January Set Up // BuJo

New year New....Bullet Journal!

I admit to having some space left in my previous notebook but I like the idea of a fresh notebook for a fresh year.

Again I apologise for the rather awful picture quality, my camera is still not a happy bunny!

So I've not filled these in yet, but this is my 2017 overview. It's something I used a tonne last year. I basically use it as a future planner for the months I don't have set up yet. 

This spread is my 2017 goals/promises to myself. I've actually made an entire blogpost about my New Year promises which you can check out here.
The other side of the spread is my 2017 Saving Goals.

My monthly spreads are staying the exact same because I love how they look and they work for me as they are.

The biggest change to my bullet journal set up is my weekly layout which I have completely changed. If you look back at my Bullet Journal // Weekly Evolutions blog post here you will see that I change my layout for weekly spreads quite a lot. I thought a new bullet journal was the perfect chance to try something completely different. I'm no longer doing monthly trackers but this layout allows me to track sleep and steps which for the moment I think is enough.

So that's my January layout and we'll see next month how I like the new layout!

Kate // SK

January TBR

One of my new year promises to myself is to make time to read.

As part of this I am going to do a monthly TBR; hopefully by actually deciding ahead of time what books I should read I will be more likely to actually pick them up.

A Lineage of Grace - Francine Rivers

This book follows the lineage of the woman in the line of Mary (mother of Jesus) and the powerful impact they had on their surroundings. I first read this 5 years ago and it inspired me so much. I've been through a lot since then and I have a feeling I'll get even more from this book now.

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J K Rowling

Another re-read, this one if just a good start to the year. I haven't read these books in years but I have listened to them many many times on audio book.

Binocular Vision - Edith Pearlman

This is one that has been on my shelf for a while now. It is a collection of stories. I always like reading collections at this time of year because you can so easily dip in and out.

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After

I nice easy romance to start off the year. It's also a book about books so I'm happy.

And that's my January TBR. My reading goal for the year is 52 which would equal out at one book a week which I think is an achievable goal for me. While I would love to read more I'm trying to be realistic. We'll see how it goes!

Holiday TBR Update
What I wanted to read: Let It Snow, The Outrun, A Christmas Carol, The Christmas Mystery
What I read: Let It Snow, A Christmas Carol and I started The Outrun
Favourite Read: A Christmas Carol

Kate // SK

12 Things I Learned in 2016

2016. What a hell of a year! A lot has happened for many of us and around the world.

I started a new job, travelled, moved house - just to name a few. Brexit happened. Trump happened. Amazing celebrities lost their lives. It has been one hell of a rollercoaster.

I feel I've also learnt a lot of life lessons throughout the year.

Here are 12 things I learned in a year.

I have the most amazing friends

This year I became a lot closer to my little core group of friends. I realized just how much I can rely on them and also how valuable they are in my life. True friends are those who don't ditch you after you've pretty much blown up at them and angrily given them death stares...sorry guys, love you all really.

Happiness is key

For half of the year I just didn't feel like myself. My job was crap (still is, a little bit), my shift pattern was awful and I hadn't really had time off. After my little blow up with my friends I ended up going on holiday for two weeks and oh my word it was literally just what I needed. Kate then gave me "The Happiness Planner" for my birthday and again it was exactly what I needed. Honestly, if you're going through a rough patch in your life really consider purchasing one of these planners. It makes you think differently about the negative parts of your day and your outlook on your day is much happier.

My faith is growing

In December I was baptised. If you don't what that means, it's when you decide to give your life to God, and you're pretty dunked under some water symbolising the washing away of your sins. Anyhoo, this year my faith has grown and has been stronger than ever and I'm so glad and excited to continue this journey in my life.

It's okay to feel a bit s**t

You're going to have days where you just don't feel yourself and you're not that happy, bubbly person you normally are but that's alright! Everyone has crappy days and it's okay for you to have them too! 

Who cares what people think

Finding who you are is so important and accepting and appreciating who I am is something I've learned this year. I've found my style, my personality, little things like that and am happy with who I am and don't care what others think.

Adulting is hard

I'm in a full time job, I have to pay for all holidays now, pay bills, have moved house, bought a new car, being an adult is hard and you have responsibilities. And yes, I reached the age of 23 and realised how blooming difficult it is, but I love it.

I can concur fears

My one fear in life is flying. I hate it. But this year I flew twice (the last time I flew I was 13) and that's a crazy achievement for me. I flew to Canada - long flight - and then flew to Amsterdam. And honestly, not as bad as I thought. I'm flying again this year and don't feel sick to my stomach thinking about it.

Moving out and missing your parents is normal

I've realised I rely on my parents a lot. Obviously that I live because they fed me and provided me with hot water and a bed but also emotional support. My mum and I are very close so moving out was  tough for the both of us but we're surviving and missing her, and my dad, is perfectly normal. I've literally phoned my mum in tears because I was homesick and just having a bad day at work - totally acceptable.

Bad things happen

You know when you think certain "bad things" won't happen to you? You hear about them but you've never experienced it? Yeah that's not true. For example; crashing your car - yes, a guy might have gone into the back of me and cracked my bumper, so not a full on crash, but things like that are real and happen to anyone. Sad but true.

Being single isn't the end of the world

This has really been an ongoing lesson because I haven't been tied to any man since high school - a whole five years ago chaps! But I am embracing it every single year and enjoy being single. Not everyone is in a relationship you know, it's not just you.

Grudges aren't worth it

What do grudges achieve? Let go of what someone has done. Forgive and move on. Yes it might take a little bit of time but don't let those grudges way you down, don't hold onto them for months on end. Something I am still learning.

You aren't always right

I feel like a should really know this after 23 years but come on, we all have times where we think we're 100% right and everyone else is wrong. Truth is 5 times out of 10 you're probably wrong. 50/50 chance of being right, and at that I'm probably being generous.

What have you learned this year?

Twitter: @simplykarah10

Bekah // SK

My Year In Books // 2016

A quick sum up of all the books that filled my 2016. Hopefully next year there will be far more books to choose from!

2016 Stats

Number of Books Read: 23

Total Pages Read: 7,022

Shortest Book Read: The Fox and the Star 64

Longest Book Read: The Christmas Card 496

Average Book Length: 305

Favourite Books of 2016

Least Favourite Books of 2016

And that's it for my quick wrap up of the books I read in 2016.

The idea for this blog post came from The Bookish Blog, which is an amazing blog run by people who are truly passionate about all things books.

Kate // SK

New Year Promises // Kate

Last year I made several new years resolutions. They went okay. A solid C+ effort.

I'm not going to make resolutions this year.

Instead I am going to make promises to myself.

1. I will make time to read books

Every year I read less books than I want to. I spend more time watching Netflix or finding weird parts of YouTube than I do settled down with a good book. And the book always makes me feel better.

2. I will make myself meals

I have now moved out from my parents house so there are no longer any excuses for not making myself meals rather than buying sandwiches or take out. NO MORE EXCUSES KATE!

3. I will make time for learning

I'm a year and a half out of university and my goodness do I miss lectures and essays. I never want to get out of the habit of learning and teaching myself. I'm promising to take myself to museums and conferences, I'll listen to sermons and Ted Talks and read non-fiction books. I will feed my brain.

4. I will make use of my days off

Following on from my previous promise I will take myself to places I've never been, I will find new second hand bookshops, I will visit friends and go for walks. I will not spend my very rare days off doing errands and sleeping.

5. I will find a way of exercising that I enjoy

I owe it to myself. I feel better when I exercise but I hate running and I can't afford a gym membership and walking for no reason makes me irritated. This year I want to promise myself that I will try other ways of exercising until I find one that fits for me.

Have you made yourself new year resolutions? promises?

Let us know @SimplyKarah10

Kate // SK

Books I Want To Read In 2017

2017 is almost upon us and I've decided to have a good think about what books I want to read in the coming year.

Every year I set a reading goal on Goodreads. Last month I deleted my goodreads and created a new one. I just felt like my old account was messy and unorganised and in all honesty I could not be bothered sorting out. So, I decided to start again fresh.

So this coming year my Goodreads reading goal will be 52 books. I'm not going to list all 52 books I want to read because I don't know them all. I don't want to lock myself into that sort of commitment.

What I do want to do is reduce my TBR pile, I want to end 2017 with less books on my TBR than I started with. Fingers crossed.

Re-reads

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

3. A Lineage of Grace - Francine Rivers

4. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

5. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

DNF's

1. The 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers

2. Redeeming Sex - Debra Hirsch

3. Everyday Sexism - Laura Bates

4. The Hourglass Factory - Lucy Ribchester

5. Belgravia - Julian Fellowes

TBR

1. Moranthology - Caitlin Moran

2. Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens

3. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

4. Us - David Nicholls

5. Atonement - Ian McEwan

And there we have it my 2017 reading goals.

Now all I need to do is actually hold myself to it...

Kate // Sk

Resolutions Update // May

How is it nearly June, this year is going scarily fast right now!

1. Write a little sum up of the day, a prayer and a word or feeling of the day in a notebook. Every day. - I have failed miserably this month. I ended up having to catch up about 3 weeks worth of dailies in one day. I think the use of doing this everyday is diminishing and that's meaning that I'm less determined to do it.

Resolutions Update // March

For those of you who haven't read my original New Years resolution post I shall give a brief explanation: This year I made five resolutions and decided that every month I would make a post giving a wee update on my progress in the hopes it would keep me motivated. So this was March.

Resolutions Update // February

So February has flown by and I thought I would give you an update on how I'm doing with my resolutions (read the original post here).

1. Write a little sum up of the day, a prayer and a word or feeling of the day in a notebook. Every day. - Apart from the occasional day where I've forgotten and had to update it the next day I'm still doing well with this one.

2. Get healthier - This month was an improvement on last month. Swimming once a week is lovely and I'm definitely keeping that up. Once I have enough money I'm definitely getting a gym membership. Eating wise most of the time I'm doing well it's just the eating out I need to work on!! McDonalds and I have a complicated relationship, he gets sad if I don't visit him often!

Resolutions Update // January

So January is already over and I thought I would give you an update on how I'm doing with my resolutions (read the original post here).

1. Write a little sum up of the day, a prayer and a word or feeling of the day in a notebook. Every day. - I'm going strong with this one, I've missed a day here and there and had to catch up but on the whole I've been loving doing this. I'm already enjoying looking back at previous days, especially for words of the day (I've not repeated a word yet!)

2. Get healthier - About half way through this month B and I rediscovered our love of swimming and I've been loving going swimming once a week. It's so relaxing! Other than that I'm failing miserably at being healthy (ooops)

Life Thoughts // RESOLUTIONS

If you follow us on Twitter you may have noticed that I tweeted today, saying I would post a blog at some point during the day. And my goodness I have been wracking my brain ever since just thinking about what to post!

A baking tutorial? No that requires me to whip out the camera

A monthly favourites? Again, I need to get the camera

A thoughtful walk post? It's now way too dark to go for a walk so no photos can be taken, plus I don't live in the most picturesque village

Really, I just want to sit down and chat with you all. So...how have you been!? Long time no see. Big thanks to Kate for keeping up with all the blog posts (especially during Blogmas, I think I only posted two posts during that period of blogging fun, so yeah, round of applause to her). Oh and Happy New Year from me, let's get that out of the way! Can you believe it's 2016 though? When people say things like "Oh I haven't been to *insert holiday destination* since 2006" I just stand there and think "That's only two years ago" but no! It's 10 years since 2006 past. WHAT!? Which then makes me think, where the hell has my life gone? 10 years ago I was 12, I just started High School and was heading into teenage mode. Now, I'm 22, I've just started a new job and heading into the "I really need to move out of my parents house" mode.

I feel like once you get to this age, you know the "I'm no longer 21, I should now be a responsible adult" age, you start to think about life. Or that's what I seem to be doing anyway. It's also the age where you start to think some "dark" 

thoughts.

Here, I'll give you a few:

Will the people I'm friends with now be my friends in 10 years time? WILL I EVER SEE THEM AGAIN!?

Oh geez, 8 years to 30! I'm halfway to 44! But I'm less than half the way to 40! I'M SO OLD!

My goodness, 22? Which means I'm almost 23. And I'm single, which means I'm never going to find love soon. I'LL BE THE OLDEST MOTHER GOING!

Ok, that last one is a little extreme but honestly, these have been thoughts that have crossed my mind a little more than once.

Fun fact about me: I worry. A lot.

I'm not one for making New Years resolutions ("New Year, New Me!" please, stop.) but, I decided that 2016 will be my year. Sounds a little pretentious maybe, but let me explain. It's my year to get my life sorted. It's the year I'm going to get fit. It's the year I'm going to try my hardest with my career. It's the year where I'm going to be more positive. Be positive within myself, have a positive mindset. And, it's the year where I'm going to sit down and do some bible study. Because I really feel like my faith is getting stronger every day, and I want to learn so much more than when I'm just sitting in church and listening to a sermon.

So yeah, this is the blog post for today. It may not make sense and may be a little jumbled up but I'm going to leave it there. Conclusion? I'm not as old as I think I am and I'm not that great at coming up with last minute blog posts. Sorry!

Tweet us your Resolutions for 2016: @simplykarah10

Beatrice (maybe) // SK x

NEW YEAR // New Years Resoutions

New years resolutions, everyone makes them at some point and hardly any one sticks to them. I usually half heartedly make some resolutions around this time of year, knowing full well that I'll never stick to them. This year I thought maybe if I wrote them in a blogpost and actually gave it a good think I might have more of a chance.

It's worth a shot. Right? I'm going to give it a go in the hopes.

1. Write a little sum up of the day, a prayer and a word of the day in a notebook. Every day.

2. Get healthier - I know how cliché this is but I'm determined to get back to the level of health and fitness I was a few years ago.

3. Save - This year I want to buy my first car and hopefully move out (again)

4. Read more - I love reading, but sometimes it's so much easier to shove on a show on Netflix or watch YouTube videos than pick up a book!
5. Get a skincare routine - I'm the biggest slacker when it comes to skin care but I'm determined that this year will be different!

Those are my main 5, I'm planning on doing a monthly sum-up each month about how I'm doing with these resolutions. Really I'm just making myself accountable to this blog in the hopes it will make me keep them!

What are some of your new year resolutions? Or if you aren't making resolutions then what are some of your hopes for the coming year?

Tweet us @SimplyKarah10

Kate // SK x

NEW YEAR // Ombre Hair

 A few weeks ago I ombred my hair (again). I'd got my hair cut much shorter than usual and all my ombre had been cut off. I liked my new short do but after 5 years of ombre hair it just didn't feel right without it. I was pretty nervous about ombreing my hair when it was short incase it went awfully wrong, but as it happens it turned out quite well!

 

I used the Loreal Paris Wild Ombres Preference Brush On Ombre which I used previously and really liked. 

Step 1: Get everything out the box and read the instructions.

Step 2: Pour the Lightening Powder into the Bottle (2)

Step 3: Squeeze the lightening crème into the Bottle

Step 4: Shake the bottle. And then take off the cap (and be careful because the product tends to expand and try to escape after shaking!)

Step 5: Apply to the ends of your hair (or however high up you want to go) using the brush provided in the box

Step 6: Wait, panicking slightly around 30 minutes. You can scrape the product off a piece of hair to see how it's getting along if you're worrying.

 

Before and After pictures. I know the before picture is pretty bad but it's the best I had. I MUCH prefer my hair with some blonde in it. I think it makes it look much more styled, textured and volumised. The after pictures are from straight after I dyed my hair and dried it so that's my excuse for it looking a bit fluffy!

Top Tips

1. If (like me) you're a worrier then wash it off after 20 minutes, blow dry and assess the progress. You can then re-apply left over product onto areas you missed or all over if you want to go lighter.

2. Use old towels even after you've washed your hair the first time. For some reason no matter how well I wash my hair after bleaching it there always seems to be residue left on my hair which ruins towels.

3. Get a deep conditioning mask to use a day after dying. As you will know, dying is not great for hair and can really dry it out. I've found using a hair mask the day after helps.

4. Get a friend to do the back. This is especially for those with shorter hair. When I had long hair I could do the back no bother, not so much this time!

5. Relax. If it goes really wrong you can go buy a dye with a similar colour to your roots your cover it up. Either have a friend with you or like I did, have a friend on the other end of the phone on emergency hair dye purchasing duty just in case. Fortunately I didn't have to make use of her this time!

Any top tips for dying your hair?

Let us know!

Kate // SK x