NUTRIBULLET - ICE CREAM SMOOTHIE RECIPE

Recently My mum and I decided to get a NutriBullet however neither of us are really in to 'healthy smoothies'. She has done well with using things like spinach, Maca, Wheatgrass and spirulina. I, on the other hand, have quite the sweet tooth so have been making things like this recipe I am sharing with you below.



SIDE NOTE:  This recipe makes more of a 'flavoured' ice cream than a smoothie but you can thin it down with milk or water.

What you will need:

• A handful of blueberries
• 6-7 cherries
• 1/2 cup of rolled oats
• 1 small (personal) pot of plain/vanilla ice cream
• a tsp. of honey
• a splash (or more) of milk - I used almond milk

All you really need to do with the ingredients is put them all in to the cup compartment, put on the blade lid and blend up to your liking.

I deciding it needed to be a bit thinner so I re-blended with more milk and served in a glass, after attempting to drink it I settled for a spoon and it was one tasty dessert.

Let me know if you tried it and if there was anything that you changed or substituted.

Natasha

FAMILY

If you were to ask me "What in this world could you not do without?" I would answer "Family".

In my opinion, a family member does not have to be a blood relative, nor do you have to get along at first. I would consider anyone who excepts me as I am and who doesn't question my flaws as my family.

My family, and if I'm honest and more specific my mother, make me strive everyday to be a better person and show me how much a person can take on in life. They show me what can be achieved when effort is made and sometimes what can be lost when it is not. For this I am forever grateful and indebted, I can only hope that I can have as much influence on whatever future generations of my family come along.

My sister has shown me that independence and confidence are gained from fear and bravery. 

My brother has shown me that success in employment can be done on your own terms.

My brother's girlfriend has taught me that no matter what your size, she can lift more than you! And that with dedication and good motivation you can continue achieving.

My granddads have taught me that no matter what your age, you can make a teenager laugh and that sometimes 'my choice' isn't an option. 

My Grandmas have shown me that sometimes loneliness is ok and that happiness after loss is encouraged and oddly easy.

My Mum, my Mum has taught me that to have fear and to show fear are two completely different things. She has shown me what family means, it means sticking at things, working at relationships that you would never normally have and loving people for their flaws before loving them for their perfections.

From left to right - My sister, My brother's Girlfriend, My mum, My brother and Me

Natasha 

PROJECT LIFE - REVIEW

One fateful day whilst in Hobbycraft, I was walking through the scrapbooking section when I stumbled upon Project Life. Now I love anything and everything crafty - Hobbycraft is quite a dangerous place for me as I'd  like more than anything to buy the entire contents of the shop! - so I couldn't contain myself when I saw all the different things in this range. After making a mental note of what I wanted from the shop and realising that I could not afford to spend almost £100 on scrapbooking I decided I would look online for when the next deal was on, which turned out to be at that time - 25% off all scrapbooking products.

Well what a nightmare for my bank account!

After splurging, and pretty much buying everything that I wanted to my total was £80 and I was over the moon! When my package arrived I quickly realised that all I could do was sit and look at it! I had no material to scrapbook with. So this called for magazines...lots and lots of magazines.

           

As you can tell from the picture above, I went a little overboard! Magazines are probably my favourite resource to use as I think the quality and finish of the paper gives quite the professional look - Below are some of the pages I have completed so far.

                 

I really enjoy that one topic or idea can turn into a page of colour in no time at all and express whatever mood you are in at that time, and that is why I love scrapbooking so much.

This range, in my opinion, is made to quite a high quality and I have been very pleased with my purchase. The folder rings have more than enough room for more than 36 wallets and I am pleased with the different designs that are available. The range has different 'editions' which are the same products but in different colours, pretty much all of the products I have are from the Kraft edition.

If you are just getting in to scrapbooking it is NOT essential to have something like this because of the price tag however if you want quality that you will dedicate a lot of time to then this is definitely for you.

I hope that if anyone stumbled upon this blog entry looking for another's opinion on Project Life that they are somewhat satisfied with this review as I am very happy that I found it and would recommend highly to everyone.

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/papercraft/scrapbooking/scrapbooking-collections?filter=Brand~Project+Life/

Natasha 

INSPIRATION

The kind of inspiration that has a lasting effect on me is seeing other people excel at something that they love doing. Luckily I have been able to see this for most of my life. My brother did just as well as I did with his GCSEs - which was only the bare minimum - and now, nine years on he is the proud co-owner of a thriving gym with many loyal clients. 

This makes me happy as I know that I, in theory, could do just as much in the next eight years. 

Another thing that help me are quotes - here are a few that I found on tumblr recently that have empowered me for whatever it was I didn't have much courage to do:

  

 These quotes are stored in my phone to aid me whenever I need them, which has been a lot recently. I feel that a good quote can get you through the hardest of times if you really want it to, you can use it to your full advantage and see things in new lights.

 With aspirations to excel at something that I love in the future I am using these quotes now to start making steps towards it. At the moment I have the motivation, all I need now is the destination for where I want to be.

Natasha

HABITS

Habits are easily instilled in us as human beings as we thrive off of routine. Some habits that I find particularly infuriating are things that I catch myself doing, for instance: moving objects instead of tidying them away, isn't the mess just collecting somewhere else? 

I am someone who does this quite a lot, generally in situations in which I am anxious as I have discovered that this is where my habits seem to form.

Another habit of mine is 'subconscious face scratching' or Dermatillomania. This all started when I started reading as I used it as a way to stay in the other world that the writer had created and that I am imagining. 
I have suffered with aggressive spot break outs on my face and body for as long as I can remember and obviously never liked that fact. Since then I had developed a habit of consciously picking at my face whenever I encountered a mirror and could see my problematic areas. After gaining this as a habit it became a security thing, like how some people have a special blanket or others suck their thumb, I would pick at my face.

Since then I have found my hands wondering up to and around my face seeing if there is anything new, I think as a way to help soothe any anxiety and to help me concentrate on what ever I was doing. This is surprisingly, one of the hardest habits for me to break as it aids me in so many situations that I find myself in day-to-day. 

I have high hopes of being able to free myself of both of these habits as they both cause me great frustration after the fact. I constantly research different ways to over come strong habits and have yet not had much luck however, I have found that exercising more and improving my eating habits - not eating as much high-sugar-content foods and eating more regularly - has vastly improved not only my wants to pick at my skin but also my need to.

Natasha

WHAT I WANT FROM THE FUTURE

I have quite the obsession with planning. I have two to three detailed life plans depending on where I want the wind to take me but mostly they all include the same things. Things such as what I want to do with my life. There are many things that I would like to accomplish in the next few years.


Here are a few of them:

1. Smile and laugh more - Being only 17 I have had my fair share of teenage depression and traumatic experiences. This stops here!

2. To become more knowledgeable - There are so many things that I want to learn about. At the moment I am working through a basic child and adolescent counselling course, some other things that I want to know more about are things like Event Management and Interior Design.

3. Learn how to best use my Polaroid camera - I bought myself a fujifilm instax mini for my birthday this year however I'm not a brilliant photographer so the photos that I have taken with it so far are too over-exposed, which is annoying and expensive!

   (Maria and I - 05/07/2014)

4. To meet new people - This could mean meeting the friends of my current friends or it could be discovering new people for myself. 

5. Learn how to budget - I'm the kind of person who can get through my pay packet in a few hours - this shall be no more.

6. Get strong - I am quite the fragile person when it comes to emotions. I don't think I have watched a film in the past 4-5 years in which I haven't cried a minimum of 3 times. Its a wonder that my eyes can still produce tears!

7. Start enjoying driving - I started learning to drive at the end of June of this year (2014) but haven't really enjoyed it, it's quite overwhelming that I thought I could learn, take my tests and pass in less than six months! Even with four months left, I have little faith. I guess I will just have to practice, practice, practice.

8. TRAVEL - There are many, many places that I would like to see with my own eyes. I want to start by seeing more of England (specifically Brighton and Wales).

(Myself - with the white toe nails - and two of my friends' feet on Bournemouth's beach)

9. At least once, properly tidy my room without getting distracted... 

10. I want this list to grow with me, I do not plan on having the same goals in 5 years as I do now!

Let me know if there is anything that you want to achieve!

Natasha