Reflecting on 2021

Well here we are at the end of another year but why is it that writing this doesn’t particularly feel any different to last years post?!

I was actually in two minds whether to post this because when I talk about the positives and share the photos from the year it looks like a pretty good year. But it’s a highlight reel, and that’s not to say those highlights haven’t been amazing, because they have. But this year really has not been the one for me, in fact even with an English degree, the only word I can think of to describe it is shit.

You know when I write my monthly happy lists that I like to try and keep things positive around here but I never want it to be fake and if I sat here only discussing the positives of 2021 it wouldn’t be real. Personally I don’t think there’s anything worse when you’ve had a tough time than seeing someone’s highlight reel and comparing how good their life looks to yours. So this is me saying that I have had some truly amazing moments this year I really have but it’s also been one of the hardest years and overall it hasn’t been very enjoyable. If you’re feeling the same, you’re not alone.

Setting goals

I’m making a bit of change to this post this year. Normally I set goals at the end of the year but I keep them to myself, I then discuss them in these end of year posts. Well I won’t be doing that this year. I explained this in my This time next year post but setting specific goals hasn’t been good for my mental health this year because in all honesty I set myself 15 goals last year across home, blogging and life and I only managed to achieve 3 of them. So yeah, it’s really not good for my mindset. Instead I’ve set myself 5 goals that aren’t too specific so that anything I do towards them will be a small victory. I really think this will work better for me. Just as a recap if you didn’t catch the tag post above, here is a short recap of the goals I’ll be working towards next year:

Home – complete at least three jobs in the house no matter how big or small.
Money – I’d like to have a good amount of savings in a years time. I’d also like to increase how much I make from blogging.
Blogging – I’d like to be more consistent over both of my blogs. And find a healthy routine that works for me.
Self – there’s a lot of things I’d like to work on when it comes to myself. My self confidence, the ability to go and do things on my own without other people, my absolute toxic treat of comparing what I have and my life to everyone else.
Wedding – as some of you know I got married earlier this year. We have hundreds of photos from the day both from our photographer and the photo booth we hired so I want to get some printed out.

What made 2021 great

Well now I’ve got all that off my chest, lets actually talk about the good stuff!

1. The big one from this year has to be that I finally got married! After postponing our wedding in 2020 it was so nice to finally get our day and all the other things that went along with it like my hen party and our minimoon. The wedding itself was everything I could have hoped for and more. I did a whole post on the wedding over on my wedding blog if you’re interested. There’ll be more specific posts from the day going up on there next year too. Our approach to wedding planning we all about doing what worked for us and creating a day that made us happy. We ditched a lot of traditions and only had quite a small wedding. This was absolutely nothing to do with the current world situation as it’s what we’d planned all along anyway! I also had two very relaxed hen parties, one with everyone where we had an afternoon tea then I much smaller one where I went alpaca trekking. For our minimoon we went to our favourite place in the U.K. Liverpool and stopped in the Hard Days Night Hotel. It was perfect!

2. We had a couple of spa nights away this year and they were so relaxing, I definitely want more next year. Spending all day by the pool then having a lovely meal in the evening. They were great. We only ever stopped in a spa hotel that’s actually pretty close to us but it was just really nice to not be at home and just completely relax. Here’s to more spa breaks in 2022.

3. Although my blogging schedule has been so out of whack this year there have been a couple of amazing moments for both this bog and my wedding blog. Not only did I finally go self hosted with my wedding blog (after taking the plunge with this one last year) I had a couple of big blogging moments. Firstly, back in September my wedding blog became an award winning blog when I won the finance category at the Yorkshire blog awards. I actually didn’t attend the awards ceremony as it was difficult for me to get to after work and I actually didn’t think I stood a chance of winning. When I started the wedding blog back in 2019 I always wanted it to be a place that showed that small budget weddings are beautiful, to show that you don’t need to spend thousands of pounds to have the perfect wedding day. Winning that award made my feel like I was achieving that.

Secondly, towards the end of this year I landed my biggest ever job on here which should be going live very soon! I couldn’t believe it when I was contacted about it as it’s pretty much a dream collaboration. It’s definitely provided a bit of clarity over the direction I want to head in with both blogs next year and what I’d like to achieve with them.

4. After all the lockdowns, this year was about seeing more of our niece and nephew. It’s been great to spend a lot more time with them. We really missed out on a lot as our nephew was born towards the end of 2019 so we had 5 months with him before all the lockdowns started. I’m hoping for more fun days with them next year.

5. I couldn’t let another year pass by without mentioning my two little fur babies, Buddy and Dobby. They’ve been with us for 5 whole years now and at the risk of sounding like a crazy cat lady, I honestly think I would be lost without them. I’ve spoken before about how I think pets are amazing for your mental health but I truly believe they are. This year has been a tough one for my mental health but just having these two to love and care for has really helped.

If you’ve made it this far then well done! I’m going to end this very long post in the same way as I always end these posts, with a round-up of my best content I’ve published in 2021. Enjoy!

How I increased my blog views by 1000% // My blog in 2021: 10 years of being online // How to grow a successful lifestyle blog // What is SAD? And how to tell if you have it // 101+ best Halloween blog post ideas // How to deal with anxiety at night // 3 proven ways to help you stick to your budget

Tell me about your favourite moments of 2021 in the comments!