Sunday Snippets - 19th March 2017

It’s been a relatively quiet week in the scheme of things, although I have had a couple of appointments. I wasn’t able to go into Uni much this week, but that meant I was able to rest a bit and also get on with some work. I’ve also been trying to enjoy the sunshine when it has made a brief appearance! It is really starting to feel like spring now though, and I’ve even been out of the house without a coat on a couple of times!

I got up late after a nice lie-in last Sunday. I spent ages trying to sort out my computer storage because it kept saying it was completely full, which was frustrating. I was hoping to upload a video but couldn’t clear enough storage, so that wasn’t ideal. I chatted to my Dad about it though, and we found a solution that means I can continue with my blog and YouTube work with loads of storage. I did manage to write and upload a blog post though. I was pretty tired after all that, so I watched a film on Netflix with Bekkah while I drank my Fortisip. I then watched the last two episodes of Death in Paradise and did some Law reading. I was feeling so tired and had a bit of a headache, so had a rest on the sofa. We all went out to the Beefeater for Bekkah’s birthday, but unfortunately she wasn’t well so couldn’t come with us. We’ve said to her that we’ll go out again when she’s feeling better. The food was really nice, but because of my Gastroparesis I felt so sick. I was also really struggling with Mast Cell itching in the evening. I literally wanted to rip my skin off!

I wasn’t able to go into Uni on Monday because they had no one to support me. So I spent my morning doing some tidying and sorting in my bedroom. I actually made a noticeable difference for once! It wore me out though, so I had my Fortisip and rested for a while. My Dad then drove me over to the assessment centre in Reading for my ESA appointment. They were running nearly an hour late, which was frustrating because I’d forgotten to bring a book. The lady I saw was really nice though and only did a bit of the assessment before saying she had more than enough information and didn’t want to put me through any more. We dropped into my Grandma’s on the way home for a cup of tea. She had these beautiful spring flowers outside the front of her house, which made me smile.

I didn’t go into Uni again on Tuesday, as they were just doing tutorials and I had one the week before. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do in the morning, so in the end I spent some time sorting through old photos and categorising them in Lightroom. After lunch I went down to Waitrose with my Mum and bought myself some pretty tulips. When I got back I watched a bit of Family Guy and wrote some penpal letters. I can’t believe my baby sister Bekkah is finally 18! She hasn’t changed much has she?! In the evening all the family came over and we did her cake and presents.

How pretty was Bekkah’s 18^th birthday cake! Made by the fabulous Mel from The Cake Revolution - our regular cake genie!

I started my Wednesday with a counseling session, and it was good to talk to someone. When I got home I rested for a little while, then put some make-up on and filmed a Primark haul for my YouTube channel. I also managed to do a bit of tidying and sorted through some paperwork. After lunch I filmed myself opening a bit of post, as I’ve decided to bring back my ‘What the Postman brought’ videos. I did a bit of Uni work, and then had a nap, as I was absolutely exhausted. The weather was really nice and our garden is looking so pretty with all these spring flowers.

I really love my Pink Parcel monthly subscription. Getting supplies I would have to buy anyway, with a few treats to make things a little less crappy – it means I can convince myself that it’s not an unnecessary expense!

The counseling practice I go to is linked with our church and at the moment, while the new building is being sorted, my sessions take place in the church. When I came out I had to go through the churchyard, and I saw this beautiful magnolia tree. It’s one of the most beautiful churchyards I’ve seen and I can’t wait for the blossom and bluebells to come out.

Happy Everything! Another enamel pin to add to my collection thanks to this month’s Pink Parcel.

I had to be up pretty early on Thursday morning and my Dad took me over to Frimley Park Hospital. I saw my jaw physio and she did some more acupuncture, which seems to be helping a bit (although I did bleed again when she took the needles out!) When we got home I had planned to maybe do some work or tidying, but I was exhausted so curled up on the sofa. I spent what felt like ages filling out some forms for my upcoming psychotherapy assessment. After lunch, my Mum and I went over to my friend Katy’s. I caught up on some blog emails while my Mum had her nails done, and then I had my eyebrows waxed followed by a full body massage. When we got home I did a bit of Uni work – I really need to get a wiggle on with it all, as I’ve got so much to do and not a lot of time left! In the evening I decided to have a bit of a pamper, so popped this Lush ladybird in the bath and washed my hair with these Garnier Ultimate Blends, which smell really scrummy.

Week One of the Crown and Glory March photo challenge is ‘Unboxing’. Oh my goodness, this mermaid themed box is something else! Just look at that pink headband and the little fork slides!

I decided to go into Uni on Friday, as my friends said they would be happy to help me get around etc. as the Uni couldn’t find me any support until the afternoon. We had a short lecture in the morning with a member of library staff, who talked us through some helpful things for our dissertation work. We finished earlier than usual, which meant we had two hours for lunch – yay! So us girls went to Caffe Nero for lunch (I had a very yummy strawberry soya hot chocolate) and a good old chat. In the afternoon in our Law lecture we went through some exam things, as our exam is in three weeks time – eek! We also went through some case studies that might be useful to us. I had to leave early, so my Dad picked me up and brought me home, then my Mum took me down to see my GP. It wasn’t a massively productive appointment unfortunately, as there wasn’t much she could help with this time. I’ve been feeling quite hopeless recently if I’m honest and am really struggling to cope mentally.

This month’s Birchbox has lots more exciting beauty bits to try out. I’m particularly excited to try the new Benefit They’re Real Double the Lip.

I had a super long lie-in on Saturday morning and woke up feeling pretty rubbish. Everything seemed to hurt and I had a really sore mouth. My Mum asked if I wanted to go with her to a couple of shops, so I decided to go for it to try and cheer myself up a bit. We went to The Range first – I’d never really been before and enjoyed looking round at everything. I picked up a copper/rose gold clock for my room, something I’m going to send as part of a swap and some sparkly eggs for our Easter tree. We then popped next door to Dunelm for a look around. My Mum asked if I wanted to have lunch out, but I started feeling really sick halfway round The Range, so we decided to head home. I probably should have done some Uni work in the afternoon, but I try and have one day a week, which is just for me. So I rested for a while, watched TV and wrote a few penpal letters.

You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to continue doing!)

I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

If you don’t already, please give me a follow on Bloglovin here - I would love to reach 800 followers and we’re so nearly there! I do have a little giveaway planned for when I get there!

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Sunday Snippets - 26th February 2017

This week has been hard work. I’m still not well and it’s been going on for two weeks now, which is completely wiping me out. Unfortunately, I haven’t really had any time to rest properly, so I’m guessing that isn’t helping me to get better. I’m wondering whether I should take a couple of days off Uni tomorrow and Tuesday to be honest. I hate taking time off, but if I don’t start shifting this virus soon I’m just going to end up worse than I did to start with.

I went to church with my Mum and Dad last Sunday morning, but I found it a real struggle because I felt so unwell and exhausted. When I got home I sorted out my medication for the week ahead and had a bit of lunch. I then popped The Simpsons on and did some blogging. Once I’d got my post up, I watched some videos on YouTube and finished writing my Uni essay. I also caught up with my Uni emails and a few of my blog ones. The rest of the family came over and we did my Mum’s birthday cake and she opened her presents. We all then went to The New Inn for her birthday meal, which was nice but my breathing was really bad and was getting quite scary.

I love these tulips that I’ve got in my room at the moment. Spring is on its way!

I’ve been a bit rubbish with the Crown and Glory weekly photo challenge (surprise surprise!) but Week 2 is ‘New Fave.’ This sparkly heart came in this month’s box and is perfect for a Valentine’s theme. Plus, who can say no to a bit of glitter?!

My Dad took me over to Uni on Monday morning, which to be honest was the last place I wanted to be feeling like I was. We were doing about radio, so had to record interviews with each other on the phone in the studio. Once we’d got our interview, we had to edit a clip from it and then write a link into it. At lunchtime I went to the canteen with the other girls for a bit of a break. In the afternoon we had to choose another story, write a voice-piece that a reporter would say and then record it ourselves in the studio. I was so glad when my Dad came to pick me up and bring me home – I was feeling so unwell. As soon as I got back I curled up on the sofa and had a bit of a nap, as I seem to have even less energy than I normally do at the moment. These two DVDs arrived in the post – I haven’t seen either of them and thought it might be nice to watch them with a friend at some point.

I overslept on Tuesday morning but somehow managed to get to Uni on time. I had a meeting with the Disability Advisor first thing and we talked through my access arrangements for my exam in April. Then I went to my morning lecture, where we were doing about descriptive writing. After my lecture I met up with my mentor. It had been quite a few weeks since we last caught up, so there were quite a few bits to talk about. My Dad brought me home and I spent the afternoon resting on the sofa, as I was still feeling pretty poorly. I wrote a couple of penpal letters and watched some TV. Little Freddie sat next to me – he looks so cute with his ears back when he’s feeling sleepy. In the evening, my friend Sam picked me up and we went round to our friend, Helen’s, for a cuppa and a catch up, which was lovely. Unfortunately when I got home I was feeling so sick. My nausea has been much worse recently, but on Tuesday it was just too much.

I had planned to get up at a reasonable time on Wednesday morning, but that didn’t happen. I’m just feeling so tired and this virus is wiping me out, so I guess the extra sleep was what I needed. I spent the morning starting to transcribe some interviews from an article I was writing, which is always a lengthy process. After I’d had my Fortisip, my Mum and I drove over to Henry Street Garden Centre and met my friend Sarah, baby Charlie and Sarah’s Mum. We went to the café for a chat and cup of tea, and I nibbled on some cake but my nausea was still really bad so I had to bring most of it home. We had a quick look round afterwards, and then we headed home. I felt pretty wiped out, so rested on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon.

Week 3 of the Crown and Glory February photo challenge is ‘Something you Love.’ Although I love Disney Tsum Tsums, this photo actually represents the fact that I love Disney – anything Disney!

I was up fairly early on Thursday morning and my Dad drove me over to Frimley Park Hospital to see my jaw physio. We went through a couple of my exercises and then she tried some acupuncture with me. I’ve had it before but never on my face, so that felt a bit scary to begin with! We had some time to kill afterwards, so popped into Costa Coffee for a hot drink to warm us up. It was so windy and blooming freezing! We then made our way over to the Skoda dealership and I test-drove the Yeti. It was a really nice drive – much better than I’d expected. After that we went across the road to the Peugeot garage and spoke to a really helpful man about what we’re looking for. He rang the adaptations company and found out that the chair we’re looking at won’t fit in the 2008 SUV (which we were looking at) or the Yeti. It’s frustrating, but at least we’ve finally got a definitive answer. So we’re going to go back to the wheelchair showroom and see what other options we have and if there’s anything smaller. We came home and I crashed out on the sofa for quite a while. I then finished my transcription and started writing my article. My Mum and I popped to Waitrose and I picked up a new tea to try. I was also sent a True Tea Club box to review on my blog, so I’m excited to see what’s inside.

I woke up on Friday morning feeling so sleepy. I’m not sleeping that well at the moment (well, I don’t ever sleep well, but it’s been worse than usual) possibly because of this sinus infection/virus thing. My Dad took me over to Uni and handed me over to my support worker. Our morning lecture was actually really important, as it was all about our dissertation proposal. But I just could not stay awake! My eyes kept closing and I could feel myself nodding off, so I spent the whole morning trying to make myself listen and keep my eyes open. At lunchtime I went for a good old Starbucks catch up with my friends Shanae, Ife and Zeena, which was lovely. I can’t believe we hadn’t been since before Christmas! I tried the brioche toast, which was nice, and had a gingerbread decaf latte made with coconut milk. Last spring they did a rose and pistachio drink, which was amazing, and I’m keeping everything crossed it might make a reappearance (along with their spring cups!) In the afternoon I was able to stay awake during our law lecture thankfully. My Dad brought me home, and I fell straight to sleep on the sofa for a while.

I felt pretty rubbish when I woke up on Saturday morning. I had hoped to get up earlier, but it wasn’t happening! Once I’d got myself up and ready, I watched a bit of TV and did some work to an article I was writing. We found next-door’s cat on our roof, chatting to Jaffa, which was really sweet. My friend, Katrina, picked me up with her Mum, Auntie and some of her other bridesmaids around lunchtime, and we went down to Winchester to the wedding dress shop. Katrina tried her dress on first, and then us bridesmaids tried on lots of different dresses until we found the one! All very exciting. We all went back to Katrina’s afterwards and chatted for a while. My Mum picked me up and brought me home, and I finished off my article before having a cup of tea and watching Saturday Night Takeaway.

You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to continue doing!)

I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

If you don’t already, please give me a follow on Bloglovin here - I would love to reach 800 followers and we’re so nearly there! I do have a little giveaway planned for when I get there!

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

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Sunday Snippets - 5th February 2017

It’s been a fairly busy week, but with some good bits too, rather than just university and medical appointments. I’ve been trying to rest whenever I can, as I’ve got my work experience next week and I’m conscious that I need all the energy I can find. I’m feeling quite anxious about it if I’m honest. I’m excited to get some experience and see what it’s like to work for a local newspaper, but it’s going to mean very early mornings and super long days, which I know is going to be tough on my health. So any positive thoughts would be much appreciated!

I got up fairly late last Sunday and sorted out my medication for the week ahead. I spent the rest of the morning watching The Simpsons and writing my Sunday Snippets blog post. I had hoped to get another post written but I felt too tired by the time I’d finished the first one. So I curled up on the sofa and watched a film called Epic, which was on the TV. My friend Sarah had made an unexpected visit to her parents’ (who live over the road from me) so I went over to have a catch up with her, and a cuddle with little Charlie. He’s grown so much! It was lovely to see them both and it definitely made my Sunday. I came home after about an hour, finally watched the last episode of The A Word and did some paperwork. We had a family dinner with my Grandma, but as the evening went on I felt so sick. Every time I moved it made it worse. Having Gastroparesis is really not fun.

I had a bit of a lie in on Monday morning, which was nice. Once I’d had some breakfast, I made a phone call to try and sort out a couple of hospital appointments. I then spent the morning analyzing a news programme for my Uni assignment, which seemed to take forever. Now I just need to write the essay! I was wiped out after that, so curled up on the sofa, watched some TV and did some paperwork. I then put on an episode of Silent Witness and wrote my February cards. I’ve been feeling quite stressed and anxious recently, so decided to have a Lush bubble bath to try and relax a bit.

I was up fairly early on Tuesday morning and my Dad took me over to Uni. A few of us had been trying to contact our lecturer, as he’d mentioned last week that we only needed to be in for our tutorials. But unfortunately he didn’t get back to us. So my Dad said he would wait around until we knew what was happening. Luckily, my tutorial was first, so I asked my Dad to wait. The actual tutorial went really well. I found out I got a First in my portfolio from last term, which was a bit of a shock in itself. But he then said that my pieces were good enough to be published professionally, in something like The Guardian, which surprised me even more! As I didn’t have to be in Uni for the rest of the day, my Dad offered to take me to a mobility showroom to look at electric wheelchairs. The guy there was really helpful, and we managed to find a chair that seems to meet my needs. Now I need to find just under £2500 for it, although we’re going to look into second hand models too. We came home and I rested for a while. I put on an episode of Silent Witness and spent the afternoon going through my emails.

I overslept on Wednesday morning, so everything was a bit of a rush. I had to go to the Dentist for a check-up, but thankfully I made it there on time. My teeth were all good, and she made an impression of my bottom teeth so she can make a mouth guard for me. I’m hoping it will help my TMJ, but as it’s related to my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome we’re not sure. I came home and spent the rest of the morning editing some photos for my blog. Most of my afternoon was taken up with writing a blog post about my Winter Skincare Saviours. It’s quite a long post, so it took ages to write, but I’m glad it’s up now. I was shattered afterwards, so curled up on the sofa and watched a bit of TV. I also opened some post – a book from a swap I did with my friend Emma and a lovely parcel from my friend Lissa.

On Thursday I had quite a busy morning doing some work for an article I’m writing for our local magazine. My Dad and I went down to Café 46 so I could do some interviews with the managers of the café and charity shop and the vicar. I think they went well and I’ve got loads of information for my article. I didn’t feel great when I got home, so rested on the sofa for a bit. After lunch, my Mum took me over to my friend Katy’s and I had a lovely relaxing facial. We went into Waitrose on the way home and I found this pink dinosaur biscuit, which is so cute! I can’t eat it sadly, but it still made me smile. I did a bit of Uni work when I got home, but was feeling really strange. I had a funny headache, felt faint and was struggling to breathe. It probably sounds stupid because I’ve been ill for so long, but sometimes I get really scared by my symptoms. It’s tough feeling so out of control, and when I’m finding breathing difficult it can be pretty scary.

I somehow managed to get to Uni on time on Friday, after oversleeping by a lot! We had to do our viva voce during our morning lecture. I had mine at 10am – my mouth went so dry and I think I probably rambled on, but fingers crossed it went OK. The rest of the morning was spent working on some initial bits for our dissertation, which is ridiculously scary! At lunchtime I met up with my mentor and had a good chat about how my week has been. She also helped to settle my nerves a bit about work experience. In the afternoon we had our Law lecture. We talked about the law surrounding posting on the Internet and then did some practice exam questions. I was exhausted when I got home, so had a bit of a sleep on the sofa. I opened a parcel from ASOS when I woke up. I decided I needed some smart shoes for work experience and then I saw these pink loafers - I’m a little bit in love with them!

The February Crown and Glory photo challenge is here! Week 1 is ‘Unboxing’. How pretty is this month’s Valentine’s themed box!

On Saturday morning I had a lovely lie in, which was definitely what I needed. I took things pretty slowly for a while, and then sorted out my Good Things Jar for this year by adding my January bits. I started to do some tidying in my room and watched a bit of TV. My Mum and I went out to the pet shop to get some new bird feeders and food so we can start feeding the birds again. We then popped into Waitrose on our way home to try and get ingredients to make roasted Mediterranean vegetable lasagna. Unfortunately there’s a shortage of a lot of those vegetables though, so we had to substitute some of the ingredients. When we got home I finished sorting out my beauty and skincare bits in my bedroom, and then relaxed with a cup of tea.

You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to continue doing!)

I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

If you don’t already, please give me a follow on Bloglovin here - I would love to reach 800 followers, and do have a little giveaway planned for when I get there!

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

Follow me on Bloglovin, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube