But a discussion of the weather is not what this post is about, however, let's be real most English conversations are taken up by a detailed discussion about the weather anyway… This week's post is the second edition of my new series of 'My month is a (pea)nutshell', and whilst February doesn't bring as many moments, it has allowed me chance to reflect on the goals I set last month and provide you with some updates!
Without further ado, here is my February in a (pea)nutshell!
Whilst this may not sound like everyone's cup of tea, I was in fact very excited to get the chance to go on a tour of the Houses of Parliament. We got to see the royal paintings, the House of Commons, the House of Lords and it was just an amazing insight to the history of the monarchy and parliament.
Back in A-Level History, I learnt about 1601 to 1702, so when the tour guide was speaking of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell it was nice to have prior knowledge and be able to see where those events happened. In fact, after the tour, we went around the main hall and looked at the plaques on the floor, that wrote of who had stood here and when, and it was honestly surreal to think they once stood in the place I was standing.
February 12th – I joined a new running club!
February 12th was NOT a good day for Millie. I was down, I cried and cried, and felt down and honestly if I hadn't got myself up and out the house, nothing good would have come of that day.
It so happens that joining my first ever running club did the trick! I didn't know anyone else, nor did I know what to expect, but I am so thankful that I went! The people there were lovely, it had such a chill vibe and I had a nice slow run whilst chatting to the others – and it brought me mood-lift that I had needed all day. I can confirm that I have returned since then, and plan on continuing it well into the future!
February 23rd – Switched to a self-hosted blog!
If you hadn't noticed already, I have a brand new blog and URL! www.msblife.com is now my space on the internet, and I have switched my blog to be self-hosted! My blog's host is now SetraHost, of which they kindly offered to work with me in return for an honest review of their service. I plan to leave it for a little while, so I can get some more experience of their service and write an honest and informative review. When I was researching hosts earlier this year, I found that quite a few blogs that were working alongside other hosts were quite biased, and that's not what I want.
Have I achieved my January goals?
If you read last month's edition to this series, you would have seen that I set myself some goals to achieve, or work towards, in February. I will admit, I haven't been successful at all of them, but the ones that are a prioritiy to me at the moment, I think I made some progress towards.
Unfortuantely, I haven't managed to dedicate a large amount of time towards fundraising this month. However, I plan to up the game in March, and as I am writing this I am about to print off some posters and more sponsorship forms! Please, if you have a few pounds to spare, visit my fundraising page and donate to my Great North Run charity, Mayhew. There you can learn more about them.
This one I did do – twice actually! If you haven't seen already, this month I have posted a book review of Karen Rose's 'Monster in the Closet' as well as Scale it Simple's new ebook, 'The Year of Simple Living'! If you are interested, feel free to check them out and leave any thoughts, book suggestions below!
I'm going to leave these two, as I am currently writing this on February 24th and we have actually planned to do the organising for this later today! We are thinking of taking the trip to Edinburgh – so I guess you shall find out in March's post!
Sorry Mum, we didn't manage to do this one in February. I shall bring it forward as one of March's goals, and fingers crossed we can find a time to go get one!
YAAAY! I did this one! I have taken a brand new approach to exercise this month, and I can see myself progressing – and I am OVER THE MOON! In fact, I want to start writing more about Health and Fitness, as that is where my true interest lies, so in my monthly posts I am going to include an update!
This is an exciting new addition to the monthly posts, and this year I have been feeling very motivated! I thought I would provide an update, potentially more for my interest of being able to see progression, on any changes to my health, eating and exercise!
My most popular post is 'A Beginner's guide to Intermittent Fasting' and whilst I still believe IF can bring amazing benefits, at the beginning of this month I decided to halt my IF journey. I was doing more research and, for me, the concept is more aimed at those who want to lose weight. As I mentioned above, at the beginning of this month I began a whole new mindset towards my approach, and unfortunately IF was not part of this. If you are interested, still feel free to check out the post or tweet me any questions because I still believe in what IF can do for someone!
At the start of February, I decided that my number one fitness goal right now was to gain muscle. Why I decided to pause on IF may make more sense now. I guess I am initally doing a 'bulk', and I have to say – I'm really enjoying it.
Lifting heavy weights makes me feel to powerful, and this month has allowed me to learn that I perform much better on a 5 rep range (and enjoy it more) than if I was to do 10 reps. I have lifted weights that I thought I would never touch so soon in the year. It makes me feel so good about myself, and really sets me up for achieving later in the day.
I am by no means a gym expert, but I find learning about it so interesting – so please, if you think you have any knowledge or improvements that I could incorporate, please leave them in the comments!
Across Body, One Arm, Cable Push (Wasn't sure what to call this one! Basically, using the cable machine push with one arm across your body.
And there we have it! Feel free to leave any feedback or any exercises that you think may work for me and also let me know if you got up to anything exciting in February!
I'm happy to hear you had a great month and achieved loads of goals! It's cool that participating in the running club brought you out of feeling down! What tattoo are you thinking of getting? I was meant to get one for my 18th but couldn't decide so nearly four years later I still haven't got one haha, I'm also a little scared.
You had an incredible February. I am hoping to get my February on my blog soon, too. My month was also full of some good times.
Aw thank you!!:) And I'm glad!
Sounds like you've had a very exciting and fun month! It kind of inspires me to do more in my spare time. If I were to write what I did for the month, it would be 'Sleep, eat, uni, blog, repeat'. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post!!
Wow, sounds like you had a great month, that's great!!! i'm happy to hear that!
Aw thank you so much!! Hope you have a great march!
I always love a bit of history so the Houses of Parliament tour sounds very neat. Congrats on going self hosted too!
Aw thank you!! It was a great experience!