A Little Update After A Sudden Blogging Break

Every so often I end up taking an unexpected blogging break. Either because I kind of sway away from the blogging life, or I just get too distracted by other things going on. This time I just got so busy with heading back into a more normal life again that I lost control of my spare time. Hence, no time left for blogging. And when that happens, it’s time for a little update post.

This week, just to top it all off, we tested positive for COVID. It feels like the moment we’ve been waiting for/dreading for the last 16 months, or however long it’s been, but it finally happened. I felt so lucky to say I didn’t really know anyone who’d had it, and had managed to avoid it myself for this long. But sadly this was our week. I don’t want to go into it too much, because everyone’s different, but we’ve been so lucky in that it’s really just been like a bad cold so far. Sniffly nose, no energy, and I’ve had a cough. Not the best, but a lot of people have had it a lot worse than we have. Plus we’re both one vaccine in, so we can hope that that’s helped a bit.

So, it seemed like as good a time as any to sit down and write a catch up post. I’m not going to lie, with the amount of energy and motivation I’ve had this week, this has taken me about the whole week to put together. Plus the fact nothing much has actually happened. But hey we go.

0.1 Taking Time for Myself

I overtook myself a little and ended up feeling quite overwhelmed. I’m not sure whether it was having so much in the diary after the lockdown restrictions had ended, or the busy-ness of my work, but I managed to really stress myself out. And I know my mental health was going to suffer. I actually had a panic attack at one point, which was not great. I managed to get myself a little bit more on the right track over the last week, then this week happened, so I’ve had to start again a bit. It’s actually been a bit of a wake up call, not being able to go out. It’s also kick started me thinking about ways to keep on top of it all, so any advice on that would be muchly appreciated.

0.2 I picked up my fitness again

After an unplanned break from it. When I wrote my original weekly workout routine I was working a few hours a day at home on furlough. When I went back to work full time in the office I lost it a little. Before this week I started getting back into it again, and just doing a little bit of exercise a day. Rather than pushing myself to the level I was when I originally wrote the schedule, I’ve just been aiming to do at least one workout a day. The way I’ve been working is to head on my FitOn app every evening and pick a workout, depending on what I’m feeling. I’m even considering joining the gym again when we’re properly back in the life routine. I feel so much better when I’m fit and healthy.

0.3 And my skincare

My skincare has also taken a knock over the last few weeks, so I’ve been focusing on picking that back up again. I didn’t even realise how back my skin was getting until recently when I thought about how long it had been since I’d last actually opened my skincare bag. Especially with the added stress I’ve been feeling, my skin’s had constant breakouts. Now, I’ve been forcing myself almost to pick it back up again, reminding myself to make it part of my bedtime routine. If you want to read about the skincare routine I use, you can check it out here.

0.4 A change up for the blog

I’m currently sat down and thinking about some changes for the blog. It’s been the same design for a while now, so I’m considering giving it a bit of a face lift. I’ve also got some posts in mind to keep it going, and it’s going to be a bit of a push from me now to get it back on track. My main problem is scheduling my time, so once I master that we’re onto a winner.

0.5 More time outdoors

I started working on a big project in my spare time, whenever I could. I really got into gardening over the lockdown, but our garden isn’t really built for digging and planting, so we’re quite limited to pots. But, it’s been really coming together. But, on my weekends I’ve been out trying to sort out my Grandma’s house, which has become massively overgrown. It’s a huge garden space which needs a lot of work, but I’ve been heading out in my spare moments to work on it, and have been loving it. It’s a really big job, and I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but I’ll give you an update when I can.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading gardening magazines to find out new flowers I like for a future garden, and looking after the few I have. Look out on my Insta for some garden reels soon, I’m sure.

0.6 Planning ahead

And while I’m relaxing and getting back in my groove, I’ve been busy making new plans for the next few months. We’ve got some great plans, as long as nothing else puts a dampener on it. In a couple of weeks we’re hoping to go see Foals, then maybe a day in Cardiff. Then we’ve also got a trip to Cornwall booked before the end of the year, and I’m going on a girls trip to Blackpool, so it’s looking to be a really busy year for the rest of it. Part of that’s meaning I’ll need to manage my personal time much better than I have been, and helping myself avoid another burnout.