BACK FROM THE BREAK - AN UPDATE

It feels so weird to sit down and write this post, to be honest. Taking a break for 2 months has certainly rusted over a few bolts in my internal blogging machine. Nevertheless, there's been a lingering excitement over the past few weeks as I finally see my return approaching. While I'm nervous about what's to come, and hoping that I can find a perfect work-play balance, I'm also enjoying just feeling myself again. And, best of all, feeling happy.

Since putting my blog on halt at the very end of December, lots of things have happened to me in regards to both my life and my blog but, right now, I'm feeling very at peace with how things are going. I'm really hoping that, as I return, I can continue to enjoy everything equally and be able to spread my time across everything.

So what has happened recently...

L I F E

After spending a wonderful few weeks at the very start if the year at home, with my parents and cat, Jamie and I came back up to Newcastle very willingly. We'd missed the city and our flat and I was super excited to see all of my friends again. Seeing them, though, meant exams. I remember all 5 of my girlfriends and I sitting in the Uni library, revising for our exams, for SEVEN hours straight on one of the days. As you can imagine, I worked my bloody socks off for those assessments but, luckily, it all managed to pay off and I achieved a 1st in both of them - I was so delighted.

On top of that, I've restarted the gym! Woop, Woop! Going to the gym is something that I love doing; exercise makes me feel great and, as someone not very body confident, I love how the gym makes me feel. My friend and I have even been doing classes, which is something I never thought I'd do, but I'm really finding it great for my confidence. Not only that, though, I've also started eating with a healthier regime. I mean, I'm definitely not an unhealthy person because I'm far too conscious to eat crap 24/7 (in fact, Jamie and I had our 2nd ever take away in our flat last week), but I have just started taking it a little step further and making sure my diet fits hand in hand with my exercise. This includes eating smaller portions, cutting down on sugar, increasing my intake of fruit and veg (something I'm already pretty good at), and going meat-free at least once a week. So far, so good, but I'll keep you updated.

So other than that, life has just been hustling by me in a complete flash of lectures, books, work, gym, food, and friends. You probably see why finding a balance is important for me right now, because my plate is pretty full.

B L O G

So, if you're an avid reader of my blog, you will have completely expected me to stop posting after December and, in a way, I really hope that people have understood my reasons for doing so. What I didn't warn people for, though, (mainly because I had no idea it would happen either) is that I'd completely drop off the face of the earth in terms of social media. And, in fact, I'm still struggling to jump back onto the cart. 

My Instagram went quiet for a month which, in fairness, is something I'd expect if someone was busy and/or not producing content but I'm managing to slowly but surely make my return. As the better weather rolls back around and I can get outside more, I'm enjoying capturing more images and getting more inspiration. 

What I didn't expect, though, was how hard it would be to return to Twitter (of all places). The app on my phone is completely dusted over and I barely go near it at all these days. I have moments where I think 'Oh, I could tweet that' but quite frankly don't have the motivation - so a lot of the time, I just keep my thoughts to myself. Perhaps, it's not too much of a bad thing, but I did always enjoy engaging with bloggers there yet it seems to be something so difficult for me right now. Of course, though, I'll be trying my hardest to retrain my brain because, at the end of the day, for this little internet space to grow, using Twitter (one of the best platforms in my opinion) would be quite vital.

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So that's it! My first blog post of Season 2 and it feels like it's been a joy to write. I'd love to know what your opinions are on taking a break from blogging or even any kinds of posts you'd like me to cover in the next season - whether that's my gym/healthy eating regime, more personal posts, reviews, or whatnot - just let me know.

For now, anyway, I'm very happy to be back.