We're now in August - how on earth has that happened?! - so I thought I'd have a look back at my New Year life goals and see how I'm getting on.
1. Read more books
Well I haven't read as many as I'd liked - I was aiming for one a month. But I am reading the second Game Of Thrones book which is a absolute monster so I'm not too disheartened with my total. So far I'm on my 5th book of the year which isn't too shabby. The Girl on The Train, The Fault In Our Stars, The Railway Man and A Game of Thrones: A Song Of Ice and Fire are all been enjoyed this year. Any recommendations?
2. Learn a new skill
Well I never tried to learn any of the news things I promised. But I did take up Lindy Hop dancing. Well I haven't been in about 4 weeks as real life has gotten in the way. But I've really enjoyed trying out something new. It's a lot harder than you would think! I've really missed not going and have a lot more time on my hands so I'm going to pick it up again.
3. Learn to budget
Erm yeah. The less spoke about this the better. This hasn't happened. But I been putting away money to buy a house and the fund is slowly growing. I just haven't stopped spending money on needless things.
4. Concentrate more on my blog
I finally invested in a URL for my blog and am saving up the money for a new layout overhaul. I've been trying really hard to include a variety of content that I would love to read on a blog and hopefully something you like to read. That's why you've been seeing a lot of food recently! It's something I'm passionate about and am really enjoying featuring. I feel like all my time investment is paying and feel really proud of my little space on the internet.
5. See more of the world
I vowed to travel more and this year has been a whirlwind of different places. I was lucky enough to go to the state of Illinois - including Chicago - and Luxembourg on press trips. I'm not quite sure how I got so lucky either! I've recently got back from a week in Barcelona and have a trip to Scotland booked in for October to see a friend. I've seen a fair bit of the UK too thanks to weekends in Wales, Liverpool and Oxford. I'm hoping if my money plans out ok to have a weekend away in Salzburg in December. But who knows. I won't be jetting off to Amsterdam, Budapest or Newcastle like I thought I would be. But it's funny how travel plans change and that's the beauty of them.