My blog year in review: Part 1

It's been an amazing year for my blog which I started back in 2008. This was definitely the year that the blog switched from being purely personal to including reviews and actually started earning me some much needed income.  So much has happened over the last 364 days that I'm breaking this review over 2 days to make it more manageable. 


Part one is the first half of the year from January to June and how I saw it from my blog:


January


This was the month for resolutions and new challenges. These included:

1. 100 Books in a Year - hoping that if I add all the books I read to the children at bedtime I'll have completed this!
2. Fitness Friday - this was a great supportive blog hop that unfortunately dwindled as the year went on but it did help me do really well getting in shape at the start of the year. Lots more work to do! As part of this I became an ambassador for Change4Life
3. I also pledged to work on becoming self sufficient. I haven't 100% succeeded in this but things have improved
4. This was the month I joined Reasons to be Cheerful for the first time. A great blog hop that helps to focus on the positive not dwell on the negative.

The high point of the month was appearing on BBC Radio Cumbria. Amazing where blogging can lead you! The low point of the month and indeed the whole year was the loss of my Granny at the age of 98. A much missed lady she will never be forgotten:

February

I have really tried to use this year to showcase my photographs. Not only through The Gallery and Silent Sunday posts but through stand alone posts such as this one from Bowness. I carried on my great relationship with Treasure Trails Cumbria with their fabulous murder mystery walks.

Karin started a Flashback Friday hop which I really enjoyed taking part in. This was the month I started reviewing iPhone apps with a debut from Peppa Pig. I did also manage a rant about the National Health Service. After signing up to the Become a Mumpreneur course I was quite happy to promote it.

March

This was the month I started working with Disney. That post has been my most viewed all year and I have loved working with the company. I also started to put more about my main hobby family history on the blog. My campaigning posts this month were concerning BBC Local Radio and British Summer TIme. I was still carrying on with Reasons to be Cheerful and keeping positive!

April

I had a brief foray in the monthly challenge blog hop but I am ashamed to stay I didn't stick it out for long. This was a glorious month weather wise especially with the Easter holidays so I had plenty of chances for family fun at Brockhole, Holker Hall, Kendal Museum and Sizergh Castle. It was of course the month of the first Royal Wedding and in Kendal we our local regiment had a Homecoming Parade. All in all a great month to be British!

May

We become ambassadors for Haba toys this month. The children have absolutely adored the wonderful toys they send us to review. My Change4Life campaigning continued and I hope I have made a difference somewhere! I also had a chance to show off my talented Great Aunt Madeline Linford  who was an inspirational woman. My addiction to the iconic British post box was revealed in this photo post. The lovely Secret Post Club made a come back in May - this has been a delight to take part in.

June

One of the highlights of my year was my prize trip to Mallorca - it may have rained the whole time but it was lovely to a) give my children their first ever foreign trip b) live in luxury for 4 days. I became a Yummy Mummy reviewer for Top That Publishing and they have sent us some fantastic books this year. The middle of the month had some stressful moments but I also enjoyed doing the Race for Life with my daughter. I joined in a virtual Love a Read book club this introduced me to books I would maybe not have considered before.