2019 Wrap up

The year’s gone by so quickly now that I think about it. Yet, it felt so slow. It felt like it was dragging by. You’ll understand that if you’ve had the same kind of year and I know many people have. 

2019 was the year I decided to start this blog and stick with it no matter what. Something I didn’t do for any of the other blogs I’ve started in the past. I’ve forgotten about blogs after writing only one post, shut some down when I felt like I didn’t have enough to write about and also just generally not taken one seriously enough as a creative outlet or cathartic platform. I won’t be doing any of that again.

Got an email from Feedspot in October about being in the Top 10 of UK family blogs which made me happy. That was a nice surprise!

In that vein, let me share with you some of the posts that people seemed to enjoy the most this year. I do sometimes wish that people would comment more on why they like a post because it helps me understand the reasons why posts are being shared. You know, are you sharing because you relate to a post yourself or do you know someone who does?

My five most popular posts of 2019 (based on pageviews)

1. Marriage with a newborn
2. Necessary topics of discussion before you have a baby with your husband
3. The In-law Christmas gift guide
4. Things I wish I knew before baby
5. First time mum tips and hacks for sanity

I needed number 5 myself pretty badly which is why I went searching for tips for a blog post. I needed all and any tips to help me get through certain days in 2019. I already talked in a previous post about the bouts of anxiety I’ve been dealing with this year. They weren’t entirely new in my life but the intensity was completely new and I knew I had to get some kind of help for it. It’s a work in progress and I think that’s probably what anyone who’s dealt with any form of anxiety or depression at any point in their lives would say the same. One of my favourite bloggers Vee, noted in one of her posts, that people who struggle with anxiety tend to be people of higher intelligence. Look…I remember taking great consolation in that when I read it. I’ll take it!

You may also like: My End of Year ‘Get to Know Me Better’

One thing that I started in 2019 was a prayer journal. It’s made a big difference and I’d advise anyone who feels like they’re exhausted from muddling through lots of heavy thoughts and feelings to start one too. It also helps to be able to go back through various prayer points and see how they’ve either been answered or not answered.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long enough, you’ll know that my attempts at not putting too much pressure on myself mentally have only started in the last few weeks or so. And it hasn’t always gone so well but that’s to be expected. I must say though that I can see my new attitude has the potential to seriously irritate people who are used to a different me 😀 

We’ve just received a notification from our landlord in Germany about not having any hot water for the next week. So that will be a lovely welcome back to Germany when we leave the UK in the new year. That’s another thing that I really should add on to the list of differences between Germany and the UK – the lackadaisical manner in which German landlords seem to deliver extremely bad news with no apparent sense of the amount of inconvenience they may be causing their tenants. This is not the first time we’ve received similar news from a landlord in Germany. Not the first property either. Arghhhhhhh. That would never fly in the UK. Not without some sort of serious compensation offered.  Or would it? If it’s happened to you anywhere else in the world, comment below.

I’ll end this by sharing a couple of possibly basic things that I’ve learned while learning to deal with anxiety.

Water is truly your best friend. Drink more of it and see the difference it makes to all of you – inside and out. Mentally and physically. 

Figure out where in your body you tend to carry stress and work every day at physically loosening that area up.

Don’t fight any times of sadness or doubt. They’re opportunities to figure out how to grow and make your life better.

If you love hard, continue to do so. Don’t let disappointment stop you.

Don’t let life get in the way of keeping the people you love close. Don’t let distance stop you either. 

Thank you to everyone who’s found me here and stuck around or has been dropping in from time to time to read a post. May you all have a fulfilling new year ahead.

Here’s to 2020!

God bless!