Looming Deadlines, IBS and Room Decorating

It's that time of year again, Christmas is coming, those uni deadlines are looming and of course I have not posted for a while!

I have been working away on my uni projects, along with a couple of other little projects aside from uni. I can't wait to post some of these up once I have handed all my work in!

In the mean time, I thought I would take a little break from my work to update you a little on what's going on in my life at the moment. 

As some of you may know, I am suffering with IBS (it has nearly been 10 years now!) and it has recently been getting to the point where it is getting in the way of my life. I have been back and fourth to the doctors getting different prescriptions and sent to the hospital for a number of different tests and nothing has really helped. So my last resort has been to go to a homeopath. I know a lot of people have reservations about the effectiveness of this remedy, but as a last resort, I have put aside the negative view on it and tried to see if it would help me. After a long chat with the lady about my symptoms etc. she gave me some little tablets and a list of foods that I need to avoid as they may be causing my IBS symptoms to become worse. 

The foods that I am to avoid are: dairy (cow's dairy), wheat, yeast and citrus fruits. I have been on this diet for just over a month now and have seen marked improvements in my symptoms, I am not sure if the tablets have helped though! 

Unfortunately, I have also noticed that it's not just food that is affecting me, stress is also a huge factor. I have found that days that have been full of stress, for one reason or another, have sparked off my IBS symptoms, regardless of what I have eaten. So, I think the next step is to seek out some stress management and get on top of this finally!

I am going to carry on with avoiding the food that affect me and I hope over Christmas the stress will calm down a bit.

It sounds silly, but I have reached the point now where I am scared to go out, through fear of my symptoms starting off and not being able to get to a rest room. Obviously the anxiety over this apprehension causes the symptoms, making it a vicious cycle that needs to be broken some how or it's just going to get worse and worse! 

In other news, I have been having a little creative fun with the fireplace in my room. Here is a little picture of my efforts. :)

Having the fairy lights in the bird cage (yes, it's the one featured in my Bird Cage Antics post) makes it look as if there is a real fire, making my room feel very cosy. :)

I hope to post something a bit more interesting next time, after (hopefully) successfully handing all my work in! :O

Love Julie xx

The Balance of Life

This weekend was a roller coaster to say the least.

Saturday was a very busy day.. my friend and I went to the Affordable Vintage Fair in Cambridge, where I purchased 3 jumpers!! (I will post pictures of these once I have found the time to photograph them!!!)

Lunch then followed.. I know, sounds extremely boring, but I thought I would treat myself to a healthy stuffed pepper and I was very proud of the results!

 

 It almost felt like summer sitting in the sunshine in my room, the window open and a light breeze drifting in, Relient K's album playing, whilst eating this summery meal! 

Heaven.

The evening came round very fast, and it was suddenly time to head back into town to have dinner at my friends house and then whizz off to a gig.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich was playing in a little pub called The Corner House in Cambridge. He was supported by two bands, Thomas Rumbold and The Catwalkers and The Sorry Kisses. They were all excellent.

However, I regret to say that I didn't take any pictures.. I think I got too caught up in watching the bands, consequently forgetting to actually take some piccies..

But I think sometimes it's nice to just watch the show and have the memories in your mind, because they will stay with you forever as well and sometime memories can be more vivid than pictures.

Anyway, Sunday then popped it's head round the corner (the days are going too fast right now!) and I ordered my ticket for The Secret Garden Party, which I am far too excited about!!

I know.. all sounds pretty good right now..

But disaster struck, I went off for my weekly food shop this afternoon. Before heading into Sainsburys, I decided to take some money out of the cash machine, but it swallowed my card!!! I couldn't get it out!

This is something I have always been worried about, but never had it happen before (until now).

This then meant I could not go food shopping, due to having no credit card and a lack of money in my purse.

(I have now canceled my card and a new one will arrive in the next few days.)

The balance of life has been restored.. something bad has to happen when too many good things happen. I do not like things like that happening as much as the next person, but I believe it keeps you grounded. 

And yes, that is my important life lesson I have learnt, you have to take it in your stride because that is what makes you stronger. You cannot let things like that drag you down.

But yet again, you still need people to fall on, which is why am very thankful for my very supportive friends and family as I believe I probably would have lost my mind without them!

I shall leave you with a song that means a lot to me at the moment.

As fast as time seems to be going right now, the times that I feel down seem to go very slow. Every hour, minute and second seems to last forever and that is the most painful thing because you just don't know what to do.

This song just helps me realise that I am not alone and the people that really care are always there for you and will do anything to 'get you back to good'.

Jonathan Clay - Back To Good

This is the only video I can find of this song

Take a While

And Take a Breath

Let yourself down slow

Gather up your memories

Hold on to what you know

And everything's been moving way too fast

You thought that you found something that would last

And it passed

So if you find

That in your mind

You're putting up your guard

Trust me when

I say it's not

Supposed to be this hard

You'll fall again

And it'll feel so fast

And every single fear you thought would last

It'll pass

And you'll fall again

And it'll feel so fast

And every single fear

And every single fear

Will pass

Do I have to let go

And watch you walk away

And do I have to let go

And wish you would have stayed

I think I'll just play the part

I think I'll just play the part

It may take some time

Before you find that

You're back to good again

Right where you should have been

And even though

The letting go

Can be the hardest part

I think it's time you start

Living like you're loved again

I don't care where you've been

I wish you'd let me in

And show me how to get you

Show me how to get you back to good

Back to good

Get you back to good

Back to good

I Suck..

... at everything :( 

Including making cakes out of packets that are meant for kids!

Eric really wasn't much help in this situation, he just sat there with a big smile on his face, mocking my lack of culinary skills today :(

The sponge looks like it's trying to escape out of the cases and the icing is splodged everywhere and when it came to sprinkling the white chocolate curls.. I think I had officially given up by then.

I am yet to try them... but the flavour cannot be blamed on me.

I apologise to Eric the Elephant for the shambles I made of his (meant to be) beautiful cakes :(.

I WILL make some better cakes in the future to make up for this disaster... but in the mean time, these little cakes are going to be fed to my much appreciating (?) flat mates :D.

We're Snowed in...

This weekend I am meant to be in Cambridge, collecting the clothes and stuff that I need over Christmas that I couldn't take home on the train.. BUT I am stuck at home because of the snow. However, all is not bad. I have spent the day with Alex celebrating our one year anniversary making a chocolate log and watching TV, that definitely beats driving in the snow!

mmm... I am now going to indulge myself in chocolatey wonderfulness (I can't see this cake lasting very long!)

The Baking Bug..

The last few days I have been rather busy in the kitchen creating many yummy things to eat!

This include a batch of 24 cupcakes that I took into work as a 'celebration' of my last day of work. (It's not really my last day there, but I decided to take a few weeks off before heading to University. I am still employed there, I will just be working there when I come home.)

Here is the last of the cupcakes I made, unfortunately, I didn't get to take a picture of all of them as they were eaten before I had a chance to do so!  

They really were too good to resist and looking at this now is making me hungry! So much for my summer shape up plan!

I also created a journal page about the cupcakes too.

The baking bug then turned into a general cooking bug and I found myself making a rather posh dinner the other night! Stuffed Peppers with an Avocado Salad for main course, which was 'nice' according to Alex. Then for dessert I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, which I have to admit is meant for 4 people, but we shared the whole cake between the two of us!! Whoops! But it was nice :)

Here it is on a Bob The Builder plate. 

Classy.

I can't wait to do more cooking and baking!
I forgot how fun it is.

Long Sketchbook Project

Over the recent half term, we were given a long sketchbook project. This was to give us a starting point for our personal narrative final piece.
The book had to be based on single idea, that you can explore and develop through-out the book. The book that we were given to use was a concertina sketchbook, we could use it in any way we wanted, as long as we stuck to the brief.
I based my book on food, I wanted to use this idea because it is an everyday function that we all have to do in order to stay alive. However, this subject is often overlooked and is quite a private and sensitive issue with a lot of people.
To explore this idea, I decided to record the food I ate over the period of 5 days (that is the amount of food that I could fit into the book!!). I made minimal comments on the food and how I was feeling as I think the drawings alone reveal enough about myself.
I found that recording everything I ate and presenting it in such a way, was a very overwhelming idea! Also, showing other people what I had eaten is also quite daunting, I felt like I was being judged and I felt vulnerable due to revealing a part of myself often goes unnoticed by other people.
From my group critique, I found that other people also started thinking about their own eating habits and comparing them to my own.
The book works both as a book, where you turn the pages, but it also works stretched out as the pages blend into each other. Below, I have presented each of the pages in book form, as this was the easiest way to show them on here...

All in all, I found this to be a successful project, although I feel that some of the drawings and page layouts could have been produced better.
I will also apologise about the quality of pictures, I am yet to purchase a scanner that works on my laptop!