Mondays Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 45

"Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can fall together" - Marilyn Monroe

I love finding these little pearls of wisdom that really mean something to my life. This one means a lot to me and I'm trying hard to apply it's meaning to my life right now. If you read my blog regularly or follow me on twitter or Instagram you'll know that me and my little family have just been on holiday and it was a much needed and deserved break. My OH booked a luxury five star stay in Portugal as a treat to make up for our heartache over losing our pregnancy earlier on in the year and it has really helped these last couple of weeks having this break to look forward to.

We left for the airport in the middle of the night, LC woke up when we did and got very excited while we all got ready to go, she slept a bit in the car on the way but considering the lack of sleep she had had she was amazingly well behaved at the airport, on the plane and generally for the first 3 days of our trip whilst we stayed in the first hotel in the city of Faro which is beautiful by the way. We found the locals so friendly and helpful and just enjoyed shopping, eating and lazing round the pool in the sunshine. On our last night there we went to an open air concert, LC loved it and surprisingly fell asleep in the middle of it all in her stroller! OH and I got very drunk and danced the night away with each other which is something we rarely have the chance to do these days, it was magical and so fun!

The next day we moved on to the Hilton resort with hideous hangovers and that's when it all started to unravel a bit, as you can imagine we felt awful, dehydrated in hot weather and had to wait 3 hours to check in so we just vegged out on the huge sofas in the lobby. LC coped with her parents being hungover very well but it was no fun for her, poor baby and we felt rubbish about wasting a day then to top it off my period which was two days late reared its ugly head which obviously for someone who is hoping to have another baby was not well received...

The 3 days following became quite odd and I lapsed a bit into a funk, I felt moody about about my time of the month, a princess was having a baby and the whole world was celebrating, people announced pregnancies on Facebook and to top things off there we several heavily pregnant mums sat round the pool in their bikinis serving as a constant reminder of what I didn't have and after almost two and a half years of trying, just couldn't achieve...

As always my wonderful OH took care of me, he gave me space to think while he went swimming with LC who just adored having several swimming pools to choose from each day. He made me laugh, he held me tight when I needed to cry and he let me pour my heart out when I wanted to talk. He also helped me to put myself back together again, look to the future and most importantly inspired me to start enjoying our holiday once more, which I did. In the time I had to lounge around while they swam I read and read so much about healing, mindfulness, fertility and moving on from feeling low and I have come across some ideas that have really stuck with me. One decision I have made is to actually start writing more about my experiences with secondary infertility and miscarriage, in the past a few people have encouraged me to write on my blog about this but I have always felt there was never a place for it here BUT now I'm starting to feel that there is, more than anything I just feel now that the processes of doing this will really help me to heal a bit, so from time to time I will be posting more on this and I hope maybe, it may help others too. I have also decided to take control of my future fertility and I am excited to be going to see a fertility specialist next week so more on this coming soon!

So in the end, after I fell apart a bit, I found a way, with a bit of help to pull myself together and our holiday started to go great again. We got upgraded to an apartment suite when we checked in at the Hilton which was so lovely and we really made the most of it. I bought some beautiful jewellery from the local boutiques, we made friends with another family and we left feeling relaxed and invigorated but also inspired and positive about really going for the things we want, we made some decisions about the next steps in our immigration plan and what may come next and came up with some ideas on how to balance our chaotic lives a bit better, now I can honestly say I'm feeling excited and motivated!

Unfortunately I did bring a tummy bug home though so I've spent the weekend getting over that but I think a little bit of extra rest has done me some good. So now it's time to see how all those better things will fall together as I have this tingly feeling inside that the next half of this year will really start to get good again! 

Mondays Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 44

“Everybody needs some time to rejuvenate, refresh, recharge and begin again.” ― Revathi Sankaran

This week sees the Cannon family jetting off on a much needed holiday, hooray!

Last year we were lucky enough to stay in an apartment in Cyprus belong to one of the OH's family members, we had a swimming pool all to ourselves in the backyard and LC learnt to paddle about by herself wearing arm bands, the weather was hot, the food was delicious and beaches were amazing.

  

This time our destination is Portugal and the OH has really spoilt us by booking us in to a Spa and Golf Resort and I've let him know that I will be having a day to myself to pamper and relax with some of the treatments on offer! 

I'm also hoping to use this time to reflect a bit on the last few months and put some of the negative stuff to bed, but also draw out some of the really fantastic experiences that have come my way too. I'm hoping to get inspired to become more creative as the year goes on, having time to think about what direction I want to go with this will be great. I definitely want to be more crafty with LC, she loves doing this at nursery and I think it will be so much fun to do together at home, we had such a great time making our Easter tree together earlier on in the year.

I have a few home projects to get on with too, de-cluttering the house and finally putting our wedding photos into a lovely photo album that we can treasure, we promised my MIL months ago we would make one for her too and haven't got round to it yet! I have recently found lots of undeveloped film roles from when I lived in Canada too, although god knows what's on them or if they are any good anymore, so there is another photography project, to develop them and get them in to photo albums too! I also have LC's baby photo album to update and for once I would love to print off some photos of this holiday, we always take so many on holiday and then they just end up sitting in a file on our computer, it we be nice to show them off a little more, especially as most of the photos round our house are a bit out dated now!

I'm still determined to craft some kind of fairy costume for my little lady and I have a half finish felt necklace I started making sat at my MIL's house from a year ago! So already I have a lot to be getting on with, photo album compiling, costume making and unfinished sewing projects, I've said before how much I get out of being creative so Im excited to get started, creating and being visual gives me a boost on so many levels, it's definitely something I need to have more of in my life and I'm hoping our holiday will give me some time to really think about where to start and what to do so when we get back I can get going.

I'd love to hear of any projects you have planned for the coming months or maybe you can recommend a patten for a fairy costume for me? Do leave me a comment below! 

* This Pearl of Wisdom is a Sponsered post, all words are and opinions are my own.

Mondays Moment of Wisdom ~ Pearl Number 43

An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow.  ~Author Unknown

 Last Thursday was the 4th of July, well known across the world as American Independence Day but for my OH and myself it holds a different special meaning, its the anniversary of our first date...

I always tell people about how I almost stood him up, I had text-ed him a few times early evening pretending to be running late, hoping he would cancel but instead he went to the pub with his friend to kill time and said not to worry, he would wait, so at the very last minute I talked myself in to going, I went because we were introduced by my brother's best friend and I was worried that she and my brother would be mad at me for being rude and standing him up so I got in my car and drove across town, I didn't even change out my work clothes telling myself it's just for an hour and you can then go home.

Well, thank god I was pleasantly surprised because actually he turned out to be someone who I had an instant connection with and that connection has grown stronger and deeper in the last 5 years, I remember thinking the next morning "OK, everything in life is going to be alright now with him around!" I couldn't of been more right!

So Thursday night LC went to Grandma's for a sleepover and we decided to go to a lovely pub we are fond of in the next village, OH convinced me it was walking distance and would take us 15 minutes tops if we cut through the fields, now he couldn't of been any more wrong! He is a snippet of our little adventure...

A friend we met on the way

Trying to get over as elegantly as possible

A mighty Oak

Facing the long road ahead together

The big lake we had to walk around to get back home...

...and through the corn

Although it actually took us 50 minutes there and another 50 minutes back, despite some of our neighbors that we saw in the pub telling us about a shortcut before we set of home, we had so much fun trying to find our way through the fields and down the lanes, we laughed and climbed, held hands and really enjoyed being together, just us! It was great just doing something so laid back and relaxing together, we didn't need a fancy restaurant, lots of champagne or big grand gestures to reminisce over how special and important our relationship is, just a bit of time together and a little adventure to make you smile, it's good to remember that sometimes it can be the simple things in life that inspire you to keep on living and loving.

Feel Good Friday...

Here's something I learned a while ago that has really helped me pull through those black cloud moments, when everything seems pointless and I just want to hide under the bed covers - a feel better list or a "5 things to revive your soul" memo that gives you ideas for an instant boost.

This is how it works, when you feel well, pick 5 or so things (no more than 10) that you know will give you instant comfort and relief from feeling low, this could be painting toenails, calling your BFF or walking on the beach. Write them down at the back of your diary or pin them to your fridge, somewhere you can easily access them and when life is getting you down, go to your list and pick one that feels right for that moment and then do it, focus only on that activity, zone everything else out and just breath and be in that moment, chances are that soon your low point will pass and you will be feeling lighter again!

There is a rule here though, when you pick something from your list, although you may not quite feel like doing it, keep doing it for at least 5 minutes, if after that time you are not feeling it then change to something else, you will normally find though that even 5 minutes of something comforting can help to change your frame of mind and put a different spin on things.

So now I'm going to share 5 things from my revival list...

~ Reading, it can be anything, favorite book, trashy magazine or even a blog from one of my favorite bloggers just to help me feel relaxed and inspired again.

~ Bath, these are such a luxury for me and my OH is fab at keeping the world out of the bathroom so I'm left in peace to soak my troubles away.

~ Movie time, sometimes when I'm blue a good film with lots of laughs works wonders to lift my mood.

~ Starbucks, yes I know what your thinking but this honestly "perks" me up (sorry!) I'm sure a shot of caffeine helps here but so does just the physical act of getting out the house and having a change of scene. Being around other people and having a bit of social interaction helps me too, only if it's just to say Hi to the girl behind the counter (LC and I are regulars at ours so I think all the baristas know us now!).

~ Cake, sometimes a little bit of naughty is good for feeling comforting, for me it's good because we don't normally have it in the house so I have to leave to get some, again getting out the house is so good for me when I'm feeling isolated and down in the dumps and our local Waitrose has an amazing cake counter full of chocolate tiffin, marble cheesecake and lavender cupcakes, all which go along way to soothe my soul.

Hopefully if your feeling stuck this has given you some inspiration, even if you just have a few go to things or ideas that help, you can even designate a special box or place in your house to store anything you need to have to hand to help in these moments such as bubble bath, candles, book, blankets or cake even! 

So what would be on your revive list? Let me know by leaving a comment bellow...

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Mid yearly reflection at January's Pearl Number 30

7.

Happy Canada Day!

It's July 1st, Canada Day, the day Canadians celebrate their country uniting as one under the British Empire, did you know that Canada was still part of the British Commonwealth? Well anyway, most people who know us well know that Canada holds a special place in our hearts, and that hopefully we may be celebrating this day in Canada itself next year if plans go our way...

The beginning of this month is also a good day for reflection, it marks a half way point through the year and an opportunity to look back at resolutions made at New Year, so here goes!

"Tell everyone what you want to do and someone will want to help you do it"

 - W. Clement Stone

1. Add more fruit to my diet and reduce sugar intake.
Well I'm actually doing a good job here, I'm eating more fruit in the day and have cut down on sugary snacks a lot, I have the odd blip but am mostly maintaining - yay!

2. Visit the park more with LC so we can both run around and get some exercise.
I am ashamed to say that this has not really taken off, BUT we have discovered a new park this year that we love in the middle of an urban country park fairly  local to where we live called Nine Springs and we try to visit it as often as the weather allows us.

3. Improve my blogging skills and learn to customize my blog.
Hmm, well I have discovered a few tips and tricks but not as much as I hoped, this is definitely something I will be focusing on for the next 6 months (If anyone has wise words to share do leave me a comment below!).

4. Have a family weekend away and a "me time" weekend in London
So no family weekend away yet because we have decided to go one better and book a family holiday in Portugal, this is coming up in the next few weeks and is much needed! As for a weekend to myself in London, well only last weekend I was thrilled to attend Britmums Live and spend some time in our nations capital all by myself, it was bliss!

5. Learn more about Aromatherapy
Something else I haven't achieved so far, so something else to add to the list of things to focus on.

6. Make Wednesday night my reading a real book night
What I didn't know when I wrote these was that two weeks later the organisation I worked for would go through a consultation and redundancy period which would see us all having to re-apply for our jobs, I was lucky enough to keep mine but my working hours changed, I now work Wednesday evenings, glued to my computer, as soon as I'm done its a bit of vegging in front of the TV with some tea and then off to bed, so I am now officially making Tuesday nights my read a real book night.

7. Take my husband on a secret weekend away
Much to my husbands dissapoinment, this has not happened yet, but the year is not over yet!

8. Save 5% of my wage every month
Yes and no, some months I have managed this and others I haven't, I must try harder...

9. Start Reflexology sessions to help me destress
I've only had two so far but they have been great, I read somewhere (I don't remember where) that reflexology can help with miscarriage so when I had mine I spoke to a close friend/family member who knows about these things and she highly recommended it, she has now treated me herself and will hopefully do a few more sessions through the year. I can't say enough good things about it really and it's also very well know to help with infertility too - bonus!

10. Make and sew LC a fairy costume
Nope, not even come close, unless you count the new fairy wings and wand I bought her last month, I do really want to learn to sew something for her myself though, recently I found a great craft book I had forgotten  I had which has tutorials for making skirts for little girls so may have a go with one of those instead.

11. Enjoy making memories with some new friends
YES and in a big way! I have met some amazingly talented and sweet ladies so far this year and feel blessed to call them my friends, I have become very close to a few lovely ladies back home where I grew up who I have recently had the pleasure to get to know. I have also put many faces to names at Britmums, spent time with some brilliant women who have shared laughter, tears, fashion and blogging tips with and left knowing I have made some true friends for life!

12. Submit our visas applications to Canada
We are getting there, its a slow process but things are coming together, we have taken our EILTS tests and passed (thank god!) and my OH is working hard to organise all the papers, references and bits and pieces he needs to have together, hopefully it will happen soon!

So there you have it, somethings I am surprised at, others I am disappointed at, but I'm proud of a few too. I guess I need to keep working hard and striving to take control and make my life all it can be!

Leave me a comment below and let me know how you have done too...