2018: What to expect from Life In Recovery

I'm not normally one for making New Year's Resolutions (the reasons why can be found here in a post I wrote in 2014) but...this year, I feel it would be good to set out some aims for this blog. Creating goals (and making them public) can help you re-focus and achieve; and I think this blog needs a little tweaking and for you, dear audience, to know what to expect from 2018 and this little corner of the internet.

What you will be seeing:

• Month In Review pieces will be posted every month with the same categories. However, they will normally be word-based, unlike previous ones in video format. Life has been getting in the way of me filming, editing and uploading!

• Videos - I will be continuing to film videos and post them on YouTube, as and when ideas come to me. As always video requests are very welcome.

• Recipes - there were a bunch of new recipes posted in 2017, and I want to continue that. There will be healthy, nutritious and delicious new ideas for your table and tummy throughout 2018.

• Instagram - I am aiming to build more of a community on Instagram. Come and join me!

• Wellbeing Basics - I will be launching a new series called 'Wellbeing Basics' which provides tips and resources on how to achieve (and maintain) good health and a happy life. I think we can often neglect our most basic needs, and sometimes need a little reminder to sleep, exercise, eat and rest well.

• YOUR REQUESTS - I filmed a few request videos in 2017 and I loved doing it, knowing what you wanted to see and then providing the information. I would love to do that a little more often. So if you have any burning questions, need help on something specific, want me to research a topic or just have a general idea - please let me know. That way, I spend my time making content you really want, and that will make a difference to you and hopefully help.

• My 2018 life lessons and favourites published at the end of the year - one of my favourite things to write, and you seem to love reading them. If you missed 2017's the favourites are here, and the life lessons are here. 

What you won't be seeing:

• Twitter use - while I am not ditching Twitter for good (it's definitely one of the best ways you and I interact with each other), I have become a little disillusioned with the medium for a number of reasons - you may have noticed I've been a bit absent. So while you won't see so many streams of consciousness or random conversations, my account will be re-focused on the blog - it's original goal. Please don't stop chatting to me on Twitter though - I love hearing from you, and all 600+ of you who follow Life In Recovery on Twitter.

What are some of your goals for 2018? 

How to get in touch (and all that social media stuff)

YouTube
Instagram
Twitter
Blog
Email
Facebook 

Reflections - some of my favourites of 2017

As I have taken to do at this time of year, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the past year. Two posts will follow - this one of some of my favourite things of 2017, and another one on things I've learned in the last year (coming soon). I will try not repeat too many of the same things from previous years' posts, but be warned there may be a few similar!

If you want to see previous posts then the links are below:

Favourites of 2015 

Favourites of 2016

Lessons of 2015

Lessons of 2016

As I said last year (and the year before)...without further ado, and in the immortal words of Julie Andrews, these are a few of my favourite things (from 2017)...

• Red wine

• Reunions

• Rooftop bars in London

• Walking - both for perspective and health

• End of exams - especially if someone else pays for a celebratory lunch

• My gut instinct

• Getting braver, and going for what I want

• Polaroid pictures 

• My friends and family 

• A summer of work

• An actual cat burglar 

• Re-watching my 1SecondEveryday videos 

• Month In Review videos - even if I don't film them every month...

• Playing join-the-dots with freckles

• Pimms/Beer/Cider/Picnics at the cricket

• Impromptu plans - although I don't think you can actually plan anything that is impromptu...

• Being a pedant - see above

• Trying (and failing) to (temporarily) dye my hair purple

• Friends trekking across London to provide sustenance of more than one kind

• Texts that start with, "Do you want to come round to mine for dinner?" and end with "I'll cook".

• Perfecting my party trick of pill-swallowing

• Staycations

• FINALLY getting free coffee(s) at Pret

• Kumquats

• Telling stories about kumquats

• Being teased about my stories of kumquats

• My being-discharged-from-hospital anniversary being renamed my squirrel anniversary

• Reaching four years since I left hospital

• Puns - forever and always one of the ways to my heart

• Well-timed, freshly-boiled kettles

• Good grammar

• Good manners

• "Good morning"s

• Good referencing - in life, not just in essays

• Making time for self-care

• Sheet masks

• Yoga – especially Child’s Pose

• Early nights

• Late nights

• A dazzlingly coloured wireless speaker

• The Eiffel Tower light show

• Being the hostess

• Being the hosted 

• Being mistaken for a Parisian

• Being afraid of an answer, but asking anyway

• Robing rooms and court rooms (as always)

• Having one of my idols as a mentor

• The notification "xxxx has tagged you in a comment/post"

• Voice notes

• Screenshots and a flurry of messaging

• Still having more favourites than not, despite a roller-coaster of a year

...and so much more...

What are your favourite things of 2017? 

How to get in touch:
YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Reflections - some of my favourites of 2016

Just like last year, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the past year. Two posts will follow - this one of some of my favourite things of 2016, and another one on things I've learned in the last year (coming soon). I will try not repeat too many of the same things from 2015's posts, but be warned there may be a few similar!

If you want to see what my favourite things of last year were then click here, and if you want to see what lessons I've learned (and compare them to this year) then click here.

As I said last year...without further ado, and in the immortal words of Julie Andrews, these are a few of my favourite things (from 2016)...

• Cheese - in all its wonderful and varied forms

• Yorkshire Tea - DECAF - aka nectar from the Gods

• My friends (work, uni, old, new) and my family

• Instagram - yes, I succumbed finally...

• Twitter - enough said

• GIFs - for an illustration of my love of these, please refer to Twitter ;)

• Tagging and being tagged in memes

• Procrastination - see above for one of the ways I do this

• Whatever the antonym for procrastination is

• Self-care

• Ice-cold cider

• Summers spent watching cricket

• 1 Second Everyday - I have almost completed a year of film clips, and am yet to miss a day

• Facetime/Skype - vital for keeping in touch with family and friends in far-flung places

• Helix piercings - bucket list item fulfilled

• Seeing Muse live - another bucket list item and there are no words for how good they were

• Exploring new cities - Bristol and Geneva, especially

• Swimming with swans in Lake Geneva

• Puns - one of the many ways to my heart

• Being made cups of tea without asking - another way to my heart

• Long walks with stops at pubs (shout-out to Devon for this)

• Freckles (again, and always)

• London having a heatwave, and all those Snapchat pictures that were just blue skies with the temperature

• Baking (in an oven, but also see above...)

• Starting university - one of those 'pinch me' moments

• Robing rooms and court rooms - (still, and again)

• My gut instinct

• Wahaca piña coladas

• Rooftop bars in London

• London

• Dancing all night

• Sleeping all night

• Giggling all night

• Nights in

• Nights out

• Planet Earth II - especially this scene

• Housemates (old and new)

• Change - even if it's scary

• Being honest and congruent

• Washing being magically hung up for you

• Reaching three years since I left hospital (and the milestone almost passing me by)

• Writing the Wellbeing Basics Series (sporadically) for The Olive Fox

• Homemade gifts/cards/food

• Still having more favourites than not, despite a roller-coaster of a year

...and so much more...

What are your favourite things of 2016?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life

Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/

Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

UK Blog Awards 2016 - VOTING HAS OPENED! #UKBA16

For the first post of the year it's an exciting one! Voting has opened for the 2016 UK Blog Awards...

Life In Recovery has been nominated in two categories this year - Health & Social Care and Best Storyteller.

When the blog was nominated I was asked to answer the question 'Why Vote For Me/The Blog?' the answer was pretty simple in the end: Illness (in it's many shapes and forms) can touch us all - no matter who we are. Health should be looked after, valued and nurtured; issues should be discussed; knowledge and experience shared. No-one should ever feel alone, lost, unheard or ashamed. If you believe this too - vote for Life In Recovery - a blog that tries to make a difference.

Voting opens today 4th January and closes on 25th January, so you don't have long to cast your votes!

So...if you'd like to vote for me - how can you?

• All votes are cast via the blog's profile page here (or click on the picture above).

• Once you're on the blog's profile page you will see a big 'Vote Now' button - press it!

• Because Life In Recovery is up for two categories you will have the choice to vote for both of the categories from a drop-down list on the page. 

• Please note, you can vote for each category, but this has to be done separately.

• Once you have entered your name and email address you will receive a confirmation email to say your vote has been registered. Hurrah!

• You can vote on mobile devices and desktop computers once a day...so you aren't limited to one vote! So that's one vote per person per day. Meaning (if you want) you can vote every day until the deadline!

It's a massive honour to be 'in the mix' with some incredibly talented people and companies - all who bring something special and individual to their corners of the internet. 

I urge you to have a browse through some of the other nominees!

I really appreciate and value all of your feedback, support and readership. This blog wouldn't be what it is without each and every one of you - so thank you!

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Reflections - things I learned from 2015

For the second of my 'Goodbye 2015; Hello 2016' blog posts I am writing a list of some of the things I learned in 2015.
Again, I feel like it's a good way to reflect on the past year and maybe one or two of these things might chime a bell with you.

• Sometimes I can't see what's right in front of me

• Sometimes I don't want to see what's right in front of me

• I can procrastinate like a boss

• I can't use phrases like "like a boss"

• First impressions can be very right

• First impressions can be very wrong

• How to use a semi-colon properly; life-changing

• Being kind to yourself is hard

• I always pack too much stuff

• I'd rather regret something I did than regret something I didn't do

• If it feels wrong it probably is 

• Decent haircuts in London don't have to cost the earth 

• Those little blue ticks on WhatsApp are the best thing

• Those little blue ticks on WhatsApp are the worst thing

• Trust your gut

• Forgiving others is easier than forgiving yourself 

• If you really want to spend time with someone you will - and if someone really wants to spend time with you they will

• If you're unsure about something just wait 

• Waterproof eyeliner/mascara ain't always so waterproof

• Just because you feel negatively about yourself doesn't mean it's true - or that other people feel the same about you 

• Wait until lasagne is cold before portioning it up for the freezer or things get very messy

• Even when you feel like your whole world is imploding you can still keep going (and it's probably not your "whole" world)

• Things do get better 

• Pacing is not overrated 

• I'm still recovering 

• Work and studies can get you through tough times

• Friends and family can get you through tough times

• YOU can get yourself through tough times 

• If you can't trust yourself you can't expect others to

• Don't say one thing and do another 

• Be consistent and congruent 

• Honesty is the best policy - especially with yourself 

• Listen to your body

• It's okay to ask for help 

• Don't see everything as a battle

• It's okay to feel like you don't know what you're doing

• However much you plan you will never be able to outwit fate/The Gods/time/death/accidents/illness/anything and everything else

• Happiness feels amazing

• I can surprise myself just as much as others can surprise me

• Life is an incredible, surprising, wonderful thing 

What did 2015 teach you?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

UK Blog Awards 2016 - #UKBA16

Sooooo...it's that time of year again when the amazing UK Blog Awards open up and this year Life In Recovery has been entered into two of the categories; ODEON Cinema Headline Award: Best Storyteller and Health & Social Care!

I'm incredibly excited and pleased that the blog is taking part again this year. Last year was a great experience; connecting with lots of fabulous bloggers/vloggers/creatives who fill the internet with some incredible, powerful and inspiring content.

Voting won't open until January 4th 2016 and I'll be sure to keep you all informed - so stay tuned! You can follow all the chat and discover other blogs entered into the UK Blog Awards 2016 by checking out the #UKBA16 feed on Twitter.

As ever, I massively appreciate all of you reading, watching and reacting to the (far too infrequent) bits and bobs I create on this blog.

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Voting: UK Blog Awards #UKBA15

Amazingly I have been nominated in two categories of the UK Blog Awards  - more information is provided in my previous blog post on the awards here.
The two categories are Best Health Blog and Young Person Recognition (18-25.)

So now for the REALLY exciting part - voting is now open for the UK Blog Awards 2015.
Voting commenced on November 10th and closes on December 1st and I'd very much appreciate any of your support or votes.

 To vote for this site in the Health category click here or you can click on the lovely, shiny picture above!

You can also vote for me in the Young Person Recognition category here or again, click the fancy image above.

Here's an extract from the UK Blog Awards website describing the voting process:

"How to Register your Vote: Select the Blog entry you wish to vote for and fill out your Full Name and Email address in the required fields before pressing Submit!
Please note, if you vote more than once for the same Blog entry in the same category, your vote will be disregarded.
Some #UKBA15 entrants decided to enter their Blog into two different categories and we welcome you to vote for these Blogs across both of the categories.
All email addresses must be valid to register your vote effectively.
After voting, you will be redirected to the Public Vote page and will receive an email confirmation to the account you have chosen to vote with.
Don’t forget to help your favourite Blog gain more votes by sharing their Unique URL/s via Social Media."

There are some incredible individual/freelance bloggers (like me) plus some brilliant company blogs in the many categories and I would encourage you to have a browse on the UK Blog Awards site and see if any other blogs tickle your fancy!

As I said earlier I'd hugely appreciate your votes but also would love for you to share this blog post or the voting links with your family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours or anyone you think might be interested in showing their support for me and my site.

I want to say a huge thank you for all your wonderful feedback, comments and the lovely interactions so far. If just one person is helped through Life In Recovery I will have achieved what I set out to do.

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

UK Blog Awards 2015 - #UKBA15

I have a BIG announcement to make.... Life In Recovery has been entered into two categories for the National UK Blog Awards 2015. The two categories are Health and Young Person Recognition (18-25) This is obviously hugely exciting for me and I am very pleased to be involved in the awards.

The UK Blog Awards© are the only Blog Awards recognising a multitude of industry professional talent across the UK. The UK Blog Awards provide a unique opportunity for individual professionals from their sector and organisations to be recognised for their social media achievements through blogging, with the chance to network and be inspired by other industry bloggers.

Now comes the part where I need YOUR help. The blogs are short-listed based on a public vote. This vote opens on November 10th and closes December 1st. The lucky 20 finalists will be whittled down to the winners by a panel of expert judges. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in April 2015. The theme of the 2015 awards is #BeBold.

So I'm going to Be Bold and say that when the public vote opens I would love to get a vote (or two) from you all. This is obviously only if you feel Life In Recovery is worthy of a vote in the categories. There will be lots of other amazing blogs and websites in all the categories that I'm sure would also appreciate your votes, so keep your eyes peeled and your fingertips at the ready on November 10th!

I'll update the blog to remind you when voting starts and I'm sure there will be some sort of countdown to polling time on Twitter!

Many thanks for all your wonderful feedback, comments and interactions so far. If just one person is helped through Life In Recovery I will have achieved what I set out to do.

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life