Top 5 Friday

Happy Friday everyone, don't you just love overnight oats? I made this last night for my breakfast this morning and it was super yummy. Sorry again, this blog is suffering a lot these day but I am happy to blog when I can since life has become so hectic. I guess this is what they meant when they told me everyone has responsibilities ecetera ecetera.

For this week's Top 5 Friday I will be sharing what has happened and what will be happening, so without further adieu.

Hen Do - Tomorrow we are heading to Village St David's Resort near Chester for the weekend where we have booked the spa for the day. I can not wait to be there, I have never been to a spa before nor have I ever been to a Hen Do either this will be my first for both occasions.

House Move - Next week Wednesday I will be moving into my new apartment, I am so excited but I have no furniture nor food so Wednesday night will be an interesting one. 

Wedding and Bank Holiday - The company I work for have given us next week Friday off so we get a long weekend since the following Monday is a bank holiday. To make matters even better the long bank holiday weekend is my Brother's Wedding so everything awesome is happening then.

Trip to Korea - I returned from my trip to Korea last week and I loved you so much. You can read my Day 0 and Day 1 from my main blog A July Dreamer. I am planning to go back this July as I need to explore more of this wonderful country. It was never my number one choice for Touring but now that I have been I can not wait to go back.

Blogger support Facebook Group - The blogger support group I run Lovely Bloggers is inviting all bloggers to come join us. We run weekly follow links and daily comment threads. All bloggers are welcome, the more the merrier.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Personal Confession ~ The 200th Post

 

For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to think of a creative way to write this post, trying to think of what to write and how to share this huge milestone with you all and I honestly came up blank so bear with me as I am going with the flow. Where and how do you share the excitement of reaching 200 posts? When I made the decision to start this blog (my 2^nd blog mind you) I honestly did not know what I was doing and how much work I was going to put into this blog. Managing two blogs have never been a problem for me but it has not been easy either, because when I am having motivational issues to blog it's not only one blog being affected it is two and that sometimes gets to me even though I know I am only human and this is bound to happen.

Most of my readers on this blog will know lately my posts have been far and in between ever since 2015 started. I did contemplate deleting this blog and I think that was my lowest point this year because I enjoy blogging and I treasure both my blogs. Part of the reason for wanting to delete this blog was because I found myself comparing my blogs to other people's blog which I think is not fair on myself nor on other bloggers. It is never fair to compare my beginning to someone else's middle as that is cause for internal turmoil especially if your blog is not as successful as another person's blog. Yes we started at the same time for some and they are doing so much better than me, which is fine because how much work I put into this blog cannot compare to another person's blog and vice versa is true. For me blogging is done on a part-time basis and definitely a hobby but someone else that might not be the case. I am human and this I am sure will continue to happen long before I find a solution to accepting it all come what may. One piece of advice I have for myself and fellow bloggers in the same situation (or any life situation) as me on comparing your beginning to someone else's middle is that "Check yourself before you wreck yourself". What I want to focus on is appreciating that another person has done better than me, congratulating them (even if it's just in my head) and then acknowledging that I am not there yet. I want to use their success as motivation for me to achieve what I want to achieve but I also need to learn when to accept the situation and leave as is because honestly how I define success is not the same as the next person.

If I was to be honest to myself and the world is that I am pretty successful as I am right now, I am at the best that I can be so far in life. Yes there are things that I do not yet have and which I had but I also know that I have so much already both which I can see and that which I cannot see yet. My definition of success blogwise is being able to manage my blogs the way I have been doing it for almost two years now and not giving up that is success. What is my next goal, well it's no secret that I would like to one day earn something resembling a salary from my blogs but that is a 'life time goal' than my next to achieve goal. So many things have to happen before I can reach that life time goal but in the mean time I can do small actions that will move me towards that goal. Success to me is being able to manage the blogger support group The Lovely Bloggers on Facebook with my blogger friend Jemma of celery and cupcakes and in a short span of time having such active members. Being successful is being alive and healthy to enjoy all the goodness and even the bad that this world has to offer and remembering to be thankful to the powers that be for all of it. Being successful for me is not living without regrets but living with the knowledge that you did not give up, you gave it your all and maybe your all is not enough but that knowledge of having attempted is for me is success.

I will not claim to have figured success out be it blogwise or life in general but I am sharing what it means to me and how I look at it all. Being true to myself is a number one priority, keeping it real is my motto and never giving up is my motivation. Life will always throw us curve balls, but it is how we deal with them that define our success.

Happy 200^th post to me.

Top FIVE (5) FRIDAY

Hi there and welcome to my almost ghost town of a blog, I can not believe how much I have missed posting on this blog; but running two blogs (A July Dreamer) and this blog has certainly started to take it's toll on me. I am so tired every day and when I have enough energy to blog I am doing more for A July Dreamer than on here. I can not wait to take a few days to another country to explore and mostly to relax and take a sit back on life. Today's Top 5 Friday is just things that have happened in the last few months as well as this ending week, so without further adieu.

1. I finally got my passport on Tuesday, my father text me to say my passport had arrived and I couldn't be more happy. In January I made a decision that would later change my life, I did not know if I would be successful with it or not and this week I know it was the right decision.

2. Since my passport is here now I managed to book my ticket to Seoul, Korea and I flight now in 10 days. I am so excited so very happy, life has been getting in the way of me enjoying things and this holiday is to change that. I will try to document as much as I can but mostly follow my instagram to see on the day updates.

3. Another one of the decisions I made in January was to find my own place to live either to rent or buy but the current financial woe didn't permit me to buy so I am renting instead but nonetheless this will be my very own place and first apartment. I am beyond excited and I can't stop pinching myself thinking I am dreaming.

4. I managed to get the dates I want to visit Zambia reserved, I am happy about this because I get to see my extended family again this year. I have decided (God willing) to make my visits to my motherland yearly so fingers crossed I find a reasonably priced ticket.

5. In 5 short weeks my brother is getting married, I am so happy and so excited about this. Normally my culture dictates that as the eldest I do everything first including getting married but I am far from it and I am happy my brother (head of our family) is getting married first. This is the first wedding in my family so we are over the moon. Now I just have to find a dress that says she is the sister of the groom..hahaha.. just kidding a beautiful dress is all I need.

So that's my Top 5 Friday.

How has your week or even last 3 months been?

Top FIVE (5) Friday

Hi there! It's been a while and this place is slowing turning into a ghost town, life is pretty hectic these days that when weekends come I just want (and usually do) lazy all day and do nothing apart from the occasional date nights at Sizz All with Boo. The last Top 5 Friday was month exactly today, I mentioned that I had had some awesome things happen that I wanted to keep to myself for a while and then share on here later on, well the wait is over as 'Later on' is today. So without further adieu...

1. Lovely Letters February Swap  - Last month I participated in the lovely letters snail mail and I was partnered with Uche a blogger in the states. I recently got the parcel she sent me and I could not believe my eyes. I absolutely fell in love with The Little Book of Love she sent me along with the chopsticks which have an awesome design as well as a beautiful purse and card. 

   

   TML

2. Citizenship - Last month I attended my citizenship ceremony accompanied by my parents. As part of my goals for this year I decided to give up my Zed citizenship and become British since Zed does not do dual nationality. It was emotional time but an awesome one too.
3. New Home - I have talked about my desire to have my own apartment, I am now tired of house share and just want my own place. The prices are not making it easy but I am taking the plunge fingers crossed I get the one I want.
   
4. 30 Before 30 Bucketlist - Last week on A July Dreamer I shared with you my part 1 (Travel Edit) of my 30 before 30 bucket list, I shared 15 places I want to visit before I turn 30. Today on the main blog I am sharing 15 things I want to do before I hit 30, I have called it the Life Edit.
   
5. The Lovely Bloggers Facebook group - almost a year ago I decided to start a facebook group with a fellow blogger to try bring together blogger who lived in a certain area. I did not do much after that until recently after doing my Blogger DIY posts I got good feedback and decided to change the parameters of the group and renamed it to The Lovely bloggers. We now have almost a 100 members which is awesome for me and the interaction in the group is awesome. Come join us and be part of our blogger support group. The group has daily comment and fb like thread and weekly follow 4 follow threads plus on Thursday we run a clarity day where we offer fellow bloggers who want it advice on their blog.

Wishing you all an awesome Friday and weekend.

Sunday Catch-up

Jamie's Italian restaurant oxford - Bacon & Liver

Pineapple & Frozen yoghurt dessert

Over the weekend I manage to meet up with my blogger Friend Jemma, I always love our meet ups and now that she has her lovely son Aiden its even better. He's so cute and such a lovely baby boy, his smile is so infectious I can't help but smile when I see them.

I telling Jemma how I seem to have lost my mojo when it comes to blogging. Previously I used to schedule posts 2-4 weeks in advance all written up and ready. I used to spend one weekend a month just planning our each day and scheduling for the days when I knew I wanted a specific post up and at times have two posts in one day, but now, you will be lucky to get two posts a week out of me. I am thinking of taking a couple of days off to recharge and maybe look for inspiration then. Do not get me wrong I do have ideas of what I want to write, the trouble comes when I actually have to start the post.

 In the past I used to write a post before I even had pictures now I seem to see a picture and have an idea of a post for it and if I am determined I do write the post there and then but lately I can have the picture and still not able to write a word. I need to find my way back to my love of blogging, I need to go back to my basics and realise again why I love blogging so much. So in the mean time I will share my currently post whilst I try to work on the future of my blogs.

Reading.. I have not read anything in over 3 months, I have read one book this year and those I am unhappy about this I do not seem to have the urge to find and read a new book.
Watching... I literally had to change the channel on the TV as I have no idea what was going on but funny thing happened - this morning I had the urge to watch Tangled then found its not on Netflix yet so they suggested my all time favourite which is Mulan. I watched Mulan this morning and this afternoon on channel 5 they showed Mulan the exact one I saw this morning so I just watched and started watching it again.
Listening... When I finished work on Friday I started listening to 'Lay you down' by Usher and the song is still stuck in my mind this instant. I have loved this long for the longest time, my former housemate can testify to it. I played it daily on repeat that she ended up hating it lol.
Wishing.. For so many things which I will not share yet but I will do one day.
Hoping... I hope Boo travels safely tomorrow, I am starting to hate the business trips but then again I love it when I get to go on mine.
Trusting... That all is handled as it should.
Planning... My next holiday abroad.

Until next time, have a lovely Sunday.

{Blogger Support} Top Five (5) Apps

Starting out on a whim as a new blogger was tough, I started out on blogger and now have both blogger and wordpress dot org. I thought that was the only tools available to me to use for blogging, I thought I just had to log into google navigate to blogger and that was that. As I mentioned in Starting Out networking helped me learn a lot about blogging and over the last 18 months I have realised there are so many apps out there to make blogging easy as well as networking and promoting your posts. Today I wanted to share 5 apps that I used daily for blogging which have made my life easier. I have two phones (Iphone for work, HTC personal) and on those these phones Apps act differently, at least for me.

Blogger & Wordpress Apps - These are my little haven Apps, when I get an idea and do not want to jot it down I use these two Apps to write the posts. Sometimes the ideas are short and sometimes it's a complete post written at the spur of the moment. What I love about both Apps is even when I am traveling on the train underground and I do not have internet connect the post is saved as a draft local copy - this means that if I logged onto the computer and fired up Blogger or Wordpress these posts will not yet be on there because they are local copies but this is easily fixed by going back into the mobile version, refresh and save (provided you have 3G or wi fi) and it syncs up. Once you refresh the site on the computer it will show up. Of the two operating systems I have (Apple and Android) for Blogger and Wordpress Apps I prefer to use them on Apple as they are more user friendly and are easier to use than on my Android, this could be just on my HTC and not Android in general.

Facebook App - This is a no brainer, I am sure everyone with a smartphone has the facebook App especially bloggers. I had mentioned in Starting Out post the importance of utilising facebook as a tool to promote your blog and content. It is not easy to start out but once you find blogger groups which support blog interactions you're good. My facebook group the Lovely Bloggers is just starting out but it is a platform I have opened for fellow bloggers so we can grow together. I prefer to use the Facebook App on my iphone than HTC as for some reason facebook links do not work.

Twitter & G+ - There are so many bloggers out there who underestimate the power of twitter and google plus groups. Over the last 18 months my twitter stats have rocketed and my G+ stats are making there way.  When I started my twitter account I had 5 friends who are real life friends and that was it, I followed a few brands I like and few youtubers I was aware of and that was it nothing more. When I started blogging I was not sure about posting on twitter until I so one of the bloggers I followed posted a post on twitter which got interaction that made my resolve for using twitter and same applies with G+ they are very important in building up your blog and getting  interaction. Other experienced bloggers can explain the impact of a twitter tree I have tweets that have an outreach of over 12k you can imagine it is a lot. Supporting each other as bloggers, retweeting, favoriting all this leads to such outreach and even great interaction on posts, tweets and blogs in general

Bloglovin - When I want inspiration or have long journey ahead of me this is where you will find me. I follow over a thousand blogs on bloglovin and I have no idea how many I check out, one time I made it my business to comment on over a 100 blog posts from bloglovin when I was traveling on my 4-hour journey. I managed to do it plus more, what I saw was not what I was expecting I got back interaction on my posts that week my website visits rocketed and I was amazed. I was doing this to show support and not to get support back, I was doing what I call the blogging deal of the day - do something for fellow blogger without requesting anything in return.

Hootsuite - I love this App especially if I have lots of posts scheduled in advance and I want to schedule tweets, facebook posts and even G+ posts to go out when I want them to. I will say I do not always use it but when I do I love it. I am currently using the free version of it but you can always upgrade to get more features. I am happy with the features I am using it for now, but in the future for example when I will be really busy and want to schedule posts for my new blogger facebook support group then I will upgrade it but for now I am good.

Instagram - Not many people realise the power that Instagram harbours, as a blogger or just people who love instagram you post a lot of pictures of what you like, could be your kids or foods or places you visit etc. One thing you should use instagram for is blogging, you can share the main picture in your post and add the blog post link in the comments or better yet in the profile. This I have seen has helped to drive traffic to my sites and my blog in general so definitely recommending to all.

What are some of your favourite blogging Apps? Do you use any of the above mentioned?

If you have not yet joined our facebook group, click HERE.

{Blogger Support} Starting out

Starting out as a new blogger can be tough and at times daunting, everything is so new, the language is weird and for most! none of your friends are bloggers so you do not yet have someone to talk to about it all. Your decision to start a blog could have stemmed from a number of reasons, mine was honestly boredom and loneliness. Others it could be they have been reading blogs for a long time and are ready to start one or as an outlet for your everyday life or the creative streak in you. Whatever the reason you have (or had) started, now what is next after starting your blog or blogs? How do you go abouts getting the content you've spent maybe a few minutes, or even a couple of hours researching and writing to the outside world? Press publish of course (insert smiley of choice), but it does not end there.

One thing non-bloggers or those not familiar with the work that goes into running a blog don't know is just because I have published the post does not mean my work ends there, unfortunately it doesn't that is just the beginning of it all. Once you have published your post you need to share it on the monster web and even then you're not guaranteed that people will see it and come visit and comment on your blog. Those who see it will just look and go, some will love it enough to comment, some will love it but not comment. I have friends who read my blogs: A July Dreamer and The Myrabev Life and tell me offline how much they loved the post, this will happen plenty. I want them to comment and some say they are not comfortable commenting online and some will say I do not know what to say. This is common do not get discouraged be happy someone is reading.

Though I am not and do not claim to be an expert in the blogging world I know what has been working for my blogs so far. I am everyday learning and picking up tips on how to blog, how to promote my content etc and the most common one I see is supporting one another as bloggers. With this in mind I embarked on doing one thing that I know has worked for me and I know works for other bloggers too and that is joining a facebook groups and because I know most facebook group owners require you get permission before talking about their group (which is very understandable) I created my own face group sharing group called Lovely Bloggers and I am inviting you all to join and support each other grow.

In the  Lovely Bloggers group I will be putting up threads where you can share posts you want comments on (reciprocate two above your own), Facebook like & comment threads where you share facebook links you want liking and comments on and also Follow threads which will either be daily or weekly. I have started this group with a sole purpose of supporting other bloggers and helping each other grow because without each other our growth is limited. You're welcome to share this group link with fellow bloggers so we can grow and support one another. 

Over the last 18 months I have developed a routine that I practice almost every morning, I shared Bloggers, Events & Friends post on A July dreamer. This post I shared how I developed my routine and with insomnia being my best friend I find myself with more time which surprisingly I use to read other blogs than blogging. I have created this group that I am taking full responsibility for and hoping to discover more blogs to add to my routine. And because I travel a lot I am always looking for new blogs to read, I love blogs of all niches as I do not want to limit myself. I believe supporting one another, promoting and helping out fellow bloggers is the best way to grow as a blogger.

Come join this new facebook group where your blog will definitely get support from me be it a comment or sharing on my social media. I hope to see you all there and thanks for joining a Lovely Bloggers  facebook group.

Top 5 Friday

Hi there and welcome to the Top 5 Friday, its been a while since I did this type of post but today I thought I crack one out. The last couple of weeks have been absolutely awesome, if memory serves me right this is the best start to the year I have had in a long time and I am so thankful. As always I will list 5 items I have been itching to talk about or want to share this week so without further adieu. 

5. 50 Shades of Grey ~ I think it's about time I shared with y'all my view of 50 shades of grey especially with the movie having come out already. Before I read the 3 books I had heard so many stories about how erotic it was and basically a porn book. I was both intrigued and confused because no one person who read the books could give you a straight answer everyone had their own interpretation. So I embarked on the journey that is 50 shades of grey and I was quite taken in by the first book until someone told me there were two more books to go, I was excited to see what more the author can add in and hoping the grammar and spelling will improve in book two and three. To my disappointment it did not felt like it was getting worse. Book one told you a story of two people in love and each with different life issues. Yes there was a lot of sex descriptions which your mamma should not catch you reading but compared to the French erotica books I had read that was nothing. I love Ana and could relate to how she felt in some parts of the book and Christian was overall your kind of guy 'good in bed' but the mummy issues he came with he can keep thank you. Books 2 and 3 well I remember the violence and the escape from death for Christian other than that not much. If someone ever wanted to read the books I would encourage them to read the epilogue in book three then read the books from the beginning, as its the only part of the book not completely filled with grammatical errors and actually is from Christian's point of view.

4. Kingsman - This movie was fun from start to finish, a friend of mine and I went to see it this week and we were definitely not disappointed. It definitely gave James Bond and Jason Bourne a run for their money. I loved the London chav humour, the posh-'toots' added in for good measure and Colin Firth (forever my Mr Darcy) was absolutely on point throughout the movie, his character was well played, so easy to like and absolutely loved the suits. There is nothing like a well tailored English gentleman suit, I am sure they are many to dispute this but that was my opinion. I think everyone should go watch this movie.

3. Rewards - This week has been full of rewards both blogging and work which has been absolutely uplifting and very encouraging, I am literally on the excitement high and I do not want to come back down. I will share more next week this week I just want to be selfish and enjoy it myself.

2. Hemingway Quote ~ During the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, Colin Firth's character quoted Hemingway, I had never heard of the quote before but it stuck and now me and my friend are quoting it every time we remember which for me now is daily

1. Family - For me the most important thing in my life is family above all else, I have committed my family to God and I am eternally grateful for the everyday blessings we receive, just being alive is a blessing enough. The air we breath is a blessing we do not see it but we know its there and we utilise it, same with God we do not see him directly but we know he's there and we feel his presence be it in out friends, neighbours or even just ourselves.

These are my Top 5 Friday, what do you have on your list? Have a blessed weekend.

How blogging helped save me money

When I started blogging I was not aware of how much this would help save me money. I started blogging with the sole purpose of passing time, sharing my evolving life and then it because a little haven where I would escape and write whatever I wanted because it was my little part of the online world. I did not start blogging with the sole purpose of saving money or getting freebies these have been added bonuses which if I am honest are pretty awesome but not what I am about. Some of the products I have tested I would have done so anyway if I had the money or if I had the knowledge of them. Blogging has allowed me an inside knowledge of so many products which I did not know existed or even knew I needed. I have learned about routines, I have learned about what works for my type of skin, what to avoid and what should be given my own opinion before and/or after testing. Let's take 2014 has an example as that's when blogging really took off for me.

Face products - I can not honestly remember the last time I went to a beauty store and bought face products and if I have recently I had a coupon (voucher). This has saved me tons of money as though I am economical with my face products in how I use them it does add up after a while especially buying monthly or every other month. So let's do a little mathematics, the average price for my simple face products (cleanser,wipes, toner & cream) is about £10 and I had only bought these twice (I think) so that leaves me with 10 other months where I have saved an outstanding £100+/- a few pounds. This as you can see is amazing, most of you know I am trying to rid of my university debt and I have 6 months left to clear it all and just be left with normal bills (rent/mortgage, gas, electric etc). So having such a saving has been a bonus and I have used the money to pay off a debt or two.

Let's talk food, I have saved quite a bit in this department too. When I signed up for Degustabox last year June I didn't know how much this would impact my food spending. For £12.99 I get to try out 10-12 different types of foods, this removes from my normal shopping which then allows me to save up in this department too. My average monthly food shopping was between £50-70 a month for just me now if we calculate this from June last year so £60 by 6 is £360. This is a lot of money with the Degustabox being £12.99 and me spending max £20-30 a month I have managed to save approximately half of £360 (£180) in 6 months. This has been a big welcome and a big change for me.

I am also saving big time in clothes shopping, having companies send you clothes, vouchers and even just entering competitions to win a bit of cash has helped with saving money. I can not honestly calculate how much I have saved in shopping for clothes department as whatever I had not used because I was sent something I had used to take my sister shopping or sending a loved one the money.

Blogging has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I know I have in the past been frugal with some things but blogging showed me so much more and has opened up so many venues though I will not be giving up my day job. One thing I do want to make clear is just because I have had all these opportunities does not even in the slightest mean I blog to get free stuff NO I blog for me and me alone. If I am offered something that I needed or have always wanted but could not afford then you betcha am going to accept but if it compromises my integrity I will say no.

There have been offers that I have thought oh wow I could do with that money but then I realise this is not me so I have turned them down. And sometimes these compromising offers come when you running on your last penny and you a few days shy of payday. But it's about knowing and believing what you stand for, I am not judging those who do because I do not know your circumstances I only know mine.

To my fellow bloggers, how has blogged helped you save money or even helped you make money? Let me know your thoughts on when a blogger turns from just blogging for them to blogging for freebies.

{Blogging DIY Series} How to insert widgets into a post ~ Facebook and Pinterest

Hi there and welcome to the last DIY post for January, I have enjoyed doing these DIY posts and even more so enjoyed the feedback from you my readers. I will continue the DIY posts when I have the need to change something on my blogs but for the mean time I think I have covered what I wanted to achieve in January of 2015. Which brings me to the shock of this week being the last week of January 2015, I have no idea where time is rushing off to but I can not complain as so far into 2015 the lord has blessed me tremendously.

As I mentioned 2 weeks ago when I shared how to insert widgets into a post for Twitter and Instagram I would share with you how to insert Facebook and Pinterest widgets into a post and that day has come. Ever since I started inserting widgets into my posts I have noticed an increased interaction on my social media as well as an odd (1 or 2) new followers via insert these widgets. This has firmed my belief that adding widgets into posts does help with social engagement and allows your readers to follow you much more easily than having to click your social media icon.

Adding Facebook and Pinterest widgets into your blog is as simple as drinking water and I will show you how.

Facebook

Post by Myrabev.

1. Log into your facebook account and choose what post/picture on your personal page or fan page that you want to include into your post.

2. Once chosen, hover your mouse over the right hand corner of that post/picture and a down arrow will appear.

3. Click the down arrow and options which be shown, choose & click the last option 'Embed Post'

4. This will open up the widget and how it will look, what I love about Facebook embed is that you have the option to adjust the widget of that widget. You can make it larger or small to fit your post area.

5. Copy the html once you have edited your width (optional) and insert that into the post. For blogger in the post click the HTML tab and for Wordpress click the text tab. And that's it done, now lets move to the next widget.

Pinterest

Follow Myrabev Lifestyle's board Christmas on Pinterest.

1. Log into your Pinterest account, choose the board you want to share.
2. In the right corner you have three options, click on the dots (...) and three options will appear. Choose make a widget and widget html code will appear with preview of what your widget will look like.

3. Copy the html into your blog post area (see #5 for Facebook above).

That's you done for Pinterest, easy peasy.

Would love to hear your thoughts on how you found this tutorial. 

Ciao

{Review} Microbiome Plus & Giveaway

For those of us who have/had made a conscience decision to ensure 2015 is the year we look after our bodies be it losing weight, maintaining weight or even just toning up I want to bring to your attention another part of our bodies that we should be taking care of too. How well do you look after your gut? I know for a fact that last year even the years before that I did not really put much thought into caring for my gut but this year I have made a decision to ensure that I look after my gut properly. For the last 12+ days I have been taking Microbiome Plus+ from iShopNutrition, these are more complete and natural dietary supplements. I have never taken microbiome supplements before and I am usually sceptical with supplements because most don’t really do what they claim. The supplements I have been taking are gastrointestinal supplements and so far so good. Microbiome are organisms that we share our bodies with, generally they are non-pathogenic (don't cause disease) and they exist in harmony & symbiotically with the host (us) but they can cause diseases if they grow or mix abnormally and have been linked to the common obesity. Packed with this knowledge I decided to care for my gut by taking these microbiome supplements.

About the Product

MOST ADVANCED PRE & PROBIOTIC COMBINATION - 600mg of PREBIOTIC scFOS (Short-chain fructo oligosaccharides) combined with 3.5 Billion CFU of New Advanced ProBiotic L. reuteri NCIMB 30242 combine to provide a Synbiotic formulation that has been shown in clinical trials to help support normal inflammatory response in addition to supporting digestive health.

•SUPPORT MOOD & BOOST ENERGY - Poor nutrient absorption can leave you short on essential vitamins and minerals. Fatigue, irritability, and a lack of motivation are signs of nutrient deficiency. Probiotics develop a healthy microenvironment in the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract that optimizes nutrient absorption, giving you the positive energy and happy feelings to be your vibrant self.

•LOSE WEIGHT - Weight-loss research suggests that healthy microflora in the gut can speed your metabolism and support fat loss. Fat burning is more than just an exercise routine. For healthy weight loss, give your body the probiotic support it needs.

•Maintains balance of healthy bacteria

•IMPROVE & MAINTAIN HEALTH - Your gut is home to 80% of your immune system, where good bacteria (probiotics) battle with bad bacteria to prevent disease and relieve allergies, bloating, gas, and constipation. Probiotics replenish disease-fighting bacteria and help maintain digestive functions and immune health by controlling candida and yeast overgrowth.

Review

The tablets are huge in size compared to your normal vitamin supplements, in each pack there is two strips; one for a.m and one for p.m. What I know is there is no bitter taste with these supplements and though I am not a big fan on big tablets I have noticed that I am swallowing these in one go without a problem which is a big shock to me as taking tablets or supplements has never been fan for me. Please note these tablets are not for losing weight but to aid in weight loss if that is what you're working towards. So if you are always exercising or taking steps to lose weight these supplements will aid that. But if you're unsure I always recommend you check with your GP especially if you’re on other medications. I have noticed an improvement in my metabolism and a boost in energy, I cannot testify to mood as I am a happy person anyway so unless people have noticed something else I cannot say. I am happy to know that these microbiomes are supporting my inflammatory response and my immune system overall as this time of colds the last thing I want is to catch a cold.
Having checked out the iShopNutrition website I am convinced they know what they're doing, they sell vitamins, nutrients, supplements even body creams and body lotion. There website is easy on the eye and to navigate, they have a search functionality making it easier to search for products. Check them out and see if they can cater for your needs and if unsure about the supplements (which they supply different kinds) check with your GP (doctor).

Giveaway

The lovely people of ishopNutrition wants to give 5 of you a box containing 4 GI supplements and 1 bone supplement to try out for yourselves. The rules are simple, UK & Ireland entrants only.

Microbiome Plus Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent the supplements via bloggers required in order to facilitate this review, the opinions are my own and no other form of compensation was offered/received. Regardless I only recommend products which I see fit, can use myself or my family and does not interfere with my integrity.

{Blogging DIY Series} How to adjust your blog width.

Have you noticed how some blogs use the entire screen whilst others have open edges? Well I learnt a while back how to adjust my template but most of the time never felt the need. But since I had a make over on this blogger my designer left huge gaps on either side of the blog and I wanted to re-adjust that plus increase the size of my widget area. As I have mentioned I know how to do this without code but I recently learnt howto do it with code and I will show you both today.

**Note this is for blogger, if you need for Wordpress please let me know**

Adjust widths without code.

Step 1: open blogger dashboard, choose template and click on customise.

Step 2: on top left click on adjust widths and you can play around with the widths and watch the changes at the bottom before you apply to your template.

Step 3: Once happy with size then save and you're done.

Adjust widths with code. 

**I recommend always saving template before your begin anything code related**

Step 1. Open blogger dashboard, choose template and click on HTML 

Step 2: search width (ctrl f) and locate *header-wrapper, outer-wrapper, main-wrapper, sidebar-wrapper and footer* The main-wrapper is your post section and the rest I think is explanatory. Adjust each of these sections to your wishes and save template. That's its done.

This is how I adjust my templates, let me know if you need help I am happy to assist.

{Blogging DIY Series} How to add Google fonts ~ Wordpress

A couple of weeks ago I shared how to add Google fonts to blogger, most of us know how unflattering the default fonts that blogger has and for the entire time I had been blogging I always wondered how some bloggers managed to get really cute fonts. I always thought I had to pay to have anything on my blogs changed and to begin with I did but this year I thought I take the plunge and learn how to do it myself. It's been a really fun process learning all these cool tips and tricks and I have been enjoying sharing them with you and I am sure most of you know already but I hope one or two will find these useful or maybe a new blogger might stumble upon this post in the future and find it useful.

As I mentioned in the blogger version of how to add fonts I am happy to help if you can't understand or something is not working as shown, tweet me and I will help.

The process is easy and for someone like me who is not HTML code savvy if I can do it trust me it's a doodle (you can do it). 

Step 1: Go to Google fonts page and choose the font you want, since with blogger I showed you how to add one font and briefly mentioned how to add multiple fonts I will share how to add multiple fonts to wordpress.

step 2: Once you have chosen the fonts by clicking add to collection, click on review at the bottom of the page (in collection) and it will move you to the next page where all the codes are.

Note: The fonts you have chosen will be embedded in one code line which is what you need for the next step.

Step 3: Copy the code and navigate to your Wordpress template (dashboard - appearance- editor) on the right hand side click on header. Once header code is up find the fonts code to replace with your new code. **Remember to save once you add new code**

Step 4: To add the different font styles you picked out, head to CSS styles (bottom right). In the css styles search for "font-family" and this will display the different areas e.g 'body post, sidebar, header font' etc. All you need to do is head back to Google fonts and choose which font you want for each section and replace what's there with the new font style. **only replace what you adding i.e. Font-family; sanif;curve. Nothing more **

REMEMBER TO CLICK SAVE AND REFRESH YOUR BLOG FOR CHANGES TO APPEAR

If you want to change the size of the font for your posts either add a line below the font style (if not there like mine) or just increase/decrease the font size number.  

I hope you found this DIY post useful, please let me know in comments section also if you need help let me know.

Three things I love about Cambridge (UK)

When my parents moved us from Zambia to United Kingdom they moved us to the best city in the world, granted we lived more in the borough of Cambridge than the city itself but that never stopped us going into the heart of Cambridge and exploring. I have experienced so many wonderful times in cambridge, the city is very very diverse and a home to many different races. Cambridge is known for it's amazing architecture, the historical buildings like the oldest church in Cambridge St Benet's church and as the home of the University of Cambridge one of the top universities in the world. There are so many beautiful gardens to explore in Cambridge, we pride ourselves with the rowing team, the advancement in technology - Silicon Fen. Our technological advances has moved to the types of buses (biofuel) we have running around cambridgeshire, cambridge like london is a home of cyclists there are some many areas in cambridge to cycle and just take in the town. For me Cambridge is even more personal, not only is it my new adopted home but also a town where my church 'New Apostolic Church cambridge congregation' is based. I have been going to this church since 2004 and I love it and makes me proud every day. I have had many dates in cambridge, I have had many times taken my family for meals out on the town and many times spent with friends just exploring the beauty that is cambridge. 

I hope one day you get the opportunity to visit this amazing town and experience 3 of my favourite things

1. Rowing 

2. Dinning.

3. Shopping