MEMEME: Life etc

Hey! Ok so I had a little bloggerlife crisis and made a new blog which I wanted to be purely lifestyle, and therefore separate from this blog.  I wasn't sure if I would ever come back to this blog again, as I was getting tired/bored of the whole f/bblogging world.

And yet here I am, typing this out!

I have now come to realise I do still like being a girly girl (albeit with a gritty edge!).  I like clothes and makeup and dyeing my hair and talking about all of the above.  I also like blogging about more personal things - what's going on in my life, what are my thoughts etc etc.  I realise this isn't for everyone - a lot of bloggers are quite hesitant to "reveal their true identity", or on the other hand, don't really get anything from people blabbering on about their real lives! So if you fall in the latter group, you may as well leave because I want to incorporate ALL aspects of my life and interest into this blog!

Still here? ;)

Weeell now, let's have a mini life update!

(1) It's mine and Mike's 4 year anniversary on Monday!!!! It's hard to believe that we've spent half of that time living in Scotland (was my 2 year workaversary on the 1st November) - things are going past too quickly!!  For our anniversary, instead of the usual dinner date/flowers kinda thing, we decided to do something we've been talking about for months.  That's right kids, I booked us in for a 3 hour intensive snowboarding course at Snowfactor in Braehead!! I am so psyched.  
We are so excited that we went to the snow/xtreme sports exhibition event in Glasgow a couple weekends ago to find out a bit more about the related culture/community and to get a bit more info.  I am both nervous and mega-enthusiastic about Monday now - I really want to be good at it, but I'm always lame at new things hahaha.... I'll keep you posted!!

(2)  Works been full-on the last 6 weeks or so - had a massive project on, and I won't bore you with all the lab/molecular genetics talk but it's been quite intense! Glad to have it out of the way now.  Oh yeah and BIG NEWS - I'm going to apply for a PhD!!!! As a member of staff at my university, I can get a part-time PhD funded while I carry on working!
I have a great boss who is really happy and supportive of anything I can do, and by doing a PhD I will get rid of the glass ceiling I have been concerned about in my career.  The scary side is that as it's part time its 6 years long, which is a massive commitment!!! But it'll be worth it and I'm mega excited :)

I guess those are the only things going on in my life which can be classified as major news, but life in general is going really well.  
Starting to get my life back in gear; more of a social life (which has been an issue for a while thanks to me moving around the UK too much and being too far from my friends!), being more active (hot yoga = amaaaazeballs), loving helping out at the stables still and am looking to get riding lessons which is something I've wanted since I could talk pretty much! 
I went shopping last weekend as you'll know if you follow my twitter/instagram, which was fun :) 
Mike is doing Movember this year - 3 days in and he's already getting a 'stache!! His donation page is here if you want to help him kick prostate and testicular cancers' ass! My grandfather is in the later stages of prostate cancer so I full-heartedly support Mike in looking like a douche for a month!

That's about everything I can think of right now.  What's new in your life? :)

Tali xxx

LIFE: Things are looking up :)

I'm never going to write a post entitled "reasons why I'm happy" because karma dealt me a bad hand after my last one! However, this post is as close to that title as it gets :)
I've spent a long time being miserable about my life, but not doing anything to change it.  Like, I don't drink and I can't stay up late thanks to my meds, so the days of me getting shitfaced and dancing all night are long gone unfortunately.  And, because first I was a student, and now Mike is, we're always on one income so we can't afford to do much.  At least, these were the excuses we were making.  When Mike got his internship I went internet-window-shopping crazy, made massive lists of all the clothes/shoes/makeup/interior stuff I wanted, but still wasn't happy!  
This weekend I had one of my meltdowns (I thought these were long gone) about how I don't do anything, never go out, don't have millions of friends like I used to, never do anything.  I complained that when I am 92 and lying in my hospital bed, I will reflect on these years, my 20s, and be sad that they were wasted on doing nothing! I seriously feel like I'm middle aged before my time.  
And so, Mike did his usual motivational-speech time, saying that I should do stuff, I can even go leave the country for a while and think about how I want my life to be, if I want.  That I'm all talk and no action, and I keep coming back to this same breakdown over and over and don't try to fix it.  
So we decided, we are going to do stuff! Neither of us can drink, but that doesn't mean our lives are over!!! We know we're going to leave the UK in the next few years, but that doesn't mean we can't live for the present too! So we thought about all the things we would love to do, and we are going to do them!!! The list so far is:

Snowboard.  Mike loves winter sports, but I always imagined myself on a skiing holiday to be the one chilling in the cabin getting bladdered on mulled wine! But something about snowboarding is starting to call to me, and I think it would be an amazing hobby! Also, it'll give us an excuse to get out in bad weather, and also to go further north to board there!

Roller disco <3 Haha maybe not roller discos, but there's a massive long trail right by my house that I run part of, it's flat and perfect for roller blading when we feel like getting some exercise! Much more fun than running/walking, and even though I haven't put rollerblades on for almost 20 years I'm sure it'll come back to me!

Go a bit crazy and stop compromising.  This is one for me - I feel like I'm torn between "mental Tali" and "grown up Tali".  One wants me to be dressed in spikes and studs and rainbow hair, and be happy and not care what other people say.  The other side tells me that I'm too old for that stuff, to grow up and blend in and just be normal!  So I'm dyeing my hair all the colours of the pastel rainbow next week :p

Join the Hell's Angels.  One for Mike this time - he's been umming and ahhing about getting a motorbike for as long as I've known him.  Today he went into a Harley Davidson shop and the rest, as they say, is history.  His mind is 1000000% made up, and it's just down to working out the logistics of it all now. I'm happy shopping for my leathers and holding tight on the back of a bike thank you! 

I think that sums up all the crazy-but-true ideas we've come up with so far.  I know this post is a bit different to my usual ones, but as always please feel free to give feedback! Do you guys have any cool hobbies or have a crazy side?

Tali xxxx