Just Lozzy

One of my 2021 resolutions was to try and make environmentally conscious decisions and this has started with my period. The stats regarding period product waste in landfill was something I just couldn't ignore.  "Did you know that conventional sanitary pads contain a high percentage of plastic? One estimate is that pads are made of  up to 90% plastic  – another is that a pack of menstrual pads is  equivalent to 4 plastic bags"  ( Friends of the Earth ). "The average person who menstruates throws away  up to 200 kg of menstrual products  in their lifetime"  ( Friends of the Earth ). Image by  PatriciaMoraleda  from  Pixabay This really made me think about the waste that I was producing each and every month.   I decided it was time for me to try something more environmentally friendly and I decided that I would try menstrual cups. Now don't get me wrong, the idea made me nervous. I had heard horr or stories of leakage, cramp...

2020 has been ... a year! I for one, and I'm sure like most of you, are very pleased to say goodbye to 2020. Its been a challenging year for all with illness, job losses and cancelled plans. Lockdowns, boredom and worry. But its also been a year for growth, time and space. I for one have cherished these things.  I have seen quite a few posts popping up on my social media accounts talking of the mass cancellation of new years resolutions. About giving yourself a break and space to start 2021 slowly. I completely agree, 2020 has been a hard year and there is no point setting resolutions if they bring you more stress than good. However, I love making my resolutions each year. I enjoy focussing on what I have achieved and what I want to carry forward into the next year. I enjoy reflecting and looking at my 'bigger' life goals.  This last year has been difficult and the next seems so uncertain. Usually I would be looking forward to travelling more and meeting up with family and ...

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!  With new years quickly approaching I have decided that THIS is THE YEAR i'm going to read a book a month. So without further or do, here are my 12 reads for 2021 (subject to change...).  The Magpie Society - One for Sorrow by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch  This novel is the first in a series set at an elite boarding school. The story follows two students after the findings of a body at the students summer party. They are both drawn together through the unravelling mystery of the girls murder. I always enjoy a good murder mystery and I am looking forward to the twists this will bring.    Mindfulness - A practical guide for finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penmann  Back of the book reads " Mindfulness reveals the secrets of lifelong happiness and details a unique programme developed by Oxford University psychologist Professor Mark Williams with colleagues around the world." I first read this book ...

I thought I would give an introduction to my teacher training experience thus far for those of you that are thinking of going into the profession. I am currently training to be a secondary school science teacher in the UK and I am training through the university route. I have currently been training for 3 months and I have picked up some tips to share before you dive right into your training.  Get that school experience prior to starting the course. I worked as a teaching assistant for a year before starting my training and it has been invaluable. There is no way I could have trained comfortably this year without it. So many things that you learn as a TA stand you in great steads for starting your training. From knowing acronyms to computer programmes, from juggling your time to dealing with behavioural problems.  Be prepared for those 12 hour days. Everyone says its hard and they are right. The 12 hour days really do knock it out of you. I usually get up at 5am to start worki...

Autumn is well and truly upon us and I couldn't be happier about it. Windier, rainier days are starting and the evenings are feeling ever darker and cosier. The tree outside my window is speckled with amber leaves. The resident fox seems to blend in with the foliage. Squirrels scurry away the left over nuts. Robins chirp a little louder.                                                                                                                                                                                 I really want to make the most of the se...

The endless scroll. The dragging of your thumb across your screen. The perfect bodies of models sipping cocktails on instagram, the opinions blasted out across twitter. Images or videos you look at and then scroll past, seemingly unaffected by their content. But what does this do for your state of mind? I am guilty of this. Scrolling through instagram or tiktok and suddenly an hour has past and I don't know where that time has gone. I feel tired and down compared to when I first interacted with my social media accounts and it appears that I am not alone.  It has been found that social media is more addictive than smoking and alcohol. Spending more than 2 hours on social media a day, has a poor impact on your mental health. With the average person spending more than 2 hours on their phones a day, this becomes a concern.  Social media effects our self esteem when we compare our lives or bodies to others. The effect of FOMO (Fear of missing out) can make us feel inadequate. ...

It has been quite a while since I have written a blog post and quite a lot has happened in the world. I lost my job due to the pandemic and therefore have had a lot of time on my hands to reflect and reset but also feel quite bored. The first few weeks of lockdown was pretty nice. It was nice to be able to pick up hobbies I had neglected and slow down my pace of life. However, after that, I found it hard. My mental health took a huge hit due to my lack of routine and feeling lost without the purpose I felt work gave me. Fast forward a couple of months and it feels a little like a transformation. Like I was in the middle of the ocean during a storm. I didn’t know which way to sail, I couldn’t see the end, I didn’t know how long it would last. I feel much more content now. I think lockdown forced me to get to know my thoughts that I usually masked with keeping busy. It was uncomfortable but im glad it happened. On a lighter note, I thought I would share with you what I have been l...

Hello 2018! I don’t know how this year went so fast but when I look back at everything that happened this year its seems like I would have needed years to get it all sorted! I went on a holiday to Majorca and up to the lake and peak districts, I passed my driving theory, passed second year uni, did lots of exams and coursework, went on a holiday with my boyfriend to Exmoor, did a placement at an ecology consultancy, started this blog, had field trips with my friends and generally just crammed the year full of things! I hope you all had a great 2017 and a great time celebrating new years. I spent the evening with my boyfriend and his parents and savage cat watching tv, playing board games and eating and drinking the night away. Now back it up a week and it was the joys of Christmas and I thought I would share on this blog post some of the gifts I was lucky enough to receive as some may spark some ideas for using up those gift cards or money received as present’s oooooor if yo...

Happy Monday everyone! Only 2 weeks until Christmas! How crazy is that. Finished uni this week and just yeeeeeeesssssssss! As promised here are my homemade Christmas cards that I made my family and boyfriend this year! I have always really enjoyed crafting but have never really got into painting. My paintings have always previously looked like a 5 year old had done it but none the less I thought that I would give it a try as a nice thoughtful thing to do for my family over just buying cards. I found most of these inspirations online and therefore cannot claim credit for creativity as I mostly just copied their designs but I am quite pleased with how they turned out! I used water colour paints and art paper that I taped to a board to try and lesson the warping due to the water. I found that starting off with a very light sketch helped me to keep the colours where I wanted them! Also building the painting up by letting it dry between layers helped me to build them up into what ...

Hello everyone, Welcome back to my blog. Today’s going to be a collection of the most annoying and strange things that have happened with my travelling life as a commuter student. Most of it is me having a rant..what changes. But before that let’s recap the week.  Had an okay week this week. Mostly was just finishing off a project and trying to stay motivated with my studies but also got to see the beautiful Christmas lights out and about :) . Also went to visit my boyfriend this weekend and it was so so lovely to have a weekend off and to catch up with him. Spent the weekend shopping for Christmas presents and just enjoying each others company. Also went to a pub for a couple of drinks Saturday afternoon as a nice little date. Picked up a new pair of glasses today and it feels like the last few month of eye sight have been a lie… THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD LOOKS LIKE. Just wrapped all my Christmas presents to the smooth voice of Michael Buble…sigh.. And here we are at Monday ...

Another week gone, where are you going November?!?!? How have your weeks been? Mine was a rollercoaster of a week. It started with a sickie bug that made me feel quite poorly and I watched The nightmare before Christmas which was very very strange. I don’t know what I thought of it to be honest…. The rest of the week I was a bit of a stress head with 3 projects to hand in. But im happy to report that I managed to get them all in… PHEW. At the weekend I went to get my eyes tested and guess what… another few notches blinder than I was before so yay for me and my useless eyeballs. But I did go out for a chai latte and cake with my parents which was really lovely. And here we be back at Monday again. Todays been a long day of study and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share with you my study day/ tips. 1)       Start the day off right! I went for a walk this morning and found that moving my body and getting some fresh air put me...