Yesterday was (would have been?) my 12th wedding anniversary. And much like last year, I spent the day distracting myself with my PhD before taking some time to…
It is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK, so I thought I’d share a bit about my recent efforts to keep my mental health in…
As I enter the lovely month of May, I am aware that it will be a manic month filled with mayhem and madness. There is…
Today marks eight years since his heart stopped beating. And in that very same moment, my own heart shattered into a million pieces. Remarkably, my shattered heart…
When the Dangerous Women Project was launched last year, I immediately found myself wondering if I was a dangerous woman. I wondered if there was anything about…
In the early twenty-first century, a young woman’s choice in the West to live unmarried is widely accepted. Equally, thanks to the divorce law reforms…
Anyone paying attention should know by now that the gloriousness of plastic is less than glorious. And, in fact, our planet is in quite a…
Since (a few failed attempts at) re-entering the dating world post-widowhood, I have learned that there are many struggles to dating in the modern era. From the drama…
I started 2016 with the high hopes of meeting (and exceeding!) one simple running goal: To run a sub-2:00:00 half marathon. I knew it would be a…
It’s Christmas Eve Eve (which means that tomorrow is Christmas Eve) and I am acutely aware that this Christmas is different from all of my…
Winter is sneaking up upon us and that means cosy nights in front of a crackling fire. But to enjoy those cosy evenings, I need…
Sometimes in life, you wobble. And no matter how strong and sturdy you thought you were, you begin to sway back and forth; wobbling. That’s…
That’s it folks: the buck stops here. Actually, I suppose I should say the pound stops here. Why? Because my last PhD stipend payment was today, and…
My time at Serenity Lodge is coming to an end, and I am finding that the calming serenity I found here is starting to fade away,…
Regular Just Frances readers will know that I have a rare bleeding disorder called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). But what they may not know is that…
I received my new American passport yesterday. But despite this being my third passport, it will also mark several passport firsts in my life. But…
I need to start this post by saying that I know I am not overweight and I don’t think that I am fat by any…
Yesterday was my first proper outing since breaking my ankle nearly two weeks ago. I admit that I probably shouldn’t have gone out and that I…
It is official: I have my first-ever broken bone. It’s a wee avulsion fracture on my left ankle and it hurts like holy heck! And it’s all…
When you live your life without a partner, it can be lonely. Even if you fill your days with friends and acquaintances, it can be…