I hope you're all having a fantastic new year so far, however you're celebrating it. Have you / are you doing anything exciting to mark it?
I just had a quiet New Year's Eve at home watching movies and eating Indian food with my little sister, and today, I'll be enjoying a turkey roast with the family again, which is something we always do on New Year's Day. I'm not fussed about New Year's, so a quiet, lazy one at home suits me just fine. I'm such an old lady!
Fortunately, my quiet New Year's Day leaves me time to write, so for my first post of 2019, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon, and write a summary of 2018...
I can't believe it's already time to write another one of these customary end of year posts where I look back on the last twelve months of my life with a mix of nostalgia and regret, and contemplate my life choices. It only feels like five minutes since I wrote the last one.
I can't believe it's already time to write another one of these customary end of year posts where I look back on the last twelve months of my life with a mix of nostalgia and regret, and contemplate my life choices. It only feels like five minutes since I wrote the last one.
2018 felt like the shortest year on record. The whole year passed so quickly for me. The days, weeks, and months seemed to blur together and zoom past, which baffles me as you'd think time would drag when you're living a Groundhog Day life at home with chronic illness. For me, it never has.
I wish I could say that 2018 was the best year of my life, and was a year filled with achievements, adventures, new experiences, and milestones, but if I did, I would be lying. In reality, 2018 was a pretty boring and uneventful year for me, and I achieved and experienced very little- at least outside the confines of my own home.
My year was once again spent housebound with chronic pain and chronic illness doing my best to keep my head above water, and get from one day to the next. If nothing else, I can at least say I achieved that, even if every day was a struggle with constant pain, fatigue, joint stiffness, and tachycardia to contend with. My health actually deteriorated in 2018, with several of my health conditions worsening as the year went on. I experienced fibro flares far more regularly and intense than ever before; the arthritis, which I've had since I was twelve, suddenly nose-dived and started bringing excruciating pain, swelling, and far more stiffness to my joints than I've ever experienced; and my tachycardia not only continued but was a daily nightmare, bringing breathlessness, chest pains, and a crushing feeling across my chest regularly, too. The tachycardia became so bad, I was rushed to A&E again one joyful night in October, but they never did get to the bottom of it. The main thing is, I didn't let it break me, I got through it all, and I'm here, still fighting.
As my health was so bad, I was rarely able to leave the house for anything other than doctor's and hospital appointments, and the only fun experiences I had out and about were two visits to my local zoo in the summer, and an overnight trip to London to see Fall Out Boy live at the O2 in March (which was amazing!). Seriously. That's it. The handful of other brief interludes I enjoyed from captivity were just occasional visits to the supermarket, shops, or coffee shops with my Mum or sister. I didn't even spent time with anyone other than my immediate family. Wow, my life is exciting! Look at me living my best life! Haha! (I can hear those tiny violins now!)
Okay, it wasn't a year where I lived my life to the full, made amazing memories, and achieved my dreams, but l made the best of every day and life was good in other ways. I read a lot of books, I did a lot of crafting, I taught myself how to make felt floral wreaths (and came in as a runner-up in a Hobbycraft competition with one of them!), I worked hard on my blog, I painted, I wrote, I tried to improve my photography, I watched some great movies, and I spent quality time with my family and my dog. I always had plenty to fill my time with, and never had enough hours in the day to do everything I wanted to do. Considering I was ill and house bound, I think I succeeded in adding plenty of life to my days and conquering those little achievements. I believe in celebrating the little things in life, and I think I still had a lot to be thankful for. Just because I didn't reach any big milestones or celebrate any big life achievements, travel the world, or meet lots of new people, it doesn't mean my year was a failure. Every little victory was worth celebrating! Sure, my life could've been better, but it also could've been a lot worse.
One thing that helped me get through yet another year of this unconventional life without being bored out of my mind and feeling like a total failure, was having this blog to throw myself in to. I honestly could not have got though the year without it. It kept me occupied every day, gave me something to wake up for in the morning and aim for every day, and provided me with a distraction from the pain. I worked extremely hard on my blog in 2018, and while I didn't see much growth, work with a lot of brands, or manage to blog every day, I think the quality of my content improved, and I'm proud of the posts I published. I like to think my photos and flatlays improved a little, too- even if I do still suck at photo editing and it left me wanting to pull my hair out almost every day. You can't have it all, right?
Some of my favourite posts from the year include:
Some of my favourite posts from the year include:
2018 was also the year that I gave the blog a whole new look with a Pipdig blog design. It helped me fall back in love with my blog all over again, and I still love it all these months later. It was one of the best blogging decisions I've ever made, as it not only looks so much better than my old crappy layout, but it helped rekindle my love of blogging, too!
I loved blogging for you guys in 2018, and I just want to say a big thank you for all your support last year. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, share my posts, leave me such lovely messages, and follow me on social media! It means so much. It amazes me that anybody would want to read my blog, much less enjoy my content, so knowing you guys do makes all the time, effort, and hard work that goes in to blogging worthwhile! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are amazing! I hope you'll stick around in 2019!
I don't know what 2019 will have in store for me or my blog, but I can't wait to find out where it will take me. What I can tell you is that I'm going to work hard to make Polka Spots and Freckle Dots as good as it can be, and produce more quality content that I think you'll enjoy and want to read. I'll talk more about that when I blog my goals for the year later this week, but if there's anything you'd like to see more of on the blog in 2019, do let me know in the comments!
So, 2018 is behind us, and 2019 has just begun. I hope it's an amazing year for all of us, filled with happiness, good health, great experiences, wonderful people, a little bit of wealth, and everything else you may be hoping for.
Happy New Year!
So, 2018 is behind us, and 2019 has just begun. I hope it's an amazing year for all of us, filled with happiness, good health, great experiences, wonderful people, a little bit of wealth, and everything else you may be hoping for.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Louise! Well done for all you have done despite being in chronic pain at all times. You have done amazingly to be so positive and put such a colourful spin on life despite that! I do hope that you have a good 2019 in regards to health, better than this year! Your floral wreaths are beautiful and that is so cool that you came second in that Hobbycraft competition!
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