Christmas Preparations!

Good evening!

Today I wanted to share with you my preparations for Christmas, since the big day is fast approaching! (Seriously, it's December... when did THAT happen?!)

So far the tree is up, Christmas dinner is planned and everything I need to make the girls' presents has been bought. I know what the boys' presents will be, just need to buy in the bits and pieces to make them now! I'll be setting some time aside this weekend to put the gifts together for the girls as I've got our Christmas party coming up on the 14th and I need to leave some fussing time!

I can't pick the element I'm most excited about this year, other than to say it's how all the homemade elements turn out. It's my first year making presents and also cooking Christmas dinner for Tom, Kassi and myself. I can't wait to see reactions to each of the gifts and to have a homely, relaxed Christmas day!

After Christmas I'll be doing a homemade gifts series with How-To Guides on everything I make. Nothing I've chosen is Christmas-specific so you'll be able to use them for any gift-giving occasion. I'll also be sharing my tips and tricks for keeping Christmas low-cost, high-fun based on my experiences this year. I know it's a bit late for this year, but since this year is the first time I'm doing it all I want to make sure it's good advice that works before sharing!

What have you been doing to prepare for the big day? Are you going homemade this year too? Let me know in the comments!

Our tree looking pretty!

Update on Life

Hi everyone!

I'm safely back at home and resting up so thought I'd share a little update with you. :)

The op went well and I came home Saturday evening after almost 24 hours of sleeping in the hospital. I even kicked out my visitors so they wouldn't have to watch me sleep! Since then I've been napping at least twice a day, snacking on plain foods and convincing Tom that I really do need him to set the Wii Fit up every morning so I can check my weight! (I'm more than a little curious how much weight that endo was taking up - results to come once the swelling disappears!)

I was also a lucky lady yesterday when my lovely sister and our friend Andy agreed to take Tom and I to the cinema to see Catching Fire (which I adored in case you're wondering, go watch it!). It was a bit of an expedition requiring a hot water bottle (got some funny looks for that), a pillow being seatbelted to my stomach and pre-warning of all the jumpy bits, but it was worth it and I rested all evening to make up for it.

I also had a visit from the amazing Rachel, who put up with my constant babbling with a smile. I've only seen family since the op so I probably dazed the poor woman and I wouldn't be surprised if her ears are still ringing!

Plans for the rest of the week include training Tom on the business elements of Social Media so he can help me with my new business, making a start on homemade Christmas presents before the Secret Santa deadline and having a lot of chicken soup which is my current food craving!

Hopefully I might find some time between all the napping and eating to write a blog post or two as well. ;)

Have a good week!
xx

Electronic Devices Prevent Proper Sleep

Sorry for the time lapse since my last post, it's been a busy two weeks getting ready for another operation this Friday. I've also been setting up a new business and that's taken off quicker than I ever imagined so it's been all go on that front too!

Things might be a little hit and miss for a few weeks while I'm recovering or I could be posting daily from boredom - we'll wait and see! But either way bear with me, I've got lots of exciting things to share with you over the coming months. :)

For now I wanted to share this article with you:

Light From Electronic Devices Prevents Proper Night's Sleep

The results of the study are really interesting and I've experienced first hand the difference having no devices can make. I have to put my hand up and say I've been sleeping with either a lamp or fairy lights on pretty much my entire life. When I was old enough to go without a night light I was sleeping in the attic room with a ladder, so I had a small light to stop me falling in the night and I never really grew out of that habit.

Since reading the above report I thought I'd experiment a little, first banning our mobiles from the bedroom (I'm a 4am facebook surfer) and then turning the fairy lights off too. I found my quality of sleep improved instantly - just 3 nights in and I'm falling asleep much faster, being less restless and waking up naturally before my alarm rather than groaning and hitting snooze. Mid-night bathroom visits have become a bit riskier and we need to find a solution to the loud ticking of our new alarm clock, but overall I'm very happy with the results. :)

And of course I have to mention the eco benefit of not having the light on all night - a habit I was reluctant to break but am glad I did!

What do you think? Are you tempted to have a technology ban in the bedroom to see the results? Let me know in the comments below. :)

Busy, busy, busy!

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last week or so! I'm currently halfway between my 2 ops so I'm making the most of being able to do stuff with my family. :) When I recover from my next op it won't be far from Christmas and the weather will be gross so I'm enjoying everything while I can.

The weekend before last we went to Leicester to visit Tom's parents and were very spoiled. :) It was lovely seeing them sooner than planned and we've already arranged our next visit which makes a change!
Then the weekend just gone we went with my grandparents to their caravan so we were even more spoiled! The weather was crap but we still had a good time. My Nan took up to a wholefoods store in Sidmouth and I found my heaven. Nan treated me to things like endo-friendly pancakes, rice flour and even some raw chocolate covered raisins which are incredibly yummy.

That's it for weekend adventures now until after my op (that I know of...) but I've downloaded the Blogger app so that I can keep blogging on the move if things change. Can't believe I didn't think of it sooner to be honest!

I've slipped up on the diet through all this, despite doing my best to keep with it. I'll definitely be looking into easier ways to stick to the diet while on the move and of course I'll be sharing that with you!
So you can look forward to a few more recipes coming up - I especially want to share the Harissa chicken traybake that Tom's mum made for us which was lovely!