Try not to die of shock when you see I'm posting twice in one month! lol

Over on Facebook, Kyra Lennon posted a  round-up of  the last decade, and I thought it'd be cool to do the same ... only my post started to become longer than any Facebook post should be, so I decided to move it over here to my blog.

Although I posted earlier on in the month looking back on the year, and talking about my goals for 2020, I wanted to touch on them a little again, while also reflecting on all that's happened to me since 2009.

So, here it is ...

Hey!

I'm back with a new blog update. I'm a bit out of sync with my schedule, and have pretty much missed October, but ah well, that's life, I guess.

But enough of that, let's get to it...

It's September the first, meaning all over the UK, witches and wizards aged between 11 - 18 are aboard the Hogwarts Express, travelling to Hogwarts.

Alas, my Hogwarts letter never came, and I'm just a simple muggle, updating my monthly blog. 

*queues The Little Mermaid soundtrack*

"I wanna be where the wizards are, I wanna learn, wanna learn the magic. Casting spells with those (Whad'ya call 'em?) oh - wands. Waving your hands you don't get too far. Wands are required for magic and hexing. Strollin' along down (What's that place again?) Diagon Alley. Where they fly. Where they run. Up where they play Quidditch all day in the sun. Wanderin' free, wish I could be, going to Hogwarts..."

Okay, with that musical interlude over, onto what's being going on in my life this past month...

So, it's November 30, NaNoWriMo is pretty much over, and I'm here with my regular blog update.
Follow the read more cut to find out what I've been up to in the month of November.... 

This month, I haven’t fallen behind on my target to blog at the beginning of every month, I purposely left updating my blog until the end of the month for a couple of reasons: so it wasn’t too soon after my September update, and also because I had interesting things going on at the end of the month that I wanted to talk about.
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So, after the [read more] cut is what I’ve been getting up to in October. Dive in…

Happy Monday, Folks!Last week, Kyra Lennon and I announced our Miles of Smiles Challenge. Our way of spreading some happiness across the interwebs in these dark times.

The aim of the challenge if on June 12 (today) those taking part post their lists of things that make them smile/ make them happy/ cheer them up when things are crappy. The obvious things like family, friends etc. are excluded. What we're looking for is the little, almost trivial things, that brighten your day.

Here's my list of things that make me smile:

What's this? Another post so soon!

I probably won't be posting this frequently all the time, but there's something I wanted to share, and I thought it'd get maximum exposure if I posted on both blogs.

So, I think it goes without saying, but the state of the world sucks right now. 

I live in the UK, and over the last few months, there have been several attacks – two in London, one in Manchester, killing and seriously injuring a lot of people. 

All over the world, people are senselessly losing their lives, and you can barely turn on the news these days without dreading what you will see next. 

The world as a whole is struggling right now, and what everyone needs is something lighthearted, to remind us that there is still so much good in the world. 

That's why Kyra Lennon and I have come up with the Miles of Smiles Challenge.

Several years ago, I created the Bloghop of Joy with Kyra. 

The idea behind it was for people to sign up and tell each other about the small things in their lives that always make them smile. Miles of Smiles will run along those exact same lines BUT we’re doing this all over social media. 

That means you can use your blog, your Facebook, your Twitter or your Instagram to share your joys. The reason we’re opening it up is to spread this as far and wide as possible.

Things on your list of joy could be a random memory, something you see on TV, overhearing something that makes you laugh out loud - just that one thing that makes the clouds part, and the sunshine appear again. 

We all know that our friends and families makes us happy – that is pretty much a given. We're not talking about life-changing moments here, just the little things that inexplicably make us smile and forget our worries for a while.

As an added thing - The British Red Cross has set up a fundraiser for the people who were affected by the attacks in the UK. The link is here. 

Alternatively, if you want to take this chance to donate to a charity of your choice, or if you don't have the funds to donate, that's okay too. 

This is a totally optional thing, we just thought, in light of what happened, it might be a nice thing to share. 

Mostly, what we care about is spreading some happiness, so we would love it if you would join us on our #MilesofSmiles mission!

All you have to do to be a part of this happy hop is sign up on the Linky List, and on June 12th, post your list of joy. 

If you want to join in and you don’t have a blog, just post your joys using the hashtag #MilesofSmiles on your social media posts (Facebookers using personal accounts will need to make the post public so we can find them).

And don't forget to visit the hashtag and the other participants on June 12, to see other people's joys.

Hopefully we can spread a little happiness online! 

To join in with a blog, sign up here: