a walk. Take a breather. Get away from everybody around you. Think about your hopes and ambitions. Make realistic plans to take small steps towards them. You're feeling groggy and overwhelmed and all you really need is that crisp January air. Use January to fight January.

4. Read blogs. Immerse yourself in positivity. A few of my favourite positive blogs from December 31st are Faye Olivia, Confetti Letters and OhHay!, because they all talk about what they've achieved and what more they can do. I'm sure you'll find something in common with most if not all of these gals.

5. Don't ignore the things you need to do. Just because it's January 1st doesn't mean that assignment doesn't need to get written (here's looking at you, Fee), it doesn't mean you can't make up orders or clean your oven or whatever it is you need to do. Don't put things off because you're consumed with the now. Oh man, this is a lesson I need to be taking right now. Screw you, January.

And there it is. A guide to January that I hope you can all make use of, and will boost a few spirits. Have a fabulous year, I can't wait to read all about it!

Five Favourite Moments

Normally these types of posts are full of links from the year that has just passed, but as Busy Little Fee has only just become active (hello lovely new readers! You guys are awesome! Come say hey!) I resorted to looking through Facebook to remind me of some of our favourite times from this year. Obviously birthdays were lovely but I looked past those and, luckily, I appear to have organised my Facebook photos into yearly albums, and I had a whole lot of amazing memories all staring back at me in one place. So here they are! In date order and filled with love.

At the moment we're living in a two-bedroom flat, which means that our lovely kiddies have to share a bedroom. Keeping an eight-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy happy was difficult, so for their birthdays (which are both in April) we decided to jump on their mutual love of superheroes and decorated their bedroom as a surprise. We handpainted that city silhouette (made it up as we went along!), the yellow windows are all covered with glow-in-the-dark paint and there are loads of other cool little in-jokes and personal touches. If there's any interest in their room I'd be happy to do a blog post on it in the future.

Another birthday present this year was tickets for Jay and I to take Jelly to see Wicked. We had seen it for our anniversary in March (which was my third time seeing it as it is!) and she was so envious listening to the music, reading our Grimmerie, fantasizing about what the characters must look like... We just knew we had to take her. The tickets weren't for a few months after her birthday, but one Friday in July we picked her up from school and took her straight to Birmingham for some pub grub and a trip to the theatre. She was hooked from the beginning and can't wait to go again. The cast wasn't as good as when we'd seen it a few months before, but we told her it was exactly the same and, honestly, seeing her so excited was better than having an Elpheba who could hit the high note. Just. ;)

Jelly's sports day was another happy day for our family in 2014. We spent the day in the sunshine, cheering her on and having Mooster run around our feet. This picture was actually taken at the moment she threw a foam javelin and it changed direction in the air and bounced right off my head. I love candid pictures like this, and the sunshine just makes me think of our whole summer, which was full of bike rides, country music and wonderful family memories. I can't wait for this summer already. (Don't we ALWAYS do that? Say we can't wait for winter when it's hot, then say we can't wait for summer when it's cold?!)

Christmas day isn't necessarily as special to me as the month or so leading up to the big day. Lights aglow, chilly smiles, friendly waves and those amazing pork rolls that every Christmas fair seems to sell. I loved seeing the wonder in Moo's eyes this December, as he got excited about Santa and Snowmen and lights blazing around him. He loved watching the tree light up, he loved reading Christmas books and singing Christmas songs... He is well and truly mine and his Dad's son when it comes to Christmas because he is already just head-over-heels in love with this time of year. We're actually dreading taking the decorations down because we think it's going to depress him!

And of course, not only the most special moment of 2014 but the most precious day of my life... On Christmas Eve, after almost five years together, Jay proposed to me. My ring is three natural emeralds on a gold band and I adore it; green is my favourite colour, emeralds mean everlasting love and faithfulness and if you look closely you can see the all the little cracks and inclusions inside the gem which just perfectly sums up the five years we've had together: everything is shiny and perfect now but if you look closely you can see a tough history. It's like we earned those shining emeralds.

2014 has been a wonderful year and I am beyond excited for all that 2015 has to bring.

Happy New Year!