Hi friends! Welcome to our very last life updates post for 2024! What a crazy year huh? Can't believe it's almost over.
If you're not subscribed to my emails, I ended up taking a much needed impromptu holiday this last week for Christmas and just because I wasn't doing too well mentally. I have been feeling quite down and honestly haven't been okay. I feel like I don't bring joy to people's lives and other days I feel like I just shouldn't be here, like I'm in the way and everyone would be happier without me. I would love any words of encouragement or support because sometimes we just need a little reassurance in our world to remind each other that we do shine and bring joy and love into the world. Anyway, I am going on a tangent already LOL. Let's get to the December life updates.
So what have Ash, Benji, and Luke been up to this month of December? Let's take a look. Please enjoy our December 2024 Life Updates!! :D #lifeupdates #lifestyle #christmas
Some Previous Life Updates
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December 2024 Life Updates
Benji got des*xed this month, he had a cone on for two weeks so we had to watch him a bit more than normal but he seems a lot better now with the cone off. He doesn't go for as long of walks just yet but he's definitely back to his normal self.
Luke went to two The Killers concerts - I was meant to go to one but we weren't able to leave Benji alone that night unfortunately, so Luke went with one of his mates and the other one, he went with his brother. I got a t-shirt though (and I have seen them live in CHCH before - back in 2017).
I have been experimenting with food and drinks a bit more. I learned how to make an Iced Strawberry Matcha - you can get the recipe "here" and I also made Cheesy crisscross roast potatoes and also veggie nachos!
I did something to my shoulder (but don't worry I have a doc appointment very soon).
I finally got to 10 books read for 2024. You can check out my book reviews post "here."
The YouTube videos I put out are as follows: 25 Questions (A Q&A) // CHCH Part 1 // CHCH Part 2 // CHCH Part 3 // CHCH Part 4 // CHCH Part 5 // Getting back into routine vlog // Benji's 1st Birthday Vlog // Christmas Vlog.
The Freaky Friday Files I put out are as follows: Freaky Friday Files: Mysteries That Probably Won't Ever Be Solved // Freaky Friday Files: Christmas Mysteries - only two but I thought that they were interesting nonetheless.
Benji turned 1 year's old (his bday is the 20th)! Oh my gosh it's gone soooo fast. Can't believe he's an adult, still loves to sleep most of the day LOL. We think he's about to enter T-rex phase. WE also found two of his brothers on a corgi fb group - one called Loki and one called Uno so hopefully we can make a play date for them to meet!
Benji had his obedience school break up on the 1st of December, so he'll be back there in February I believe.
I think I've met most of my 2024 goals except a few ones. You can check out my "November 2024 Goals Check In" post to see what I've achieved this year, if you're interested (+ a few more achieved since). But the ones that I haven't met are as follows: gain 1000 YouTube subscribers, gain 10,000 Instagram followers, gain 1500 TikTok followers, get to Level 50 in Pokémon Go, go ghost hunting, get a brand deal, and do something adrenaline junkie. All of these goals I am going to roll over into 2025 but I don't think it's that bad that I didn't get to them straight away. I worked hard on a lot of other things this year.
Luke has two weeks off work and cricket over the Christmas/NY break but he hasn't been feeling too well so hopefully he starts to come right soon and gets enough rest. Send him lots of well wishes to get better soon.
We finally went to the dessert bar Koi in the city woo! It was more expensive than I expected but it was really delicious and if you have a sweet tooth, I highly recommend it.
Another dessert place we tried was Mela Patisserie in Pentridge, Coburg - I was super excited that I found a patisserie close to us hehe. It was pretty good AND we also went to a cafe there called Cobrick and I got a really yummy iced matcha - they put vanilla ice cream in it because it was so hot.
We started watching this random anthology/comedy series that was on TV called Summer Love. Luke said the TV said it was a comedy but it made me feel very uneasy as we watched it and then we worked out that it was anthology and all the episodes are connected by the holiday house. It's better than it seems. If you watch it, definitely give it a chance. It's not scary like Black Mirror anthology but it's a bit odd at first.
I've had a bit more energy than usual which is good, I am hoping it stays that way. I have a problem where I tend to overdo things and push myself really hard - to the point where I don't actually get better.
I struggled with a lot of misogynistic comments directed at me, which isn't a nice feeling. And it's hard to back-lash against them because you don't want to make it worse. It's awful as a woman so I can't imagine what anyone who isn't a straight man goes through. I am so sorry.
For Christmas, Luke gave me a kindle, new runners, a KitchenAid pasta attachment, some wine, and chocolates. I also got a new duffel bag, a corgi calendar, and some cute corgi-themed gifts from his family. The gifts I gave to Luke were some books, a lot of novelty stuff like silly The Castle merch, corgi merch, a good torch, and a weather station in the shape of Australia. Oh, and some Maggie Beer sauces! I hope he liked his gifts.
Luke also got the board game Exploding Kittens and some fancy coffee from his Secret Santa (so those will be exciting to try).
Our lease got renewed (rent went up a bit, ugh) but we have a home for another 12 months - very exciting because this didn't happen for us in our last rental that we loved so much. I like the area we are in - it's not as rich or as safe as Essendon but most of our neighbours are nice and it's relatively quiet. And very grateful to have a roof over our heads.
It was the anniversary of my mum's best mate Renee's passing, RIP, we miss you loads.
I have been doing a bit more longer walks and getting back into HIIT workouts - most are only 10, 15 or 20 minutes. I am definitely still struggling with my weight and when I look at my body, I feel unhappy. I don't know whether it's my medication or because of the iron or getting older (or all of the above) but I want to focus on getting a bit more toned and healthier so that I feel good when I look at myself sorta thing.
I think because I've been around a lot of fat shaming - some joking, some serious lately that it makes me look at myself and fat shame myself, which isn't a good thing. And it happens when people say things like "Are you going to eat all that, you can't?" "Why won't you finish your food?" etc etc. I don't get why others think they can comment on what other people eat or their body.
I went to the post office without having an anxiety attack woo go me!!
We were invited to two weddings - one we won't be able to get back to NZ in time for and one of my friends here is getting married this year very exciting!!
We were gifted some tomato plants and basil plants from Luke's parents (thank you) so we are trying to get our soil pH level up a bit so the soil is healthier for us to plant in our raised garden beds on our balcony. We also bought two outdoor ornaments for a fairy garden - I'm not sure if I want to put those on the balcony or out in the front yard. I don't want them to get stolen. I think people get so confused with our gate anyway so it'd probably be fine in the front yard. Oh, and Benji got a new sandpit as his old one was looking quite worse for wear.
For Christmas Lunch, Luke made Christmas Crack and I made Rocky Road and also Triple Choc Chip Cookies. Luke also wanted to make gingerbread to take with us, but we were told we couldn't take it to the lunch as someone else had some - but there was none there. So now we have lots of gingerbread LOL - it worked out okay because we didn't have any nutmeg or mixed spice, but I think they did turn out okay.
For Christmas dinner, Luke and I have been doing a tradition for the past 3 years where we make a small Charcuterie Board for our dinner so we don't have a massive dinner after lunch and we did that again this year and watched the royal thing that was on TV - I wasn't paying heaps of attention but what I did see was funny. I hope next year we can get to NZ for Christmas as it feels a bit unfair having spent 3 Christmas' with Luke's family and none with mine. I hope we would be allowed to go.
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In regards to reading, this month I am reading the third Jack Reacher book - Tripwire by Lee Child - I feel like I am escaping reality when I read these books, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, and I've started using my kindle (yay, thank you Luke) to read a book called Unf#ck Your Brain by Faith G. Harper which is written very bluntly, but it's good to read. I'm excited to read a lot faster with it - there's something about having that % at the bottom of the screen that makes you want to get to 100% really fast LOL.
Some people have cut me out of their lives. I don't think I should go into detail out of respect, but it seemed a very extreme thing and makes me worry that other people are going to cut me out of their lives too. I think I am a good person but when things like that happen, it cuts deep sorta thing. I just wish there was more information on why it happened but I guess I am not ever going to be privy to that.
I used my JB-Hi-Fi voucher I got for my birthday (thank you Gav, Nick, and Ryan) and got some techy stuff - we got a few things we needed too so a new ipad is coming (I know, I'm not a big Apple fan but I wanted Procreate), a new chair, a new vacuum cleaner because Luke broke ours by mistake, an air purifier and a few lighting things so both Luke and I chipped in for that but very exciting to get some new stuff. I also REALLY want to get some new blankets to bring some more colour into our house. It just doesn't feel colourful enough. We did get a new duvet (doona) cover with leaves and flowers on it and Benji seems to think it's actually got real leaves on it HAHA.
We caught up on all our favourite Aussie shows - Dessert Masters, Question Everything, and The Cheap Seats woo.
We didn't do a big Christmas tree this year as we were a bit worried about Benji going for it, so instead we opted for a cute lil table top tree to bring some Christmas spirit into our world.
I feel like that's kinda it for our December 2024 Life Updates. I'm hoping that next week I will get back into a big routine of my blog work and do some more fun stuff! But what's next? What's happening soon for us? Well, we need to figure out what we're doing for New Year's - it feels a bit uneventful this year as last year we did our big Great Ocean Road Roadie adventure but we have Benji this year and I hope he doesn't get too scared of any fireworks. And in January, we've got tickets to Penn and Teller, and then Feb, we're going to Jack Whitehall so those are some cool things to look forward to. I also want to make some more aesthetic vlogs - like make them more cinematic so I've got a few ideas in the works there.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this month's life updates and I'll see you again very soon!
If you want to check out all of the 2024 Life Updates, I'll post them here:
Also, here's my latest vlog! Christmas Vlog - go check it out on YouTube!! :D
Thanks for reading. I really hope you enjoyed this post. And any words of support or encouragement or love would be awesome.
Much love,
Ash xoxo
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I'm sorry you are feeling down. I think it is great how you write and share your thoughts. Thank you for sharing!
I'm sorry to know you've been feeling this way, I hope you feel better now and just so you know, you're loved dear
I really enjoyed reading your post! It sounds like you have such a busy December. I hope you love your Kindle—I absolutely enjoy using mine! I can relate to what you shared about mental health struggles, as my daughter also deals with similar challenges. Please remember how valuable you are and that you’re here for a reason. I truly admire your transparency and the way you blog about your experiences. I’m sure you’re helping so many others who are navigating their own mental health journeys. It’s encouraging to see more people opening up about this. Supporting my daughter has been a learning process for me, too. She often shares how she’s working to overcome intrusive thoughts, and I continue to…
We love to gift books for Christmas too. It is such a cute gift in our tech world! Our doggy will be 10 this year, he is geting more lazy. Happy New Year, Ash!
Wishing you a joyful and successful December ahead!