Its back round to that time of year where we are half way through the university year, meaning that I am mid way with my current module. This year, I am doing a introductory module on Childhood psychology, and first impressions are that I am absolutely loving it. However this module has not gone as planned so far.

So I started this module the first time around last year, but I had to take a break as I was having issues because of having to go on strong pain medication; thankfully though I managed to bank my first two essay scores. This means that technically don’t start studying until this week; however I started at the same time as everyone else, wanting to complete the entire unit as normal. Mostly this was because I felt like I have little recollection of last year, so I wanted to start from scratch.

This was going very well, but as you may of picked up, the end of last year did not go to my plan. I had to drop everything for three weeks in order to support my partner in his time of ill health, this did set me back a bit. As always, I then followed by being ill myself, a number of chest infections, the development of pneumonia and then a kidney infection. Still now I am not doing too great, currently remain on antibiotics and even strong pain medication to normal.

Back to study, this means that I am much over a month behind schedule now, and still not in a position to get back to working on it. I am lucky to have a very supportive tutor, but I am not honestly sure how I am going to manage to get caught up.

That being said, I cant wait to pick my study book back up. I am determined that I will get back to it the moment I have my energy back, or at least have some focus. Then in October I will be picking up my next module, I will get this degree finished, I am certain of it.

Are any of you in university? Or studying at college? How are your courses going?

I have always struggled with having incredibly sensitive skin, regularly having reactions to products that I had previously found I was okay with. But thankfully I seem to of found some products that I don’t seem to react to which I use each day to ty and improve my skin.

However that being said, I have found one of my best tricks for not reacting to products is to switch it up everything now and again. So, my three facial products are the same constantly, but I have a range of moisturisers that I rotate around in order to keep my skin healthy but not have come out in reactions to products. Each of these I find are gentle to the skin, while also smelling and feeling absolutely gorgeous. Some are better for the Summer months when you want your legs out, while others are quicker at soaking in making them better to use with trousers, but none of them irritate my very sensitive skin.

The first part of my daily face care is to use a face wipe; my go to ones are the Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes. These are just so soft, and leave your skin feeling so refreshed. I have previously tried several of the Simple face wipes, but I have found some of them can be quite rough; these however aren’t and I find they do wonder for my spots and eczema. They are a touch more expensive than others but well worth it if you ask me.

I then follow this by using the Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner. This just leaves my skin feeling so nice, fresh and just lovely and ready for the day. Generally I will do this both morning and night, but I find this sets me up for the day as I don’t wear makeup, I like to feel that my face is clean and well cared for. I got this on a deal from Ocado, so I actually managed to get hold of 6 months worth for just a £5, each bottle lasts about 2 months, so actually works out very cheap.

Then to finish off my face care routine I use the simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. I have been using this for as long as I can remember, and that should be all I have to say about it. Its super quick for sinking in so doesn’t leave your skin feeling damp, and its not at all oily.

Now onto my selection of moisturisers; my most commonly used one is actually one I borrowed off my Nan once when my eczema got bad, and I have actually found it to be my absolute favourite. Its the Vaseline Intensive Care Essential Healing Lotion, you can pick it up almost anywhere, and it smells absolutely beautiful. Definitely I use this one almost every day, as it drys nice and quick, and is very good at keeping eczema or dry skin away.

My other regular moisturiser is absolutely gorgeous for using in the Summer, especially if I’m going to have my legs out for whatever reason. The Happy Naturals Argan Oil and Sweet Orange Nourishing Body Butter. This is definitely the slightly more expensive option, but oh my is it gorgeous; almost good enough to eat. I got my first tub for my birthday a couple of years ago, and am still now only on my second tub; they really do last quite a long while making them worth the little bit extra money.

Other options that I don’t use as often, but will grab if I get a voucher or they are on a deal, are any of the body butters from The BodyShop or Lush. I love both of these shops so much, but I don’t live close to either, and find that between that and the cost its just not worth my while. But every now and again I will treat myself to a nice one every now and again, if I go into Cambridge with my partner or something.

Generally my have to factors, are that they have to be super soft and sensitive on my skin, and ideally vegan. Although I do not follow a vegan diet, I do not see the need for animal products in skin care. So any suggestions you have that follow this, I would love to hear.

If you would like to hear more about skin care and other beauty related topics from me then please do let me know?

Now this one is a bit different to my most anticipated book releases as not all of these will be coming out this year; some have been out for a while, but they are the ones that I can not wait to my hands on this year whether I get gifted them from family or save the money to treat myself. You may not know that I am much of a gamer, but I have been getting into it more and more, plus my partner is a pretty big gamer so its something we enjoy.

Assassins Creed is my big weakness, I absolutely love these games. Dad got me the new Odyssey game for Christmas which may just be the best one I have played so far. I love how much more open this one is, you have to stumble across the quests and explore the worlds; its just so much more immersive. With being ill I haven’t been feeling up to spending some real time on it for the last few weeks, but I really can not wait. Hopefully in this next week of resting I will get more time to sit and play.

I will most likely treat myself to another Assassins Creed game at some point mid year time; I would love your recommendations as to which one you think I should get? I already have Odyssey, Origins, and have completed Syndicate, would love to hear your thoughts. Currently I play on an Xbox One so ideally would like it to be on that platform.

My other gaming love is The Sims. Since I was a little child I have been playing the original Sims, and played each one since until now I have the Sims 4. I got it in 2017 but didn’t manage to play too much since then, but with Sims 4 Get Famous coming out this year, I will definitely have to get it and get back into it. Have to admit, I was very unsure about getting Sims 4 on the Xbox as I no longer have a gaming computer and it did turn out to be better than I though. However for some reason it just was not the same, I have not found myself getting as into it as I used to with the PC versions. I think it may be because I would play it on my laptop while watching films previously. I currently don’t have any of the add ons, so please let me know which ones you would recommend I invest in?

The final game that I am truly hoping that I get for my birthday this year is the Lego Harry Potter Xbox One games. I used to play these years ago on the old Play Station and up until very recently I believed that they were not available on the Xbox. It was only when me and my partner were looking through the second hand games just after Christmas that I spotted that they have now been remastered for the Xbox. I am so excited, I really do want to pick these games up again, they pretty much were my whole childhood.

So those are the games that I am really looking forward to getting engrossed and obsessed over in 2019. I am so excited for all of these, but I would also love to hear your recommendations?

My partner has said I should try out Red Dead Redemption as he adores that game, so think I will be giving it a go, but any other suggestions are highly appreciated.

What games are you looking forward to playing this year?

I have always been a bad one for playing games on my phone, but in the past year I have become much worse with it, I have been getting highly addicted to games and finding myself completing them in a matter of days. So here I am going to let you know the ones that I have completed and since deleted, one I have played and decided I didn’t overly like, and ones I am currently playing. Hey, if any of you have any long waits coming up in cars or waiting rooms, it may give you some ideas. I do just want to say that I do not pay a single penny on any of the mobile games I play, they really are just something silly to sit and do when I am not feeling too well and just want to keep my brain occupied.

So there are two that I have actually completed all the challenges on and have hence deleted. The first is a game called Slices, a game where you are presented with different sections of a pie, and you have to try and complete as many full pies as possible. Its really quite straight forward, but you’d be surprised how much it has you thinking sometimes. Although you can just play it constantly, after I completely all the challenges, I found I actually got rather bored by it, which is why I then deleted it. However if you like games that get your brain thinking then I would definitely have a look at it.

The next is Shoot n Merge. Again this is a puzzle game a bit like Tetris, you have a moving ceiling and you have blocks with numbers. You have to match numbers together for them to merge into a larger number. This one was super addictive, but again once you have completed the challenges it does start to get to be a bit repetitive and  I lost the enjoyment from it. But it certainly kept me entertained for a month or so.

Now there are only two games that I have played and decided that I didn’t like so deleted. Both I just found got a bit boring and I never was wanting to play. Peak- Brain Training, was a really cool app, but what I hadn’t realised when I downloaded it was that it only lets you play so many games a day. You can get around this by paying, but as I said, I refuse to pay for these games as they are just boredom breakers for me. This was quickly deleted. The other was Snake V Blocks; I wont lie, I deleted this out of frustration. Its so addictive, but once you get stuck on it, it just seems like there is no way around it, so I angrily deleted this one. I would definitely contemplate reuploading this one in the future.

So the games that I am hooked on at the moment are very different although again they are both number based. Picture Cross is amazing, its like a picture jigsaw that you have to use number patterns in order to work out. This again gets really annoying when you get stuck on one, but once you get yourself over it, it is so very addictive. I am in love with this game, and am worried that I am starting to get to the end of the challenges so will ultimately be having to say goodbye to this one soon. If you know of any others that are as good this one then PLEASE let me know.

The other that I am playing on and off is a game called 2 for 2. This is another number game where you have to join numbers up in order for them to merge. Again highly addictive until you get stuck and then it becomes ultimate infuriating; but I have now come down to the last few challenges, but they are so tough that I think that it may take me a while.

I do still have Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery and Farmville downloaded, as these are still games that I will probably go back and continue with at some point, but at the moment I have not been in the mood for them. I also have Cooking Craze downloaded that I have been loving, but I just have not had the concentration to be playing it lately, but hopefully when Im more on the mend I will get back to this one.

In terms of next games to start playing, I have three others ready and waiting to go. They are Tiny Tower, Bloxorz, and VV Origins 2. Let me know if you have played any of these games and what you thought off them?

Please let me know of any other free mobile games that you have enjoyed, I would be very interested to try some more as I do seem to get through them rather quick at times. What have you been playing?