Life Update – May 2022

It’s been a while since I did a big life update so thought it would be a good time to sit down and catch up on everything that has been going on with us lately. 

We moved house 

Back in January we finally said goodbye to our home in Sandwell and moved 14 miles up the motorway to Hednesford, Staffordshire. It was a very stressful move. We exchanged contracts and completed the deal on the same day. Not for the faint hearted, it was all a bit stressful but we got there in the end. Our family were amazing and helped us stay sane on moving day and packed up their cars with all the stuff that wouldn’t fit on the removal van. I’ve blogged all about our move and will publish this one day when I get the chance to finish it off but we are happy and loving life in Staffordshire. 

The boys moved schools 

As with moving to a new county, we had to say a sad goodbye to the boys schools and all their teachers and friends. It was really sad and I cried for about 2 weeks as they had made some incredible friends there. The boys schools were both brilliant and totally spoilt them on their last day. We had done our prep work and managed to get the boys into a new village school near our new home. Unfortunately, the local primary school in our catchment area was completely full and didn’t have space for them so we had to look further afield. Their new school is lovely, it’s small and has a lovely community feel to it. Both the boys have settled in well and have made friends in their year groups. 

Freddie got his Reception place confirmed

Prior to moving house, we had applied for Freddie’s reception place at Olly’s old school. But then we sold the house and moved and we needed to apply to Olly’s new school (Freddie’s current nursery school) for his Reception place. It was a big risk applying for a school out of catchment and with a new admissions team especially as we moved after the mid-January cut application deadline. But thankfully, all the stars aligned and Freddie will be joining Olly in Primary School in September. Hurrah! 

Lots of changes in our new home 

Our new home is beautiful. It’s got plenty of space for us all and the boys have their own bedrooms. I currently use the fourth bedroom as my home office for all my On The Nice List Designs work and we have already done so much to the house to make it our own. We have replaced the downstairs toilet and sink, carpeted the entire upstairs and made the bedrooms cosy and comfortable. My fantastic Brothers-in-law have boarded out our loft space so we can store Christmas decorations and all sorts up in the loft and we have replaced the boiler. 

Our next major plan is to reconfigure the layout downstairs and create our kitchen diner. We want to create a cosy living room for movie nights and family time. We have replaced the fireplace which was a bit of a mission. We had to remove the old brick fireplace and sand the walls down ready for the new one. My sister and husband did a great job of it and the new one looks brilliant so far. 

Our kitchen diner project is starting next week. We are having to remove a wall and create a new doorway into the living room. We want to box off the living room and create a hallway too. We want to keep the heat in the living room during the winter as currently as it is so exposed, the heat escapes upstairs and downstairs is really cold. 

It’s going to be a big job and there is going to be more dust everywhere. But it will be worth it when it is done and we have a working oven and dishwasher, and of course, a lovely family diner to sit in and enjoy mealtimes with the boys. 

Taking control of my health 

Like many people, the last few years have been quite hard. We had the pandemic which caused a lot of stress and anxiety and inevitably, I gained weight. In January this year, I started a Weight Management Plan with the 1:1 diet by Cambridge Weight Plan and so far, I have lost over 50lb in 15 weeks. It’s really helped me to regain some control of my health. Previously, I was experiencing lots of pain and I was desperately unhappy with my weight. Thankfully, my consultant Sarah has helped me start on plan and the team at the 1:1 diet by Cambridge Weight Plan are brilliant. Check out my instagram for more of my progress pics and updates on this collaboration. 

We stayed in Devon 

Over Easter we had a lovely break away to Appledore in Devon. It was our booked holiday from 2021 to celebrate my husband’s 40th birthday which obviously got postponed and rebooked. It was a lovely holiday with my husband’s family and the boys had a brilliant week with their Grandparents and Uncles. We made sandcastles on the beach, explored some of the coastal villages and just had a really nice time. We even visited The Big Sheep which the boys loved and I will share more about it in a later blog post. 

It’s been a whirlwind over the last five months but it’s been a good whirlwind! Change happens and it can be good for everyone!