Motivational Monday - Quotes

Hey Internet Friends!
I haven't done a Motivational Monday in a while and so today I though I'd do an artist based one, full of quotes from lots of artists! Enjoy and stay motivated.

Love and Hugs,
1 More Blogger xox

Thoughtful Thursday - Relationships

Hey Internet Friends,

Today I thought I'd talk abut relationships with you all. Over the years I've been through a handful of relationships and so I thought I'd share what I believe to be good and bad things about them and the people involved.

Bad:
Okay, so first of all, I find a controlling relationship to be bad. If you don't have the freedom to be yourself then it's not a good place for you. Another factor of a bad relationship is if it's full of neglect. If you don't communicate or spend time together, then what's the point? Relationship's are meant to be two people wanting to be together for as long as possible. It's the same as if the relationship is very one sided, if one of you is making all the effort and the other is doing nothing at all, the one making all the effort is going to feel neglected and fed up of being the only one trying. This leads to loads of arguments which just end up in the 'blame game', where no one will accept that they've done wrong and so it carries on for ages. The final bad thing in a relationship is lies. You should never lie to your partner (unless you're trying to surprise them) as they will only lose trust in you and it won't last very long.

Good:
A good relationship, to me, is one that's full of love and care; one where you can just be yourself and feel comfortable with your partner. I always find it's good if you can talk about anything and everything; tell each other your worries and problems and work at solving them together. A good relationship is about finding someone you really connect with, despite having differences. You don't have to love the same things, but it's nice if you always find time to talk to each other about the things you enjoy. Naturally, there will occasionally be problems but in a good relationship, you'll always manage to work together to sort everything out.

Currently I'm in a relationship and I honestly couldn't be happier. He treats me like a queen. On Valentine's Day he gave me a gorgeous necklace and bracelet, as well as hand warmers and a box of chocolates. He's just perfect, he always knows when somethings wrong and always cheers me up. He knows when to just hold me and tell me everything's going to be okay when I'm upset. So far, we haven't had any problems as there's just so much love and care between us. I can just be myself around him and talk about absolutely anything.

So, that's what I have to say about relationships. Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think are good and bad things that involve relationships.

Love and Hugs,
1 More Blogger xox

Brownie Recipe

Hi Internet Friends,
Today I thought I'd post a recipe which was shown to me by my lovely best friend (check out her blog here).

Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 75g light brown/muscovado sugar
• 125g chocolate
• 1tbsp golden syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 100g plain flour
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• 2tbsp cocoa powder

Method:
1) Heat the oven to 180 degrees C/Fan 160 degrees C/gas mark 4 and grease and line a tin.
2) Place the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, chocolate and golden syrup in a pan and melt gently on a low heat until smooth and lump free.
3) Remove the pan from the heat
4) Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until light and frothy.
5) Add the eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and cocoa powder to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.
6) Put the mix into the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.

The brownies are absolutely amazing and are fairly simple to make. Pair them with ice-cream while they're hot or just enjoy them as they are.

Love and Hugs,
1 More Blogger xox

Hi Internet Friends!

I was thinking earlier last month about what topics would make a good Thoughtful Thursday. I like to sometimes look at topics that people have very conflicting views about; this post is about gender equality.

Why should someone be treated differently die to their gender? Why do we associate certain jobs with a certain gender, why does sexism still exist?

Just some of the things that come to mind when I think about ended equality.

Feminism: "A range of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment." * I am a feminist. Not because I think women are better than men, but because I think people should be treated equally, regardless of their gender, race, sexuality or age.

I mean, come on. It's 2016. Why are people so wrapped up in sticking to traditional gender specific roles? If you want to do something, regardless of your gender, you should be able to do it. We don't choose what gender we're born as. We didn't choose to not be 'suitable' for a certain job just because of our gender. It's ridiculous. Why should it matter?

I hope you enjoyed, let me know your opinions either by commenting or via social media (links in the contact me page).

Love and Hugs,

1 More Blogger xox

* Disclaimer: the feminism definition is not my own, all credits and rights go to the original author [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism]

Valentine's Gift Ideas

Hi Internet Friends!

February. The month of Valentine's Day. Some love it, some loath it. If you're in need of some gift ideas for your loved one, then you're in the right place.

First of all, traditional gifts. These are the ones that loads of people buy but there's clearly a reason for this. They are all cute. You could buy your loved one their favourite chocolate or flowers. You could buy them a cute teddy or a nice photo frame and insert a picture of you and them in it. A finally traditional idea is, if you have been with your partner for a long time, you may want to propose! Valentine's is always a perfect day to do this.

Next, we have useful gifts. If you don't feel like being too soppy, then useful gifts are perfect for you. You could buy them a phone case it headphones or maybe even a jewellery holder. Something functional that they can actually use and will last a while so they have a constant reminder of you.

Finally, unique gifts are always a good idea. One thing you could do is bake them their favourite meal or snack (like cookies). It's a simple way to show how much you care. Other unique gifts are those that mean something to you both. You could buy an item of jewellery and get your names engraved on it, buy a personalised mug or maybe even a plaque with your names on. I hope this post has inspired some of you and helped you work out what you're going to buy your Valentine this year.

Love and Hugs,

1 More Blogger xox