Buying A House As First-Time Buyers - Part 1

Photo by Ali & Laura Photography

Well, hello! It's been an age since I last looked at or posted on my blog, but I'm glad that I've kept it up & running because I want to share about our experience of buying a house as first-time buyers. It has been an experience, to put it lightly!

Looking Forward

I have a question for you...

Do you think it's important to have something to look forward to?

 To have something to fix your eyes on, to strive towards, 

to make working long, hard days worth it?

David & I talk about it pretty often, the need to have something there 

that we're looking forward to, to make everyday life worth it,

to make working opposite shifts to each other worth it.

7 Things I Love About December

Last year on the 1st of December I wrote this post all about the things I was looking forward to in December, like my birthday, a trip to Edinburgh with my bestie and my 3 year anniversary with David, among other more Christmassy things. 

So this year, when I sat down to write this post for the 1st of December, I figured I would do something along the same lines because it's fun, but try & change it up a wee bit from last year, while still covering all of the things that I love about December and the run up to Christmas!

So, here we go!

Rediscovering Beauty with Itty Bitty Book Co.

I find that looking for inspiration can be difficult, even in this world that is saturated with timelines and Pinterest boards filled to the brim with quotes and slogans all designed 

 to keep us inspired & motivated & encouraged.

But, a lot of the time I find that those inspirational quotes fall a little bit flat.

There are too many contradictory quotes on the same boards, 

too many that actually manage to make me feel a little inferior,

a little bit less, if I don't want to #hustle or #girlboss it all the time.

And I'm pretty sure that is the opposite of their purpose!

But I do know how powerful true inspirational quotes can be, how much motivation, positivity, confidence & encouragement they can bring out in each of us, and that is why I want to introduce to you today the Itty Bitty Book Co.  

5 Tips For A Productive Job Search

Looking for a job can be one of the most soul-destroying, mood-shattering 

things on this planet, and it's made even worse if you're unemployed and looking for a job. 

Sometimes it feels hopeless,

it feels pointless, you feel like you're not good enough, or like you're never going to get any job, nevermind one that you actually like!

I know I'm not the only person who feels like this.

Travelling SE Asia // A Little Life Update!

Hey, how's it going?!

As it's taking way longer than it should for me to keep you guys updated on our travels, I thought I'd interrupt standard proceedings with a little rambling life update, as the title suggests, of where we are, how we're feeling and so on!

Friday Faves: 5th February 2016

This week has been a relatively quiet one. It's that week of the month where all of my bills come out in one fell swoop and leave my bank account feeling barren and neglected and frighteningly low figures. Which, you know, isn't the best situation to be in considering I leave for SE Asia in like 3 weeks! So here's to saving like a madwoman for the next few weeks!

Friday Faves: 29th January 2016

This Friday sees the beginning of Friday Faves, a new weekly roundup here on Simply Courageous! I actually really enjoyed doing these a couple of months ago but as always life got a bit in the way and my weekly roundup ended up discarded and forgotten!

25 Things I've Learnt In 25 Years!

Hi

As I turned 25 (I know...!) on Saturday, I thought I would do a round-up post of all the random, wise, profound & silly little things I've learnt about myself in the last quarter of a century.

'Tis The Season!

Happy 1st of December!

It's officially one of my favourite and happiest months of the year, and I couldn't be more excited by what's in store! So many exciting things to look forward to!

This Week: 5 Things

Today is the 7th, which means the first week of October is officially over!! Autumn excitement and pumpkin everything have been all over the internet for a good few weeks now, and it doesn't seem to be going away, which is totally fine by me. I love everything to do with Autumn, so seeing it pretty much taking over makes me so happy!

My Top 7 Autumn Activities!

I woke up this morning at 6am and it was still pitch black outside. Usually the sky is already lightening and the sun is coming up, and if it's a clear morning there are a pretty array of colours in the sunrise. It makes getting out of bed so much easier.

This Week: 4 Things

This weeks Sunday post is going up a tad later than usual! Life ran away from me a bit quickly this weekend, and it completely skipped my mind! It's no big deal though, you can still enjoy my ramblings on a Monday morning :)

This Week: 5 Things

Bank Holiday Monday
It's always so nice to have an extra day tagged onto your weekend, isn't it? That one day makes it feel so much longer than it actually is, and in turn the next week is only a 4-day week!

What Does September Mean To You?

This is the month of chilly, crisp sunshine, a multitude of change and new types of adventures. It’s the month of warm colours and cosy clothes, of jumpers and cuddly cardigans, of mugs of tea and coffee to heat cold hands. I love that going for walks always feel that little bit more special when you’re wrapped up in a coat and scarf in a bid to keep the bite of not-quite-frosty-yet wind away and you watch the leaves begin to change.

This Week: 4 Things

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
I bought this book from Easons when David & I were down in Dublin for the day last Friday, I started reading it on Monday, during my breaks in work, and I had it finished on Wednesday!

#WeBlogSummer: 10 Things I've Learnt This Summer

The incredible view of Carlingford Lough from Cloughmore Stone.

This weeks #WeBlogSummer post is going up a teensy bit later than usual. Like, 3 full days late. Apologies! Last week I was pretty organised, I planned and scheduled 2 posts to go live while I was away camping (you check those out here and here if you're interested!). I was so proud of myself, because I am notoriously unorganised when it comes to posting. I don't really have any sort of schedule and posts come and go as I think of them!

This Week: 5 Things

Camping
David and I went away on a camping trip, from Sunday to Thursday of this week and it was absolutely glorious! To be honest I wasn't too keen on going for so long, I kinda thought that 2 nights, 3 at a push, would be more than enough time spent in a tent...after all, when we went to Gosford in May we only camped for 2 nights.

#WeBlogSummer: Trends!

Hello! Welcome to a new week and another #WeBlogSummer post!

I decided to give last weeks post a miss, partly because I was quite busy and didn't get a chance to sit down and write it, and partly because I didn't actually know what to write about!

This Week: 4 Things

My blog re-name & re-design
I'd been talking about doing this for so long, and I finally got round to it on Tuesday night! If you like, you can have a nosey at my introductory post here!