I am so glad that I started this series on my blog. Why? It is helping me to focus on the positives of the month which right now, looking back, I would have struggled with for October.
My daughter not being well for which seems like forever overshadowed October. She started off with an ear infection towards the end of September, we just had one week of rest bite and then she caught the super cold. Hello spikes in fever here and there, constantly testing for covid and sleepless nights due to coughing!
She has been well enough for school but you know when you just get to a point where you think, for how long more?
At the moment, she’s doing better although still has a horrid chesty cough and recovering from an eye infection (you couldn’t make it up!) . We are getting there, I can see the light at the end of a tunnel, albeit a very tiny light but there is one!
So thanks to this series, I have been forced to think of the good of this October so without further ado, let’s dive right in.
Happy Birthday!
On 18th October, I turned 29!
This year, I didn’t plan to do anything. Even though, at work I was entitled to a birthday leave this year, I decided not to take it. I reached work and received a lovely surprise from my colleagues, flowers and a card waiting on my desk. We always did this for everyone’s birthdays but with working from home for over a year, I didn’t know it was still on! So it was nice to be appreciated.
I came home to cake and presents organised by my little girl. Well, she didn’t do everything physically but dictated and made sure mummy’s birthday was special.
Related post: 30 Things to do Before Turning 30!
My DA Jumping
In September, my DA was at 4 and then it jumped to 8 in October. Although it is currently stuck there (I need to stop obsessively checking!) I feel that is something to be proud of!
Have I done anything different in particular to help that jump?
I am still getting my head around SEO and the keyword search malarkey. However, I have been making sure that my new posts are SEO optimised with the help of the Yoast plug-in for WordPress. What a genius invention, eh? My goal now is to start going through my old posts (they make me cringe!) and start updating them too.
Moreover, October was the first month that I advertised my blog with fellow bloggers. I advertised with Lauren from Bournemouth Girl and Jordanne from The Life of a Glasgow Girl. This has inevitably lead to more exposure and strong back links!
October Half Term
I ended up taking the whole week off from work and loved it! Despite the illnesses, I can say that we had a good time during the half term holidays. Although, I had to cancel all of our original plans, Aazeen and I had a great change of scenery. We went and stayed at our cousins, same town as us, so no where exotic. However, the change of routine and scenery really did some good!
It was good to see Aazeen playing happily with her cousins and keeping her distracted.
Although, we didn’t do any particular activities, we went on short walks and long drives which Aazeen really enjoyed.
Bluetooth Headphones
Some may call these AirPod dupes but I honestly couldn’t care less! Why? Ever since I got my hands on these, it really has been a game changer! It was so annoying to use my old headphones, especially when you had to charge your phone at the same time (iPhone problems).
I could have just gotten air pods like my brother but I thought let me just have a quick Amazon search. The ones I went for I found these for £18.99 + £2.49 for a 2 year warranty. I thought, if they won’t work, at least I will know I have tried.
If you know me, you will be well aware that I am an annoyingly very picky buyer. I can’t remember how many Bluetooth headphones I searched, read a ton of reviews and eventually settled on these.
How are they? Absolutely perfect! I have not had any trouble whatsoever. Easy to connect and accessible. I only have to charge the charging case once a week and am good to go!
Audiobooks
So after getting my headphones, I thought why not give audiobooks a go. I absolutely love reading but currently find it hard to just sit down and read for a number of reasons I won’t bore you with.
I downloaded audible and the first book I started to listen to was Lock Every Door by Riley Sager which was the October book of the month for That Mama Club’s book club.
Not only did I enjoy the book very much (a post for another day) but I finished it within a few days which is so unlike me. There was no need to be confined to one place, I listened during the school run, my shopping trips and walks. I felt like perhaps listening to it made it more gripping for me.
I do, however, have a confession to make! Once upon a time, I use to be of the opinion that listening to a book doesn’t really count as reading. I know, how silly of me, right? From my experience of listening, I realise that it is actually reading, not only could I envision the words but also feel like I’m part of the book.
So after I finished Lock Every Door, I saw that I have a credit to use and downloaded Wilde About The Girl by Louise Pentland. I have this in paperback and have been trying to finish it since forever. But whenever I did get this book out, my daughter would claim it as hers. But in a couple of days, I managed to finally finish it!
Are you a fan of audiobooks?
So that’s my round up of the month! Please do share with me below what you loved about October too!
It sounds like you had a great October. Congratulations on your DA score increasing that is awesome. I am glad you were able to enjoy half term despite illness. I have AirPods and I love them! Thank you for sharing your experience of October.
Lauren – bournemouthgirl
Thank you for sharing your round up and sorry to hear about your little one being unwell. We’ve had the same nasty colds recently and it’s awful.
I wish you all the best with your future goals.
I need to try out more audiobooks! Thank you for sharing this insight into your past month x
This is such a lovely way to look back on the positive things that happened — I think we should all try this out as a part of our self-care. Thanks for sharing!
I was sorry to read that your daughter was ill. I hope she is souper well now. I love reading optimistic posts because no matter what there are always positive things where we can focus and feel grateful for. Audio books is something I should give a try also.
I’m so glad to hear that there were some positives as well as your daughter being ill! Happy belated birthday, it’s so sweet that your work and daughter organised that for you! I still need to check out audiobooks haha, I have so many physical ones to get through but perhaps I’ll try it soon. This was a lovely read, thanks for sharing x
Sorry to hear your daughter has been feeling so poorly I hope she’s better soon. Congratulations on such a big DA score jump! I hope you have a lovely November.
Happy birthday! Your cake looks delicious! I hope your little girl makes a full recovery very soon.
Corinne x
First of all congratulations on your birthday! Apparently we share the same date 😊 and congrats on your DA as well, sounds like you’re on fire! Keep it up 😁
A positive round up. Audiobooks seem to be popular. I need to try them.
Bluetooth headphones are amazing! It does save the hassle of deciding whether to listen to music or charge your phone. I’ve been meaning to read that book by Riley Sager and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I’m so sorry your daughter hasn’t been well, I know what it’s like. Ever since Flora went back to school she seems to have been lurching from one streaming cold to another 🙁 But I’m glad you were able to celebrate some positives in October too – not least your birthday, with that gorgeous cake!
Aww I hope your daughter feels better soon! I love the theme of this series – we could all do with some more positivity. I’ve only got into audiobooks this year myself, but that was as much because I could never find a narrator that I liked, but got there eventually, and it’s certainly helped up my book count! Sounds like you had a good October – I hope November is even better!
Your birthday cake looks delicious, and congratulations on your DA moving up! I love that feeling when you see that it’s gone up. I haven’t really ever got into audio books, though I do like a good podcast x
I love the idea of writing down five things I loved about a month, as I feel that is an amazing way to focus on positives and all the little things I may not have been as grateful for when they happened.
Congratulations on your blog growth and late happy birthday! 🙂
october was postpartum month for me, so i haven’t been enjoying that all that much haha
erin | littlesipsoftea.com
I love posts like this! I do a similar thing on my blog & it’s a lovely way to look back at the month and appreciate all of the positives. Hope you had a lovely birthday & congratulations on your improving DA! That’s amazing. I hope A’s making a good recover! Sending you lots of love.
Claire.X
Loved the round-up. Hope your little one feels better soon.
Wow….. looks like you had a beautiful October. Happy Belated Birthday to you. I hope it is not too late for me to wish you. Hehehe. I hope November will be another beautiful month for you. XoXo.
Happy belated birthday! I’m currently looking for new Bluetooth earbuds but the ones I had before were really nice! I’ve enjoyed the switch to wireless. Thanks for sharing!
Alexis| http://cafe-beauty.com
This is such a lovely post! Belated happy birthday to you. That birthday cake looks sooo good! Also, I’m a big fan of audiobooks and podcasts. Thanks for sharing this post!
Love the idea of reflecting and picking out the good things from the previous month! It’s so easy to get caught up in the negative a lot of the time.
I hope your little one gets better soon & congrats on the DA increase 🙂 Blog growth is so tough x
Belated happy birthday and congratulations on growing your DA score. Our house has been full of illness too so I feel your pain there. It looks like you still had a good month though.
Love this post. We’re birthday twins! I hope you had the best birthday. Well done on your DA jumping, that’s amazing. No better feeling than that. I’m a big fan of podcasts, I love Rachel Leary’s one (R Rated I think it’s called), highly recommend that! Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Massive well done on growing your domain, what a huge achievement!
Rosie
I love reading these sort of posts on other blogs – it’s nice to see the small things that have made people happy in a month! Yay welcome to the 29 club! I turned 29 in September and I’m already dreading next year. Congrats on your DA jumping too! Amazing news 🙂
Sending your daughter good and healing energy and happy belated birthday to you! I just started Lock Every Door, so I am so excited to finish it.
Wishing you a strong and happy finish to the year.
Happy belated birthday and congratulations on the DA jump. I hope your daughter gets well soon.
This is such a lovely reflective post! Congrats on your DA jumping – I can totally relate to obsessing over your DA score haha 🙂
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Aww your daughter has been through a lot lately, but it’s good she’s getting better
Happy belated birthday! That’s sweet your colleagues & family were able to make your day special.
Also, that’s great your DA jumped & it’s nice you had a week off from work.
I’m a fan of audiobooks too because I can do chores while listening to a book because sometimes it’s hard to find the time to sit down & read
I’m sorry that your daughter was unwell in October! Congratulations on your DA increase, that’s such an achievement! Glad you enjoyed the half term break with your daughter too!