Looking back on a great year and being appreciative of the people in my life!

I love to reflect and remember the great times throughout the year. One way I really love to do this is through photos. So for the last two years, as the end of the year approaches I always make a photo collage (or 3!!!) of my best highlights of the past year. 

Yes it's a little more time consuming than letting an app do all the work but I love looking through the photos because it reminds me to be thankful for not only all that I have experienced, but for the amazing people in my life 💕 

As a spoonie and a chronic illness sufferer it can be all too easy to feel like you're on your own. That is never ever true. Even when you are physically alone, you can guarentee someone is thinking of you or planning when they'll next see you. 

Take some time to appreciate the people on your life, whether that be through a photo collage or just reflecting. 

Here's are my 3 photo collages from this year: 

My year in art 2014: 

Love to you and thank you so much for all the support you've shown this blog in 2014. I am so appreciative I have this space to be honest and write how I feel. I can't wait to see what 2015 brings!

Much love, Beth xxx

Taking it easy every now and then... #survivingwinter

This post could be about plenty of things but today I wanted to talk about food. Right now, my priority is my health. I'm just about surviving the winter, I feel like this winter has gone a lot better than last year. Even still, I can feel how much the pain has increased and I get exhausted so easily at the moment. 

So, food. I am of course maintaining my theory of everything in moderation. However on the days I'm not feeling well, food is pretty low on my list of priorities and so I eat what I can when I can. And so I have to confess... The unhealthy food is winning right now. 

Even so, mentally I feel in a good place. I'm ready to start making a few changes one meal at a time. I'm not being hard on myself. There's no point punishing myself for the days when things are out of my control. 

I guess what I want you to take from this is its ok for things to be out of your control sometimes. But when you can, improve things where possible. 

I hope all my spoonies are surviving winter! If not feel free to a vent in the comments or use #survivingwinter on social media to share anything with me and we can wallow together :)

Much love, Beth xxx

A little Lindt rave! Dark chocolate & Cacao 🍫

Oh how I love Lindt! And as much as I love their truffles they aren't the best for my waistline! 

BUT I do lovvvveeee dark chocolate and I wanted to introduce you to two of my new Lindt dark chocolate favourites! 

The first one is the lime intense and it is uhmazing! I would totally recommend it if you love lime, I warn you - it's addictive! 

The second bar is something I got so excited about!!!! No they didn't misspell cocoa, that's meant to say cacao!! 

I've been wanting to try cacao for some time but raw cacao is really expensive! 

Cacao is chocolate in its raw form, it contains very little sugar but a higher amount of fat. I wouldn't recommend eating it straight, it's intense!!! But I cannot wait to start cooking with it. I made a hot chocolate with it today and I was gorgeous! 

Anyway, these bars are on 2 for £3 in Tesco at the moment. I will be stocking up again!!!

Much love, Beth xxx

Being determined to make this winter better than last...

It's easy to forget how hard life was in the past. Last winter was truly awful for me. I felt like my life crumbled around me. All my life felt non existent, I had no routine and I felt very unproductive. 

This year I am determined to make sure I don't retreat into a 3 month long hibernation! So here's some steps I'll be taking to make this year better:

• Be Social! 

My biggest downfall last year was allowing myself to stay in the house for most of winter. I hardly had anything organised or any events to look forward too. This year I'm trying to keep a full calendar as much as possible.

• Try to take advantage of free events

There's always plenty of free events at this time of year! Try having a nosy around all the markets :)

• Join clubs!

Clubs are usually free or reasonably priced. Try and find out what's going on locally by getting in touch with your council or local community centre. 

I've join a walking club and a swimming club this winter. Both are free and provide great motivation for me to get out of bed 3 days a week! 

• Find a new hobby!

Find something you can enjoy doing from home. I've found great fun in baking! It's something you can do from home and it doesn't have to impact your waistline, try searching for clean eating bakes on Pinterest! Mmmmmmm! 

• Be honest with people 

Letting people know you struggle in the winter will help them to look after you better. When you're having a bad day make sure you reach out to your loved ones. 

To my fellow spoonies, you can make it through this tough time of year! Just do your best and be proud of yourself every single day. 

To everyone that loves me and looks after me, thank you, your support helps so much ❤️

My beautiful supportive mum and I...

Much love, Beth xxx

Being super proud of my little business - Silly Moo Art

I don't know if I've ever really talked about my artwork on this blog, but I felt like it was time to tell you all how it happened that I became an artist.

Towards the end of high school and my A levels I was really struggling. I didn't show it, well my mum could tell, sometimes we can be good actors when it comes to our own lives.

So I didn't think I could mentally face more full time education, never mind physically. At this point I had been ill and in chronic pain for just over 2 years. 

One day I had a bit of a lightbulb moment and I decided I wanted to be an artist. Don't ask me why - I hadn't painted in 2 years! But I decided this and stuck to it. I didn't know the first thing about business! But I knew my parents wouldn't mind me having a go at it. I never felt an overwhelming pressure from them that I had to hurry up and start earning my keep, it's never been like that in my household and I'm very appreciative to my parents for that. Because it allowed me to be an entrepreneur.

The first year I earned very little money. I spent a lot of time experimenting and teaching myself new techniques. Most importantly I built my portfolio.

The second year was a little more busy. I had my own solo exhibition which was a real blast, I loved it! Much to my delight people finally started referring to me as an artist *eeeeekkkkk*.

I'm in my third year now and I'm at a point now where as one project ends another one starts. It's a nice feeling to have commissions :)

I am be social media MAD! Talking of which, here's my Instagram: http://instagram.com/bethanyrogersart

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/bethirishart

Facebook pages: https://m.facebook.com/inspirebybethanyrogers

I am thankful I have work that I can adapt to my health. I have now found a very supportive group of spoonies who can relate to me and make me feel like I'm not alone. 

I guess I'm saying, thank you to anyone who supports me. You rock! 

If you want to support me then please buy some unique irish art, support art and support a Spoonie..,

Etsy shop: 

Https://www.etsy.com/shop/sillymooart

eBay shop: 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/beautifulbethy

With love, many thanks, 

Beth xxx

Joining the Quay Ramblers!

If any of you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may have noticed me mentioning walking a lot more than usual! Well let me explain :)

About a year and a half ago I was attending physio at my local hospital, I go every now and then for reassessments but the majority of the time I'm told there's not much they can do for me except some hydrotherapy. Anyway, I was told about a referral system that could get me into a gym working with a trainer to try and build up my strength. Whether I got lost in the system or the waiting list was long, I don't know, but I had kind of forgotten all about it! 

Then a month ago I get a call from the council offering me free fitness courses starting the following week. Walking & swimming appealed to me most so that's what I opted for! 

I was a bit scared that I would 'over train' as I did this at the start of 2014. I took on a training schedule that was wayyyyy too much for me, burnt out after 3 months and found it hard to maintain much exercise at all. 

But I felt ready for this. I walk on my own a lot and I felt a bit of company and motivation couldn't do me any harm! 

We've since become the Quay Ramblers and I'm fast becoming an advocate for this great bunch of people. It's a very simple idea really. All ages, all abilities, a couple of trainers and let's go for a walk! Not only am I rediscovering parts of the city, I'm connecting with people I've never met before and really feeling like we can relate to one another.

If you're interested the Quay Ramblers meet at the guild hall cafe, 10:30am on Tuesday's & Friday's.

The swimming is going really well too. I had no idea how unfit I'd become until I did a few lengths of the pool!!! But each week I feel I'm getting stronger. It's just what I needed to rebuild my strength after my endometriosis surgery. 

For now I feel like I'm doing just enough. When you have a chronic illness there's definitely a sweet spot you have to find between doing too much and too little! 

Much love, Beth xxx

Winter appropriate dressy outfit!

My biggest problem when it comes to winter is dressing up. Yes, we can all rock those wooly jumpers and jeans. However, I still need to dress formally without freezing!!!

So here's something I've been trying. First off, go out and buy yourself some proper good thick tights! I bought mine from Marks and Spencer's, they might be a bit more expensive but mine have lasted so long and they stand up to being machine washed (which is amazing!).

Next combine with a cute dress (with a thermal vest underneath shhhh), a snood, thick socks, boots, a cardigan and a jacket/coat.

Here's an example of what I wore a few days back: 

Ignore the mess!!! 

I'm definitely going to be trying this out with a few of my other dresses too! 

I hope this gave you a bit of winter wardrobe inspiration. 

Much love, Beth xxx