2021: The Best Year Yet! November edition

Another month closer to my favourite time of the year: Christmas.

For me, as soon as the horrors of Halloween are over, I’m that person that is thinking about Christmas. And this year, it’s even more important, given what happened at the last minute (thank you, Boris *shakes fist*).

But what happened in October. Well, in short, a lot happened in October. And a lot didn’t happen as well.

As you guys well know, I’ve been doing my assignment, and I handed that in on the 30th, awaiting feedback. It appears I’ve passed my Planning Campaigns module with a Merit, so that’s a relief too! I’m not sure when I’ll get final marks back from the latest assignment on Digital Marketing Techniques, but the assignment (dare I say it) has actually been pretty fun to write.

Speaking of writing, I’ve been writing my book! With 50 parts now published, and 9 waiting be edited, it’s been awesome getting back into Archie and Tessa’s heads again. And on top of that, Whirlwind, my other book that I got inspiration from my year abroad (characters fictional and in no way based on my life 😂) as it’s set at UNC Wilmington, has been getting a bit of love too. So once my assignment is in properly, I can fully focus on my books… and I’m very excited.

I should also add that I‘m thinking of a change of blog location; which means I may not be continuing with this style of blog once we hit 2022. You can still read my ramblings (if you are loyal readers, thank you so much) but I’m going to be making this new one a lot more film-orientated… with the hopes of getting my dream job some day… film writing. I’ve not sure if you’ve noticed, but I kind of love them. There will still be music, and there will still be these monthly check-ins, but I’m going to include a bit more... Recipes and what not. Maybe even videos of me trying and failing to do said recipes. Who knows!

Also coming soon is November’s instalment of my musical download, and with new soundtracks from After We Fell, Dune and Eternals, you’ll not be surprised to know that the next few playlists will feature those... I could quite happily do one for Hans Zimmer’s Dune score alone, but I’ll try and spread it out as much as I can… help bridge the gap between now and Dune Part 2’s release in October 2023!

Anyway… see I’m rambling again *rolls eyes* so let’s move onto the better stuff shall we… and not the inner workings of my strange mind.

PHYSICAL HEALTH: NOVEMBER EDITION

So this month, I‘m doing another 28 day challenge. This time, though, I’m doing it with strength training. I’ve done 2 days so far, writing this on the 3rd November, and it is HARD. But I have some goals I want to complete this time, so the aim is to try and accomplish those before the 28 day challenge is over!

GOAL 1: Do a proper press up - on your toes and not starting on your knees. I don’t actually have that much strength in my arms or my core at the moment, something I want to change, so getting the strength to push my weight up from my toes is genuinely really hard… and I seriously commend people who can do it.

GOAL 2: Do all dumbbell exercises with the 3kg weights. I can do some (some that only require 1!) but I want to be able to do all exercises that need weights with the 3kgs by the end of the challenge. I think I’m at that in between phase, but the 1.5kg are hard enough at the moment when your arms are doing deadlifts. Yesterday’s (day 2!) was a KILLER for my arms. I’m lucky I can type!

The other 2 goals are more to do with stamina than anything else. I’d like to do a bit more running next year, so I’m hoping to get out and pound the pavement into next year, doing a few 26 mile walks, both with work and outside work.

So just getting outside really. Even though it’s cold, it’s still nice to go for a walk!

MENTAL HEALTH: NOVEMBER EDITION

It’s almost reaching that time where I’m watching all the Christmas films I can get my hands on, but not quite yet. I’ll save that for December!

But…! That doesn’t mean I can’t get myself into a creative spirit. I haven’t done my colouring app for a while, and after a few very busy weeks at work I’ve found that the tapping of colours onto the page have helped calm me a little. Plus it’s fun! I really love the nature ones, so below you’ll find 30 nature drawings, reminding us of what beautiful landscapes and animals we have in this world. I mean it is the second week of COP26 after all!

THE OTHER STUFF

FILM YEAR TALLY: Jan 33 / Feb 41 / Mar 23 / Apr 24 / May 24 / Jun 35 / Jul 34 / Aug 40 / Sept 30 / Oct 29 = 313

NOVEMBER EDITION: Film Tally - 28

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Eternals, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Love Hard, Moana, Jumanji: The Next Level, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Red Notice, The Hunger Games, Bolt, Wild Mountain Thyme, Holidate, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Jungle Cruise, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back, The Holiday, Love Actually, Spies in Disguise

NOVEMBER EDITION: BOOK TALLY - 3

Dune

Whirlwind (Wattpad book)

Grey