Happiness is…

 

I tend to like September. It always signalled to me the start of something new. It’s when I started each school year, when I moved to Cork, started my degree. It also helps that there is a healthy dose of birthday cake in the middle of the month, as my dad, brother and I all have our birthdays within five days of each other, in the next week. 

This year September contains the last days of my maternity leave at home with my baby, and the first few days back where I have to adjust to speaking to adults all day and not singing “Under the Sea” and “Lets Go Fly A Kite”. I turn 23, my baby turns six months old. I’ve moved into a gorgeous top floor apartment with views of the city, that looks like a place that proper grown ups live in (complete with baby toys and overfilled laundry hampers). It’s come with its own stresses – a baby with a head cold that turned into tonsillitis, the fact that my passport has gone hiding in a box somewhere, the fact that it seems like a mammoth task to get wifi installed in this apartment and a million other things besides.

However, there’s a lot of good stuff going on too, and I think its much more important to focus on the good – here’s what is making me happy this month!

Weight Watchers

So I’ve been following Weight Watchers Filling and Healthy Plan for the last two months now, starting at the start of July. It’s definitely been an adjustment. I don’t think I’ve made it a single week without breaking it somehow, some weeks more than others, but it has definitely changed my eating habits and I’m really seeing the benefits. I’ve found that I’m not missing chocolate and junk as much as I thought I would – tiny bits in moderation has certainly made it easier – and that I’m making better choices. Although I have wound up with a rather strange addiction to Pesto, which isn’t on the “free” list, unfortunately. Over the last two months I’ve dropped 23lbs, and seem to be consistently dropping about an average of two pounds a week (sometimes less, sometimes more, but no gains yet!). I’m absolutely thrilled with this, as I’m now lighter than I was when I got pregnant, and potentially at my lightest in the last two years. I’ve also dropped two jeans sizes, which is absolutely incredible, and my self esteem has gone way up. The best part is that I honestly don’t feel like I have deprived myself – I haven’t, by any stretch of the imagination, I’ve just made better choices, and have wound up winning big because of it. My journey isn’t over yet with it – my goal weight is still about two stone away, but I’m a lot of the way there!

Pretty New Wardrobe

In moving house, I did an overhaul of my wardrobe and threw out clothes that didn’t fit, were torn or just didn’t suit my new body shape (while I may be back to my old clothes sizes, the baby figure is a lot different to how I used to be!). This has left me with the rather large void in my wardrobe that I’m obviously devastated to have to fill. There have been new jeans that have made me feel so good that I’ve happy danced in the dressing room, pretty tops and I’ve just ordered a new coat for Winter which I’ll put up here when I get it – super pretty and exactly what I was looking for. Oh retail therapy, far better a mood lifter than anything I’ve ever known!

Netflix Stream Team

This morning I received a package in the post containing my Netflix Stream Team kit and I’m super excited about it. In the box was an Apple TV, a HDMI cable and a Netflix yearly subscription. As one of the Netflix Stream Team I’ll be putting up a monthly blog post about what we’ve been watching and what to look out for – I’m already an avid fan of Netflix so can’t wait to share the shows I’ve been procrastinating to with you.

New Apartment

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we’ve moved to a bigger apartment on the other side of the city. I was hesitant about this place initially but now that we’ve moved in I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it – the views, especially at night time are amazing, and the fact that we now have a lift makes life a million teams easier when you’re hauling a buggy around the place. It’s still in boxes a little bit but it’s being unpacked far faster than our last home, which is an improvement!

Road Legal

I stated in a previous blog post that I failed my first attempt at my Driver Theory Test by one question. This had me absolutely gutted, the fact that it was by just one question was a complete head wreck. However, I got straight back up on the horse and booked a retest for the following Friday, just 6 days afterwards. Bricking it, I ran from my Weight Watchers meeting as it was directly afterwards. I need not have worried. This time, I was super prepared, having stayed up late cramming online, and completed it in six minutes with a score of 39 (Not sure which one I got wrong). I’ve currently got a shiny certificate in my possession while I hunt for said passport to use as proof of ID, so that I can get on the road and off Bus Eireann!

So, what is making you happy this month?