Reading Again With Paper Cut Outs

It’s been such a long time since I last read a book - our ‘Readers’ book club has died a sad little death, and when it comes to relaxing once the kids are in bed, escaping with a book is usually the last thing on my mind! Saying all this though, I’ve found myself getting increasingly sucked into the black hole of social media comparison, and beating myself up about my imagined flaws etc, so it’s probably about time I switched off and enjoyed a treat from the literary world!

 

Guess That Sound With Soundiculous!

Man, I’d forgotten what it was like to look after a newborn – the constant feeding, the lack of sleep and the specific cry all babies seem to have (which nature has programmed us to drop everything for) has really been challenging for us this past couple of weeks. Even this blog post, which would normally take me a couple of hours, has been dragging out for days! Despite these new commitments, we’ve still been trying to have fun as a family, even though activities are interrupted a little more often than usual. As such, when I was contacted by Gamely Ltd, creators of the hilarious card game Randomise, to review another of their recently launched products, I saw this as an excellent opportunity to have a laugh at a recent big family birthday.

Organising Your Life With BusyB

It’s been a crappy few months, and not the most fantastic year overall, so when I received a lovely email from the team at BusyB, inviting me to the launch of their new collection of diaries and calendars for 2018, it seemed like a wonderful excuse to start looking forward to the future again! When I was little, I would always get such a great sense of enjoyment from surrounding myself with beautiful stationery, so having the chance to relive those moments again has undoubtedly helped improve my rather gloomy mood lately.

The Walking Dead – New Novel and Giveaway

Is anyone else as obsessed with The Walking Dead as I am? With the TV series returning to our screens on the 24th of this month, I’m sure a few of you are curious to see who survives! While you deal with the agonising wait, you may also be interested to learn that the next instalment of The Walking Dead book series – by Jay Bonansinga – is released in the UK today. Being an all over Walking Dead fan, I also love these novels and even managed to sneak the first of the series into our book club, much to Sarahjane’s dislike! When the lovely people at Pan Macmillan publishers got in touch and asked me to run a giveaway to celebrate the release, I jumped at the chance!

 

Guest Spot on Caffeinated Reactions

Guest posts are great, not only do they share the work of other fantastic bloggers, they also help to fill a spot on you own blog when life inevitably gets in the way! When Sarahjane over at Caffeinated Reactions asked to feature me in her monthly ‘Ladies Who Lab’ spot, I was more than happy to help – after all, I am a lady who works in a lab!



I love Sarahjane's face in this pic!

Infinity Dreams Award

Last month, a notification popped up on my Twitter letting me know that Renna (from Renna’s Discoveries) had nominated me for the Infinity Dreams Award. It’s always lovely when people select me for things, I’m just sorry it’s taken so long to write the post!

Parenting Stories - Role Reversal

Keeping up with my regular monthly segment, here is the forth instalment of Parenting Stories! Last month we learned about the pros and cons of returning to work after maternity leave, and this month we have a further insight into 'mummy guilt' associated with working. 

 

For this post, Jess – from 'Babi a Fi' – has chosen to describe what it's like being the major bread winner for her family, while her partner remains a stay at home dad. Not usually the traditional route, there still seems to be a lot of stigma associated with the reversal of roles…

Parenting Stories - Returning To Work

Although a little delayed, I’m pleased to present you with the third instalment of my Parenting Stories monthly segment. The first post discussed challenges associated with moving your family halfway across the world, and last month gave an insight into the work/life balance of a successful teen dad.

 

For this post, Nikki – from ‘Young Mum Getting Rid Of A Bum’ – has chosen to describe her feelings on returning to work as the end of her maternity leave approaches. It’s a subject that affects many of us throughout our careers, and is often associated with some level of anxiety…

 

Thanks to Nikki for her help with the picture!

My Happiness Non-Negotiables

Hi guys, I’ve been a bit quiet of late due to various wedding stresses and, at the weekend, my venue cancelled on me! Now the dust has settled a little, I decided to take a look at my life and remember all the great things I have to be thankful for. When I saw that the lovely Jenny, over at ‘Midwife and Life’, had nominated me to take part in a ‘happiness non-negotiables’ post, I thought this would be a great place to start!

 

Parenting Stories - A Successful Teen Dad

Last month was the start of my new regular segment - Parenting Stories - where I hope to provide readers with an insight into the lives and struggles of other Mums and Dads. The first post discussed the challenges associated with bringing up a young family after travelling to a new country, and the difficulties associated with such a move.

 

For the second instalment in this new segment, I asked Thomas McGlone to talk about his experiences of parenting. As someone who was also a teen parent, he has proved that having children young does not necessarily hinder your career progression, but can add to the level of difficulty you may experience...

Thanks to Nikki from 'Young Mum Getting Rid of a Bum' for her help with the picture :)

Parenting Stories - The Great Trade-Off

After the success of my post discussing the problems of being a teen parent, and my recent collection of parenting experiences in academia, it got me thinking about the variety of difficulties other parents may face. Parenting, while an experience many have in common, can often bring with it a whole host of different challenges unique to each person. This new monthly segment - Parenting Stories - provides an insight into the lives of other Mums and Dads and the struggles they encounter while bringing up their children.

Thanks to Nikki from 'Young Mum Getting Rid of a Bum' for her help with the picture :)

Raising Children Whilst Working In Academia

Traditionally, academic research has been dominated by unmarried individuals with no direct dependents who rely on them. The long hours and unpredictable nature of the work often make sticking to a strict schedule very difficult. Combine that with the everyday stresses of raising children and you could potentially have a recipe for disaster!

 

Mini Weekend Box Review

I’m always stuck for ideas to entertain my kids, so when I heard about the Weekend Box Club, I jumped at the chance to give it a try! We work full time during the week, so are often busy when it finally gets to the weekend – organising kid friendly activities is usually the last thing on our mind as we struggle to cope with all the regular household chores. Founded by Andy Stephenson in 2013, Weekend Box is a fortnightly subscription box which arrives packed full of themed entertainment for your little ones. There are two sizes – mini (£4.95) and bumper (£7.50) – for this post, we had the pleasure of reviewing a rainforest themed mini box!

5 Ways To Make 2016 My Year

I’ve been waiting for 2016 for what seems like ages, this should be the best and most exciting year of my life. I wanted to start the year with a bang, raring to go with all my wonderful ideas – my depression had other plans. I’ve only struggled with mental illness for just over a year, but it makes the simplest of tasks often seem impossible. When I heard about this recent blog hop linkup (see my last blog hop post for an example), I took it as an opportunity to remind myself what I have to look forward to this year…

 

The Liebster Award

A few days ago, Queering Through Life made my evening by nominating me for a Liebster award – thanks so much! This award is to recognise new bloggers, and share their work with the wider community – hopefully you like what you read!

 

Photo Credit - Queering Through Life

Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award

A couple of nights ago, I was woken by the raging winds of Storm Frank and noticed I had been tagged in a tweet – OneDizzyBee had nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award! I’ve only been blogging for just over a month, so this came as a bit of a shock as I had no idea people were actually reading my ramblings! Therefore I’d just like to say a huge thanks for including me!

 

Photo Credit - Queering Through Life

Holidays Our Way

I recently agreed to take part in my first collaborative blogging opportunity in the form of a Christmas themed ‘Blog Hop.’ The whole idea was to share the work of fellow bloggers in a non-competitive way, while still writing about what you enjoy. A list of the other fantastic bloggers involved can be found at the end of this post, please take a moment to visit and discover some hidden gems!