This week my Word of the Week is: New!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Another obvious word from me and I know I have used it many times before but it's a New Year! Happy New Year to you all! How's 2026 treating you so far? I have had a slow start to the year. We're enjoying the last few days of the Christmas holidays by not doing much. There has been no rushing and no alarms, we've just had late mornings, lazy afternoons and evenings that blur into one another. It has been quite lovely!

We spent New Year's Eve at the pub. We all dressed up, had a meal out and stayed out well past my bed time. It was such a great evening with good food, a few drinks, lots of laughs and a lot of dancing! I know lots of people prefer to stay home on New Year’s Eve and I used to feel exactly the same. Give me pyjamas, a takeaway and the TV any day but then the kids grew up and suddenly nights out are fun again and don’t involve babysitters, rushed evenings or worrying about what time we need to be back. We can just go out and stay out! Who knew that freedom would be one of the perks of parenting older kids! Despite the late night I started the new year as fresh as a daisy, while some others didn't. Hehehe

I’m not doing the whole new year, new me thing. No massive resolutions and promises to completely change my lifestyle, wake up at 5am or suddenly become someone who loves going to the gym. I have started a new monthly post with my goals and plans for the month. There's nothing life changing about my goals. They're all realistic things that fit into my life but I am hoping it gives me some motivation and accountability by writing it down. All I am hoping from this year is that it's drama free and my family are happy!

The new term starts at college for Ellie next week and this college year seems to be flying over. When she started in September, the end of the college year seemed such a long way away and now it's just five and a half months until the end of Ellie's full-time education and when you take out the holidays it's a little over 4 months! Eek! She is hoping to find an apprenticeship to carry on with her engineering dreams. I am excited for her, nervous for her but so proud!

Becky is going to try something new this month, not spending any money unless it's really necessary. I am shocked too. lol There is method in her madness. She has over bought concert tickets. 3 big ones over 3 months starting in February but what she didn't budget for was overspending over Christmas and she forgot all about having to buy train tickets and pay for hotel stays for a couple of them. Oops.

How has your week been? Have you eased into the new year gently or dived straight back into normal life? I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!

What I have loved this week! Week 1. #FridayFavourites

Happy New Year!! I hope you have had a good start to 2026! It seems ages since I did a Friday Favourites blog post. I am glad to be writing it again. There have been a lot of things to love over the past couple of weeks and of course I am linking up with Erika and Andrea to share them!

Stranger Things!

I was slightly upset that here in the UK we didn't get the new Stranger Things episodes until the 26th. I could have stayed up until 1am and made a start on watching them but I have no willpower and wouldn't have been able to stop at one episode. I of course loved all the episodes and again Mrs Wheeler was a true hero and Derek too. Hopefully, by now I will have seen the big finale and seen how it all ends and then I might rewatch it all just to make sense of everything that happened!

These pyjamas!

I bought us all matching pyjamas over Christmas and I am in love with them. They are men's ones, it turned out they were a few pounds cheaper than the women's ones and when I was looking for pyjamas I didn't see any I liked apart from these. Anyway, they're so comfy, cosy and they have pockets!! Why don't ladies pyjamas have pockets? Eesh! They are not just for Christmas, I will probably be wearing them all year!

Lacoste A Touch of Pink Perfume!

It is my favourite perfume and before Christmas I was having such a hard time finding it. It is still being sold but it's not as available in shops any more, it's more and online thing, so Stu hunted some down and got me some for Christmas. It was a total surprise and I'm trying to use it sparingly even though I want to wear it every day even if I am just slobbing around the house in leggings and big oversized jumpers.

This mug!

Someone got Ellie this for Christmas and it made me laugh out loud! She loves it and so do I!

My dad's birthday!

My family and my brothers family all came together and we went for a meal out with my dad and his partner for his birthday. He didn't want a fuss but he deserved it and got it! There were 10 of us out and we had a lovely meal and catch up. It was a great way to start the Christmas celebrations with his birthday being so close to Christmas!

Packing Christmas away!

As much as I love having the Christmas decorations up the time came to pack them away. I hate doing that job, it always makes me feel sad so it was a job mostly for Stu. It looks so bare in here now but at least I could have a good clean and tidy! Putting all the ornaments back in their places was a challenge. I had to look at photos to check where things went. Lol

Instagram Top 9!

I always like seeing what my top 9 photos were on Instagram and this year was a good mix. Ellie as a baby on her 18th birthday, some of my girls, a family photo and even one of my fella and I! I love that the first ice cream of the season was included too and those duck drawers! lol I thought they were a waste of money but Becky has used them well to keep her room tidy.

Quiet mornings!

I have loved the mornings during the Christmas break. I have usually been the first one up and it has been nice to have downstairs to myself while my family were still in bed. It will all be back to normal in a few days so I am making the most of the peace and quiet.

What have you loved over the last week?

My January goals & plans!

Happy new year!! I’ve decided that 2025 is officially the year of actually planning things. No more winging it and hoping I remember what I was meant to be doing three days ago. This year I want to be a bit more intentional, not just with big life stuff but with all the little everyday bits too. So I’ve come up with a fun little idea: each month, I’m going to share a post all about my goals and plans. It’s a mix of practical goals, little treats for myself, and some fun things!

Get back into a routine!

After December and Christmas I really need to get myself back into some sort of normal routine. I’m talking simple things like going to sleep at a sensible hour instead of scrolling on TikTok and waking at a reasonable hour, making the bed every morning and staying on top of the housework before it snowballs. I love it when my days have a bit of structure, it makes everything feel calmer and more manageable.

Have a dry January!

After Christmas and all the alcohol, a glass or wine here and a sip of Baileys there I am all for having a month off alcohol and I have decided to have a dry January, I did it a few years ago and really saw the benefits.

Watch movies!

My second goal is a fun one, to watch four movies that are new to me. I have this terrible habit of rewatching the same comfort films over and over so I’m making myself branch out a bit. I might try a few classics I’ve somehow missed or something random that pops up on Netflix. If I find any hidden gems I’ll definitely share them in next month’s post!

Declutter one small space each week!

Nothing says January like a good declutter but instead of tackling the entire house and burning out by week two I’m breaking it down, one small space each week.

Week 1: My wardrobe. After my birthday in November and Christmas it’s overflowing. I’m being ruthless this time, bagging up and donating anything that I've not worn in the past year.

Week 2: My bedside area. It’s amazing how much clutter collects there: random receipts, hair bobbles, maybe a biscuit wrapper or two. It needs sorting!

Week 3: My dressing table. It is chaos. Used up make up, empty bottles and it all needs a good clean.

Week 4: The shoe rack by the front door and the shoes in the cupboard under the stairs. There are shoes there that we never wear so they will be donated or thrown out if they are too tatty.

Go on a date!

This one sounds fancier than it is but it’s really about making time for Stu and me to actually go out together. Life gets busy and we end up doing the usual watching telly and eating snacks but a proper date would be very welcome even if it’s just lunch out and a wander around the shops.

Listen to one Audiobook!

I’ve never really been much of a reader. Give me a book and I’ll stare at it lovingly for about two minutes before putting it down, I much prefer audio books but never make time to listen to them. I have set myself a goal to listen to one a month. This months listen is going to be: A Chosen Destiny: My Story is wrestler Drew McIntyre's autobiography, detailing his journey from a Scottish village to WWE stardom, his dramatic fall due to bad choices and personal tragedy and his inspiring comeback fuelled by grit, reinvention and support from his wife, Kaitlyn to reclaim his championship destiny.

A day with my girls!

Something I really want to make more time for this year is spending proper one on one time with my girls. Life moves so fast and before you know it weeks have flown by. Even something small like a trip into town, a coffee date or a cheeky McDonald’s counts.

Sort photos!

Sort out all the photos that I took last year. They're all in folders on my laptop, even the blurry out of focus one's which need deleting. 

Move more!

I’m not about to become a gym regular but I do want to move more this month. My plan is simple, I’ll cut down a bit on how much milk and bread I buy in the weekly shop so I have to pop out to the local shop midweek. It’s about a ten minute walk each way so that’s 20 minutes right there. I'm going to buy the fruit and veg from the farm shop so that's another 40 minutes walking at least once a week so that’s a decent start.

Rewatch Bridgerton!

And a fun goal to finish! Bridgerton Season 4 is released at the end of the month so I’m going to fully rewatch the first three seasons. Who doesn’t want to escape into a world of fancy balls, scandal and stunning costumes for a bit!

What do you have planned for January?

A photo every day for a year! 21st - 31st December! Week 52 of #Project365

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas or holiday, whatever that looked like for you. We had a lovely Christmas and have had a relaxing time since. Becky has had a few days off work so it meant we could properly catch up, sit around chatting and slowly get the house back to some kind of normal instead of living around piles of wrapping paper and random gift bags.

Here we are at the end of 2025 and the end of posting a photo every day for a year. I think I did well, only missing one day in early November. Today I have a bumper edition, finishing up the year and it will be a short post on Sunday with only a few days for the start of the new year.

I hope you all have a lovely time welcoming the New Year, whatever you’re doing. Here’s to fresh starts, new plans and lots more photos in 2026!

Now for a photo every day!

355/365 - 21st December

I had one last look at my online food order, adding some things and removing some. Asda did a great job! There were a couple of substitutions with my delivery but nothing ridiculous. The big bonus was the beef. They said it wasn't going to be delivered but it turned up and because of a glitch in the system, it came for free!

356/365 - 22nd December

This was a proper family day. I managed to get us all together for a photo while we were waiting to head out to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We went out for a meal and had such a lovely time. Good food, lots of chatting, plenty of laughs and that nice feeling of just being together.

357/365 - 23rd December

This was the start of proper Christmas dinner prep. Things started coming out of the freezer. I know each year I buy a lot of stuffing but this year I bought more than ever. Oops. I'm not even sorry, I do love stuffing!

358/365 - 24th December

Christmas Eve! It was a busy one for me, cooking everything that I could and for tea we just had picky bits! If you are a long-time reader here, I am sure you have seen these trays before. They only come out at Christmas. It started when my girls were little and has continued. They're perfect trays for a picky tea.

359/365 - 25th December

Christmas Day! I didn’t take loads of photos and the ones I did take were very much in the moment and slightly blurry. 

360/365 - 26th December

There were new Stranger Things episodes and I managed to avoid all the spoilers by watching them as soon as I got up! I’ve seen people saying they weren’t as good as the previous block of episodes but I really enjoyed them.

361/365 - 27th December

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a tub of Quality Street but I have to say, I’m not impressed this year. I know there’s a big push to reduce packaging and help the planet, which I do support but I really miss the shiny wrappers. They were part of the experience!

362/365 - 28th December

This was a big tidy-up day. Presents finally found proper homes, bags were folded away and the living room started to look like an actual living room again. The sofa did need a big reset, fixing the cushions and the throw.

363/365 - 29th December

It was time to pack Christmas away until next year. This year I was so organised and wrote on the boxes where everything should go. The future me is going to be so grateful when December rolls around again.

364/365 - 30th December

I finally got around to re-watching Ally McBeal. I haven’t seen it since it was on TV back in the late 90s and wow, it’s a blast from the past. Some bits have aged better than others but I’m really enjoying it.

365/365 - 31st December

And here we are, the final photo of the year. My dress for tonight. I had options, one I liked and this one that I love. It’s sparkly, fun and it feels perfect for seeing the year out!