2016 in pictures

I need to apologise for the lateness of this post. I had hoped to get it up either at the end of December or the first few days of January, but it didn’t happen. So I hope you’ll still enjoy reading through it now. I’ve done this post for a few years now, and always enjoy reflecting on the last year. 2016 was a year of intense highs and devastating lows, but sorting through all my photos helps me to see that, despite the difficult times, there have been so many happy times too. Enjoy browsing through my 2016, and here’s to an awesome 2017!

January:

In January I opened my Happy Jar from 2015 – I added more Disney DVDs to my collection – I met my friend, Becky, for a Costa – I bought the Calm book – And I filled up my Pandora bracelet.

Also in January, David and Emma moved into their first home together and I made this hamper for them – I received some beautiful flowers in the post from my friend Clare – We celebrated Richard and Emma’s birthdays – I saw the POTS specialist for the first time – And David and Emma took me out for afternoon tea.

February:

In February I received my invite to David and Emma’s wedding – I also received my invite to Richard and Lisa’s wedding! – I went to Maison Blanc with my friends, Ife, Shanae and Nina – My Mum and I went to the Festival Place Valentines Launch – And I took part in a TV News Day at Uni.

Also in February, I went to Watts Gallery with my friend Becky – I took part in a Secret Valentines swap – I added a couple more DVDs to my Disney collection – We celebrated my Mum’s birthday – And Benefit sent me a product to try out.

March:

In March I had a movie day with my friend Becky – We celebrated Mother’s Day – I treated myself to some new make-up from the Rosie for Autograph range – I had an Easter Maison Blanc with Shanae and Tazmyn – And my friend Charlie, and her little girl, Izzi, surprised me with bags of presents!

Also in March, my friend Katrina asked me to be her bridesmaid – I swapped Easter gifts with my friend Sarah – The dogs celebrated Easter – I received some lovely Easter goodies – I made Easter nests with my Mum – And I had an operation on my bladder.

April:

In April we celebrated David’s birthday (a little late!) – My asthma got worse so I was prescribed Ventolin (and treated myself to some beautiful tulips) – The Spring Starbucks cups came out – I bought myself a new rose gold iPhone SE – And Richard and Lisa welcomed Benjie into their lives.

Also in April, I had a girly day with my Mum, Emma and Bekkah – My Mum and I went up to London for a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed afternoon tea – I met the girls from college for a drink – We celebrated my Grandma’s 90^th birthday – We had a rather awesome cake for my Grandma – I finally had my catheter taken out (and received this postcard from my friend, Suzie).

May:

In May Freddie enjoyed a lick of ice cream at the May Fayre – I bought my new vlogging camera – I saw the beautiful blossom and bluebells at my local church – I was completely discharged from the mental health service (and my bleeding heart flowered) – My Mum and I went to the Festival Place Big Fashion Event – And I bought a necklace to remember my Gran.

Also in May, I saw the arrhythmia nurses and started taking Midodrine for my POTS – I went to see The Jungle Book with my friend Becky – The Queen celebrated her 90^th birthday with lots of events on TV – And Xena turned six!

And finally in May, I became very ill after being prescribed Tapentadol, but thankfully Freddie was there to look after me – My friends, Helen and Sam, came over with a card from Helen’s little girl, Lexi – And we celebrated Rosiie’s birthday.

June:

In June we had Emma’s Disney Hen Do – I met my friend Lilli for a drink in the pub garden – I bought some pretty peonies – I was lucky enough to meet Nadiya Hussain from the Great British Bake Off – And I was a bridesmaid at David and Emma’s wedding.

Also in June, we celebrated Father’s Day – I was sent a Bear Hug to review and voted in the EU Referendum – We celebrated my Dad’s birthday with a big family meal – And I had a mental health crisis, but managed to go and see Absolutely Fabulous at the cinema and have dinner with my Dad.

July:

In July I went to see The Secret Life of Pets with my friend Becky – We grew some beautiful flowers in our garden – The newspaper I helped with at Uni was printed – We had Lisa’s Hen Do Glamping in the New Forest – I treated myself to a Nutribullet – And I started playing Pokémon Go!

Also in July, I went to the My Favourite Sale launch blogger event in London – I had a sunny day in the garden with my friend Charlie and her two children, Izzi and Joe – We had a BBQ to celebrate Emma’s Dad’s 50^th birthday – I went for a Starbucks with my friend Katrina – I was a bridesmaid at Richard and Lisa’s wedding – And Benjie came to stay with us while they went on their honeymoon.

August:

In August I had lots of cuddles with Benjie – I had a DVD and craft day with Emma and Bekkah – Jaffa was being cute as always and poking out his tongue – I went for a wedding dress fitting with my friend Katrina – I had a DVD day with my friend Becky – And I went for lunch with Katrina followed by seeing Finding Dory at the cinema.

Also in August, I wrote about these cute cake toppers on my blog – I had a little baby shower with my friend Sarah (and baby Charlie arrived the following week!) – I went for a Starbucks with my Mum – My Dad and I went to see The BFG and then went to Bill’s for lunch – I snapped this adorable photo of Bekkah with the dogs – And I went to the Sky Garden with my Mum, Richard and Lisa.

On the same day, we also went to the Magnum pop-up shop – I took some beautiful photos of the views over London – Later in the month I went for my Occipital Nerve block in hospital – And I baked a blackberry and apple crumble, which was very yummy!

And finally in August, I visited Mayfield Lavender fields with my Mum, Dad and Emma – And I gave David and Emma, and Richard and Lisa, these gorgeous pictures of their wedding photos.

September:

In September I finally got my driving licence after it was taken away because I had a seizure – I went to Starbucks with my friend Lilli and had a Pumpkin Spice Latté – I went to my friend Hazel’s baby shower – I did my sponsored wheelchair climb over The O2 in London with my Mum and Bekkah – Our guide was fantastic and had us laughing the whole way! – And I had my first appointment at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore.

Also in September, I went back to university for the start of my second year – I filmed a news story about National Cupcake Week (which, of course, meant getting some cakes!) – I got to meet baby Charlie for the first time – I went to the Lush Spa in Kingston with Emma – And I went into hospital to have injections in my back.

October:

In October I organised and attended a Lush Blogger Event to see their new Autumn and Christmas range – I celebrated my 28^th birthday by going to Bill’s with my Uni friends, having a pig in mud birthday cake and opening lovely cards and presents – I went to the New Forest with my Mum and Dad as a birthday treat – The whole family went for a meal at Bill’s to celebrate my birthday – I had a Starbucks with my friend Nina – And my Dad bought my Mum these beautiful flowers.

Also in October, Bekkah passed her driving test – I added four more DVDs to my Disney collection – I had a little pamper party with a couple of friends for my birthday – I had this amazing cake made for the party – And Bekkah and I carved a Minion pumpkin.

November:

In November I went shopping with my Mum and we stopped off at Costa – I went to Bill’s for brunch with my friend Katrina – The leaves started to change colour – I had my rehab pre-assessment at Stanmore Hospital – And we celebrated Bonfire Night by watching the fireworks and having jacket potatoes.

Also in November, the Costa Christmas cups were released – I had my first Christmas Starbucks – I met a lady called Hannah who makes these adorable Sweet Nothings, and she let me hide one in Farnham – My friend Sarah sent me this cute photo of baby Charlie at his sensory group – And I went to our local Christmas Market.

December:

In December I had a hospital appointment up in London, and got to see some of the Christmas lights afterwards – I got my advent calendar out again – I bought the dogs some reindeer antlers – I had a university trip to the Houses of Parliament – I had a lovely Christmassy afternoon with my friend Charlie and her two children Izzi and Joe – And I put my Christmas bedding on my bed.

Also in December, I made a gingerbread house with Bekkah and her friend – I went to the Carols by Candlelight service at church – Polly the dog came to stay with us – I met my friend Lilli for a Christmas Costa – We put our Christmas tree up – And we had a family trip to the pantomime to see Sleeping Beauty.

On Christmas Eve I was an angel at the church Crib Services – We had a lovely family Christmas lunch – On Christmas Day we took silly photos and played games as a family – And after Christmas I went to see Fantastic Beasts with my Dad, Richard, Lisa and Bekkah.

And finally in December, I helped Charlie celebrate his first Christmas – We had some family and friends round for games on New Year’s Eve – I took some silly selfies on New Year’s Eve using Snapchat filters.

On Christmas Day we took our annual family photo. I love the way it grows a little bit each year!

How was 2016 for you? I want to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy 2017!

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Sunday Snippets - 24th April 2016

The last week has been super busy, which unfortunately means my health has been suffering more so than usual. I get really frustrated at times – I try to do something ‘normal’ and nice, but just end up unwell and in pain, which just seems to cloud the positivity of doing something happy. It can be very difficult to focus on the good times when they are outweighed by such difficult times, but I do try my best to separate the two, otherwise I would never push myself to do exciting things. Despite the fact I’ve been feeling pretty poorly, I have done some really lovely things this week and made some great memories, which is so important to me.

Last Sunday was fairly quiet, which was lovely after a busy week. I had a nice lie-in, and then had to do a bit of Hen party planning on my laptop. I spent the rest of the morning blogging and watching The Simpsons. I’m so desperate to go to Orlando and see everything in Universal Studios (and Disney of course!) My Grandma came over for lunch, so it was nice to have a chat with her. In the afternoon I decided to have some chill time, so caught up on some YouTube videos and replied to some of my Facebook messages. My brother sent me some adorable photos of the baby bunny he gave his fiancé, Lisa, for her birthday. They’ve named him Benjie and I can’t wait to have a cuddle! In the evening I had a Lush bubbly bath and did a face mask, which I haven’t done for ages.

Monday was a busy but exciting day, and totally worth the health nose-dive afterwards! My Mum and I went up to London for the birthday present I had given her back in February. Our first stop was One Aldwych Hotel for a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired afternoon tea. I will do a proper blog post about it soon, but it was seriously amazing, very creative and the staff were so lovely. We started with savouries and then went onto the sweet treats. Thankfully we were able to take a doggy bag home with us, as my broken digestive system couldn’t eat all of it! A couple of hours of indulgence later, we waddled out of the hotel and had a wander (wheelchair push) round Covent Garden. It wasn’t particularly wheelchair friendly unfortunately, but we looked in a few shops including Paperchase, Kikki. K, Mac Cosmetics and Charlotte Tilbury. I may have made a few cheeky purchases, so keep your eyes peeled for a blog post/video soon! I was shattered, in pain and pretty unwell by the time we got home, but that was something I’d prepared myself for.

I felt pretty awful when I woke up on Tuesday, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get much rest. I had to be up early for an appointment with my physio, which went OK. He wants me to be seen by the orthopaedic team again because my hips/pelvis are getting worse and the pain is becoming unbearable. So I need to get that sorted when I see my GP. I came home and rested for a bit, then a family friend came round and I had a session of reflexology, which was much needed! I’m pretty sure I fell asleep towards the end of the session! In the afternoon my Mum took my youngest sister and I for our first bridesmaid dress fitting for David and Emma’s wedding. By the time we got home my body had well and truly had enough, so I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening laid out on the sofa. An ASOS parcel arrived in the evening though and made me smile.

Wednesday was a little bit quieter, although I still had to be up early for another hospital appointment. This time I saw the psychologist from the Pain Clinic. Unfortunately they won’t offer me any individual psychological help at the moment, which my GP believes I desperately need, so I came away feeling pretty low and alone. I came home and ended up having a nap because I felt so wiped out. I managed to get some planning and preparation done for a YouTube video when I woke up though, which was good. I spent the afternoon watching YouTube videos and catching up on my blog emails. I also popped out to Waitrose with my Mum and picked up a couple of jars so I can try making some overnight oats for breakfast. On this new diet I’m meant to be trying it says I shouldn’t eat grains, but then says I can eat raw oats, so if anyone knows any yummy recipes let me know!

On Thursday I had yet another early start, as I needed to ring the doctors to try and get an appointment for that day. Thankfully I got one, so my Mum took me down there and I saw my GP. I’ve been feeling more and more rubbish since starting Pregabalin and the weight gain is also really affecting my eating disorder, so she’s advised me to gradually come off it. I’ll have to discuss an alternative with my specialist when I see him in a few weeks, but I just want to be off this. I came home, rested and watched some nesting blue tits in our garden (from inside). I met a few of my old college friends for lunch and decided to try some blood orange Sanpellegrino, which was lovely. I had a really nice catch-up with the girls and we looked at a couple of shops too. Unfortunately, since getting home, I was in quite a lot of digestive pain and felt pretty unwell, which seems to be the norm at the moment. But I’m glad I got to see the girls nonetheless. Richard and Lisa popped over in the evening before heading out to dinner, and we gave Lisa her birthday presents.

I was able to stay in bed for a little longer on Friday morning, but had to get up at a fairly reasonable for my appointment at the hairdressers. I had a colour treatment (which I really find helps to brighten up my colour!) and then a hair cut, and decided to have a little bit more taken off the ends than usual. It’s still pretty long, but I feel like it’s so much shorter! My Mum and I then popped to Tesco to get some essentials – I also managed to pick up a pretty floral skirt and a couple of flowery bras. We then had a little look round Marks and Spencer, and I picked up this lightweight dressing gown covered in pink hearts. I’ve been looking for a lighter dressing gown for ages because my old one desperately needed replacing, so I was so glad to finally find one I like! By the time we got home I was exhausted, so just spent the rest of the day resting and watching a bit of TV.

Yesterday was a really special day – my Grandma turned 90! My Mum, Dad, two sisters and I made our way to my Aunt and Uncle’s in London, where we met up with the rest of my Dad’s side of the family for a birthday celebration. We actually managed to get every single member of the family, plus other halves, there, which is pretty good going considering how many of us there are! We spent the day enjoying lovely food, mingling, chatting and taking family photos. We got this adorable cake from Waitrose, and put a couple of number sparklers on it so we could sing Happy Birthday. Before we left to come home, I asked my Grandma if I could take a photo with her to remember the special day by. She responded by saying “Ooh, shall we take a selfie?!” If I manage to reach 90 one day, I really hope I’ll be as switched on and independent as she is!

If you haven’t read my blog before, I just wanted to let you know that I have a second blog, which mainly focuses on my health in more depth than I talk about it here. It’s largely for friends and family to follow and keep up with what’s going on, but if it’s something you would be interested in reading as well, you are more than welcome to follow me over there. I’ve actually changed the name from Unicorns and Floral Crowns to ‘Zebra Crossing’ and you can find it by clicking here. I’m trying to keep it updated fairly regularly, so hopefully there will be something there for you to read! I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

What have you been up to this week? I always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!

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Sunday Snippets - 10th April 2016

Thankfully this Sunday I’m feeling a bit more human, after spending the week recovering from my operation. I’ve been trying to find a balance between getting enough rest and pushing myself to try and move things forward, which hasn’t been particularly easy and I overdid it on Thursday. It’s been nice to see a bit more sunshine, although April is definitely living up to it’s name – one minute it’s been glorious sunshine, then the next the heavens have opened and it’s tipping it down with rain! But it is starting to get me excited for the summer. Apart from our two family weddings, I don’t actually have any plans and could really do with a holiday, but I think I’m just going to have to get creative and have a staycation instead.

Last Sunday was pretty quiet because I was still feeling rubbish from the anaesthetic with exhaustion, dizziness, nausea and a pounding headache. I managed to do a bit of blogging in the morning (as you will have seen!) When my parents and sister got back from church they presented me with these beautiful flowers. Our local florist had brought a few bouquets in to the service, and the congregation decided I should have one – how lovely of them! The blogging really wiped me out, so my afternoon was just spent resting and sleeping on the sofa. In the evening I decided to wash my hair, and although it knocked me out again, it was nice to get it done and feel a bit more human.

On Monday I still wasn’t feeling great, so just had a quiet morning. My sisters and I then went over to Lisa’s (my brother’s fiancé) parents’ house to do some arts and crafts in preparation for the wedding. It was good fun and it’s nice to see things starting to take shape now after months of planning. I was wiped out by the time we got home, so had a bit of a nap. I then had an appointment with my GP – we chatted through a few issues and she gave me some advice for an upcoming appointment, which was useful. These gerberas have been sitting in our lounge for a few days, and they always make me smile when I see them because they look so bright and happy!

On Tuesday I felt a bit brighter, so spent the morning writing letters to some of my penpals. I’m determined to get back on top of my list! I had to wait in for a phone call, which came early afternoon and was quite interesting. My Mum then suggested we get out of the house for a change of scenery and some fresh air, so we decided to go to Homesense, as she needed another storage box. She pushed me round in my wheelchair but we didn’t buy much apart from the box. We popped into the post office and Waitrose on the way home, and then I crashed out on the sofa. I opened my monthly box from Veronica Dearly, which always makes me smile.

Wednesday was a completely free day, which is always nice, but when I woke up I was still having problems with my breathing (it’s been getting gradually worse since my operation) so I rang my doctors and they asked me to come down in 20 minutes. I was still in my pyjamas, so did a quick change and my Mum took me down. I saw the nurse, who asked lots of questions and did my peak flow reading (which was too low, as always). She gave me a Ventolin inhaler to see if that helps alongside my other inhaler, but if it doesn’t then I need to call them or the out of hours doctor. I spent the rest of the morning doing some blogging and watching Family Guy (a guilty pleasure!) In the afternoon I did some Uni work and sorted a few things out on my laptop. I’ve noticed that this last week I’ve taken a lot of photos of flowers, but these gorgeous tulips in my bedroom have really been making me smile. You can’t beat fresh flowers as far as I’m concerned!

Thursday was meant to be a full day at university, but after talking to my lecturer I decided that a whole day was going to be too much for me while I’m still recovering. So instead, my Mum and Dad took me in at 11am so I could just finish off the newspaper that we’ve been working on, and they went into Farnham for a look around the shops. Thankfully I got my pieces for the newspaper finished, and at lunch I decided to celebrate with a Starbucks with some of the girls. It was so lovely to have a proper catch up, and they have these beautiful spring cups at the moment. I wish they did a reusable version so I could keep one! My Mum and Dad met me in Starbucks and brought me home, where I crashed out on the sofa for an hour or so, as I was completely shattered. I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting out some things for posting and replying to Facebook messages.

On Friday I had a fairly quiet morning – I was going to try and get tickets for my youngest sister and I to see Louise Live (Sprinkle of Glitter), but after working it all out I realised getting across London to the venue in my wheelchair was either going to be a complete nightmare or ridiculously expensive to get a taxi/Uber. So that kind of sucks – I try not to see my disability as a negative, but sometimes I just get really fed up that it makes doing fun things so hard! My Dad took me to my appointment with my CPN, which went OK, although she told me she won’t be at my review with my psychiatrist next week. On our way home we popped into B&Q and I picked up some bits to use for blog photography. I ended up sleeping for a lot of the afternoon – I was starting to feel a bit brighter from my operation, but I think I overdid it on Thursday. My Birchbox arrived though, which cheered me up, as it’s so pretty! It’s only my second box, so I’m excited to see what future boxes will be like.

Yesterday was a very quiet and slow day. I didn’t feel that well and really struggled for motivation, which always gets me down a bit. I try to reassure myself that it’s OK to have days like that and that I don’t need to be busy and productive every single day, but I can’t seem to help but be hard on myself. I did spend the morning doing some editing for a new YouTube video, which I’m hoping will be up soon. In the afternoon I cuddled up with Freddie on the sofa watching YouTube videos, and caught up on my blog e-mails. The highlight of my day was the postman coming – he brought something quite exciting, which I’ll reveal to you at some point soon!

If you haven’t read my blog before, I just wanted to let you know that I have a second blog, which mainly focuses on my health in more depth than I talk about it here. It’s largely for friends and family to follow and keep up with what’s going on, but if it’s something you would be interested in reading as well, you are more than welcome to follow me over there. I’ve actually changed the name from Unicorns and Floral Crowns to ‘Zebra Crossing’ and you can find it by clicking here. I’m trying to keep it updated fairly regularly, so hopefully there will be something there for you to read! I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

What have you been up to this week? I always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!

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