How are you doing with your New Years Resolutions? Are you sticking to them or have some of them already falling through? According to www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk who have put together a really interesting infographic based on their own research, about keeping on track with your resolutions. One thing that really struck me was how so many resolutions fail or are given up on by February. I’ve been there myself, setting fitness and health goals, only to have them fall through and give up when the next month comes around. This year I haven’t set any resolutions but I have made a bucket list of 30 things to do before I turn 30 which I am slowly but surely working my way through. I think this is a better way of keeping track of the things I want to achieve because I have given a little more thought into my goals for the next twelve months.
I think goal setting is incredibly important if you want to achieve more out of life and setting them should be a process that takes time and effort. Reading through the Infographic I really liked the 5-step formula by rephrasing the resolutions into goals that have a bit more meaning and action behind them and then creating a series of smaller goals to ensure they are achievable. Highlighting a motivator is another good thing to consider because it gives you something to really focus on. I find it helpful to create a goal or vision board full of these motivators and placing it somewhere you can easily see and to keep reminding you of your goals, why you’re working on your resolutions and keeping you from quitting on them.
The most important part of the five-step formula, I think, is keeping track of your goals and resolutions. You can keep track by using planners, your phone, scheduling dates on the calendar to review everything each month or anything you feel might help you. Regularly reviewing your goals and resolutions will remind you of your progress and act as a further motivator to help you keep going. With each progress you make you can review, alter, change or increase your goals another step. Most importantly, each time you reach a goal or a point of progress with your resolutions you should celebrate. – Check out the full infographic about new years resolutions.
What are your New Years Resolutions this year and how are you going to make sure you achieve them?
If you are either shortly on holiday to Disneyland Paris or in the stages of planning then this is the place for you. Our stay at Disneyland Paris Sequioa Lodge Hotel was fantastic and I’d love to share more in this review. Staying in a Golden Forest Club Room really made a difference to our stay. It saves money and the room was gorgeous. It is a comfortable room and it perfect for a family of three.
Upgrading to a Club Room
Should you, if you can, upgrade to a club room in the Disneyland Paris hotels? My opinion, absolutely! Especially if it’s your first time and you’re not quite sure what to do or where to go. If you are trying to do Disney on a budget – the snacks and drinks can help save you a fortune. They are filling, and the drinks are available pretty much all day. We have just returned home from our four nights, five days stay in Disneyland Paris.
The upgraded hotel room, park tickets for both the Disneyland Park and Studios Park and breakfast each morning was £732 for two adults and one child aged five. For a holiday, I was happy to pay this price as we were able to book with a deposit through Thomas Cook and pay in our own time making it affordable over a few months. We didn’t ask to upgrade, that was the room available and we thought it was a great deal.
The Golden Forest Lounge in Sequioa Lodge Hotel
Benefits of Golden Forest Club Room
*Private Check In/Check Out – with chocolate coins *Private Golden Forest Lounge *Nespresso Machine in Room *Complimentary hot and soft drinks from 12noon-10.30pm every night of your stay – however you can not make use on day of departure as check out is 11am *Complimentary tea time treats from 4pm-5.30pm which includes savoury and sweet options. We enjoyed cakes, mini wraps, biscuits, sweets, canapes and fruit. We stocked up on this which saves money in the restaurants. *Hot Food & Continental Buffet Breakfast *Rooms are in the main building with fully working lifts *Can get a Lake View room – we did, and we could see the fireworks every night from our room
The view from our lakeside room. You can just see the top of the Disneyland Paris castle in the distance and Hotel New York in the far right.
Checking In
I loved the cute toiletries we got from replenished in our room each day
You will find a clearly labeled Golden Forest Check In desk which saves you joining the main queue. Here you will get your park tickets and hotel fast passes. There was no programme or park guide/map which would be a really handy and helpful addition. At this point, we could hand in our bags of which we were asked, ‘Is this it?’ thanks to savvy packing and they were stored for us to save carrying them around. We went back around 3pm to collect our room keys and our luggage was brought to our room free of charge and no need to tip.
The Room
The room in itself was not much different from others except we had a mini fridge and Nespresso machine. Two double beds made it comfortable for the three of us and the rooms are a good size. Television has some English channels including Disney Channel which is handy in the morning or if you want an early night. There is always a film on at 7pm, which was great on our first night after all the travelling and a bad night sleep the day before. You will also find a shower over bath, iron and ironing board, safe, kettle and complimentary toiletries. Everything is cleaned and replenished daily. The room has plenty of storage in the sink area and the main room. Having a fridge is handy for keeping our drinks cool throughout the day.
These are the types of snacks available for free in the Golden Forest Lounge
The Lounge
The lounge is a lovely perk and nice to sit in when you want to relax. It gets busy when the snacks are available however you can go in and collect drinks throughout the day to take back to your room. You can then take these into the parks or have a drink in the lounge. Afternoon snacks include sweets, cakes, brownies, marshmallows, mini sandwiches, fish and cheese canapes and mini wraps. It’s replenished throughout the two hours and again is self-service. Having free drinks saved us so much money and we had a few left over in our fridge which was very handy to take back when travelling home on the last day.
Disneyland Sequioa Lodge hotel
Breakfast
The Breakfast in the Golden Forest Lounge is really tasty
Breakfast is delicious. The hot options include bacon, eggs, pancakes and veal sausages. There were plenty of hams, cheeses, cereals, toast, croissants… a huge selection constantly refilled and kept nice and hot. We also had fresh and dry fruit available as well as yoghurts. Drinks included coffee, chocolate milk, orange juice, apple juice, still and sparkling water. Breakfast in the Golden Forest lounge is 7am until 10.30am which is plenty of time before or after the extra magic hours and there’s no need to book a half hour slot, hardly any queues and very tasty.
Overall we had an amazing time and having a club room saved us so much money in drinks and snacks. We didn’t have to eat out as many times as we thought thanks to the snacks we just weren’t as hungry! It really made our hotel amazing and actually made our Disney holiday fairly relaxed!
The hot chocolate was absolutely delicious – a must have to try.
FAQ’s about Sequoia Lodge and The Golden Forest Upgrade
Should I upgrade to a Golden Forest Room?
Yes, it made our holiday so much more enjoyable. As long as it’s affordable for you it’s an excellent upgrade and can really make a huge change to the type of holiday you have. Especially when it’s colder outside.
When are snacks served for the Golden Forest rooms?
Snacks are like afternoon tea and served between four and six. They include mini cakes, sandwiches, sweets and savoury bites. Having access to these meant we didn’t feel the need to have a big meal every night.
When are drinks available in the Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest lounge?
Drinks are available from 12pm-11pm. Soft drinks are cans and can be taken away to the park or into your room. Tea, Coffee and Hot Chocolate can also be taken away. The tea is not very nice.
Does Sequoia Lodge have a swimming pool?
Yes it does, its a medium sized pool with water slide and jacuzzi. There is also a sauna. Only guests at the hotel are allowed to use the swimming pool.
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The last month has been absolutely manic. Firstly, it took me around five weeks to shift a cough and then cold. This year has been absolutely awful for my health and really is making me question a lot of choices I make with what I eat because I think my weight is a really big contributor to my low immunity. I never used to get ill very often, I don’t get a lot of bugs but colds and coughs are taking longer and longer to shift. I remember the first three months of the year I was suffering really badly with a cough that made me feel so run down. Adam ended up sleeping in the living room, it made my last birthday a bit of a sad affair and no doctor would help with it. It was rubbish. I was really worried that would happen again but I’m glad it’s gone and I’m going to try a lot harder to make myself healthier.
Starting a new job whilst not being 100% well was really tough too because there has been so much information to take in, as there always is. I’ve now done a couple of weeks part-time training and one-week full time which, thankfully, wasn’t as much as a shock to the system as it would have been if I’d left it to start and not done any training. It’s felt like an absolute whirlwind and I haven’t quite got a routine in place with everything just now. So far I’m just working 9-5 but there are shifts involved and new things to learn so it will be a continuous place of learning and adjusting for us all. Adam has also reduced his hours at work but he’s dashing all over the place from doing the school run, college, work and other household duties too. He has two weeks off work over Christmas which tie into his time off at college too so he’s really looking forward to that time. I haven’t got any time booked off over Christmas but I’m not really worried. If all goes well and I get taken on permanently at the end of my 12-week temporary probation I’m estimating a gap in pay which will be another challenge.
I genuinely thought I’d feel more guilty about going back to work. It’s putting pressure on Adam to add in the school run alongside everything else and he’s really tired so it’s a given that the weekend lie ins belong to him (not that I’ve ever had one anyway) and I’m glad he’s got some time off coming up soon. Hopefully, he will make good use of his holiday next year so he can get a bit of rest. I don’t really feel guilty about going back to work though because I feel like I’m doing my part. I’ve always been doing my part and I’ve always earned money but this is a little more contributing and it helps more than it hinders. I took the job because it came at the right time, with the right description and the right money.
Work is going really well and it’s a really busy period. I’m learning a lot and I’m really enjoying getting to know the team. I’m absolutely shattered in the evenings though which is why the blog has kind of suffered. I haven’t had the energy to write and I’ve been procrastinating a lot in the mornings by catching up on TV shows and playing Assassins Creed (which I’ve now completed) so my priorities have been a little all over the place. We have, however, had a nice few weekends too. Evie’s had a sleepover at my dads, we’ve been to see Thor Ragnarok and Justice League at the cinema, we’ve done a lot of Christmas shopping and post presents are bought, paid for and wrapped. Some are waiting to be wrapped and stuffed in various places around the flat. It’s been nice to treat the family for once as it’s not something I can do very often or have been able to do the last few months.
Life really has been a whirlwind this last month and I imagine it will continue to be. I’m having my implant removed on Friday and have the day off work so I expect this weekend i’ll be feeling a bit sore. We are going to use the weekend to move a few things around and have a bit of a declutter because my desk, the dining table and basically everywhere else to be honest. We need to get rid of stuff, we need to move furniture around and make room for our Christmas tree. We’ve got a few Christmas events booked throughout December too which I’m really excited about including a show, a trip to visit Father Christmas and the local Hawk Conservancy Trust which is a really lovely day out. We’ve even organised Christmas dinner which is being delivered to us, hot and ready to eat on Christmas Day. We were going to go out for it but this feels so much better instead. I’m really excited about it, the menu is lovely and includes four courses for us all. We’ve enjoyed many a festive drink in various coffee shops too. It seems to be our thing!
I’ve been on and off hormonal contraceptive since I was about 14. Starting with the combined pill Microgynon to help control heavy periods and reduce the pain I was having. It didn’t really work to be honest but you follow your doctor’s advice and hope for the best. Since then I’ve also had Cerazette, the mini-pill and the contraceptive implant, Nexplanon. That’s pretty much 12 years on and off, but mostly on, some form or hormonal contraceptive with a small break where I had a baby. My reason for having the implant was to prevent pregnancy in my new relationship and in the last five years I’ve had an implant inserted, removed three years later and exchanged for a new one. Two years on and I’ve had enough of hormonal contraceptive.
I’ve been really lucky with Nexplanon, the implant has worked perfectly for me. It’s a small, flexible tube put into my upper left arm. It was first put in with a local anaesthetic to the area, a small incision and a stitch. I had a dressing for about a week and awful bruising for around two weeks. It wasn’t a painful procedure but the local anaesthetic made me feel a bit sick and the bruising was a lot bigger than I thought. Within around six months my periods had reduced, then completely stopped. I haven’t had a baby either so it’s done its job pretty well. Nexplanon, when inserted correctly, is apparently more than 99% effective in preventing pregnancy. It can move, so you have to keep checking that it’s been inserted in the right place and if you can’t feel it, speak to your GP. It contains the hormone Progestogen which is the same as the mini-pill. They last for three years and then you can decide to remove or have a new one put in. This is again done with a local anaesthetic, a small incision and the removal and insertion of a new Nexplanon implant. For me, the bruising was a lot bigger this time because there was a bit more poking around on my arm to remove the old implant.
The science bit; The implant stops the release of an egg from the ovary by slowly releasing progestogen into your body. Progestogen also thickens the cervical mucus and thins the womb lining. This makes it harder for sperm to move through your cervix, and less likely for your womb to accept a fertilised egg. – NHS
Bruising after removal and insertion of second Nexplanon contraceptive implant
The not so positive side effects are very person specific. On the whole, the implant has been pretty good for me over the last five years. No pain, no periods and no pregnancy. My GP told me that fertility should return to normal within 72 hours of the implant being removed. It’s great after birth because it’s safe to use with breastfeeding too. However, there are always side effects with every single medication and hormonal contraceptive that you take. These can include, for some women, disrupted periods, acne, headaches, breast tenderness, changes in mood, loss of sex drive and feeling sick. These are typical of hormonal contraceptive and should subside over the first few months.
Since having a baby and then having the implant I’ve suffered really badly with migraines which have been awful. It wasn’t really something I’ve ever connected with my implant but if removing it helps reduce them then brilliant. The biggest side effect though is the women that report weight gain. In the five years that I’ve had the implant, I’ve gained around five and a half stone. That’s a pretty massive chunk. This has absolutely been down to food cravings and mood changes. I wouldn’t say the Nexplanon implant has made me depressed but it’s absolutely made me more emotional. I cry all the time, at all the silly things, I am a sensitive soul anyway and I think the implant has affected that and contributed to quite a few of my mood swings. I’ve had a lot of skin breakouts too which are always down to a hormonal imbalance. I’m also in a loving relationship with a man and we both want to have children together, so if pregnancy happened then, well, we are both adults and I’m sure we’d cope absolutely fine with the prospect of being parents (again).
The weight gain has been a significant reason as to why I want a break from my hormonal contraceptive implant. I want a chance to lose weight, healthily, safely and if this is a stumbling block for me then it makes sense to get it removed. I am hoping removing the implant will make weight loss easier, reduce cravings and prevent mood swings. The only downside is my periods returning because they’re horrible and painful and rubbish. I’m going to invest in a period happy box so I can get chocolate treats and things that make me feel better. Mostly, I want my body to be in a much better shape than it was in my previous pregnancy. We won’t be trying for a baby until I’ve lost a significant amount of weight and we know where we’re going to be this time next year. We need to move really as well because we have no space for beautiful baby things.
I’m speaking with the contraceptive nurse on Wednesday to get my appointment with the only doctor in my surgery that is trained to remove the implant. When I’ve got my appointment and everything’s been removed I’ll keep you updated on any changes I feel.
I’ve already read so many inspirational stories today for #WorldMentalHealthDay that are encouraging, supportive and so emotionally brave. I wanted to put words to post myself and share something meaningful. Something I hope will help others too. Mental Health affects us all, whether we’re suffering or smiling, or we are watching a family member go through crisis. I’ve openly talked about my anxiety and depression before to friends and family and most of the time I suppose people would say I’m doing fine.
The truth is there are still days where I don’t want to get out of bed because I can not cope with life.
There are still nights where I panic and worry and get angry.
There are still times where I feel so overwhelmed by the smallest of things.
There are still times where I overeat and comfort eat to try and ignore the pain of what I’m feeling.
There are still times when looking after myself is not a priority.
There are still times where I am haunted by my past, where I have nightmares and wake up sobbing.
There are still times where I think I have failed as a parent because of decisions that were taken out of my hands.
There are still times where I think this world would be a better place if I wasn’t here.
Those times are few and far between now but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. It doesn’t mean I’m cured or healed. It means that despite how I feel, how I’m coping, I am choosing to live. I am choosing to be here for my daughter. I am choosing to be here because I deserve to be here and because those people that made my life hard in the past don’t deserve to win. I am choosing to push back the whispers of self-doubt every day I walk out my front door because I want to win at life. I want to do more than survive.
If you are feeling anything close to what I’ve described then talk to someone, anyone. A doctor, a nurse, a friend, a partner, a parent. Anyone. Make it known that you think you might be suffering from depression because ultimately when it comes to mental health, no matter how much we raise awareness, only you can make that decision to ask and seek help.
Depression doesn’t go away easily, it’s a challenge and sometimes it’s a daily battle. It’s a war that will never end but there are days, weeks, months and years that you can find peace in yourself and every day you wake up not wanting to fight, you’ll have so many more reasons to do so.
