Losing inches & keeping myself to myself.

I am a tad bored with my blog. I am thinking of starting up a new one where I can be a little bit different, but I haven't completely sorted it out yet. I think that one of the reasons I haven't been here much lately is because I have been doing other things ...

I had always thought that I would be a slightly overweight person - not massively, but increasing with age. As time has gone on I noticed my tummy changing to a little bit of a barrel shape and thought that the change was just life. I have tried diets every now and again and realise that food has always been a very important part of my life - as both a comfort and a pleasure.

However, I started a new regime in November and I am the fittest and slimmest I have been in a long time. I will probably write about this new way of life, because that is what it is, at another time, but suffice to say for now I am eating less, eating far more healthily and exercising nearly every day. Weight is dropping off me, as are inches. So far I have lost 3 inches around my waist, 3 inches round my hips and 4 inches round my boobs. Its brilliant!

The photo below is me after a work out - knackered. But happy! I am enjoying working out rather than sitting at my laptop!

The photos below are my usual landscapes. I just love the countryside around where I live and am always stopping to take pictures, particularly of the sky.

I haven't joined up to the 365 linky because last time I did the code messed up my blog, but if you go to The Boy and Me you will find links to other blogs who are taking part.

I am finding myself distancing myself a little bit from the world of blogging. There are some lovely people and some interesting blogs out there, but there are also lots of people who seem to be all about "me, me, me". I have tried in the past to be supportive, to link to other blogs, but recently I have been irritated by people who just don't seem to reciprocate. I'm not saying that this applies to anyone you know, but I think that if I back off a bit and just enjoy writing and posting photos as a diary for myself then I won't get annoyed.

Having said that there are also a core of very lovely, kind and genuine people out there who support me come rain or shine and have done for a long time. Perhaps I just need to be picky and enjoy those people?

Its easy sometimes to feel a bit left out of the "blogging world". But if I keep myself to myself and not expect to be part of it all then I won't be disappointed. Am I sounding curmudgeonly? I hope not. 

Are you going to BritMums Live 2013? I am!!! Hope to see you there!

Are you going to BritMums Live 2013? 

I am going this year and have entered the Linky here so I can hopefully get to know some of the other lovely bloggers who will be there. Why don't you enter too ??

Name: Sarah

Blog: The Secret Life of an Unknown Housewife

Twitter ID:  @ugglymuggly       (it used to be @secrethousewife,but I stupidly lost my password.Doh)

Height: 5ft 

Hair: Blonde   

Eyes: Blue

Is this your first blogging conference?    

                                                                            

                                                                                                 

No. Its my second. I came to BritMums Live 2012.

Are you attending both days?

Yes I am and I'm really looking forward to both. This time I'm staying for the BiBs too as I'm on the long shortlist for the Lifestyle category. Will find out soon if I'm lucky enough to be on the short shortlist!!! But even if I'm not I'm looking forward to seeing who wins ... so many good bloggers!

What are you most looking forward to at BritMums Live 2013?

I am hoping to be able to meet up with some of the people whose blogs I read and who read mine. I am also really excited about hearing Katie Piper speak.

What are you wearing?

Probably purple jeans and pink laced cat boots (comfy & not as lary as they sound) and a weather dependent top ( I thought a top was advisable...)

What do you hope to gain from BritMums Live 2013?

I want to learn more about blogging. I hope I am not as shy as last year and actually have the guts to go up and chat to people. 

Tell us one thing about you that not everyone knows

I have dived with sharks whilst having my foot nibbled by a moray eel ...

Thanks for reading this! If you see me at BritMums Live I would love to have a chat! I may look like I know what I'm doing,but its all a facade!! I will be chuffed to meet you!!

Book Reviews and happiness.

Thank you for all your comments regarding my last post. I still haven't made up my mind about doing teacher training, but I have started to study maths so I can take my Maths GCSE exam. At least if I have that under my belt it will give me more options. Teaching is one of those things that I love some days and feel frustrated with on others. We'll see...

I haven't posted much recently because life has been quite .... well ... dull really. Not in a bad way. When life is calm and happy there's not always the desire to write!! I have been reading a lot though. I was approached a little while ago by Blogcritics who asked me to write book reviews for them. If you scroll down my right hand side bar you will come across a Blogcritics button which will take you to my page on their site, or you can click on my Book Review tab at the top of my blog page to read my reviews.

I don't get paid for any of this, but I do get sent a copy of the book to read. I rather like it because I can choose books by authors I might never have heard of and read books that are sometimes brilliant and sometimes ... not.

I write honestly, as is my wont, and am under no obligation to have any particular slant.

Recently I read a book by Robert C Yeager called The Romanov Stone and although it wasn't the sort of book I would normally choose to read, I really enjoyed it. Here is my review if you would like to read it ...

Book Review: The Romanov Stone by Robert C Yeager.

Robert C Yeager had me by page 4 of his new novel The Romanov Stone. With a combination of mystery, excitement and well researched historical fact Yeager writes with a seemingly effortless style - easy and enjoyable to read, but which skips along at a rate of knots. His technique of slipping between past and present in the initial chapters not only gives depth to the plot line, but keeps the reader page-turning with alacrity.

Heroine Katya Gavrill is plunged into a world of intrigue and danger after the violent death of her mother, whose words of warning “They have found us” set the heart thumping. With her romantic Russian family history revealed to her Katya embarks on a hunt to find a priceless gem and claim her Romanov inheritance, long hidden in the vaults of the Bank of England. On the way she encounters Russian mafia, Columbian jewel thieves and the hypnotic world of Imre Novyck, the grandson of the evil Rasputin.

Yeager creates a world inhabited by characters that are multi faceted, touching each other’s lives and the reader’s in a believable roller coaster of adventure and intrigue. I found myself reading as quickly as I could, following Katya’s journey, enveloped in a world of Russian Tsars, Faberge eggs and murder. As she wavered between love interests I found myself saying aloud “No Katya! No, not him!” and in the space of 300 pages she went from stranger to character I want to meet again.

I would definitely recommend this interesting novel to anyone who enjoys a good thriller with a historical twist and I am secretly (well, not that secretly!) hoping that Yeager will write a sequel so I can spend more time with Katya, her man (I won’t tell you who she ends up with …) and maybe the Assassin of the Seven Bells too!

This review first appeared at the Blogcritics site. I have not been paid for the review but did receive a copy of the novel. The review is my honest opinion.