Laminate Flooring: Suitable for the whole family

Picking the right flooring for your home that suits not just you but your whole family can be a nightmare. If you have children you are going to want flooring that is child friendly. Our current home consists mainly of laminate  flooring with only the bedrooms being carpet. We have found for us that laminate definitely is the perfect flooring for us.

Before I get into why we've found that to be the case what is laminate? 
Laminate flooring is made up of multiple synthetic layers that are all fused together by lamination, hence the name. Laminate often simulates the look of wood, but there are wide ranges of designs available other than the traditional wooden vibe.

Laminate flooring works best for us because we often wonder how Blake can cause so much mess and destruction. If you have carpets and children you will most likely understand why we prefer laminate flooring. Laminate flooring is so much easier to clean up the mess children make from food, crafting, spills and other mess they make. If your kid is a budding artist or loves playing with the dreaded playdough or slime you won't be worrying how to get the stuff out of the carpet. 

 Laminate is incredibly durable and scratch resistant and easy to clean. With laminate flooring you are able to see dust and pet hairs more easily to Hoover up preventing allergies such as asthma. Carpet on the other hand embeds particles in the fibres of the material. Laminate won't be affected by cleaning chemicals either which is also another great reason to opt for it. 

Not only is it great as it's family friendly but as you can get different designs there are many options to find something you love. For us we love the traditional wooden laminate that our current rental property has as the light colour goes well with the rooms and our furniture.  In the future when we buy our own home we definitely would be opting to replace flooring with laminate if needed. 

Laminate is also a great option if you are wanting to replace flooring in your home and you're on a limited budget and not wanting to break the bank. Laminate is definitely a more affordable option which also offers great quality and is easy to lay yourself.  If in the unlikelyhood that there is damage you have the reassurance of only needing to replace a single plank without ripping your whole floor up. 

Taking back control- Rejoining Slimming World

I've given myself a good talking to recently and so I'm now taking action and I rejoined slimming world on Wednesday. I've been wanting to change but not sure how when it came to my bad eating habits. I've rejoined slimming world a few times since having Blake and its just gone to pot after a few weeks and I've given up. However there is something different about how I feel this time round, I've joined a different group which works better for me. On top of that a good mummy friend joined for the first time a few weeks ago and its spurred me on to go with her each Wednesday once our boys are at preschool. 

I feel that I put my head in the sand with how much weight I have been putting on and the scales terrified me. I've been telling myself that I'm too busy to loose weight and exercise. I'm not going to lie its hard work having a child with additional needs as well as running the household and my blog. Its time that I quit the excuses and just do it.

In all honesty I feel awful my energy levels are low, I'm not as fit as I use to be and get out of breath easily. I'm disgusted that I've let myself get like this and feel ashamed of my body.  I'm hoping by sharing updates here that you my readers will help me out in the sense of encouragement. I need to loose a lot of weight and have set myself a target of getting back to the weight I was prior to having Blake. I'm not expecting my body shape to be the same as I'm aware my body has changed since having Blake but i want to feel my energetic and confident self again.

Now I'm back on the slimming world plan for 5 days now I'm wanting to share with you what I'm doing to get great results:

- Making healthy swaps
Instead of grabbing a bag of crisps as a snack I've started to opt for fruit, Veg meat or eggs. I still like to enjoy crisps but am opting for low syn ones so I can enjoy a bit of what I like the same when it comes to chocolate and other things I love.

- measuring/weighing out my milk and cereal
I'm a bit lazy with this and have been opting mainly for wheetabix topped with fruit however when it comes to porridge/bran flakes I'll be weighing them. As for bread I don't eat it that often but know that a Warburton thin is the right amount to have.


-  low syn treats
I've found low syn treats that I can start having in the evening which is my danger time.

-  Trying new meals 
I get bored easily and so my books, magazines and using the website have been a big part of my week.

- write it down
I'm finding writing down what I eat a big help so far as I see what I'm eating and know where I can make changes to my diet.

- drink more water 
I'm bad at this and need to try harder

- move more
I'm aiming to start walking more and use the local bus less when out and about


So there you go this is me being honest and open and I plan to give updates from time to time.

Dig into your genetic ancestry with My Living DNA

Have you ever wondered about your genetic ancestry? I've seen tests advertised but never really gave it much thought until Living DNA got in touch. After reading a bit of info on how it all works I was definitely intrigued to give the test a go  and find out my ancestry journey. Living DNA presents your ancestry through 10 generations with an in-depth breakdown of countries and regions. Along with details of your motherline  (if you are female) or fatherline (if you are male).

Taking the test is simple - you just need to order a kit online for £99 plus postage. Once your test kit arrives you need to activate the kit online and then do a mouth swab. All the instructions on how to take the swab is in the leaflet included so it's important to give that a read beforehand. Once you have taken your swab you just need to pop it in the post in the free returns bag and wait 8-10 weeks for your results. When your results are ready you get an email to let you know and all you have to do is log into your online portal to view them.

My results:

Family Ancestry

This part of the test is looking at all your ancestors both in recent times (approx 10 generations)  and allowing you to look at your ancestry at different points in history.

When viewing my family ancestry you can see that I found out I'm 96.8% from Europe, 1.7% from Asia and 1.5% from the near east. I was able to look more into it by finding out regionally and sub regionally. You can see some of my results pictured below for sub regionally where I must admit I wasn't too surprised when it came up that south east England is the highest % at 19.3%.  What did surprise me was the % for France (1.3%), Scandinavia  (1%), central asia (1.7%), Chuvashia (1.5%), near east (1.5%) and Kurdish (1.5%). It was also great to see other regions of the UK and the % for them.

Motherline

This is where if you are female you can explore your maternal ancestry from your mother all the way back to Africa. The fatherline is the same thing but for males. 

The results from my haplogroup which is a collection of family lines you are connected to through your mtDNA.  Revealed that where my haplogroup is commonly found today on the coverage map. I found this very interesting and you can see my results below which revealed that Druze is highest at 16%. Living  DNA shows how my most ancient ancestors migration started near Africa and there is a handy map to show me. I found the whole thing interesting as it really shows how interconnected we all are.

Why choose living DNA?

1. They give you your DNA mix across 80 world regions, including 21 in Britain and Ireland. You can explore details of areas of the world your ancestors come from.

2. A 3 in one test that covers your family line and unlike other tests your motherline and fatherline if male.

3. They put your ancestry into context by showing your break down going back 10 generations and ancestors at different points of history.

4. As science and their systems evolve, your results will be updated to provide on going details about your ancestry.


Have you ever done an ancestry test? If not is it something you would consider getting done? Please let me know in the comments below.


 * I was sent the living DNA test kit in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.