The Gallery - Detail

Ok, So this is not necessarily a new photograph, but it's one that I love so decided to share. I just love the rippled effect that the waves had on the sand. It felt like soft cobblestone underneath.

I am linking this post up with "The Gallery" whose theme this week is "Detail"

Internet Dating - 1 Week In - Match.com Review

It has been a little over a week now since I joined up to Match.com and I am now finding myself making an "actual" effort to log on and get searching rather than just joining up and expecting a miracle to land in my inbox. It took a while to get to grips with the site, but it is fairly simple to navigate and the layout is clean and fresh. It was a little overwhelming at first as you suddenly seem to accumulate a ridiculous amount of notifications the minute you are subscribed and I was left thinking "What the hell are all these?!" But on closer inspection you can see the notifications are simply profile views, winks and direct messages. Much like Facebook they come up in red to notify you of some activity on your account and then from there you can see what's been happening. 

Like I say, I have only been on for about a week so I haven't really spoke to many people. I have exchanged a few short emails but nothing else. I have recently added the Match.com app onto my iPhone so I am able to check my account on the go and I really love the great "Shuffle" feature which presents you with snapshots of potential suitors and you can click if you are interested in finding out more/getting in contact with them and it will notify them of this which is great for acting as an icebreaker as if they "like" you too you are a "match" and its much easier to start a conversation with someone who is mutually interested.

I am committed to putting in some extra effort and I am going to reach out and be a bit more confident when it comes to sending messages. I am more than happy to respond to them but never seem confident enough to send the first one. So my aim for the next week is to take some time to have a browse and interact with a few people. I am so rusty when it comes to conversing with new people so it is all great practice in the name of finding someone new :)

Catch up soon....

Getting Back In The Game.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I went on an actual "date". In a nutshell I have spent the best part of the last 7 years as a single parent and after finally coming to some sort of conclusion with a past (non existent) relationship I feel comfortable at the prospect of putting myself out there, enjoying life and perhaps meeting somebody new. The relationship was over years ago, but for some reason I stopped myself from moving on. I wasn't happy being single and yet did nothing to rectify the situation and the longer I left it the easier it became to just be satisfied on my own. I started thinking that maybe this was it for me, that "single" would be the box I ticked for the foreseeable future. That thought scared me more than anything. After all, why did I not deserve to meet my soul mate and live "happily ever after"?

I have gone through many changes over the past year or so, the biggest being a physical change and I have so far lost over 5 stone. Its not just my shape that has changed though, my whole outlook on things seems to have shifted. I feel a lot happier in myself and I am a lot more willing to get out there and start living life as apposed to watching everyone else live theirs and doing nothing to make "me" happy.

So with that in mind, I thought I would be bold and brave and join up to a dating site. It's easy enough to talk about making changes and getting out there but actually doing it is a whole different ball game. I know there's lots of bad press surrounding dating sites and the whole "online dating" scene but there are also many success stories and you get nothing from not trying right? So the lovely people over at Match.com have offered me a months free trial to "test the waters" and see how I get on. I have never been good at selling myself and I am looking at the registration page now and It is as blank as my mind! I guess I just have to be honest and get the "real me" into words and on the screen. I am slightly dubious and really nervous about joining a dating site but I am going into it with an open mind.

Could this be the start of something new? Lets see...

Do you have any dating stories? Did you meet your true love online? Of do you have a dating disaster? I would love to hear from you.

The Great Outdoors

There are many things that both myself and Aalliyah love to do, but our most favorite past time has to be enjoying the great outdoors. Whether its a trip to the park, a nature reserve, a stroll through the woods or even walking to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting! (Don't worry, we do pass some beautiful scenery, even a river and some horses too!) 

There is just something magnificent about being outside. Its healing, it's therapeutic, it's the perfect way to let off steam after a hard day at work and the guaranteed way tire out the kids and let them go wild when they are bursting with energy (Which lets face it is pretty much 24/7) But my all time favorite thing about the great outdoors?..

It doesn't cost a thing! All you need is your imagination and you can let that take you to far away lands when you are outdoors. Lets face it, there are not many things in life that are free anymore, but this is something that will always be available to us. So get out there and enjoy it! There are literally thousands of beautiful places around, so get the family, get your shoes on and go explore!

We recently visited a local park called Salcey Forest. It was wonderful. There were tree top walks, nature trails, adventure playgrounds plenty of beautiful picnicking areas. We had so much fun being outdoors. Whatever the weather we always make sure we have a fun filled day. Planet earth is our playground and come rain or shine we will always find new wonderful places to explore.

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots100 May challenge and if I am chosen I would like to visit Sherwood Forest.

Where will your outdoor adventures take you?

Minecraft Paper Craft Review

Aalliyah loves pretty much anything "Minecraft" so it was no surprise that she squealed with delight at getting a paper craft set for Christmas. Like many other things we realized that she was yet to open her set so we decided to give it a bash and I must say I was so surprised at how much fun it was not only playing with the completed pieces but building them too.

The Minecraft paper craft set is really simple to put together and since there is no cutting or gluing required it can be done with little or not adult supervision. It is simply a case of folding and slotting together. Some of the bits can be a bit fiddly but once you get the hang of it it gets easier.

Now those of you that are familiar with Minecraft will know that you have many different blocks and materials, the most common being things like grass, dirt, oak wood, cobblestone etc. Then you have your highly sought after things like diamond and redstone. The paper craft sets are just like the game in every way. You even have characters and monsters from the game that you can build also. There are a few different packs to choose from. The main large pack has pretty much everything you need to get you going and there are other smaller packs which are more specified such as a "Utility pack" or a "Hostile Mob" pack. Gotta love those hissing creepers and those groaning zombies right?

We had so much fun with these sets and because they are blocks they are very easy to store. Aalliyah gets them out on a regular basis and as she also has the Minecraft figures she has a whale of a time building her world and playing. There are still a few sets that she hasn't got yet, but I am sure it is not going to be long before she asks for them too. I love it when she plays with her paper craft sets as it gets her off of the iPod or the Xbox and gets her imaginative juices flowing. These sets provide endless hours of fun and imaginative play and I highly recommend them to Minecraft lovers everywhere.

Spicy Quorn Chicken Jambalaya

This is a gorgeous Cajun style recipe. Perfect for when you fancy something a bit spicy and it's so quick and simple to make. I make this regularly and whats great about this recipe is you can choose to add or take out what ever you like, such as substituting the quorn for chicken, or adding in some different vegetables. Plus for all you fellow Weight Watchers out there, this recipe serves 4 and is 10pp a serving.

Ingredients:

250G Brown Rice (You can choose white if you prefer)
1 Large red onion
3 Sweet bite peppers (I like to use one of each colour)
Button Mushrooms - Chopped (As many as you would like)
Cherry Tomatoes Halved (As many as you would like)
Frylight Oil Spray (Or regular oil)
2 Teaspoons of Cajun Seasoning or Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder More if you like it hot!)
500g Quorn Chicken Style pieces
Fresh ground black pepper

Method:

Start by preparing your rice. Depending on the type of rice you are cooking , methods and times will vary.

Once your rice is on. Gently heat your frying pan adding some sprays of your oil. Add in the chopped mushrooms, onion and peppers. (Chopped small - No big bites)
about 4 minutes then add in your quorn chicken pieces. Next add in your spices (I also like to add a few chilli flakes at this point) and continue to stir fry together until the quorn cooks through, is coated and starts to brown. Be careful not to let the food stick. The coating will get slightly sticky, make sure you constantly toss/stir to prevent sticking. Now chuck in your halved tomatoes for the last few seconds or stir frying.

Next you want to add in your cooked rice and give the mixture a really good mix, making sure you are scraping all the spice residue from the pan and getting the rice nice and coated. Season with some ground pepper and add one more dash of Cajun seasoning to the mix. Give it a gentle stir fry for a few minutes and serve immediately.

How Do You Measure Up?

OK, So today I did something I have never done. I went and got a professional bra measuring/fitting service. Its shocking that this is something I have never done before, given the fact that I have lost so much weight since last year and was quite obviously wearing the wrong sized bras. It has always been guess work when it came to choosing a bra. I would guess the cup size and just judge it by eye so decided that now was the time to get a "proper" measuring. After doing a bit of research online it seemed that BHS and Debenhams seemed to be the best judging by the reviews. After visiting BHS and being told there was no "fitter" available for 3 hours! (pointless) I decided to give M&S a go. I didn't have to wait to be seen and the lady that dealt with me was really good. There was no embarrassment or awkwardness at all.

I was measured around the under bust area to be given my back size and then informed that they no longer measure your cups as its just not accurate so basically it simply came down to someone else judging my size by eye and a lot of trial and error, trying on different bras. Yes the lady was very helpful, but it seemed she was more like a personal shopper and I could have quite as easy managed to get a good fitting bra myself by trying lots of different sizes on. (Because that's all I actually did!)

It was nice to get some advice but it all proved to be somewhat pointless as I was told that I could go into Debenhams after for a fitting and be given a completely different size as much like a dress or pair of jeans each size comes up different dependent on the shop/brand its from. So basically I had stood in a dressing room for half an hour trying on bras, found out my size which unless I purchased a bra from M&S actually wouldn't be my size elsewhere. Which did in fact ring true as I purchased 2 bras elsewhere which were both a cup size bigger.

I was also given some fairly drab and dreary things to try on which made me feel quite ancient. I'm 29 for gods sake!! But was being offered some very elderly woman looking, lacy, camel coloured horrors that were in this woman's opinion, their "Best Sellers" .. Why should I wear the bra that looks like it belongs on a 90 year old just because I have a large bust? Needless to say the bra I purchased afterwards was "SHOCKING PINK!"

I am glad I went and got measured finally but I can't say I got much out of it. Have you been measured? Do you find you differ from shop to shop?