A Year of Saying Yes: What Happened

Hey Owlets,

Just over a year ago I said yes to something that I really wanted to say no to - I'd never been abroad, I was nervous, and to be honest I was too busy wallowing in my own misery to consider being a functioning human being. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you'll know that last year I went on a life-changing holiday, but what I never really mentioned is that when I came back I decided that was the start of me saying yes to all the things I wanted to say no to.

I want to make this into a two part series so that this post doesn't take an hour for you to read, so today I want to focus solely on some of the best things that happened when I forced myself to say yes.

September in Pictures

Hey Owlets,

I can't believe it but it's time for another Month in Pictures already! September is a little lacking in the exciting events department but it's not been any less busy - mostly I've been locked away at home working on my Christmas content as I'm going to be travelling in October and won't have a lot of free time, so I've spared you the 30 photos of laptops and stuck to the interesting bits in between. Sorry if this month is a bit thin on the ground but I promise October will be better!

How to Master Another Language

Hey Owlets,

I’ve always had an interest in other languages - when I was younger a learnt to speak some Spanish, then as I grew up I started speaking French, which has become my favourite language. I was talking to one of you on Twitter a few days ago and you mentioned that you would love to know if I had any tips for learning a language, so I’ve put together a few that have helped me along the way.

Review: Swallow Barn B&B, Frome

Hey Owlets,

I'm never one to be organised but recently I've been scheduling my blog posts and I'm not sure I like it - it feels like I haven't spoken to you in ages even though I've been uploading regularly. The upside however, is that when I go away I can actually put my phone down for more than 10 minutes at a time and I can switch my brain off because I have a post going live already that week. So when I got the chance for a little mini break in the Somerset countryside it was a great chance to digitally detox - well sort of anyway, as I was invited to take a look around and share my thoughts with you.

Month in Pictures: August

Hey Owlets,

I can't believe it but it's September already - grab the pumpkins, hot chocolate and fairy lights because Autumn is getting near. To be honest though I'm absolutely not ready for it - maybe it's because I've not had a holiday yet but I'm still majorly in summer mode and having to put a coat on doesn't feel right. Anyway, we can put off Autumn for a while now as I'm here to share my August with you. I know it's early but I'm already mentally packing for my holiday even though it's not for a few months so I spent a lot of August either trying to get ahead with my blog posts or in the hospital with Dad as he's had a lot of tests so it's been a bit of a quiet month but I still have a few fun things to share with you.

Packing for a Cruise: Don't Waste Space

Hey Owlets,

If you haven't already heard from the 15,000 times I've previously mentioned it, last year I was lucky enough to go on my first ever cruise. Now it may have had something to do with the anxiety of never travelling abroad before or the fact that it was booked last minute, but when I heard "no luggage limit" I ran with it, and ended up taking THREE suitcases! Yes, I know that was excessive and, I'll be honest, one of them didn't even get unpacked. My room attendant looked at me like I was mad when he knocked on the door to tell me my suitcases had arrived. So since the phrase "pack light" isn't in my vocabulary, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the things I took but never used  and hopefully it inspires you to pack a little lighter than I did! Just to clarify I went on a cruise around the Mediterranean, so this only really applies if you're going to hotter destinations. This was going to be a "ten things..." type of post but apparently I'm paranoid about having creature comforts with me, because after several days I've still not managed to think of 10 things I didn't use - oops.

Starting My Fitness Journey

Hey Owlets,

We're talking about something a bit different today, and something that I NEVER thought I'd have an interest in. If you've been following me on Twitter or Instagram you'll probably already know, but last week I decided I wanted to get fitter and lose a bit of weight, and being that I spend most of my time telling you how to love yourself as you are, I wanted to explain why I'm seemingly contradicting my own mission statement.

Follow Me To: Torquay for the Weekend

Hey Owlets,

Its been a while since I last did a “Follow Me To” so I thought it would be nice to bring this back out. For years Mum and Dad have been telling me how much they love Torquay but I’d never been so in March we packed a bag and headed for a family weekend by the sea. Yes, I know it's August now but life kind of got in the way of my blog, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!