Bible Journaling / Restoration

I thought I'd do a little update on my Bible Journaling Journey!

The past few months have been a struggle to be completely honest. Dealing with crippling anxiety, panic disorder and a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome relapse had left me feeling pretty hopeless and for want of a better word - hollow.

I'd avoided church for quite some time due to anxiety issues, and was feeling really distant from God. Thankfully I managed to get my butt into church again a couple of weeks ago and got some prayer (a lovely lady gave a word about someone who was suffering with anxiety, hopelessness and joint, back and stomach pains - i.e: me) and honestly it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Ever since then the word RESTORATION has been popping up again and again, and I've been focusing on that in my prayer life and through Bible journaling.

I love that when I feel depressed or hopeless I can flick through my journaling Bible and see so many of God's promises to me covering the pages. One of the things I'm loving about Bible journaling is not only is it a great way to connect with God - even when I'm not 'feeling it', it's also like a record of my spiritual journey, which is why I date each page - so I can look back and remember what I was going through at that point in my life, and see how God came through for me.

I'm starting a Bible Journaling group this month and I'm really excited to see how we all grow together through creative worship. Isn't it great that you don't have to be perfect to be used by God!?

Outfit Post - April Sunshine

I haven't talked about it here but I've been struggling with anxiety and panic disorder for almost a year now, and have started CBT which is giving me some hope that things will get better. After a couple of sessions I came to the decision that dieting and continually trying to hate my body into something that I like the look of has actually been pretty detrimental to my mental health over the years, so I've decided to try something different. I'm making a conscious decision to embrace the body I have, appreciate all it has done for me (it grew and birthed two babies!) and start to love myself and regain a little of my self worth. 

I love looking at outfit posts on other people's blogs! I've wanted to do some of my own for a long time but always felt too self-conscious about having my photo taken. But I've decided to push myself and share an outfit post here every now and then. I know quite a few people who said it has helped their self confidence, so hopefully it will do the same for me!

The past couple of weeks the weather here in England has been all over the place! Last week we had snow and sleet - it's nearly May for goodness sake! So today when I saw that the sun was shining I of course had to put on my prettiest dress (I got it in a charity shop - amazing huh!) and make the most of the sunshine.

I love all colours, but I'm pretty obsessed with green and pink together at the moment! Any excuse to use my glittery pink satchel! And I know it's not Easter but I'm so in love with my Chocolate Bunny Brooch by Kate Gabrielle that I'm going to wear it year round!

Outfit details: Dress/Thrifted Seasalt. Cardigan/Thrifted. Brooch/Kate Gabrielle. Satchel/Paperchase. Jelly Sandals/SunJellies. Glasses/Firmoo.

Christmas 2015

Better late than never, that's what I say! I've been meaning to write about the Christmas Crafternoon and just general Christmas-y stuff for weeks and weeks, but the lead up to Christmas was mad, and since Boxing Day both boys have been ill, or teething, or ill...So here I am, mid-January, writing about Christmas stuff! Hey-ho!

The Christmas Crafternoon is always one of my favorites of the year. I love Christmas, and everything it entails, so of course I went all out for our December Crafternoon. 

Like last year we decorated Gingerbread Houses, although this year I made things a LOT less stressful for myself by buying them rather than making them from scratch! (I found accidentally vegan ones in my local Tiger store!) I put them together with burnt sugar and stuck them to place-mats I covered with brown parcel paper. I made some Aquafaba Royal Icing and popped it into piping bags ready for everyone to use. We all brought sweets and sprinkles to decorate the houses, and we had a lot of fun!

It was amazing how different everyone's Gingerbread Houses turned out! Everyone's individual styles came through, which was fantastic! We also had such a lovely, relaxed time just chatting, listening to Christmas music and drinking peppermint hot chocolates! 

I'm really looking forward to Januarys Crafternoon which takes place in a couple of weeks time! I can't wait to see my ladies again! 

This year I decided to order some Christmas Cards with a photo of Hal & Ezra on them, which I thought was a fantastic idea and shouldn't bee too difficult. Well let me tell you, getting a photo of a very active 18 month old and a 5 month old both smiling (or just not crying!!) was a nightmare! Eventually I settled for the above photo - I didn't want Hal to have his dummy in his mouth, but it was the only way we could get him to stay still (albeit momentarily!) Although I must say, if ever I feel down all I have to do is look through the hilariously awful 20-odd photo's we took and I can't stop laughing! Here's my favorite awful one!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! 

Mother of Two

I'm now a mother of two! Little baby Ezra Joel Mitchell arrived at exactly 37 weeks, 7:20pm on 27th June 2015 weighing 8lb 4oz.

Labour was long (more than 30 hours) and ended rather dramatically, leaving me a bit traumatized and Ezra in need of special care for the first few days. Thankfully he's a strong little fella and is now really well and thriving. We are so glad to be home and I'm overjoyed to be together with all my boys, my beautiful family.

It's only been a week, but so far I'm loving being a mother of two.