11 Things I Loved About November

I find inspiration and blog ideas from others, and hope they don't mind too much! I saw at Claire's Comfy Corner, that she had been writing things she loved about each month - big or small. Because I loved this idea, I thought it would be nice to look for 11 things this month as it's the 11th month. Here is my list:

1. I moved to Ipswich

As you will know from previous posts, I had been living in the Isle of Wight for the last 7 months. The island was a very different way to what I was used to. I wasn't excited to move again, but feel more positive since moving here. I feel there is lots to look forward to.

2. I began volunteering again
I love volunteering and think everyone should do it at least once. You learn about yourself, help others and do something fun for a good cause! This month I started volunteering for a local hospice on the island. I am working to volunteer again.

3. I received more presents from my birthday
The great thing about my birthday being the end of month is it means I can decide when is best to celebrate. Because of Halloween, I sometimes organised things at the start of the month. Because all my friends live far away (insert sad face here), most of my presents were posted. I will discuss them in more detail as I love talking about birthdays and want to write something specific about it (yes, it will be VERY late).

4. I started to gather ideas for gifts I could get people for Christmas
It's hard to remember what I did for November (Christmas shopping-wise), but by the end of November, I usually have my entire shop done. Not this year! It started off well with me buying personalised gifts in September for friends. Then, I kinda waived. That being said, all my friends gifts were sent off by this Saturday. It's just a case of getting my parents and grandparents sorted! I've got little bits for each now.

5. Gilmore Girls started!

I was so excited for Gilmore Girls coming back, and have now watched all the episodes. I thought about reviewing it, but having read another blog that spilled it all, I didn't want to do the same for anyone else. I did write about my excitement and what I hope for the new episodes here. All I will say is, I believe the last four words make sense for the journey that the gilmore women have gone through. I believe it was just how I remembered - funny, quirky and full of characters you can't help but relate to. I won't say anymore. I feel anymore will spill it. For those who haven't seen Gilmore Girls, you can watch all the episodes from series one on Netflix. There are also the new episodes there too!

6. My dogs started to love me more!

It sounds daft, but I feel more connected to my dogs. They always got excited to see me, but now they expect me to kiss their heads or by their cheeks. It's funny. They love me walking them and generally making much more of a fuss.

7. Watched heaps of films

As you will know from reading my recent post, The film list, I LOVE films. New or old; I love them. I have watched heaps of films this month including: Bride of Chucky, Before Sunrise, Two for the Road, Brighton Rock, Big Lebowski and am sure there is much more!

8. Places visited

Truth be told, I've not seen that many new places. Far enough, I've moved to Ipswich, but it's been a case of getting used to what is nearby; testing bus routes, walking to see what's close-by and signing up to the doctors. It has been the normal dull stuff. I have enjoyed learning about all the shops that are close by, and happy that I live a 15minute bus journey from the shopping places. I've also seen a bit of a nearby town called Martlesham. I will keep you updated as I learn more on Ipswich and Suffolk. The picture above is one I took just by the shops. I thought the building looked beautiful!

9. Things I've learnt
I feel like I've really reflected on my life this month, and realised I need to stop being as hard on myself. Things happen, and sometimes you can't help it. I've found the last year I've beat myself up for not being as close to friends (when they haven't made the effort), not trying certain things, my weight gain and a lot of things that happen to people. I feel from being less hard on myself and accepting that things will never be 100% perfect, I've felt more relaxed and more motivated to try harder. I reflected on this in my moving post here.

10. The Blog
This month celebrated 4 months of writing for this blog, where I still have a lot to learn. I've done Blogtober, plan to do some of my Blogmas posts starting tomorrow and have even done my first collab post. Including this post, I've written 52 blog posts, set up a Facebook page in the past week (please like) and continue to learn how to promote my posts. Love to hear any tips from those who have been blogging longer!

11. I've made positive steps for a career in fundraising again
I love the blog, but want to be a Fundraiser and make a difference to charities. I feel it is where my heart is, I miss it when I'm not doing it and love that I might not be able to care for people but can make sure I raise funds for the best support a charity may offer. Hope that explains it in the best way. I hope by volunteering and getting into employment, something will come along again!

If you enjoyed the idea of this post, let me know as I will consider doing them for other month ends.

Blogtober16 - my favourite animal

We're into Day 11 of Blogtober, and today I have to contemplate my favourite animal.

My favourite animal is a panda. I'm not really sure why. When I take my makeup off at night, my dad often jokes that I look like one! Maybe that is part of it.

I like how they sleep a lot, eat and look cutier getting fatter. One colleague once said they are one of the few animals going extinct because they can't be bothered to reproduce, which might be a little true. Even so I still love them.

I love lots of other animals though - monkeys, donkeys, horses, cats, dogs, penguins... you name it. One of my favourite birthdays was my 21st, where I actually visited Edinburgh Zoo. My Dad actually pushed me out the way on many occasions so he could get a decent picture of his favourite animals.Apart from that, it was an amazing experience.

Sorry for the short post, and hope you have enjoyed it! What is your favourite animal and why?

Blogtober16 - first of many

I was going to write some posts about my recent visit to Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, but that's going to have to wait. Looking at other blog posts has given me a bit of inspiration...

I came across the blog of Hex Mum Blog, where I heard about Blogtober. This is a great challenge for bloggers to take part in where any blogger can take part. You write specific posts for 31 days of October. Click the link to the Hex Mum Blog for details of what you have to discuss in the posts. Unfortunately I only saw this a few days ago, and therefore I wasn't able to start on the 1st October. Instead I decided to combine the posts I've missed for the first 7 days, and get a good start to this. After all, October is one of my favourite months (mainly due to it being my birthday month).

1. Who are you?

I feel like I must have explained this already, but I will write a wee bit!

I'm a 23 year old turning 24 at the end of the month, who has recently moved to the Isle of Wight having lived in many places across the UK. Although I was born in Manchester, I've also lived in Yorkshire, Whitley Bay, Aberdeen, Stonehaven, Dundee and now the Isle of Wight.

My main passions are fundraising, attending live music events (even though I've only seen Fatherson this year), writing, reading and watching the latest thing on Netflix. Anything you want to know about me you can pick up from the blog or just comment and ask!

2. An old photo of you

This is a baby photo I found which made me laugh. Ever the dictator!

3. If I won the lottery...

How much do you get when you win the lottery? I'm not sure, so I will base this on getting a  million.

The first thing I'd do if I won any money would be to go travelling to Australia, work abroad for a bit (not that I'd necessarily need to with the money), buy a property to rent out while I'm away and then decide how to properly spend my money.

My three main dreams in life are to travel to Australia, teach in China and have a family of my own. Therefore I would make sure I could do these - buying a house of my own, helping friends and family where I could (and which would not feel like I  was showing off my money).I'd also founder my own charity, not sure what the cause would be though as too many are close to my heart; it's likely to be a health charity.

Most of all, I wouldn't tell anyone or publicise my fortune. I wouldn't want anyone to treat me differently.

4. Share a secret about yourself

A secret about myself? I don't tend to have secrets, just things I might not flaunt...

I have dealt with having trichotillomania since I was 15/16. It basically means that at times I have a compulsion to pull our the hairs of my eyebrows and eyelashes. It hasn't affected the hair on my head, luckily.

5. What career did you plan as a child?

I remember wanting to be a doctor or vet at some stage, but that's all I can really remember. Therefore I needed confirmation from the mother...

Apparently I always wanted to be a writer. I must have been a weird child!

I did go on to college with the intentions of being a journalist to be fair, but realised I might be too nice and not have the ruthless edge you need.

6. Favourite christmas/ birthday present ever

I remember feeling lucky every year whether it was my birthday or christmas. The only thing that has stuck out for me over the year is getting Spice Girls barbie dolls. I loved the Spice Girls! I remember appreciating that it wasn't something my mum could afford at the time, and saying I would be happy with just Baby Spice. Despite this, my mother got me all five dolls. My uncle said I had to play with them in their boxes as they'd be worth something one day. My mum laughed at him and got them out the boxes! 

7. What made you start blogging?

Being unemployed and bored made me think of ways to entertain myself that cost nothing. For years, my friend, Hannah has tried to encourage me to write, but I've not felt anything specific that I've wanted to write about. Therefore I would describe this as a strict "lifestyle" blog with subjects including travel plans, film reviews, book reviews, general musings etc. I always thought each post had to be similar like beauty blogs, but I don't feel like I have enough expertise there!

Hope you enjoyed the first of my blogtober posts, 7 down - 24 more posts to complete! Feel free to take part...