Yesterday I logged in to WordPress for the first time in what felt like forever, I mean, seven months is a pretty long time. A LOT can happen in 220 days (not to be exact or anything).
It has been so long that I half expected to have forgotten my login details. But who was I kidding? Even though I haven’t been writing I’ve been thinking about my blog a lot.
In July the renewal notice came through for my hosting and domain and that got me thinking even more.
It got me thinking that I don’t think there has even been a time in my life that I haven’t had a website of some description.
And why have I always had an online space? Because it makes me feel complete. As geeky as that might sound, I am at my happiest when I’ve got some way of channeling my inner creativity. A space where I can share my photographs and write about the things I’m hearting.
Where I can do me.
This blog has been a part of my life for four entire years and the thought of parting with it felt like I was letting go of a bit of myself (corny I know).
Running a blog, and not just letting it sit there wilting away, helps me focus, feel inspired and express myself. It makes me happy.
It got me thinking, why haven’t I read a blog post in almost as long when I used to enjoy reading, connecting and commenting on other’s work so very much?
Why when it’s all so important to me, have I let it go?
It got me thinking that I always use time as an excuse not to blog when in reality there is always time, I just have to make it.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. One of my weaknesses, and it is a weakness, is that if I can’t do it all, I won’t do it at all.
And that’s where blogging got to for me. I put this immense pressure on myself to make it this wonderful, all consuming thing. But in reality, it CAN be wonderful without it needing to take up my every spare minute.
I need to blog when I want to blog, feel the need to write and when I physically have the time to, rather than sticking to a strict schedule.
It is my own expectations that I need to manage so that I don’t set myself up for failure.
And that’s the missing piece.
I’m not going to make any promises other than that I’m going to blog because being a blogger is part of who I am, and I’m not ready to let that go yet. I pinky promise!
So I think that’s enough of my ramblings on THAT topic. Let me give you a bit of an update on the year so far to bring you all up to speed…
1. In January my mister started a new job and he no longer works nights or weekends or really unsociable work patterns. And in my opinion, it’s the best decision he ever made for us and our marriage <3. We know quite a few people who have been looking for new jobs as well by using services like https://www.arcresumes.com/local/georgia/, so it is brilliant that my man was able to get one that was better for us both.
2. At the end of January we visited Lisbon and I ticked pretty much everything off my bucket list. Let me know if you’d like to hear more about our wonderful break!
3. February marked the start of my Master’s degree in Digital Marketing. I’m two assignments down and in all honesty I had no idea that I was signing up to something so intense, but I’m loving learning again, even if it’s a hard balancing act when working full time.
4. Sadly we’ve lost a few of our fur babies this year but we’ve also gained some too. Pets don’t live forever and it has made me realise that we just have to make the most of the time we have with them. Last month The Piggy Gallery reached 1,000 followers too.
5. I’ve almost achieved the reading challenge target I set myself at the beginning of the year – I’ve read 25 books out of 30. Go me!
6. Nick and I have a new found passion for hunting down Disney merchandise at our local car boot – we’ve located some pretty awesome stuff, but that’s probably a post for another day.
7. I still paint my nails all the time but I axed my nail polish collection in half – it was taking up too much space and I just could never find anything. Don’t worry it’s all gone to new homes and I’m digging my more organised (but still pretty huge) stash.
8. We spent a glorious two weeks in Kefalonia at the start of July. Greece will always be my second home and we loved every single minute.
9. In celebration of Mickey’s 90th anniversary I’ve collected all of the Mickey Mouse Memories teddies (a limited edition plush is released on the 18th of each month featuring a different decade related design) and I can’t wait to complete the collection come December.
10. You might have noticed that I’ve designed a new blog header – I wanted a new theme to mark this fresh start. I hope you like it!
It feels SO good to be back and I’m pumped to find a new pace that works for me. I have lots of post ideas! Having said that, I’d love to know which of my posts you’d like to see more of and I’d really appreciate your feedback in the comments below. What do you want to see me write about?
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