As I sit down to write this, it feels weird. I feel kinda shy… that’s how long it’s been since the last blog post. So what’s been going on? I’m finally getting back to blogging.

December, as long ago as it feels now, was manic. Although there were so many good parts, the main thing that stands out (other than Christmas, obviously) was the busyness. As well as all the preparation for Christmas, and the low staffing levels at work, I was fast approaching my first ever deadline for my degree.

Although I only graduated from my first degree 3.5 years ago, the thought of my first assignment for this degree terrified me. I felt totally out of the academic loop – like hold up babes, how do you write an essay again?

Then there was the blogging side, as much as I feel I shouldn’t admit it, blogging is hella competitive. Although I am nowhere near as active or creative on social media as a lot of bloggers, there still felt the pressure to be ‘on.’ To be tweeting and reading others blogs, to be improving my photography, to be finding things worthy of Instagram.

As the deadline for uni got closer, I got more stressed than I can remember ever being. I guess I must have started grinding my teeth in my sleep out of stress, because one morning I woke up and genuinely thought I had tetanus. I couldn’t open my mouth, and it was only Craig’s calming influence that stopped me from self-diagnosing myself straight to A&E.

It felt like I’d got myself into a vicious circle. Whatever, or whoever I spent time with left me feeling guilty for neglecting other tasks. And so, something had to give. And that something was the blog.

Looking back though, I feel like maybe taking a blogging break was a bit too little too late. After Christmas, I caught a bug that I just could not shake off. It got worse and worse and eventually left me taking four days off work, high off paracetamol and unsure if there were any other clothes in existence other than pyjamas.

I guess it was the wake up call I needed. No matter how much you want to be pushing forward and creating the sparkliest life you can, you can’t forget yourself. The days or weeks that you don’t have time for self-care are the days exactly when you need it most. It’s like those grimey, peeling aeroplane leaflets instruct you: take care of yourself first, then worry about everything else.

This year, I’m going to try my best to remember that. No matter how much we want to do, or have to do, we have to schedule in time to just be. To do the things that make us feel grounded and refreshed and ready to conquer the world.

So yeah, in a long, rambling way here’s the point: I’m back to blogging. I’m back to feeling more like me, I’m back to feeling at peace. And I’m preaching about the importance of self-care.

Hmm… I did intend to have these 7 good things, or ‘ good thing to be thankful for ‘ posts go out at the start of every week, a little way to brighten up Mondays I guess. But last week flew by so quickly I missed it. Good one Bex. I really enjoy writing these as it kind of forces me to be more thankful in general –and I hope you like reading them too. As such, here’s a bumper one featuring two week’s worth of good things to be thankful for.

1. A Short Week

I know in the last post I was all like ‘be grateful you have a job’  but at the risk of sounding like a bit of a hypocritical Hayley, here’s to the shorter working week. I only worked two days, and there’s just something sweet knowing the rest of the world has already been slaving away for two hours as your only just getting dressed.

2. Bobble Hats.

I have a new bobble hat. Is this an exciting, ground breaking blog or what? But yeah, not only is it really cosy it also makes me feel like a walking Pinterest board.

3. Cheap Travel

It utterly amazes me to think that just a handful of generations ago travel was only something very few people could afford. We are so lucky that it’s possible to travel hundreds of miles as cheaply as we do. Talking of which, I recently went on a mini-cruise to Amsterdam – you can read about it here.

4. Quality Time

Following on from cheap travel was quality time. Going away meant me and Craig got to spend a lot more time together than we normally do, plus we had a max of 30 minutes of wifi so there was very little distraction in the way of phones. Between work, uni, friends and other commitments it’s lovely to be able to spend some proper time with people who are good for your soul.

5. Pushing Boundaries

Lol, another travel related one. Though to be fair, that is what most of the week consisted of. This week I drove to Hull and back – it’s only a two and a half hour drive but the thought of it was *almost* enough to make me wish I hadn’t of booked the trip. Now that I’ve done it though I am so proud of myself and feel so much more confident getting to new places. Sometimes you just have to be forced out of your comfortzone.

6. Making The Effort For People

Before I went away, my sister popped down to see me. I may have only been going for three nights but it was so sweet that she would make the effort to see me off. It’s a cliché but it often is the small things that make you go all soft and “N’awww.”

7. Getting into a Routine.

How old and boring do I sound? Not going to lie though, I love a routine. I’ve recently started waking up earlier, doing some uni work before work and then either continuing it or blogging in my lunch break. Having a routine just makes me feel so much more in control and motivated somehow.

8. Book Fairs

Maybe it’s the English grad in me, but I love a good book fair. Our local Methodist church recently held one, and it is safe to say I’m now well stocked up for cosy winter nights.

9. Fluffy Socks

Sound the Sexy Girlfriend Claxon. Last time me and Craig went shopping I snapped up some fluffy slipper socks, and oh my… they are life. They make me feel so snuggly and chilled out its untrue.

10. Quotes

I recently read a quote on Human’s of New York, by a subject who just totally got it. Side note, is that what they’re called? The people in the photos?  Anyway I showed it to a few colleagues as it just perfectly summed up some of the daily frustrations of working in an office.  When you’re not sure how to express something, finding out someone else has already done it is just brill.

11. Christmas Songs

As my new car has a digital radio, I’ve now discovered the Christmas channel and oh golly gosh. They just instantly get me feeling positive and ready to take on the world.

12. Knowing Your Family is Safe

That said about Christmas songs, one of them did get to me a bit. Stop the Cavalry  by Jona Lewie really got me thinking about people, now and in the past that have to face Christmas not knowing if their loved ones are safe. I’m so lucky to not be able to imagine a Christmas with half the people missing, or away at war.

13. Finding THAT Gift

You know that present, where you’re just like “YES! So-and-so will love this!” I love knowing someone will like their present, plus the relief you get as you cross them off the Christmas list.

14. Sense of Community

On the weekend just gone, I accompanied Craig to a charity snooker tournament at the working men’s club in which he works. As we hear more and more about the world being divided and a loss of local communities, it was lovely to see how strong a community feel the place had.

A Day in Amsterdam… the city of pot, prostitutes and polluted canals. Or at least that’s what I thought. I was lured their by cheap mini-cruise. Because hey, it’s a change of scene right? However it was nothing like I expected. At all. I mean I *may* want a winter house there now.

We went with P&O ferries, departing from Hull. And to be fair the crossing there wasn’t the smoothest. I had about an hours sleep overall and threw up in the morning mid-contour. My Craig’s a lucky man.

Amsterdam was so worth it though. It was honestly one of the prettiest cities I have ever been. Almost every building was multi-talented: individual, instagramable and just begging for you to own it.

As we were only there for 6 hours we didn’t get to do everything we’d like – I thought we had way more time when we confirmed the trip but I guess I hadn’t looked at the details properly. I thought we had a day in Amsterdam, like a full day. My bad.

There are a good mix of attractions from a diamond centre and Ann Frank’s House to an Ice Bar and a museum dedicated to sex and erotica. Craig (being the gentleman that is) had a lucky escape, as time restraints meant I couldn’t drag him in to some of the more risqué museums and attractions. I’m just taking that as a sign that we HAVE to go back I mean, you can’t say you’ve been to Amsterdam without going to a display on the secrets of the Red Light District, can you?

As well as being as pretty as a petal, Amsterdam centre was amazingly easy to navigate and the locals were some of the most helpful people on earth. Many of them spoke English or could at least point you in the direction of someone that could.

As well as spending hours strolling round the streets, we visited the torture museum which houses things you’d only normally see in films. The sorts of films with knights, witches and damsels in those white dresses.

We also went on a canal cruise. When Craig booked it, I was secretly a bit ‘meh’ I mean. Sure, it’s abroad, but it’s still basically a canal. Now though, I am converted.

It takes you through far more of the city than you could easily (or quickly) see in one outing. The history of the buildings you passed could be listened to in multiple languages and the captain of the boat also pointed out other sites, including “Amsterdam’s prettiest view”

If you’re looking for a cheap break where you can do and explore almost anything, Amsterdam is definitely the destination for you. And me. So if you’re going, sneak me into your luggage, won’t you?

I wanted to write this post for a while but now that I’m writing it, I feel like such a hypocrite. I haven’t been to my language class in so long I’m not even sure of the last date. When push came to shove it has had to give way to my Masters degree, but I do hope to pick it up again as soon as I can. I loved the process of learning a new language (although my skills can only be described as basic at best!) but basically here are 6 reasons to learn a new language.

• Although it sounds ridiculous, learning a second language in your spare time can be extremely relaxing. When I’m in class, or racing to do my homework on time I can think about nothing else other than the task at hand. German grammar is so mind-boggling strange, that it leaves no room for distractions. If you’ve got something on your mind, you have to push it away to focus on which verb moves where. So in a way, it gives you a bit more breathing space.

• You learn how to really communicate. OK, so you can speak and write and read. You do them all daily so your pretty good at communicating already right? Learning another language though teaches you how to make yourself extra-doubly clear. When you’re in the middle of a role-play and your partner has a lower ability than you it forces you to really think about how to get your message across (albeit in the other language.)

• Challenge Leads to Growth – They say you’d never learn anything new if you didn’t try anything new. Learning a new language can be daunting; I’ll freely admit public speaking was never really my thing. That said, after you’ve stood up in front of a group of people and described a situation using words that are 20 letters long (here’s looking at you: lebensmittelgeschäft) it gives you a little boost. If you can give a presentation in a second language, you can sure as hell give one in your native tongue.

• You Never Know What is Going To Happen – OK, gunna be honest here I don’t use German very often in my day to day life. I know, shocking. However if I’ve learnt one thing this year it’s that you can never be certain where life is going to take you. Learning a new language can open up a range of opportunities. I’m not just talking about the one country who speaks that language and maybe moving there. You may meet new people on holiday from that place, or meet someone from somewhere else who also has it as a second language.

• Become a Clevercloggs – There have been more than a few studies that have proven that when people are learning a language they tend to also perform better on tests. Some people claim it also makes you more logical, I guess that’s because you have to get back into the habit of breaking words down into separate individual meanings (eg. Breakfast = literal breaking the fast you experience overnight)

• Become more Employable – When I was at uni, I hated that word ‘employable’ or even worse ‘employability’ but it’s a fact, being able to speak more than one language means you can have a head start in some industries. And that’s no bad thing, is it.

So there you have it my top 6 reasons to learn a new language. And only one of them mentions employability, because to be honest all my old college teachers would be horrified if I didn’t sneak that term in there somewhere.