As Daringly Easy As ABC...

Hello again my dear readers,

I hope this weekend has brought relaxation for you in amongst the ongoing busyness of January. For me this past week has been an exceedingly busy one, involving the relief of handing essays in and then then delving- pretty much straight away- into revision mode with the days speeding up quicker than I would like them to.

However it has had some highlights such as a tasty hot chocolate catch up with my friend Nicola, a bit of retail therapy, some fun with snow which provided much distraction and amusement (whilst reinforcing why winter is my favourite season), fitness class reunions with my friend Jess- which resulted in the lack of leg usage for the past several days- and some quality TV. This in amongst frantically writing Woody Allen and Renaissance notes.

Hot Chocolate and Blueberry muffins in Patisserie Valerie

Missed this lady lots over Christmas!

Sheffield has snow!

Makes everything look like Narnia!

The lake froze in Crookes Valley Park it was that cold.

This next week promises to be even busier as it draws closer to exams but the chance to see friends will be nice and hopefully can stave off the panic till closer to the time.

In my last blog post I left you with the tantalising thought that I am going to have a new monthly feature of my blog. I shall call it 'Daring ABCs'. Way back in September I bought some new posters for my room and one of these was a motivational one with the heading:

I'll admit I couldn't resist it because I love butterflies. However the maxims on it are pretty good too so I thought every month I would take two of them, in alphabetical order, and write about my attempts to accomplish them. Seeing the lessons I learn on the way to the end of this year.

First up was: 

It may sound far too modest of me but I am one of those people who enjoy putting others first in their lives, to think of other people's needs rather then their own and make compromises. This is in itself not a bad quality, and one I treasure as I love the people in my life so much. However in extremes it means your needs can get overlooked. So this month I took a stand, spoke up and asked for what I wanted. It may not seem such a big thing to you but for me it was something I had wanted to do for ages but kept putting it off; because of money, time, other people. I went and asked my lovely hairdresser to give me blue highlights. Not thinking of what others would think or say but doing it because I wanted change. Just doing it for me. It seems like such a small step but I'm slowly learning to make my voice heard in life and this is one occasion where asking for what I want has made me really happy, given me a new spring of life and lots of smile, something just for me. I wouldn't have trusted myself to do it, given I had dyed my hair before so I was glad I asked my lovely hairdressers at The Boathouse, Ballycastle to help me out. 

Back at the beginning of the blueness. It's all over and makes me smile :D

The lovely ladies at the boathouse made me tea whilst I waited for my hair to dry

Warm fire needed in the cold January days!

Me mid-dying process looking swaggy.

The blue has faded a bit now with several washes, and perhaps a bit green in places but it makes me feel more happy with me for doing something just for me.

The second mantra this month was to:

This was a lot harder to accomplish as from an early age I've been a dreamer with my head more in the fictional worlds rather than harsh reality but as I've grown older and been more tempered with life the dreams I harbour have become harder to believe in. Still present just without hope of achieving especially when the plans people want to hear about are what follows the end of my degree, jobs I've lined up etc. All of which don't align with any answers or the concept of dreaming. However this month I have had an epiphany of sorts, a small dream has started to grow about where my passions lie and what I want to achieve. It's definitely just in the dream stage, with nothing fleshed out but I'm going to choose this time to believe in it, to invest not dismiss and see where it takes me. I won't share what it is just yet but I'll tell you it combines two of my biggest passions that have dominated my life, and I'm going to believe I can do something with them. Because believing in something is a powerful thing, making it more real and more achievable. If you pick the right thing. I think this time, for once, I have.

So there we go readers. A few thoughts to kick of this Alphabet feature of goodness. I hope your week ahead goes well and I dare you to ask for what you want and believe in your dreams. You never know where it might just take you :) Let me know how it turns out if you do by leaving a comment below.

Until next time dears, much love,

Meg xx

P.S Music wise this week I've been getting back into some old throwbacks on my ipod. Check out this beauty - Tubthumping- Chumbawamba

Bound to give you some motivation!