I don't know about you but there have been times this week I have felt truly lost and unable to understand how we have got to where we are. Watching the news has felt like watching a film. One I would never watch. It has also made me again remember and acknowledge the privilege in which I have grown.
It has been a dark reminder that we live in a world where some people have so much hate in their hearts. But it also has shown me once again the mistreatment of so many people based purely on the colour of their skin. After watching the BLM protests over the last year and seeing them in stark contrast with the videos from the last week, it has reminded me again to work harder on what I can do to be a part of challenging my own ignorance. I am learning how to use my privilege. I need and want to feel uncomfortable because only then do I know I am learning or rather 'unlearning'. Some things I am doing to diversify our life and learn to do better:
Obviously we all have a way to go. This journey has only just started and I feel embarrassed by the time it has taken for the world to listen to the voices of people of colour. So I suppose this is just one of the small ways I hope to help. My influence is small, and because of the people and place I come from largely are doing the same work as I am. However, I need to show up and stand up in the ways I can.
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 This week we are going to focus on this year and slowly start to ease into planning and some low risk goal setting. Every year I choose one word instead of resolutions. It was started by Ali Edwards and is called #onelittleword and you can find out from the master of one word goal setting here. I found out about Ali and the project through one of my all time favourite people to follow on the internet who I have been following for nearly 10 years - Elise Joy! (Her newsletter is one of the best I receive!).
The basic premise is each year you choose a different word and this is the lens in which you view the next year instead of writing a list of set (quickly forgotten) goals. 
Hello and Happy New Year!
Ive started something new and begun a newsletter! Its called Simply Lovely Sundays! (If you want to subscribe you can at the bottom of this post!) However I know sometimes emails are not good, can be overwhelming so It thought I would post a round up or the best bits here for everyone to see! First up - Christmas. I realise you might think the first post would be very goal orientated already but I think first we need time to mourn the loss of Christmas and basically the 2020 we had hoped for. Life has looked very different this year and has put many things into perspective for the majority.  A wave crashing over your head and filling your ears, diving down to touch the very bottom of the ocean, a seemingly never-ending expanse of blue to explore. This was my childhood. Rain or shine we were down the beach and more importantly in the sea. Days full of handstand competitions, body surfing and races to the buoy. I still remember the magic of those days. The freedom I felt exploring the sand and sea.
 Hello and how are we all doing in this crazy and unfathomable time!?
I hope you are coping well with isolation and social distancing and everything in between! It has been a long time since I have been to my little corner of the internet and I suppose it has been two fold - 1. I ran out of time. Or I suppose I was always running out of time every single day. Between teaching, toddlers and brain injuries there wasn't much room for my creative outlet to live on! and 2. I didn't feel I had anything of importance or worthwhile to share. And then came COVID-19 and I have slightly more time (questionable with the aforementioned toddler!) and I think* I may have a few things worth adding to the internet. The first is a printable book review you can do with your children! I did this in school with my year two class but it is quite open ended and you can write as much as you want! Adults can even try it too!  To the outside world my little universe is normal - mother, wife, teacher- happy but unfortunately that’s not the whole story. To cut a very long story short, six years ago my husband (then boyfriend of a year) had a massive bleed on the brain. It devastated our lives and still the effects ripple through our every day and will for the rest of our lives. He has been left with weakness down his left hand side, meaning fine motor skills are affected and simple everyday physical tasks are ten times harder for him. He can actually put his socks on using one hand - it’s pretty impressive!  Hello and welcome back to the Simple Series!
I took a little Easter break but I’m back sharing the simple ways to make your life lovely! Today I wanted to talk about the ways in which I *think we influenced our son to love reading. Both my husband and I are big readers - I read books and my husband reads articles and reports because he is a freelance sports journalist. It was a kind of conscious unconscious decision to make books a priority. We both just knew we wanted Reggie to have a love of reading. And he does! Boy does that kiddo love reading - so much so he just brings books to us one after another just saying ‘peas!’ I have five tips I believe have made a big impact on Reggie’s love of books and the best thing about them is they are so simple!  This week I wanted to share my simple ways to stop worrying about weight - I suppose in essence for me that was to lose weight. But now I have shifted a few pounds (stones - I actually don’t know because I never weighed myself!) I don’t worry about weight anymore. I feel happy, I’ve definitely still got a way to go but from now everything is a bonus. I actually think for me my next step is exercise - but that’s a whole other story!
I am all about keeping things simple and lovely and that definitely extends to weight loss. If it’s complicated, time consuming and tasteless it’s not for me! I hope my top ten tips will help inspire you to start your own journey to not worry about your weight!  I have done some research on personal policies since deciding to share their power in my life. It turns out I think I do it slightly differently than most people - but that’s okay - it definitely is very similar! I think I first heard about them on an Elsie gets crafty podcast episode but I believe Sarah Knight talks about them in her book. For Sarah, it sounds very much linked to mental health and guarding yourself by making personal policies on what you are or are not comfortable doing.
I am really interested in using them with that intention - although I probably already do in my own kind of way. For me, fundamentally personal policies act as a decision-making tool and provide me with clear boundaries in which I work best. I think the best way to describe how I use them is to give an example, here is my personal policy for buying new clothes:  I wholeheartedly believe in the power of routine. My husband had a brain injury six years ago and suffers with severe memory loss so for us routine has been a life saver - literally. I am also a creature of habit and cope horrendously with change.
There are three main reasons why I love routine
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