“JANUARY,
The first month of the year,
A perfect time to start all over again,
Changing energies and deserting old moods,
New beginnings, new attitudes”
Charmaine J Forde

Slow January

I entered January in a much different way than I have before.

I took January s l o w l y.

Still recovering from our 65 mile move to Southport and unpacking boxes and getting my period on Christmas Day meant that I wasn’t in the mental space I was expecting to be, come January 1st but for possibly the first time ever, I was ok with that. After spending the previous New Year and most of that January in the hospital I feel that that set me up for not feeling pressured to set goals or to rush and hustle my way into 2018.

Which I feel helped me to focus on what I truly wanted and desired. I also feel that I consumed a lot less content online which set me up to make better decisions for… well, everything really.

Living with chronic pain hasn’t been easy this month and resulted in a few days staying in bed not being able to do much of anything. While some of that pain has lessened my illness has fully reared its old ugly head again and I’m having to readjust yet again.

Our next IVF steps are oh so slowly coming to fruition as on my next period I can go for ovulation testing which is great but my period has gone missing. No clue what’s caused it or why but it’s another temporary pause in our journey.


What I’ve Been Watching

Last year my husband really got me into anime so this month we’ve been catching up with Kino’s Journey and re-watching a firm favourite Fairy Tail. At over 270+ episodes it’s something we both really enjoy.

Filmwise I finally watched Baywatch and greatly enjoyed it. So nostalgic and comical. I was a big fan of the original show way back when so I was not disappointed with the film remake. Also the cameos! The cameos.

I also got to finally see the 2017 version of The Mummy with Tom Cruise and wasn’t a fan. Give me Brendan Fraser any day.

On Netflix, I was happy to go to old school again and watched Hot Shots Part Deux, which still makes me giggle and the 2017 version of Power Rangers. Again another TV show to film I really enjoyed from way back when. And again the cameos! The cameos. So cute!

What I’ve Been Reading

Two Facebook groups I belong too have created group reads/book clubs and with them, I got to read:

The Clever Gut Diet and The Four Hour Work Week. And I’ve dipped in to re-read a few chapters of She Means Business by Carrie Green to help keep me inspired and moving forward.

What I’ve Been Reading Online

Olivia’s post on Learning the Story Behind The Hashtag #freelanceOOTD 

Cathryn shared 6 of her hopes and goals of 2018 

Laura shared her 2018 Intentions

What I’ve Been Listening To

This Is P!nk playlist on Spotify.

Hashtag Authentic – Stopping the Glorification of Busy with Jen Carrington – but really it was a mix of business and life as well as living and running an online business with a chronic illness.

This EndoLife – How To Stop Comparing Your Life To Others When Living with Endometriosis with Lucy Sheridan

This EndoLife – Getting to Know Your Endo with Jessica Murnane of Know Your Endo and The Endo Toolkit

What She Said Podcast – I’ve only just found this one because of Jen Carrington’s episode but I’m a couple of episodes in and seriously enjoying the whole podcast so far.

 

What I’ve Been Writing

Why You Should Set Boundaries For Your Business 

6 Tips To Beat Loneliness When Running an Online Business with a Chronic Illness 

What I’ve Been Working On

Changing the copy on my business website.

Reworking my services.

Pinterest training.

January’s Special Flavour Would Be…

Hot chocolate and skittles.

Happy List

Long phone calls with my mum.

The windows in our living room.

The curtains for the windows in our living room.

Bloat-free days.

My cosy red jumper I got for Christmas.

Counting down the days to family visits.

Sparkly berry scented candles.

Good content.

Plan of Attack sessions with my hubby.

Animal Crossing on ios.

More than six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

The power of self-acceptance.

Facebook groups with connection and feeling.

Crawshaw’s salt and pepper chicken nuggets.

Hairy Bikers Dieters cookbook.

Copious amounts of peppermint tea.

Evie. Evie. Evie.

How did January go for you?