Okay, so things have been pretty hectic lately! I got married on July 20th (I can’t believe that was 3 months ago!) and my routine hasn’t quite settled back down yet. I have had a lot going on with the wedding, honeymoon and promotion at work, and to be honest, I’m in a bit of a slump at the minute. I’ve been battling my mind as we’ve had a lot of bad luck lately… we had a bathroom leak which damaged our kitchen and dining room ceiling, and expensive car repair bill, and a few other things which are giving us a bit of a kicking. It’s making training, and even blogging, quite difficult as I just feel mentally drained. I’ve been getting home, showering, eating and going to bed. I need to pick myself up and get back into a routine, but it’s a vicious circle at the minute as I know that I would feel better once I work out and get back into the habit, but I just can’t muster the energy to start.
Anyway, this post is just an update on the last few months, and hopefully the kick that I need to get back to blogging and exercising regularly!
Wedding and Honeymoon:
So, the big day finally arrived! I had a lot of nerves the week before, but I was shockingly calm the night before and the day itself. Granted, there were a few moments of panic and butterflies, but I had imagined myself being stuck on the toilet all morning and then having to rush around and play catch up.
The rain held off and Chris actually showed up on time, so I would say that all went well! It was an amazing day, despite being massively out of my comfort zone in such a big dress and make-up. The day actually went by really quickly; excluding the exchanging of the vows and the first dance! I was that nervous saying my vows that I actually put Chris’s ring on the wrong hand… doh!
We waited until September to go on our honeymoon as I don’t cope well with the heat at the best of times so thought it would have cooled down a little by then! It also meant that we avoided the school holidays and peak times for flying. Our destination was San Pedro, Spain, as this was Chris’s dad’s favourite location, and where his ashes are scattered. I was yet to visit so we thought it would be nice to go for our honeymoon. We had only been abroad together once previously, where Chris proposed in Vienna, so it was nice to have a break. We just missed the bad floods and the weather was between 23-30 degrees all week. Unfortunately, the week flew by and we were back home before we knew it!
Leak:
We got back from honeymoon to a not so nice surprise. Chris had just finished his bath when I went into the kitchen and found a massive puddle of water on the floor. I looked up and to my dismay found the ceiling plasterboard and paper hanging down from the kitchen and dining room. We think that we have the leak sorted, however we still need to go about repairing the damage to the ceilings in both rooms… joy.
Car:
Fast forward a few weeks and I start to have issues with my car. I’ve had difficulty getting it into second and fourth gears for a while, but it was still drive-able. Then one day I pulled out at an island in first gear but was unable to get it into second. I tried to drop it back to first but it wouldn’t go in, so I tried to rev it higher and get to third, but that wouldn’t happen either. I ended up coasting around the island until I finally managed to get it into second. Limping home I ended up taking a taxi to work for the next three days. It turned out that despite purchasing the car with less than 9000 miles on the clock it had already had the clutch changed. The problem being that whoever replaced the clutch had put the wrong one in (it needed a double and not a single) and so each gear change had been causing damage to the flywheel. Long story short, at less than 19000 miles my car needed a new clutch and flywheel. A total of £711 later, I got my car back… oh, plus £100 for a service and £29 in taxi fees…
Work:
There has been a lot of change happening at work lately, and me getting a promotion to Trainee Floor Designer was one of them. This is something which had been in the pipeline for a while, however I have only just started my new contract. Initially I was quite excited for it as it was to be a new challenge and a boost for me getting a career rather than just a job. I have worked in administration and customer service for years, so this is a more technical role than I was used to. I was optimistic about my career prospects; however, this is already dwindling. There have been a few issues and they have made me question a few things. Sometimes you think you know what you want, but it doesn’t turn out as expected. Having a more technical sounding job title and a slight pay rise was definitely what I wanted on paper, but I am a massive over-thinker and sometimes my brain just doesn’t work the way that I want or expect… I ask myself quite often, “why can’t I just be happy with things as they are?”. This question isn’t to say that I’m ungrateful, far from it in fact. I appreciate the opportunities and experiences that I have had, but on the flip side I wish I could just “stay happy” and not have to switch and change so much. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know where I would like to see myself in a year or so.
The Future:
For the immediate future I need to get my fitness levels back up! I’m struggling to comfortably run 3 miles at 12 minute per mile pace at the minute and that is quite discouraging. I keep kicking myself for letting my stamina drop, but I know that I still started off in a far worse position when I was overweight.
Looking forward, I really want to get into the fitness industry. I’d love to be a personal trainer or running coach. I did start my Level 2 Gym Instructor qualification last July, with my Level 3 Personal Trainer qualification already paid for. For the first few months I got my head down and studied hard, however I soon changed jobs and got comfortable. This comfort meant that I wasn’t so desperate to get my qualification as I no longer hated my job. Now almost a year has passed since I changed jobs and I know that I need to get my head back into my studies. It’s just a difficult juggling act at the moment as I’m learning a technical job and get home feeling mentally drained, making it hard to focus on studying. Part of the issue is that I don’t see the rewards of my efforts. Passing my exams and becoming a qualified Personal Trainer seems so far away that it is hard to keep up the enthusiasm when it doesn’t feel like I’m making any progress. I’m hoping that my current work situation is going to give me the kick that I need to get my study focus back, I just need to get myself into a routine again so that I can concentrate.
It comes back to that vicious circle when I know that running and training help me to clear my mind, but it’s difficult to find the energy and motivation to start. The same is true with my studying… I know that in the long run it will help me get where I would like to be, but it’s just hard to sit down and start after having some tough days and what seems like a lot of bad luck. My car has just been returned from the garage (with an expensive bill!), we had a leak in the bathroom which has caused damage to the kitchen and dining room ceiling, and just a few other things which have had a knock-on effect.
