4 Facts Survey!

I follow a blog written by a fellow runner (www.hungryrunnergirl.com) and she did the 4 facts survey, I thought it was a great idea so here's mine.

Four names that people call me other than my real name:

• Chick
• Besty
• Sarah - hate this one
• Zara - hate this one too

Yep, that's me!

Four jobs I've had:

• Checkout assistant
• Administrator
• Taekwondo Instructor
• Executive Assistant

 

My first students to get their black belts... so amazingly proud of these boys!

Four movies I've watched more than once:

• Mean Girls
• Buddy - favourite Christmas movie ever
• Harry Potter
• Blades of Glory

Four books I'd recommend:

• Harry Potter
• Anything by Jo Nesbo
• The Millennium Trilogy
• 50 Shades of Grey

Four places I've lived:

• Poole
• Bournemouth
• Pontypool
• Cardiff

Love Cardiff!

Four places I've visited:

• Dominican Republic
• Egypt
• Kenya
• Thailand

Beautiful Phuket

Four places I'd like to be right now:

• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• New York at Christmas
• In front of an open fire in a log cabin on a snowy mountain with my dog
• Anywhere I can jump off a dive boat

Start spreading the news...

Four things I prefer not to eat:

• Baked beans
• Celery
• Aniseed
• Ummmmm I can't think of anything else

*gags*

Four of my favourite foods:

• Chocolate
• Cake
• Chinese food
• Jaffa cakes

Chocolate cake coma

Four TV shows I watch:

• The Big Bang Theory
• The Walking Dead
• Homeland
• Mad Men

I have a little crush on Sheldon

Four things I'm looking forward to this/next year:

• Christmas in my new home
• Getting off a mortgage or two
• Running faster and stronger
• Completing the Cardiff half marathon

It says it all!

Four things I'm always saying:

• I want chocolate
• Ooooooo is there cake?
• If it's broken then all of the calories fell out
• Quick, take a photo!

#PushingBackHarder

My Week in 4 Words

I have had a fab week! It all started last Friday when I met my Besty, Lynn, for lunch... and by 'lunch' we obviously meant cake.

Lynn and her giant snickers bar muffin

My triple chocolate giant muffin

After lunch I went for a wander along Queen Street and came across Santa's Grotto! I don't know how I stopped myself from going in

Santa's house

Santa lives in this room!!

I can't walk passed Lush these days without popping in to buy a bath bomb/melt/thingy and I found the best one ever

Christmas and glitter... my 2 favourite things!

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Christmas but I try really hard to contain it until 1st December. On this date though I go Christmas nuts!

Buddy... everyone's favourite elf

The next day I set off to Bournemouth to spend a few days with my family. While there I like to take my boy Winston to the beach... he loves the beach!

Keeping a safe distance from the water

Beach zoomies

Me and my happy boy

I decided to take a little bit of the beach home to my garden

Pretty pretty shells

One of the best bits about a visit to Bournemouth is that my dad always makes my favourite cake

Yum

As you can tell, I love cake. If you ever struggle with deciding whether to eat cake or not then follow this simple flow chart...

CAKE!

So to sum up my week in 4 words... Besty, cake, beach, cake!

#PushingBackHarder

Dating in The 'Diff

I have been single and living in Cardiff for 8 months now. I'm close enough for the city life when I want to hit the shops, restaurants and pubs but also close enough for hiking in the mountains of Brecon Beacons. I have got the best of both worlds and I love it.

An hour away from my house

I haven't been dating for over 9 years so thought I'd give it a go, the only problem is that I had no idea what to do. I dabbled a few months ago on Match.com and met someone within less than a week of setting up my profile but that has now come to an end. I have gained a friendship from it which is great but it's time to get back out there.

I have recently discovered Tinder. Wow! It is so much fun. You basically judge each other on looks and a 500 character profile. Swipe right for 'interested' or swipe left for 'not a hope in hell!'  

*swipes right and dribbles*

Now it's easy to get carried away and swipe the wrong way. I did this earlier and there is no getting that person back!

*sighs... moves onto next photo*

I have just one bit of feedback for the male users of Tinder. Check which photos Tinder has imported from your Facebook account and make sure you actually feature in 1 or 2 of them... it helps us to decide if we like you or not!

Funny but always going to get a swipe left!

Dating in Cardiff is a bit more difficult if you are a tall girl who likes to wear heels and still not be the taller one of the couple. Most men in Wales seems to be shorter than your average British guy (sorry Welsh men but it's true!). It's even harder when you don't want to date someone with kids, or who wants kids. Then there is the non-smoker rule. You see, I have 3 non-negotiables; non-smoker, tall and no kids. I didn't think it was a lot to ask when I set up some online dating profile but apparently it is.

In the meantime, I'm going to have fun and try to dodge the weirdos

Well wish me luck as I enter this crazy world of dating in the 'Diff!

#PushingBackHarder

Sugarloaf Mountain

Today I decided to take Winston for some fresh air and a bit of exercise. I've climbed Sugarloaf Mountain a few times with my ex-husband but never on my own. The thought of doing so has always made me feel scared and I would come up with all sorts of excuses why I couldn't do it. I have now changed that and feel pretty proud of myself.

We had a quick look at the map in the car park.

I am here... apparently!

I couldn't quite remember which paths to take so I decided to wing it and see what happened. Usually this would put me on edge and I wouldn't enjoy myself but not today... today was awesome!

Sugarloaf Mountain

We took our time and enjoyed our surroundings. I reluctantly let Winston off the lead, he loves to run around like a nutter. This is another thing that makes me anxious... he could run off, he could get lost, he could decide never to come back to me. Those are a few of the things that constantly go around and around in my head until I put him back on the lead. Insane right?!

Trig point at the top

There were a few people at the top already so I found a quiet spot for me and Winston to just sit. The views are breathtaking, I live in a beautiful part of the World.

Perfect view for tea and biscuits

The walk is about 5km and it was 5km of pure heaven.

Me and my favourite walking buddy.

I am planning to do more mountain walks on my own so think I need to buy a map... and then learn how to read one. I'm sure it can't be that hard.

Today I kicked myself a bit further out of my comfort zone and I rocked it!

#PushingBackHarder

Hot Yoga

Yesterday I went to a hot yoga class for the first time in about 6 weeks and I loved it. I can't believe I haven't been for so long when it makes me feel so damn good *slaps self*

Hot yoga is basically yoga with heat lamps on so that you sweat and it makes flexibility a bit easier. I am pretty flexible anyway thanks for 10 years of Taekwondo so yoga is helping me to improve it.

This was a new pose for me in class yesterday and I didn't think I'd be able to do it when the teacher demonstrated it.

Nailed it!

I still have a long way to go to get to this

Bendy bendy

And I need to find someone to be willing to try out this one

I wonder if he's single?!

I am also getting into meditation as it helps to focus the mind and bring me back to what's important in life. This is something that I struggle with as I tend to get sucked into being materialistic and also worrying about what other people think.

Namaste.

#PushingBackHarder

Loneliness Sucks!

Lately I have felt lonely a lot of the time and with that comes sadness then a lack of self worth and low self-esteem. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel sorry for myself as I am aware of how I'm feeling and why I'm feeling this way so I know it can only get better if I make an effort to change it.

For most of my life I've tried to be someone else to please someone else. I tried to change to please the bullies at school, I tried to change to get guys to like me and I always went into a relationship trying to be the girlfriend that I thought they wanted me to be. I didn't realise that they were with me for me and who I already was. The consequences of living like this is that I have no real clue about who I am as a person.

I am going to change all that though and have already made a start. I'm learning what I like about myself, what I like to do with my time, who I want in my life and what I don't want/need in my life.

I left a marriage where I felt lonely most of the time but that was a different and worse kind of lonely so I'm grateful that I was brave enough to leave and start my life over again in a new city.

The downside to moving your life to a new location is that I don't know anyone nearby. The thought of trying to change this is overwhelming and sometimes I think it would be easier to just stay inside my house and hide with my dog. That would obviously be insane and drive me insane!

I have joined a local gym and a yoga class and I always make to effort to smile and make eye contact with people around me and also to say hello if they're within talking distance. This gives me a connection to people around me and helps reduce the loneliness I am feeling.

It's going to be a long road but I am willing and looking forward to making the effort to change how I feel. I look forward to wanting to come home after a day at work and enjoying being with just me and my dog.

I just need to keep remembering that...

And that...

#PushingBackHarder

My New Personal Best (PB)!

Today I finally decided to time a 5K run on the treadmill to see what my magic time was. I had been putting it off for a while as I didn't want to see the harsh reality that I could actually walk faster than I run.

Well I never guessed I could do it in the time I did... 31 mins and 3 seconds to complete my 5K! I didn't even run the whole thing. I ran for 22 minutes, walked for 3 mins and then ran for the final 6 minutes and 3 seconds. This is my first personal best (PB)!

PB set so time to smash it!

I thought I'd mess around and have a go at doing a #selfie on the treadmill, mainly to see what state I was in after my 5K. There are a lot of men in my gym, us girls are outnumbered by a ratio of about 7:1... not that I'm complaining of course.

Not as bad as I thought!

As you can probably tell I am wearing mascara (see previous comment about how many men in my gym!) and was very happy with it's non-smudge ability.

Please give it up for No 7 waterproof mascara! *claps hands*

I am really enjoying the treadmill session, I never thought I'd say it but I am. I like not having to concentrate on my surroundings (making sure I don't get run over or run into someone!) and that means I can daydream away my run *cue cheeky grin*

I'm glad I've found a love of running as it will keep me healthy but especially as I have issues around my body. I've never been happy with my figure and probably never will be 100% but this is helping my self-esteem and confidence to rise and rise. It actually doesn't even bother me what state I look when running as I know I have to...

*winks*

Damn right!

#PushingBackHarder