Love from, Florence Grace

The other day, I shared a post on Facebook that really hit home with me. It said: " ‪ My ex used to scold me for wanting affection & my current boyfriend just squatted down next to me to give me kisses JUST because he is getting in the shower. He goes out of his way every single day, SEVERAL times a day just to make sure I feel loved. I prayed about that & I got answers. ‬I always thought the problem was me, that I was just “needy”. No ladies that’s not the case, the person that God designed just for you is out there. Be patient. " I honestly related to this post so much - and I know I'm not the only girl, or even boy, who probably can. So I thought it was time to speak about this a little bit more.  Some days, I feel needy. I've spoken about how my previous relationship was an unhealthy, abusive one, but whilst I try to suppress memories of what it was like, the other day I discovered a diary from 2013, full of pages that provided intense detail ...

The last three or four weeks have been crazy . I mean, a real whirlwind of drama, excitement, nerves, stress, more excitement, a lot of work and some big  surprises. I've been tweeting a little bit about what's been going on, but not giving away too many specifics so I thought I would treat you all to a bit of an update from me! Last month, after turning 21 I wrote a blog post about how being 21 had been the ' ultimate glow up ', and I concluded the post with a final paragraph that read: " I am living for being 22. I'm ready for more of everything; more success and more blessings, more opportunities and more good fortune, more love and more happiness. In fact, I'm ready for an overflow of it all. If 22 is half as good as 21 was, I know it's going to be a great year. " Well, I'm happy to report that the first month of being 22 has been incredible . If the rest of the next year is anywhere near as good as the last month has been I...

Relationships can be hard, can't they? Finding the ideal partner is hard enough for a start! Finding someone you want to invest your time into, spend your forseeable future with, build a life with- you've got to make sure you find the right guy or girl! But then there's other problems to overcome- small fights, big fights, making compromises, insecurities to get over, anxieties, disagreements and everything in between. Do you know what makes all of this 10 times harder? Coming from a bad relationship into a good one.  It's no secret that almost two years ago, I was coming out of a toxic and abusive six year relationship that absolutely destroyed me. It affected me so badly in fact, that I vowed never to have a relationship again. I wouldn't let anyone in again, I wouldn't bother to invest time or effort, or any part of myself into another person ever again. I didn't want to go through the heartbreak, the pain, the hurt. I was struggling so much t...

On Wednesday (1st November) I turned 22! Eeeeeek . That sounds so  old in my head! 21 seems like an age where it's still seen as acceptable to be a little wild, a little out of control, a bit of a party animal. 22- in my head, at least- sees so much older, so much more mature. I feel like I actually have to start being a responsible adult now, and like I need to start getting my shit together (for lack of better terminology!). As with all birthdays, I did spend some time surrounding my 22nd birthday reflecting on the kind of year I'd had being 21, and the kind of things that being 21 had brought to me and my life. I feel like I say this most years, but I genuinely feel like 21 was my best  year yet. Honestly, this year has shaped me like no other. When I was 20, life turned into a learning curve for me. I was experiencing things I wasn't used to, dealing with emotional turmoil that sent me to breaking point that I felt like I would never bounce back from and so, for the...

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, a public holiday that people seem to have a bit of a love-hate relationship with. Me? I love Valentine's Day! I love all of the cute trinkets, homeware and gifts that come out and have no qualms purchasing too much of it for myself, regardless of whether I do or don't have a boyfriend to share the day with. I actually blogged about  why Valentine's  doesn't  suck for single people  last year because I was so sick of seeing all of the single people bitch about the holiday, particularly when you know that most of them would think otherwise if they were in a relationship. I feel much the same this year, of course. It's my second year of being single on Valentine's Day and I honestly couldn't give less of a fuck because I  still  love the day, I  still  love buying cute bits like heart shaped candles for myself and I  still  had a lovely day. My sister and I swapped gifts for each other, spent the day in London...

It's so important to have good friends. In fact, when it comes to friendship, it really is quality over quantity. I don't have a massive number of friends, but all of my friends are people I trust 100% and would do anything for- I love them all to pieces! I'm lucky enough to have close friends that I see every day, some I see less than that, and some I rarely see at all. I have friends from college, friends at work and other people I'm just friend's with!  What I value most about my friendships is that time doesn't affect them at all. It doesn't matter how little or how often we see each other, when we're together it seems like no time has passed at all. Today I saw my gang of best friends (you know them all, I've featured them several times on the blog before!) for the first time in two months ! This is the longest we have ever gone without seeing each other! And yet, when we were together, it was like I'd only seen them last week.  ...

Guys, I have 10 minutes to spare- I totally  forgot about todays blog post! Here's a quickie for ya... My life has been a bit like Made in Chelsea at the moment- boy drama, girl drama, more boy drama and...yep, more boy drama! I don't understand why boys feel they can play girls off against each other? Especially girls who are, oh, I don't know, best friends?! It's crazy, do they think we won't communicate with each other about who we're talking to? They surely can't be that  dumb?! Of course, I'm sure the same can be said about the behaviour of some girls too, but as I'm only interested in men I only have one perspective! Let's also discuss the C Bomb shall we... Nope, not the one you're thinking of. "Chill". Nothing gets my girl Xenia riled like a boy dropping the C Bomb on her, and I know I feel the same. If I'm angry about something, it's because you've done something worth being angry over. Boy, do...

Do you know what really sucks? Friends who don't support you.  Am I really completely mad for thinking that your friends should support you in all that you do? (As long as it's safe/healthy etc. of course!). I have a brilliant group of friends around me currently, and I've never been so happy with who I spend my time with. They're positive, they life me up, support me, encourage me and I think that's really amazing. I don't have many friends but it's definitely about quality, not quantity, and I think I've got the balance right!  I did have more friends, but as the New Year rolled around, I cut them off. Not in a nasty way, not with any kind of negative actions. I simply stopped bothering to send them messages, stopped texting and calling, stopped trying to arrange meet ups. These people never tried to speak to me, never tried to see me, so why should I bother? Most importantly of all, they never supported me, and I wasn't going to...

I have written blog posts in the past that have thanked people for being such good friends to me, that have praised their efforts at pulling me out of my darkest times and have mocked their antics on a night out in a friendly-banter kind of way. And whilst she has been mentioned in passing, she has failed to have a blog post entirely dedicated to her. Who am I talking about? My one true love, my soul mate and other half, of course! My beloved Robyn . Or, as you guys will probably know her, Bobbie. I became friends with Bobbie when I was 15, just before my 16th birthday. I am not sure how we became friends, but I think it was mainly from having some mutual friends (despite her being a year older) and from commenting on photos and statuses on Facebook. My first memory of Bobbie is the day I met her- my 16th birthday, where she came running in to see me and to have some cake! ( Pretty typical of her... ) Since then, our meet ups have been few and far between due to us not...

When I was younger, I wanted to be married with children by the time I was 20, and had decided I would not have children later than 25, because I wanted to be a young, pretty, cool mum like my mum was. I think that was what influenced this naive idea- the fact that my parents were married with children by the time they were 22. This, and the fact that a lot  of Jacqueline Wilson books I was reading (she was my favourite author) featured young, single mums who were pretty and cool and all had babies when they were 16.  It wasn't until I reached 16 myself that I realised how far off 20 was- the answer? Not very far. I had started to consider university and further education. I couldn't possibly have a baby whilst at uni! I made calculations in my head. Finish uni by 21, baby by 22, 23 and still be a young, cool mum with a degree.  Then I reached 18. 20 was creeping ever closer. I had given up on the idea of uni, much to my school and my parents disappointment...

Today's blog post is late, I know, but that's because it's been very hard for me to write.  This is going to be the last time I write about my ex boyfriend and my previous relationship. Effectively, I am giving it all a final goodbye.  Of course  I know my relationship ended on New Year's Eve. Unofficially, it probably ended long before then. I haven't seen my ex since 27th of December, since last year, which is a really weird thought. And whilst I had accepted it was over, I had a teeny tiny part of me that still loved him and hoped we would get back together.  I had deleted him from all social media except facebook, boxed up all of my things from him and taken down all of the photos. I got a new phone (by coincidental timing) and did not keep his number, nor did I send him my new one. But I kept him on facebook so we had some way of getting in touch should we need to talk about anything (getting back together).  And then I was told he wa...