Look back on 2017

I will admit that things have been a little quiet – both on here and on social media lately. I only posted twice last month, and 4 times in November. It’s definitely been sickness season for us. I feel like I’ve had a cold/cough forever, and after a while it just gets too much. So something had to give and unfortunately it meant less time sat at my computer and more time resting and trying to get better. But now I am feeling better, and I can’t think of another way to kick off the new year than with a look back at last year.

2017 was an exciting one for quite a few reasons, both on the blog and in general. We moved to Hove at the end of 2016, and it took a few months to settle in. So by the time 2017 started we were starting to get things sorted.

We started decorating, with the lounge being our first focus. I’ve been trying to find photos from before we decorated but I can’t. The walls were basically covered in this weird tea stained textured paint which I am so glad we got rid off quickly. Next we are thinking of taking up the carpet and having a nice wooden floor in there. I’ve already started looking at rugs. Since the lounge, we have repainted the toilet as ours is separated from the rest of the bathroom. We have also redone Clem’s room going for a slightly more grown up theme in there now she is getting bigger. Next up is our bedroom and the dining room.

Finished colours

Clems room

Sprinkle wall

There were many trips to the beach, and local parks as we discovered the new area. We also went to the Sealife Centre a few times, as Clem really likes the tropical area in there. We also discovered you can visit a local working farm and see a few of the animals there. It’s great to spend an hour there when we need to get out of the house. It might be super touristy but I love going for a walk on the pier. All of the sounds and smells remind me of when I was little and would visit the seaside. It’s also a great place to take photos.

Blog wise I was definitely a little lazy, but we managed to do some great things. I got invited to a few local restaurants/pub/hotels for reviews. In October we all headed to London Zoo for the day. We also all experienced our first visit to a circus which was great, and we would definitely go again if it comes to town. I was also asked to take part in the #28daychallenge with Boots and Your Good Skin which after all the illness I really need to use. My skin is feeling very unloved at the moment.

As for numbers I have no idea – I haven’t looked at them. I’ve still been enjoying Instagram even though it’s so annoying now. I just wish they would bring back the chronological feeds. I don’t want to be seeing everyone eating their Christmas dinners in the New Year. My followers on there go up and down like a yo-yo. It’s almost the same on Twitter as well, but they have grown just very slowly. I could easily say 2018 will be the year I grow all of them but I have no idea if I will. It seems so hard to grow them both now.

One of the things I would absolutely love to see in 2018 is bloggers and companies supporting others, and not just ones with big numbers. Give the little guys a chance too.

As a family we went on 3 different trips – camping in the New Forest, holiday to South of France and then another holiday to Majorca. This is really unusual for us, and we were really lucky as the last was actually paid for and organised by Jesses dad. The camping trip was only a few nights and completely unplanned. If I am honest we didn’t plan for that one at all. It was just a case of grab the tent, jump in the car and see where we end up. It was cold, like super cold. We probably didn’t have enough warm clothes but it was fun. Clem absolutely loved waking up in a field with horses. France and Majorca were both completely different, and despite spending almost 12 hours in Gatwick before France it was great.

2017 was also the year I got my mama mojo back. I got a new tattoo, my first in many years. I dyed my hair many ridiculous colours, but it was also a natural colour for the longest period as well. I went to a lot of gigs which always makes me happy. In fact I saw some of my all time favourite bands last year. In June I managed to see one of those bands twice in the same day! It was awesome.

My mental and physical health took a bit of a battering but I’m getting there. I’ve learnt not to worry too much about my weight. I’ve never been thin, I’m pretty sure I never will be and I am probably at my heaviest. Yes I could probably do with losing some weight, and I am going to eat healthier and move more but I am doing it for my health. I’m also going to work on my self confidence. Recently I’ve been living in leggings and long tops, but I think it might be time to branch out a little bit. I follow some awesome fashion bloggers who have shown me that I can wear whatever I want.

So here’s to an awesome 2018. I will be doing another post later this week with some goals I would like to achieve over the next year. If you want to see any of the monthly updates I did last year you can see them all here.