I return and I'm debt free!!!

I'm debt free!!!

I feel that justifies my delayed return to posting. Sorry! If you are going to keep a blog, you need to do blog posts, it's not hard Veronica!!! #MUSTTRYHARDER

Where have I been?
Mr Mars and I sold everything and upped and travelled across America. We then finished the trip with a flight to New Zealand where we currently reside in a pokey wee flat. GOD I MISS THE LODGE HOUSE. I often think of it, but this is super cosy so that makes me feel better.

Debt Free
Well, onto the big news. Mr Mars and I used the last of our savings and a tax refund to clear our remaining credit card. Tah-dah! We are Debt Free. We were getting bad at organising the funds/debt back in the UK so had to focus on getting it cleared. Went into our overdraft twice because of it. So annoying...

You would think I would feel this huge sense of relief but I feel nothing. It is weird. I think it is because I have been in debt for as long as I can remember and I was debt free once before and I racked it all up again, so I just don't quite believe it.

I/We have had different scales of debt. I refer to them as my "crazy debt days". University was an overdraft and a small credit card and student loans. I should have saw the signs then, others would go for coffee but bring in their own sandwiches etc as they had a balance. I would try to do it all, buy my lunch, and coffee and go on the nights out. On a students wage. There was no beans on toast in my student days. Only Mastercard.

This continued to employment, where again, I had no balance. I wanted it. I got it. From a coffee and pastry every morning to a £150 jacket. NO was never an option with Mastercard.

I had a job but threat of redundancy was and has always been there. In 2010 people were let go in my team twice within one year and there was redundancies every year since. Every. Year. It was not a nice time, especially when you realise that if you are made redundant, you have zero savings and very large amount of debt (approx 16k). A week or two of no salary and the Veronica Mars house of debt would have came tumbling down like a giant game of Jenga.

I was close to the land of Debt Free in 2011 but thinking I was nearly clear and in control meant I slipped back to my old ways and bought some new clothes and started eating out loads and wracked up another 4k of debt. Just like that. Before I knew it, another 4k of debt. Mr Mars then proposed to me and we started to get our life into order, continue to clear the debt, but pay for a wedding and honeymoon without adding to the debt.

We had been struggling with some accommodation and moved into a lovely house that cost much more each month in rent but it gave us the biggest sense of relief. You should be able to relax in your own home and that is not something we could do in our previous flats. I called it The Lodge House :) The flog and chaos lifted and with an upcoming wedding and honeymoon Mr Mars and I started getting our life into order.

Fast forward to the present day. As we start a new chapter in our life, I have a new financial focus of getting enough savings as a deposit on a home when we return to the UK. 

I badly want a home to truly call my own but I am happy to wait until Mr Mars and I have a good solid deposit and a forever home. I've moved enough and I've travelled a lot. I'm coming to the point where I am ready to settle down. My sisters ring tone for me is the Littlest Hobo theme tune.... 

That's all folks!

xoxo

The perks of a travelling business man...off to the windy city!

Mr Mars works away. A lot.

Not for long periods of time, but he literally can fly to London for a day and then fly home that same night. Not fun for him. No different for me. I just put his dinner in the microwave as usual and sometimes he comes home with some unused toiletries or an instyle magazine (he snaffles from the lounges - don't worry they are free, business class perk, he is not stealing).

He works all over the UK and the major perk of this has been large amounts of frequent flyer miles and a humongous spend in one year (I think it was £20k) when meant he then qualified for a companion flight.

What does all of this get you? A Business class flight to Chicago for the cost of the taxes only. I don't think you understand me.... we only paid for the taxes. For a business class flight to Chicago!!! Cost of these flights was £5,827!!! Taxes were still cost a lot, mind you...

Having travelled either Ryan Air or Easy Jet for the best part of my adult life I have no idea what Business Class entails.... I imagine champagne and unicorns. You get champagne, but I think they keep the unicorns for first class.

Thankfully the world wide web has lots of blogs by rich people who like to tell us about the things that us mere morsels will (usually) never get the chance to enjoy. I like this website, it is full of REAL pictures. God I love pictures.

The Luxury Travel Expert:

http://theluxurytravelexpert.com/2014/06/11/flight-review-british-airways-business-class-boeing-747-400-lhr-sfo/

So here is what it looks like I am in for. Excited, ME, Nooooo. This guy says the meal is a disappointment, I am still in awe of the fact that you GET A PLATE THAT IS NOT MADE OF TIN OR PLASTIC. Are you kidding me? Real cutlery? This guy should try economy and he'll see what a disappointment really is...

I'm also struggling with how I will manage to not ransack the FREE shops in the lounge or on board and store everything like a squirrel for when we reach Chicago.

Only take 5 bars of chocolate Mrs Mars... act like you fly business class all the time.... take the other 8 bars out of your bag...take them out...okay grab some peanuts...quickly...COME ON, DO IT...no-one is looking...

I will, of course, be taking pictures of everything. Even down to the toilet. I plan to use them to reminise about the time I flew Business Class with BA when I am shackled up on my next Ryan Air flight trying to hide my handbag so they do not charge me for two carry on and then counting how many euros I have left to see if I can afford a can of cola. All whilst sweating in my extra jacket as my suitcase was over 10kg.

There are OF COURSE catches to these flights see below (here is my understanding of them):

1) They are only available on certain flights and there is only 1 allowance per day. So everyone in the UK with a companion flight is fighting to get in first for these flights
2) Once you qualify it is only valid for one year
3) Only valid for a single flight (no stop offs or returns)
4) Only valid for a flight leaving the UK; and
5) You have to reach the £20k spend within one year
6) You only get this once
7) The big one - you can only use the companion flight to places you have enough air miles to cover. So you can't top up with cash and fly to anywhere in the world.

xoxo

Commonwealth Freebies

As Mr Mars is working at the commonwealth games, we got a couple of freebies!

He got the full kit - as picture below, you also get a bag, water bottle and umbrella. I snaffled the bag, bottle and brollie, but I won't lie - I used the bag once and it started to burst so did not seem the best quality or it could be that I rammed it full with my usual junk - I'm going with poor quality ;o). The trousers are really good and Mr Mars is going to keep them! They also got a big jacket and water resistant cagoule thing. I would steal the jacket but it is too big :o(.



They also got some thank you presents (also snaffled by me); a Clyde pin badge, some thistle seeds, a Clyde USB pen, a towel and a limited edition commonwealth games picture (I LOVE).





Then, whilst cheering on the road cycling, I got talking to a lovely girl who knew the Scotland support team and was in the car that follows the riders. We cheered and waved them as they passed in the support car - then she gave me a "Team Scotland" official pin badge - HOW COOL! What a lovely thing for her to do and it obviously made my day!

She was a very funny girl. She had a top on with shorts and no jacket; I asked her if she was not cold and she responded "I'm very very drunk right now". Ha! I was not drunk, therefore I had a large waterproof jacket on, hoodie and jeans and was still cold.
 

So that is it for my freebies so far. Does not help my hoarding issues...but at least I have some cool pin badges!

xoxo

Sunday Summary

Here is a summary of my Sunday!

 

Catching the Commonwealth fever I became slightly obsessed – after staring off with nothing I have now been to a fair few events. The finale being the Road cycling on Sunday morning. Up we got at 8am (after my sister called me at 8am telling me she was en route to my house with a present – I’ll detail in another post with pictures). Mr Mars and I then had some fresh roasted coffee and toast and fresh farm eggs (another present from sister) before walking into Glasgow City Centre.

 

Off they went:

 

Very much the same for a few laps but I did read that a storm was forecast and the weather did not disappoint… torrential rain ensued… we took refuge in a pub and watched on the TV until they were due to pass then popped outside!

 

The winner passing near the end, below. To give you a grasp of how fantastic a win for Wales this was and how horrific the conditions were, something like 139 started and only 12, yes 12, finished. WELL DONE to anyone who even finished!!!

 

After the race Mr Mars and I went a wee shop to the Nike store to the vegan restaurant Stereo, Mr Mars is not a Veggie, but he almost eats Veggie now because of me! Mwhahaha. He really only eats fish now, so he is almost a pescitarian! He and his friends really like Stereo (non of them are Veggie) because it is known for its music and very good food!

We both ordered off the specials board - the BBQ Ranch chickpea and mushroom burger with rashers – ohhh my goodness me it was sooo GOOD. Perhaps because I have been watching what I have been eating (she says after ramming two Quality Street chocolates into her mouth) but It went down and absolute treat. Shy of licking them, our plates were cleared. We then walked to Costa for a wee coffee and then walked to the BBC at the Quay to watch the Commonwealth Closing ceremony!

 

Picture of the Ceilidh they had going on before it started:

 

 

A brilliant finale - I don't care what anyone thinks, I really enjoyed it!!! With a sad Auld Lang Syne to finish. Maybe because I am soon to be leaving Scotland or because I am sooooo flipping proud to be Scottish, but I was sad at the end. Sad that it is all over, sad that who knows the when the next time I will see a random Ceilidh, or a fiddler playing Caledonia, or bag pipers just randomly walking down the street or people crossing their arms for Auld Lang Syne. But I was sad...

Here is to Gold Coast 2018! I think Oz will also do the games proud! If I am still living at the other side of the world, I can assure you I will be there!!!

xoxo

Wedding Thank You Cards - Snippet 1 - The Envelopes

Only 4 months late...cos that's how I roll.

So I started our wedding thank you cards… this is getting posted about in 3 stages. I will do one all-inclusive post and pop it onto my DIY tab, but for now, time is a luxury I do not have, so I can only do some snippets. Some people would say forget sending the cards, but I really do like a thank you card. I just think it is nice.

We wanted to do our thank you cards a lot cheaper than the invites (as I ain't made of money) BUT I also think that thank you cards are peoples lasting impression of the wedding (or maybe it is just the crazy people in my head who think that) so I don’t want some cheap ass cards getting chucked out the door when we spent the equivalent of a house deposit on our wedding day (judge away - I don’t care).

So I went to a print shop (this one in Glasgow) and just got a nice, non-cheesy, no kissing, picture of us printed in black and white onto card and cut to postcard size (A6). I then ordered some Bordeaux envelopes (C6) from EBay (there are about 100 sellers and I cannot remember which one).

I then used the embossing stamp that we got MADE for our invites (Eve at WEDLOCO helped us do this). I love that we found a design and made it into a stamp. I feel like it became our wedding trade mark, along with our wax seal....more on that later.
 
Because I am 4 months late with them I also wrote a handwritten “Sorry it’s late…” on the bottom corner with an embossing pen, just to acknowledge that I know I am late and I’m sorry. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I AM SORRY.

A snippet (as I said I will do an all-inclusive post later):

For our labels we purchased some nice CLEAR labels from WH Smith (I'm sure you can get them cheaper but I'm Mrs Unorganised, remember?). With some Rennie Mackintosh font they will look BRILLIANT on the envelopes.

We kept a note of what everyone got us, so I will write personalised message on the back of the postcards – as I also think that is nice. A personalised touch goes a long way in my book (see my personalised wedding glasses HERE). I'm quite self absorbed so that might be why I love items with my personal touch brandished all over them...

A lot of people gave us cash as they knew we were moving abroad so it will be nice to say thanks for the cash, as we are now ACTUALLY moving abroad and are going to put it to good use! You think I could spin that as they reason I left it 4 months to do my thank you cards?!?!

xoxo

Commonwealth Games, a gubbed ankle and a new bike

Sooooooo much to update everyone on, but sooooooo little desire to type it. I’ll sum up the 3 main things in my life at the minute!

The Commonwealth Games have arrived to Glasgow and so far I have seen ZERO events in person. House viewings and a hospital visit (gubbed ankle) have scuppered my plans. Hopefully tomorrow (Saturday) I will get to go to Strathclyde Park and watch the Triathlon and then the Marathon on Sunday morning.

As mentioned above, I've gubbed my ankle. A silly run up and down Ben Lomond (for more info on Ben Lomond see HERE) meant I tore my ligaments and ended up in crutches. We actually thought it was a broken ankle; there was a rather large CRACK when I went over on it and it started swelling up immediately (I aint lying - my brother started squirting water from his water bottle onto my ankle as if this was going to stop the swelling, bless, think I need more than water bro, this is not a “magic sponge at a football match” type situation). A week later and I can walk fine now, but ankle is still in a lot of pain and bruised. Dr advised absolutely NO running for 4-6 weeks and ESPECIALLY not up and down Munro… spoil sport.

Those that have been following will also know that this means my marathon plan on the 2^nd of August has also come to an abrupt end. It is amazing that you get really fit and train for WEEKS and then one incident puts you out for weeks and ruins months of plans. I’m not upset – it is just a race and a gubbed ankle. PERSPECTIVE, people. I’m healthy (ish) and happy. It’s all good! PMA.

On the plus side, I ate a full bag of Cadbury chocolate buttons and had a rather large amount of red wine last night completely GUILT FREE. See, it is all about perspective, people. :o)

Due to said injury AND because I had actually mentioned it on the forums (those visiting from MSE land) I was looking to get a new bike. No better time to get one when you can no longer run and have scuppered all marathon chances…

I’ve bought crap bikes before and I’ve bought super expensive bikes also (crazy debt days). Both are a waste of time for the kind of usage I will be doing. I was like Goldie Locks and her porridge...not too expensive...but not too cheap. It had to be just on Budget…

After much searching Mr Mars and I happened across this bike, which of course, due to halving in price, sold out pretty quickly. Down to £200 and then with a 10% sale I got it for £180. I literally think I got the last one in Glasgow. As we checked all stores and eventually managed to track it down in Paisley, where I think it was the last one.

 

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/carrera-zelos-limited-edition-ladies-road-bike-2014

I LOVE it. I would have taken any design, the budget was the concern, so I feel I have lucked out that it also looks pretty good. Where we are moving to, apparently public transport is not great, so cars and bikes are the main forms of transport (I will never moan about UK public transport again). Hopefully this will also get LOTS of use when we move next month (4 weeks today!!!) and not just to cross train on.

 

xoxo

Christmas continues with some healthy eating

Hi All,
 
No money saving, no DIY jobs. Nothing. What a crap blog this is turning out to be!

My posting has become minimal on all forums, of any sort, and considering Mr Mars and I are emigrating abroad next month, and move out of our house in 3.5 weeks time, it looks like posting will be minimal for the foreseeable future.

We are haemorrhaging money, which is another issue altogether. But the focus for the minute is to get some visas and make it out of the country. My simple mind can only focus on one thing at a time.

We leave next month to travel across America for over a month before we then move to the other side of the world. I am terrified. My unorganised self has gone too far this time. We have our flights booked, where we got the bargain of the century (I will dedicate a post to these flights) and we are staying in a rather nice hotel in Chicago (also bargain buy - the perks of having jobs where Mr Mars and I travelled a lot). But beyond that we have nothing planned. NOTHING. Is anyone else panicking about this for me? As I think someone should be!

Christmas:

So, as you know, I am trying to get some Christmas presents sorted before we go. I know this is the last thing I should be thinking about - but sometimes crazy people need something to occupy their mind. This is my thing.

So, the author of this book happens to live where I grew up and works in the building next to me. He has a sign up in the building promoting the book and if you want it signed he will come meet you to do so - how nice is that? Obviously promoting the book, but I still think it's nice.

My Father-in-law is very into books. He loves thrillers and especially likes books that are by local or Scottish authors. I know this as I borrow most of his books after him, and every time I do, I get all the details on where the author lives and where the books are based, so I just know he is going to love this gift:



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Go-Sleep-D-P-Sloan/dp/1906755752

So I've ordered the book and am going to get him to write a personalised message for my Father-in-law. I've not decided whether it will 100% be for Christmas so I'll get the author to write "hope you enjoy your gift". Generic and covers me for any occasion. Mr Mars wants a copy too, but at £10 a book he can borrow his dads!

Healthy Eating:

My eating has been pretty bad recently, just with everything going on. I really notice it in my energy levels and exercise. So last night Mr Mars went out and bought a super-food extravaganza!

We had a rainbow salad with quinoa, topped with organic Herby Olive Oil (I bought a bottle, along with some organic balsamic vinegar in a little shop in North Scotland and it is HEAVEN), we then had some piri piri hummus and normal hummus with it and mini pittas. I was so hungry I forgot to take a photograph...

We then had some fresh blueberries with some Mango flavoured natural yogurt - this was my dessert (check out the vintage bowls that were my grans):

 
YUM. Today my mate is taking me for lunch. I, of course, forgot about this and brought in lunch. Have I mentioned I am unorganised? I seriously think I need to bring the file-o-fax back into my life. But he is infamous for cancelling so I would rather have my backup pasta which I can eat tomorrow than not bring anything. Need to try and retain some control over our finances at the minute.

xoxo

DIY: Re-juvenated coasters

This weeked I used some of Mr Mars leftover paint from his Ray-Bans re-vamp, see HERE, and re-vamped some nasty coasters I had from my “Girl Power” days.

 

They were bright pink and had the words Cleavage and Knickers and G&T etc all over them. I am still all for “Girl Power” I just no longer feel that I need the colour pink and the words Cleavage and Knickers to do so.

After about 4 coats of primer you can still see the gastly words...

Take some leftover black matt paint (left one):

 

 

I'm not accustomed to the using spray paint, so error number 1: Don't go too close:

 

You end up with gloops and blotches like any other paint job, ohh dear.

 

 

I originally just wanted to paint them matt black, because I'm boring like that. But my black paint mess ups meant I felt I needed something to hide the damage. As these were not looking good, so far...

 

Step forward some old glitter spray (see picture above, can on the right) that I THOUGHT was silver and glitter, but after a patch test turned out to be clear spray with some glitter. Perfect.

 

Some uneven glitter spraying...

Closer:

 

 

I actually like that they look uneven, I'm not a matchy matchy kind of person. I think I realised a long time ago that I would unlikely get things perfect, ever, therefore have embraced the imperfections!

 

Once dried I put the bottom back on to them with some super glue:

Turns out the superglue was not great for this. I've put some mod podge on one of them and that seems to have worked the best! Live and learn...

 

And there you have it! Some leftover paint and some old coasters and I have some AWESOME coasters, I think.

 

Admit it. Addddddddddddmit it. These look not bad, eh?

 

I have got to say these turned out MUCH better than I ever expected! And all made with things we already had – expect the black paint that Mr Mars bought at £4.99 for his Ray-Bans!

 

The clear glitter spray hides a multitude of sins, something I will likely invest in again. I will have a house of glitter!

 

xoxo

Baby Shower Fun!

I had much fun at a baby shower on Saturday!

 

Apologies, my Sunday was filled up with marathon training and DIY, and then I was back to work yesterday, so I am only just posting the pictures of this.

 

The girls who organised it did very well, although they must have spent a small fortune! Buffet, cake, soft drinks, decorations and unlimited prosecco. Glad it was not me :o)

 

What a great day! A great crowd of girls with some right old characters! There was one lady who kept telling everyone about her vagina. Yes, that is right, I said vagina. I'm not a prude by any means, so this did not bother me, but I do think there is a time and a place for these kind of discussions; whilst I am eating my pink and blue cake at a baby shower, ain't it! Got to love the characters, though, they keep everything interesting!

They decorated the place with bunting and cute balloons...

 

 

They got the mum-to-be an AMAZING cake....

 

When you cut inside it was pink AND blue sponge (as she does not know what she is having).

 

 

Prosecco was on tap, along with a brilliant and superbly thought out buffet (all dietry requirements were considered)...so being veggie I had LOTS of options. YUM. Bravo ladies.

 

Then when everyone was leaving we were giving a little favour from the stack below....
 

Inside the favours...

 

 

Jelly babies and a baby powder candle! How cute!

 

Saturday was topped off by Mr Mars and I cashing in a wedding voucher at Arisaig Restaurant in Merchant Square, Glasgow. Fabulous Scottish Food - just amazing! The Crannachan Ice-cream at the end was my favourite. Nothing like some good food and wine to top off an already great day!

 

Total cost of day out - £5 tip at restaurant! Does not get much better than that!

 

xoxo

Mr Mars does DIY: Re-vamped Ray-Ban Sunglasses

Mr Mars had been gifted the following Red Ray-Ban sunglasses:

 

 

As much as he loved them, there is the small issue that they are RED and he only really wore them to a festivals etc. But he really liked them and they are "comfortable", apparently.

 

So he decided he was going to paint them black...

 

He took some Matt Black Paint (£4.99) and some old Penny Bronze Metallic Paint (£?)...

 

 

He then took an old metal coat hanger. And after removing the lenses' he spray painted the frames the matt black (this was outdoors in our garage)...

 

 

Then Mr Mars painted the detailing back onto the glasses, he painted the Ray-Ban back on at the sides and the wee bits at the front, all in the metallic bronze...

                               (Mr Mars hard at work)

 

He then used a heat gun to get the lenses back into the frames, he followed a You Tube video for this (sorry, I do not have the link). Thankfully we already had a heat gun as we made our own wedding invites, gun was approx £15 from EBay.

 

Tah Dah...

 

How cool do these look? He was off wearing them to work today...

xoxo

Christmas shopping continues...

Next up - My Mother in Law!

 

My mother in law and I share a mutual love of bedtime rituals. Have I mentioned I'm mildly obsessed with sleep? Pretty sure I have. I'm going to do a post on it.

 

The ritual includes; hot water bottles, tea, candles and books. I recently got a electric blanket with Tesco vouchers and it is AMAZING, upon discussing this (whilst filling our hot water bottles at their house on night) she mentioned she really really wants one and knows she would love it. Hint taken!

 

She might go buy one, but I am going to hold off until August and see how many Tesco vouchers we have and get one for her! I think I will only have like £2 but better than me spending that £2! Once I get I'll tell Father in law and hopefully he can hold her off! Electric blanket I have HERE:

 

 

Christmas list, people left:

 

My Dad (saw a jacket for him)

My Mum

Father in Law

2 x older nephews (likely cash, usually £20, although I'm thinking of putting it down to £10? Too cheap? There are nieces and nephews popping out everywhere now, it is starting to get too much, so I'm going to suggest a £10 for everyone rule)

3 x toddler niece and nephews (above £10 rule)

xoxo

Hey you guys!

I have nothing to say – how is that for a blog post?

Only kidding! It is my mum and dads anniversary today. Quick lunchtime trip to the Card Factory and a £1.18 spent on an anniversary card AND a birthday card (gotta love the card factory) and I am sorted. I will take them out for dinner on Friday.

I want to make my own cards one day – something I’ve got to try. I will try and fail and post all about it. It will be fun.

Mr Mars is a grumpy m*thaf*kka recently. Fortunately – I take crap from no-one – so he got a severe telling off. I nearly put him on the naughty seat but then decided that would be probable cause for a divorce…

What else? Bounce Back Tiger has been collected – took ALL my willpower not to rip that box open, blow up Tiger and wack Mr Mars over the head with him. Put. Tiger. Back. Into. The. Box. Mrs Mars.

Both Tiger and Mr Mars will never know how lucky they were! Certain death for the both of them… … …

Anyway, I promise I will start posting some productive DIY/repair posts, just trying to get some order in my life. I plan to do a shed load of DIY before we go on move so I shall record it all.

xoxo

Lazy

I’ve been getting Lazy.

That might be hard to believe for some of you, as I have mentioned (somewhere?) that I am training for a marathon. But I’m not referring to my training, more around the house. The marathon seems to have given me an excuse to get lazy around the house. I run therefore I do not need to hover. Makes sense thought, right? RIGHT?!?! No. It does not make sense.

I’ve noticed that the mess that is accumulating in our bedroom – the supposed sanctuary. Clean bed clean head - is that the phrase? The mess normally gets moved to the spare room, but an impromptu visitor last week meant I cleaned the spare bedroom. BUT in doing so moved the mess to our bedroom. Does moving the mess to another room count as cleaning? No, it does not.

Anyway, I plant to do the following:

1) The no excuses Win Today and Win Tomorrow checklist, this is more fitness focused (where you complete a checklist the night before, i.e. make lunch, layout gym gear etc. or complete a checklist during the day, i.e. drink water, ate a healthy snack etc.) but I feel this will help me get organised with the house AND running. They break things down into small steps.

They also do very inspiring podcasts, too. If you need pumped up or are feeling sorry for yourself listen to these guys, seriously, they really are great at not making you feel bad, but at the same time inspiring you. I listen just because I like feeling awesome about myself.

http://noexcusesworkouts.com/

 

Snippet of the Win Tomorrow sheet:

2) Fly Lady: Your house did not get dirty/cluttered in a day - it won’t get clean in a day. So she suggests every day, pick a zone and do 15 minutes in that zone. But every night, you do your dishes and shine your sink. Every. Night. I have did this before and it works (for me anyway). After the wedding when my house descended into absolute CHAOS (I ain’t lying), I set my alarm for 15 minutes and would stop once the alarm goes…within a week one room was sorted. Too about a month but I got my house into order.

http://www.flylady.net/

xoxo

Bounce Back Tiger

Okay. Mr Mars and I are emigrating! Looking to be end of August, we have a country, but we have no idea where we are going go live. The visas will hopefully be sorted soon. I'm trying not to talk about this too much until it is certain but it was always on the cards (see here).

 

Instead of thinking about packing up my life, I'm thinking about Christmas...

Mr Mars and I stopped doing presents for anyone unless you are a parent or under 21.  We had to draw the line somewhere - it was getting ridiculous! And I might have mentioned; I do not handle stress well. There was also the small matter of DEBT and having no money. Stress free and helped the debt. Best decision ever to stop presents!

Anyway, since we will be away and since I have some ideas I have decided to start looking into Christmas presents. I don't want to be shipping stuff from abroad as soon as we have arrived.

Last night, I was too cool and stayed at my parents. After I drank all their red wine I made a midnight purchase of the following from the Early Learning Centre for my unborn niece/nephew.  I don't like spending a lot on babies as they don't know any different!!! I do like interactive toys, like things they can touch or listen to, or things that involve water or ball pits etc. Or presents where they can skelp themselves in the face...

Early Learning Centre: Bounce Back Tiger

How organised am I? Get it on Monday and will wrap it and leave it with my sister.

1 down, 8 to go...

xoxo

It is the weekend! Time for some dark chocolate and raspberry muffins!

Morning All!

What a crazy week I have had. Anyway, I love a Saturday morning. You feel like you have the whole weekend ahead of you (all two days of it).

My weekend can be summarised like this:

Last night my work put free drinks on for everyone, you know, and then pretended they had not made 10, yes TEN (I thought it was 6 or 7), people redundant during the week. Fortunately I did not know the area (or anyone) that was impacted, but still, it is a horrible thing. I had some free drinks and a good catch up with some people. Believe it or not, it was nice.

I came home to Mr Mars who had made a sausage casserole (vegetarian sausage) and dark chocolate and raspberry muffins - picture below. They were delicious. A tad overdone but the moist raspberries in the inside made up for this. In doing so he used up some raspberries that were about to go off and some dark chocolate that has sat in our fridge for quite some time. High five for lack of wastage Mr Mars!

This morning I have put a wash out, just made some fresh coffee (I ground the beans and everything), have I mentioned Mr Mars and I are coffee and tea snobs? Comes from us both having worked in coffee shops during our uni days. I'll put a picture up another time, but if you want a good coffee in Glasgow you need to go to this place called Papercup. YUM. 

I'm just about to top up my GiffGaff mobile phone account. Then once my coffee fix kicks in and I am suitably wired, I'm planning on heading out for a run! :o)

Then it is off to Mr Mars' parents to celebrate his Dad's birthday and a belated Father's day. I need to buy cards. Going to possibly use the card below as a Father's day card. Because it is random and cool and I want to. Then off out for some dinner tonight!

Tomorrow we are off to Knockhill race circuit to watch some motorbikes...vvvvvrooooom! Don't know what Knockhill is? Link HERE. I'll hopefully get some pictures.

In amongst this I have been de-cluttering and offloading any item of clothing I remotely do not like/wear to the homeless shelter. I can hear the clothes quivering in the drawers with fear. It is time to get ruthless, people. If I do not have it, I cannot be lazy and just chuck it on. People have noticed a change in me already. You look well, they have said. All because I have been making the effort to put on my better clothes that suit and fit me and were not hand me downs, freebies or 20 years old. This and putting on some cheap Beauty UK eyeshadow. Do you know how many people commented on my eyeshadow? That I got for free, but even to buy only costs like £2.99?!? I was wearing earth child if anyone is interested. Pretend to be interested, please.

And that is this weekend's round up! Links, photos and all! I'm a good blogger aren't I?

xoxo