January seemed to feel like the longest month ever but sitting her now it feels like the past few months have just shot by us. It's been a few months of ups and downs that's for sure.If you follow me on Twitter you'll of seen that in January I had a few interviews for a job I've been looking for for about 5 years now, I was so excited and both interviews went incredibly well. In February I found out I had got the job, I can't tell you how excited I was, honestly after the awful year I had last year (see here) I'd finally felt like this was the thing that could of saved everything! I'd started planning how much I was going to save a month so Mark and I could move into together, how much I could afford to pay off the loan I'd got for the shop I'd brought last year and I felt like it was the thing that would pull my head up out of water so I could breath again. I was told all I was waiting for was a reference from my old job and once that was done I could get my start date. A few weeks went past and I was having emails from HR with welcome packs ect and then all of a sudden I had a phone call from them saying I no longer could have the position. I was gutted! I couldn't have the position because of the financial crap the shop got me in.
I'm not going to lie and say it hasn't effected me in any way. It hurt, A LOT And it was hard not to let it bring me down but there isn't anything I can do other than keep on plodding along. I've been advised to put more things I enjoy doing into my life. With money being none existent at the moment I've been trying to fill my days with things to do that involve no money. One thing I need to do every now and again is take 5 minutes to myself, it's hard not to get stressed by day to day life and worry about things out of my control. I've been taking a lot more baths lately and indulging in a few pamper evenings and boy oh boy does it help.
I met a very helpful man last week who told me one way to bring stress levels down is to have nice smells around. He asked me what my favorite smell was and I couldn't give an answer, he told me his was coffee or the smell of a bakery and when he feels a little stressed he tries to surround himself with those smells. I don't know if that's because certain smells bring back memories but I like this idea very much. I like the smell of the air in the morning especially if it's been raining overnight, it reminds me of camping with my dad when I was little, and waking up early in the morning and going outside and inhaling that fresh scent. The other day I took a bath and picked up a bubble bath poured it in and instantly the scent of the bubble bath reminded me of being little, when my Mom would take baths and I used to think they were the most boring things in the world. It was just a really nostalgic smell. 
The weather this weekend has been beautiful! The sun was out all weekend and Mark and I took full advantage of that! Friday we went for an "adventure" around our local park - We seem to spend most of our time there lately. We went walking up the hills and got very muddy, took loads of pictures and had a nice chat with a man who used to play in the park when he was young. He was telling us about all the things that used to be there and all the things he got up to when he was little.Saturday we went back to the park and played tennis and then Sunday we spent most the day in the garden. Mark was doing the gardening whilst I sat there and did nothing. My role was supervisor obviously! But it was nice to get outside and not have to wrap up in layers upon layers. Spring is finally here!
Yesterday afternoon Mark and I went out for some exercise. He went for a jog whilst I rode around on my bike. We was only out for around 40 minutes but ouch did that hurt my legs, they felt bloody great afterwards! We've been really getting into our bike rides lately, it's great fun and again costs no money! The bike I have at the minute is a bit dodgy, the breaks tend to not work or squeak ridiculously loud so I'd like to be able to get one I feel comfortable with so we can go for some big bike rides and see different places.
I would also like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Cheltenham Ladies Day Challenge, I got the most votes and have won 2 tickets to go to the races on Thursday! I'm so excited and can't wait to share pictures of the day. I've never been to the races before and I can't wait to see the gorgeous outfits people wear. I'm going to have to raid my wardrobe to find something appropriate to wear. So thank you everyone who voted, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!With Love,
Sian x
