I’ve surpassed myself this year. In a reading sense, that is! Whilst it wasn’t one of my goals at the beginning of the year, I silently gave myself the challenge of reading a different book each month. I’ve always been a big reader. However, in recent years, it’s become easier to scroll than to pick…
Tag: Family
The Highs of Being a Freelancer
When I became a freelance writer, I had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t someone who had planned for years to become a freelancer. I had taken redundancy the previous summer and decided I wanted to do something which involved two of my biggest passions – writing and helping others. Since then, my freelance…
A Look Back At June
If you’re new to my blog, I like to finish each month (or start the next month) with a look back at the month just gone. It allows me to reflect on the highs and the lows of the last few weeks and is a great way to remember some of the adventures I’ve had….
Making New Friends and Returning to Some Kind of Normality
As I write this week’s blog post, I’m sitting outside my parent’s house in Northamptonshire, soaking up the sun, which has decided to grace us with its presence during the past week. May was a much colder, wetter month than I think any of us had hoped, although it didn’t stop me from getting out…
Boris, Jobs and another Lockdown
What a strange month November has been. We’ve been back in national lockdown, we’ve been busy preparing for what will look like a very different Christmas this year, and I’ve been attempting to continue with my job search. And let’s not forget the exciting news of vaccinations and presidential elections! After a busy month, here’s…
My Top 5 Ways To Survive Lockdown – Take 2
Following last night’s announcement that we will be going back into lockdown from Thursday, it got me thinking about how we’re all going to get through the next 4 weeks without going stir crazy! Quite frankly, I’m done with this virus. It’s destroying lives, people’s mental health, our economy, and there are people losing their…
Family time
This post was originally published on 2nd September 2018 and updated on 26th July 2020. As my time in London slowly draws to a close, I’m excited not only to start another new chapter in my life, but I’m also relieved that I get to spend some time with my family soon whilst I’m in…
Change, Grief and Pride
What a hectic week that turned out to be! With so many things going on at the moment, by the time I got to the end of the week I had to press pause and prioritize. Thankfully it’s been a somewhat quieter weekend. No outdoor adventures this weekend. As much as I’ve loved getting out…
Life after a Global Pandemic
With some countries across the world starting to loosen their lockdown restrictions, I’ve been starting to think about what life might be like post pandemic. Has this lockdown really gone on for long enough for people to make permanent changes to their everyday lives? How easy will it be for us to just slip back into ‘normal’ life? The…
Tips for Working from Home during a Pandemic
Tuesday 17th March 2020 will remain in my mind for a long time to come. My boss had scheduled a company wide ‘test’ working from home day. As the spread rate of Coronavirus started to increase in the UK, our ‘test’ day had been brought forward by a couple of weeks. Little did we know…
Is self care easier if you’re single?
A few weeks ago, I attended a friends hen party. The hen party was fun. But something was troubling me. I was staying in a hotel that night with another friend. While we were busy getting ready for the hen party, she started pouring her heart out to me. It appeared that her marriage was…
Reprioritisation
Do you ever find yourself caught up in life and realise that you’ve not quite got your priorities right? Life has been busy lately. In fact, since the new year, life has been pretty mental. Finding time to relax in the evenings and at weekends has been near on impossible, especially since my trip to…
Knife crime, dirty laundry, and self care
The last couple of weeks have made me realise just how important it is to have a self care bank. If I hadn’t been able to cash in on some of my self care reserves, I definitely wouldn’t have got through it as well as I have. Most of the drama that has unfolded, has…
Readjusting
After a wobbly start to the year, a weekend readjusting was much needed. I took a brief trip to the lovely St. Albans on Saturday to meet up with my family. We’ve often suggested meeting half way between Northampton and London, but never actually done it. St. Albans is pretty much bang in the middle…
As one chapter comes to an end, another begins
I feel kinda weird writing this post, but wanted to explain my absence over the last few weeks. It’s been hard to find the right words so as not to cause any further hurt, but at the same time, since I started my blog, I have found it a really useful platform in dealing with…
2019 – I’m coming for you
After months of waiting, we’re entering into the week of the dreaded Visa Appeal. I feel like the last year has been focused on this moment. And now it’s here, I’m not sure how I feel. Going through the application process was hard enough. Finding out the application had been rejected was tough. But the…
Change – Part 2
In Change (Part 1), I wrote about the importance of living life. How life was too precious and too short to plod along, and how sometimes it takes a life-changing event to give us the wake-up call we so badly need. In Change (Part 2), I want to share with you, my readers, how a…
The Mindful Gingernut 