Finding happiness

My new living room!

I think one way to tell how happy I am is looking at the amount of photos on my laptop. I can't believe it's been just over a month since I moved back to Manchester. There's over 500 photos I've saved since we returned to the north and it's full of happy memories; reunions with friends, trips to the christmas markets, cocktails, shopping and meeting kitties!

Our new house!

Awesome cocktail

There's been so much joy in my life this month that I literally can't stop smiling. And that is a pretty amazing thing for someone with RBF (resting bitch face). Topher and I have a big house only 10 minutes from my new job (take that 2 hour commute!) and are close to all our friends. Even though we are so incredibly skint and the majority of my savings have gone, not to mention all the bad luck we've had recently, I've never been happier. 

You seriously need to play this game!

I always win at Monopoly. 

It's so nice to actually have evenings to use. Being so close to work, I'm home by 5.20pm. I can cook, blog, hang out with Topher and I finally feel awake. I'm incredibly grateful that we've been given the chance to start again and even though there will be tough times, there is so much for us to look forward to! Seriously, I can start with the fact that Christmas is in a week as well as us jetting off to Florida on Boxing Day! I can't wait. 

Piccolinos in Bramhall

Claire's cat Dagda

Claire's cat Leo

Claire and the cat puddle that is Leo

I could wonder what it would have been like if we hadn't moved to London and Peterborough. Well, I would still have savings for a start! But you've got to look at is as an adventure. I can now say that I've lived in London and that helped me realise that Manchester is where my happiness is. No regrets.

Topher with his birthday t-shirt I got him

 Me and my new team at work

 Here's to another month of happiness!

A tale of three cities

Once again, I find myself surrounded by boxes asking myself "How did I get here". True to my name (blog name that is) I have moved again. For the 24th time? I'm not entirely sure - I seem to have misplaced the handy list I had.

So this year has been a bit mad to say the least. I would say that this is the first time I have lived in three different cities in a single year, but I would be lying. But I can finally say I have found my happy place. Manchester. The beautiful north west, rain and all. Yes I've come full circle.

London though lovely, was completely not for me. I don't know whether it was the overcrowded streets (not to mention overcrowded everything else), the people or the fact that it was so expensive that we couldn't enjoy the fun entertainment but we learned a lesson. London was just too big for us.

Now, to get all Goldilocks on you. The trouble with Peterborough is that it was just too damn small. Though I did like being able to walk into countryside in ten minutes, I didn't enjoy being able to walk across the city in no time at all. You can't really consider it as a city - the cathedral makes it one but there just wasn't enough things to do for us. Not that I was awake long enough to do them. I was being quickly drained from commuting; both physically and financially. Enough was enough.

Topher and I had a list of pros and cons to where we should live and there were plenty of points on each list, but in the end we had to go with our hearts. Manchester is where we belong. He's born and bred there and I spent 7 years there which is pretty impressive for me!
Manchester is home. It's a large, but not too large city with plenty to do. Location is ideal for work and it's close to family and friends. I love it. So that's us settled I think, at least for now. Next job in 2015 is finding the perfect home to buy! I can never stay still for long, can I?

It's the little things

When life isn't always going the way you want it to go, I find looking at the little things makes me feel a lot better. Whether it's a cup of tea or a youtube video of a cat doing something silly. Preferably both at the same time. 

This week, I finally got new sheets. This may seem like something completely insignificant to you, but to me it's pretty damn awesome. I haven't had new bed sheets since uni and Topher's and my combined collection is pretty pathetic. Our pillow cases are completely mis-matched - and not in an ironic hipster way either - and our sheets have seen better days. So it was time!

On a budget, I headed to Primark and found something that would suit both of us. Maps!

I love it!

Also, we have been looking for a decent chest of drawers that wouldn't break the bank and we finally found one. It was at a car boot, brand new pine chest of drawers for the sum of ten english pounds. I couldn't say no, though Topher was a bit reluctant when it started raining! Still, it was worth it.

What's the little thing that's made you smile this week?

Dreams etc.

Right, I'm going to get a bit serious on you. No no, don't run away. I'm also going to distract you with pretty pictures (I love Pinterest).

So, I find it hard to understand why so many people these days are telling me that it's ok to be in a career that you hate. Thanks to the economy at the moment, I see people giving up on their dreams in order to survive. Which in these times is quite necessary, but I remain optimistic for the long run. It's just convincing other people that they don't have to give up and remain in a job they hate forever. 

If you can't do this at work, then compromise for now and put this into practise in your life outside of work.

Source

Now I'm not saying that you should go and quit your day job in order to find your perfect one because that's just unrealistic. And you really need to eat. I'm talking about having the faith in yourself to work towards your dream career whatever it may be. 

As a university graduate, it is realistic to go and get any job to start off in the working world and get some money in the kitty. This is coming from a girl who after completing her masters, spent a year picking up shoes off the floor in a very busy shoe department. Don't be a snob. Don't be afraid to get on your hands and knees to tidy up other peoples messes (but do be afraid of picking up shoes that are still warm from being tried on *shudders*). But the way to keep yourself going is to know that it will get better one day as long as you work hard. 

Remember when the shops were full of glittery shoes? This is what my hands looked like during that time. 

Source (where I found it - not original source)

Once you have your "any job", then you have the security to begin building up your experience and searching for something that makes you happy. I see too many people sticking where they are just because they don't believe in themselves or think that it's normal to not enjoy your job. That's why when I was looking for another job, I refused to look in the same sector. Why replace one horrible job for another? I stuck it out at my current one even though I wasn't happy until something better came along, which it eventually did. 

After a few months of getting on the first step of my chosen career, I quickly realised I was completely wrong. It isn't for me at all. But I'm sticking it out. Yes, this isn't what I want to do long term, but I had to make this mistake in order to realise it was a mistake. I'm learning a lot about a different side of the industry which will give me a stronger understanding and will eventually lead me to something that will make me happy. It gave me the courage to start this blog in order to give myself a creative outlet so I'm very thankful for my current job. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Pretty much sums up how I feel at work at the moment!

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Don't even worry if you don't know what you want to do, just do what I'm doing: eliminating what I definitely don't want to do first! All I know is that I want to do something creative, we'll see what it will be exactly. Just have faith in yourself and be as patient as a saint (or a retail employee). 

Of course, even your dream job will have it's downsides - but as long it's something that when looking at the big picture makes you happy then that's all that counts. No job or career is perfect, you just need to make sure that the positives outweigh the negatives.   

Now that I've come full circle, I will end by saying be realistic and get a bill paying job. But don't forget about your dreams. 

I think this sums it up perfectly.

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Rambling over from me and over to you. Tell me, are you happy with your career direction at the moment? Any thoughts on my ramblings?