A Month's Worth of Memories........

It is the 28th of February!!! The end of the month, the start of new beginnnings. And how funny is it, that in my new job, this term's focus is on "New Beginnings". How cool a coincidence is that, totally meant to be :D
My new job is fab, yes it is a trek but other than that it is great. The staff are friendly and it is well organised but laid back and relaxed and I really love it and am looking forward to working there.
So so so, it's time to think back on the month.
From my yearly list, I have made some excellent progress! I have booked the children on some adventures with me for later in the year, namely London and Kendal Calling (they still have tickets if anybody wants to adventure along with us!). I'm working on the photo, but am getting less hung up on the bad ones (as you will see below). I went to see Illuminatus with Roj, and as mentioned have booked to go to Kendal Calling. My house is getting lovelier every day, and I made some progress on Isaac's birth-sampler whilst in Scotland. I went to the cinema twice, and am going again on Wednesday. And, I have a job!!! WOOHOO!!
Now here's the fun random bit:
Start a trend - DONE - thanks to you lot reading this ;p
Watch an entire boxset in one sitting - Not done due to time restrictions, however am planning for this weekend, no need to get hung up on the delay :D
Bobble hat it up - See http://themorninggirl.blogspot.com/2011/02/story-of-not-post.html
Catch a snowflake on your tongue - The weather (which I was then blamed for, when surely it should be the fault of the author of my diary......) was on my side:

This is, admittedly, not a nice photo of me. But I am trying to get past that fact.

Get an early night - This was hard!! But I slightly managed it last night, the day before my new job. For me, 10pm is early, so there!

Take your favourite person out for cake - I made a cake, and ate it with my 2 favourite people, Jessica and Adam xx.

Send at least one Valentine's card (even better, send loads!) - I sent lovely Valentine's cards to lots of lovely people :D I then spread the love further by falling over, tipping the pram and bag up, and scattering confetti hearts all down Green Road :D

Stroke soft things (always ask permission) - This I did.

Draw on steamy windows - Me and Adam drew smiley faces on the windows in Scotland, but it wouldn't show up on the camera :(

Be lovely - This, I did. I am ALWAYS lovely ;p

All in all, it was a fab month, the first of many more to come. Here are some of the brilliant memories that were made this month:

Jessica missed her brother so she stole his pyjamas

 

 It's time for dancing!!!

 The beginning of the great teeth evacuation....... (Adam hates this photo but I'm trying to teach him the way of the wise ones in not being hung up on photos......also I think it's funny :D)

 A fun laughing night with friends

Cousins bonding in Scotland

Adventures in the Forest in Scotland

This month was a rollercoaster, there were sad times and bad times and hard times. But most importantly, there were fun times and good times and happy times and friend times and inspirational times. Apparently, it doesn't have to be bad things in our life that affect us, it can just be the lack of good things. So, if I ensure that my children have plenty of good times this will counteract the bad times. Because who can stop those happening, and truly, would we be the people we are without having persevered and struggled through those difficulties? I think not. I am a real person, and my friends are real people, and I want my children to be real people too. We live in the real world, and we must find our place within that.

 "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." Vince Lombardi

And on that note people - after sharing this link I shall be crazily dancing to "Do you love me" by The Contours - join me in this madness ;p

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change...."

It is definitely true that giving is far more rewarding than receiving. Today, I felt very happy that I had given other people something positive to think about themselves, it helped me to then feel good about myself too.
I have a new photo on my facebook profile. It isn't a traditional "perfect" photo, but actually I pretty much like it, it shows a bit of personality. It was a very random photo, taken by Christian when I wasn't really thinking, but it shows, I think, that I was rather relaxed at that point in the night, which is rather good.
Past events definitely shape who we are. I was told, the other day, that you can do traditional counselling and find out why you are like you are. But. Then what? You're still like you are. And it's right. You can pretty much figure it out yourself if you think back on your past and use your common sense to apply meaning to what happened then and how it could have affected your life now.
The fact is, a lot of bad things happen. But it's how we use those experiences that matter. And if it weren't for those bad things, I would not be who I am today. I would not be so open-minded, so tolerant, so able to fit in many different situations, so friendly to people I've never met, so caring, so determined to not screw my kids up, so passionate about the rights of the ordinary people, so crazy, so secretive, so expressive, so thoughtful. And I wouldn't have my children.
I am all of those things, I am amazing. We are all amazing, we wake up every day and we go out there and we take things on the chin and we learn from them, and we let them shape us, and we show our children how to get through these things and we never, ever, give up. You can never give up on life, because it sure as hell never gives up on you. And you can never regret your past, because without it you wouldn't be you. And you, are totally and utterly amazing.
Valentines Day is not about being a part of a couple. Valentines Day is about being loved. Everybody is loved by somebody, and many people are loved by many somebodies. Valentines Day is a day to love yourself, to reclaim that right. To say, hey do you know what? I don't care what anybody else thinks, I am bloody amazing, and life, life is pretty amazing too. Take hold of life and run with it. This year, I am going to run in the woods, and jump in the mud, and kick the leaves. This year, I am going to take trains and buses and explore my country, and open my mind to all it has to offer. I'm going to go to Whitby Harbour because Adam wants to know if it's really smelly, and take the train to London to see one of my best friends. I'm going to go meet a bunch of brilliant ladies in Edinburgh, and see the SkyLine Gang at Butlins. I'm going to take the kids to a festival so Adam can hear real music, and carry Jessica on my back so she can see all the action. This year, is going to be amazing, and if you are reading this, then your year is going to be amazing too, because you are part of my year x.
I would now suggest, you go listen to "The Size of a Cow" by The Wonder Stuff, followed by "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars. And obviously, you have to do as I say. Because, well, I am wonderfully amazing ;p

The February List

• Start a trend
• Watch an entire box set in one sitting
• Bobble hat it up
• Catch a snowflake on your tongue
• Get an early night
• Take your favourite person out for cake
• Send at least one Valentine's card (even better, send loads)
• Stroke soft things (always ask permission)
• Draw on steamy windows
• Be lovely