….and relax.

When I have the luxury of time for a massage I without fail, go for the deep tissue / sports variety because my body is usually a bit of a mess from working out, riding and lifting/playing with the kids followed by not giving myself a proper warm-down, naughty I know.

But last week I had the ultimate relaxing experience with my very first aromatherapy massage.  I never knew I could feel that relaxed with a beautiful blend of aromas while having a much more gentle (and much less painful) massage.  I slept like a log that night and woke up feeling extremely relaxed and reenergised which felt amazing.

Rachel blended up some essential oils to use on me once she’d done my consolation.  I’d been a tad run down with a teething baby, a poorly toddler and quite a sick husband so we settled on Basil, Patchouli and Frankincense. These were chosen because they are used to relieve tension due to an overtired mind, boost the immune system and to deeply moisturise my skin. The blend worked perfectly as I really did feel fantastic the next day.  Would I go back for more? Definitely!

Rachel Boddington: 07977 452631

aromatherapybyrachel@gmail.com

Instagram: @aromatherapybyrachel

Facebook: Aromatherapy By Rachel 

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10 m o n t h s

Hello!  How are you?  Sorry its been a while…. I’ve been busy….

I am nearly 10 months into parenthood with two kiddies and oh my, how life has changed.  I thought it was difficult organising things with just the one child, but with two?  Well, it just takes it to a whole new level.

I miss blogging.  Genuinely, I really do.  I used to get three hours a day, five days a week to get done what needed to be done with just the one child (nap times), so I would clean, tidy, cook, work, washing up, sterilising, washing, workout, blog, oh – and eat… And my husband would have weekends off for family time, trips and I would always scoot off to the lake to coach and also ride myself.  I didn’t realise that I actually had it pretty easy in the grand scheme of things.  Especially when I was finally able to afford childcare, a whole three days a week to myself!!!!  Well to work, but still, its amazing to not be mentally in charge of a small person.

Then I had numero two.  Jesus christ.

I knew I was in for sleepless nights, feeds every two hours, dirty nappies 1000 times a day, and crying for unknown reasons etc.  But you forget, or your brain makes you forget about the early days, or maybe you’re in such a hallucinative state that your mind can’t actually record whats going on.  Who knows, but what I do know is that I have never, EVER been that tired in all my life.

Now my ‘free’ time, I say this in inverted commas because I pay a lot for that free time – most of what I earn goes on that ‘free’ time, has been dwindled down to between two to three hours a day, two times a week.  So thats just six hours to get everything that needs doing, done.  I’m not going to lie, somethings have just had to go, like blogging, sniff sniff.  The house gets cleaned on a two or three week rotation at the moment, the food shop is hit or miss and the washing bin is NEVER empty – who would have thought one tiny extra being could create THAT much dirty laundry??

However in just three weeks time, my little baby is starting nursery.  Its a mixed emotion, I’m definitely going to cry when I drop him off the first 20 times, but these will be mixed with tears of joy.  Joy of freedoooooom!!

What will I do with a whole day and a half of child free time?

Well, work obviously otherwise I won’t be able to keep the kids in said nursery for very long.  Deal with the house stuff, very boring.  But the best bit is I’m dedicating a slot of time for riding.  I should feel guilty about this but I don’t, its what I love doing and it keeps me sane and happy.. and we know the saying – a happy wife equals a happy life.  So its just better for everyone around me if I take a couple of hours a week for myself and get some laps in.

Roll on April so I can shreeeeeeeed!! 

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New Year | New Start

12548837_993710320665571_9084002337948319693_nSo we’re 11 days into the new year, hows it going?  I had every intention (like most) to kick start the new year in a big way.  More riding, more working out, more healthy eating, less wine (actually that was never on the list, come on), but come January 1st did it happen?  

My Christmas was a little weird this year, short version – the husband was working every hour imaginable, the toddler was sick and nearly admitted to hospital on Christmas day, and the weather was a little bit shit.

However, I did have some fabulous times thank god!  Drunk mums Christmas Party, golf with the family, Brothers birthday diner, Dads birthday dinner, Church.. I always go to church at Christmas, how can you not love belting out a bit of ‘O come, all ye faithful’?  Good times on NYE with even a firework display courtesy of our neighbours!

So what to do when stuck in the house with baby and a sick toddler when there is NOTHING on and the weathers not ideal?  Well I did a lot of working out thats for sure, there you go kids – have a bit of telly tubbies (yes yes, thats back invading out TV’s) so mum can get moving.

Ahhhh nursery has started again and life has returned to normal which is great.  Its taken me a week to get into the things I wanted to start but I’m not being hard on myself because then I’d feel worse, and I need to feel happy that I’ve achieved something, even if it is only a 15 min workout, its better than nothing.

What do I want to achieve this year….?

1. Stop swearing around my kids because its started to bite me in the ass.

2. Enjoy my kids more, sounds stupid but they’ll be in school before I know it (freeeeeeeeedooooommmmm!!!!) and they won’t want to talk to me or cuddle me anymore. Sniff sniff… (this actually makes me sad). 

3. Spend more time getting out and about as a family now we’re through the horrible new born stage.

4. Wakeboard.  A lot.  As much as possible.  I’ve got a lot of ground to cover to make up for lost time (not that having babies is lost time, but, you know).

5. More trips!  Preferably with wake or waves… UK, abroad.. again, just getting out there with the fam.

6. Bikini body.  Yes I want it back.  I want to be in better shape than ever to keep me strong and healthy so I can look after my family, ride as much as possible and be happy in general.

7. House proud.  If you know me then you’ll know I’m a bit of a Monica when it comes to cleaning.  What I’ve learnt with two kids is that you can’t keep the house up to standard unless you don’t sit down.  Ever.  So obviously I’ll still keep on top of the cleaning but I can’t worry that its not show home worthy every second of every waking day.

8. More adventurous with cooking.  We have our standard weekly menu that we get incredibly bored with, but trying to think about something new and exciting to cook has just not been on the cards.  But as the baby gets older, I’ll be able to try and cook something new every couple of weeks.  Hopefully.  And M&Ss meal for two don’t count!

9. Wake work.  Who doesn’t love a bit of wake work?  From April I will have a whole day and a half a week to myself!!!!!  Heaven!  But I’ll be filling this with coaching/shooting/filming/blogging etc.. 

10. Comps.  I only did a handful of comps last year due to new baby, but I want to get involved with as many as my time will allow this year!  

So there you have it, I’ve shared my plans for 2016!  I read somewhere that if you talk about your goals you’re more likely to achieve them… we’ll see how that goes ey.. ?

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