Happy Belated New Year + Hello 2022!

Hello and happy 2022! I know I’m a little late considering we’re halfway through January already but let’s not dwell on that. I hope the year has started off well for you and 2022 overall will be a bit easier.

Since my last post in November – Where I’ve Been… – I’ve felt out of the loop with blogging and haven’t had much motivation at all. New Zealand is in full on summer at the moment, getting up to nearly 30 degrees some days and the heat zaps and drains my energy which doesn’t make me feel like doing much at all. I cannot wait for it to start cooling down as I much prefer the cold.

In my last post I talked about some health troubles I’d had, high white blood cell counts and generally feeling lethargic. In early December I started feeling breathless, had sore chest muscles and pain swallowing occasionally. I went to the doctor and we concluded I strained muscles in my upper chest when overseeing a bar fridge delivery at work. I was prescribed some pills to help heal the muscles and some muscle relaxants. I feel fine now but it was an uncomfortable week or two.

I won’t lie, early in January I toyed with the idea of stopping blogging. Most weeks I don’t have the spare time I used to, I always feel ‘busy’ and since my mum got sick in 2020 our roles within the household have changed. It’s not something I’ve talked about before as most people don’t understand our situation and we’re both the kind that just get on with things and do things because we have to, there’s no one else to help us. Over the past week or so I did realise I want to keep this blog, it’s always somewhere I can come to and express what I’m thinking and the connections and friendships it has brought me over the years are very special. I also think my blogging mojo has been relatively non-existent since I’m not wearing makeup. With mandatory mask use when you leave the house there’s no point doing my face for work everyday and making a mess of my masks and making my skin feel more clammy and sticky. I do have some time off coming at the start of February so I will try and get my plan on and get some posts created and written so there’s not so much of a gap between content. If you’ve got any ideas of posts you’d like to see, feel free to leave a comment below!

In terms of goals for 2022, I’ve got a couple:

1. Read 45 books (I managed 43 in 2021)
2. Start driving lessons
3. Get back into exercycling regularly

I’ve also set up pages for the year in my bullet journal. That was something that fell by the wayside last year and when I keep up with it I feel more on top of things and like I’m able to let go of the events of the day more easily and have a clearer head. I want 2022 to be happy and good and I’m starting the year off on a positive note in the hope it translates throughout everything else.

Here’s to 2022 and the year I’ll (hopefully) make a blogging comeback!

Share any goals you’ve got for the year as well as one good thing that’s happened to you recently!

If you’re still here after all these years, thanks for reading!

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Where I’ve Been…

Hello, hello! Long time no blog! In 2021 I haven’t blogged much at all, it’s not through not wanting to but I feel like I haven’t had much to say and I’ve been enjoying keeping under the radar a little bit and using weekends as chill out time to read and catch up on other things. I still read other blogs almost every day and do want to put out posts when inspiration strikes. This is kind of the reason for this post, bridging the gap talking about what I’ve been feeling and what’s been happening and a push to get me excited about blogging again.

I’ll start by rewinding back to April/May of this year when I felt things start to change. In April my mum was in hospital again, thankfully it wasn’t as serious as her admissions in 2020 but the situation doesn’t get easier. She came out a week later and over the past six months her and I have noticed improvements. She’s able to do more and walk further without getting breathless as fast and she came off prednisone after being on them for a year. At the end of April I had time off work and was able to recharge. Throughout this and a few months prior I’d been feeling really tired and sometimes didn’t know how I was getting through the day. My job can be intense so on top of feeling tired I was also incredibly drained. A few people suggested I might have glandular fever based on my symptoms and how I’d been feeling. In May I went to the doctor and mentioned the tiredness and she said it sounded like I was burnt out and suggested more time off work (which I didn’t take as I would have felt guilty) and a blood test. The results came back and my white cell count was up slightly so it looked like an infection of some sort. A few weeks later I had another blood test and the cell count had gone up. I was prescribed antibiotics and had another blood test after finishing them but the cell count was still the same so I was given more antibiotics. The doctor couldn’t figure it out as she said ‘I’m pretty healthy.’ In the end I had three courses of antiobtiotics and countless blood tests and still don’t know what was wrong. I asked to be tested for glandular fever but it didn’t happen. I haven’t seen a doctor or had a blood test since July so I don’t know what my white cells are like currently. I still feel tired some days but nowhere near as bad as I was.

While all of that was going on I made sure to be gentle and kind to myself and started taking more time at weekends to relax and started not to feel guilty if I stayed in my pyjamas one day or didn’t get the house all cleaned. I’ve started pacing myself and going with the flow a bit more and listening to what my body wants. I mentioned I feel like I’ve been under the radar a little bit and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve still been quite active on Instagram and I’ve been trying to adapt to the new features of the platform such as reels but honestly sometimes I do lose motivation with it. Reels and video content is supposedly pushed to more people but I personally find they don’t get as many likes for me. I don’t know whether my followers aren’t seeing the content, they don’t like it or a mixture of both. I will keep perservering as they have been fun to make and I like watching reels from the people I follow. I am aware the feed content has been lacking since New Zealand went back into lockdown in August and I’m working on it.

The day the second lockdown was announced I was on annual leave and hours before had received my first Pfizer jab. Absolutely the right thing to do was lockdown the country as they didn’t know if it was a Delta case or not, that decision was ridiculed but it meant lockdown only lasted for a few weeks. If you look at where New Zealand is now, the day I’m writing this post we have had the highest daily total of cases since the pandemic started and most of the country is in Level 2 which means shops, cafes, restaurants and businesses can open with social distancing and safety measures in place and mask wearing is compulsory. Okay, more of the country is vaccinated now but the case numbers aren’t plateauing or going down.

Recently on an Instagram story I was sharing thoughts and feelings I’d been having and one of those was around the way I look. I’m not feeling too confident at the moment – perhaps that’s down to not wearing makeup for three months – but mask wearing makes me feel sweaty and overheat and I don’t like the way some things are looking on me. I don’t feel like I’ve eaten more  or gained weight but I think it’s that mindset of Covid is still here there’s no point going out anywhere or putting a nice outfit on. I’m still staying home and keeping activities to a minimum. I’ve also not been in the mood for dating or trying to meet anybody, I’m happy by myself at the moment and socialising with new people during times like these makes me nervous.

Onto the last and most exciting piece of news in this post, I’ve ordered a new phone. I’ve been an Apple user for years and when I saw they had released a pink iPhone it was destined to be mine. I ordered it last week and it should arrive in a few weeks. I was tossing up between the 13 or the 13 mini but I went with the 13 in the end as it’s a similar size to my current phone but doesn’t weigh as much. It’s going to be strange not to have the home button but I’ll soon get over it. I treated myself to this phone as a) the model I currently have is 6 years old (I bought it in 2019) and it won’t last forever b) how often do you see a pink phone and c) the base amount of storage is 128GB, four times as much as my current phone. That will be useful for making more video content.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to catch up with me.
Please say hello in the comments and let me know how you’ve been lately!

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Something You Should Know…

Hi everyone.

This post is one of the hardest and most horrible I’ll ever have to write. One thing I pride myself on is being honest and I don’t feel like it would be fair if I didn’t share this information with you. There is no easy way to say this but last Tuesday, June 21, I lost my job. It came completely out of the blue and a little part of me is still in shock.

A couple of weeks ago my new boss had approached me to arrange a time we could both meet and discuss any concerns we were having. (My new boss took over the business on April 1 after purchasing it from the previous owner). My boss and I met last Monday and all weekend up until the meeting, I had a bad feeling. Maybe I was naive because I genuinely didn’t think there was a problem. I’m not saying I’m perfect and I never make mistakes but if someone has an issue with me or is not happy I’d rather they just came out and said it.

I am going to miss that job because it helped me grow in confidence and it also taught me a lot of important life lessons. It reinforced how focused and determined I am and it made me feel good to know I was working hard to earn my money. I think the hardest thing to deal with is the fact I don’t have a job to go to anymore. I am trying my best not to let it get me down and I know I was never dishonest or did anything untoward which led to me no longer working there – it simply didn’t work out anymore. I am one of those people who believes things happen for a reason and while it feels frustrating at the time to not know the reason why, I have to cross my fingers something else will come along.

I don’t want this to be a negative time. I am planning to do a few things that will better me. I will update my CV and I now have 14 months experience of being in a job behind me which I didn’t have before. I am also working my way towards sitting my Learner Licence driving test now that I’ve got a bit more extra time and can focus on it. I received a lot of encouragement on this month’s Hey, It’s Okay… If You Can’t Drive post and I’m just going to take the plunge and do it! It will be a big worry off my mind.

In August I am planning to take a trip up to Auckland to stay with my brother for a few days and we are going to see Alan Carr’s comedy show Yap, Yap, Yap! I booked my ticket to the show and my flights last week and I am really looking forward to it! It will be the first time flying on my own but it’s only a 40 minute flight. I’ll also get to go on a train for the first time which is exciting and I’ll get to go shopping and perhaps add to my MAC lipstick collection (beauty blogger priorities). I am lucky enough to be in a position that I can afford to take some time out and go away and have a break. The flights weren’t too expensive and even if I could drive the amount I would spend on petrol as well as the extra two hours it would take to get there would make it less appealing.

Times are changing and nothing stays the same forever. I didn’t want to go into too many details about the situation which I hope you respect and understand. I did want to keep you informed though and let you know what is happening. I will still be blogging and I am unsure if there will be a time I don’t stick to my three posts a week but I thought I’d warn you in case. I probably will but in case I’m not inspired or just not feeling it that’s why.

I started this blog to keep me busy when I was looking for work after my Communications course so in some ways I feel like I’ve come full circle except this time I’m armed with knowledge and experience in both areas. Let the next part of the journey begin!

Thank you so much for always sticking by me and for reading this post! Have a wonderful week!

P.S. Have you entered my GIVEAWAY? CLICK HERE for info!

Quick Update

Hey everyone!

Just a short post today letting you know I’ve updated my ‘About’ page. I hadn’t updated it in a while and now that I’ve been blogging for a bit longer I feel like I know what I want to say and how I want it to come across. I’ve added a recent (as in last Monday recent) picture to the page and talked more about what I want my blog to be and how it started. I think it also gives a nice insight into me as a person and what makes me tick.

Check out the NEW page here and be sure to tell me what you think!

Hope you’re having a lovely weekend! 🙂

Chanelle x

Update and Posting Schedule

Hi everyone! Wherever in the world you are hope you’re having/had a wonderful day!

I know my posting hasn’t been very regular of late but I plan on combating that over the next few weeks. I have a few posts left in my 25 Songs, 25 Days challenge and after that it will be back into some new topics and post ideas I have for the blog.

Sunday saw my first Week In Review post, which will be a weekly feature from now on. I am also thinking of adding some additional features and having certain post days. At the moment I’m thinking about:

• Weekly gratitude posts to share nice happenings and positive things from my week
• A beauty/style/fashion feature
• Meet the Blogger, where you can appear on the blog and get to know/interact with other bloggers

There will be additional posts thrown in for good measure from time to time as well.

Let me know your thoughts or if there’s anything you’d like to see me post about!

Chanelle x