Lifestyle
October 2024 Wrap Up
Welcome to my October 2024 wrap up!
October was one of those months where I always seemed to be busy but at the same time didn't feel like I'd done much at the end of the month.
Even Halloween felt like a non-event this year as my kids are older now and so were out with friends. My eldest went to the cinema to watch Terrifier 3 (definitely not my cup of tea) and my youngest went trick or treating with some friends. In fact, my Halloween evening was mostly spent collecting my youngest, having him go out again, and collecting him again. He had fun though which is what counts.
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Here's a break down of what I got up to this month:
Wrapping Up October: What Happened This Month
Hair
I'm still on a mission to improve the overall condition of my hair. It's been through a lot in recent months.
It's still got a long way to go but the general condition has improved. It now has less frizz and is very soft to touch.
I didn't dye my hair at all this month as wanted to give it some time to recover.
What are your go-to products for when your hair needs some TLC?
Health
Another not great month health wise. My fibroids and uterine polyps have been causing problems. It was another month of tests and scans, which lead to finding out I'm starting my adventure with menopause too which has apparently come on suddenly. As I only just turned 44 in September and didn't have any signs of it happening when I had tests and scans done at the end of summer this was quite a surprise. I've been told it's not normal for it to come on so suddenly but that it can happen. Then again I never seem to do normal, especially when it comes to my health.
Anyway, this made me realise just how little menopause, especially early menopause, is talked about. Something I think needs to change. How can we prepare ourselves for it if we have no idea about what it involves? FYI it apparently involves a LOT of stuff and can go on for years before it settles down. Fun, right?
In other news, I broke a tooth this month whilst eating risotto of all things, and ended up swallowing the bit of tooth (not my finest moment). I finally managed to get a dentist appointment and get it fixed only for it to break again the next day. At least the second time round I didn't have to pay and it appears to be OK now.
Monthly Goal Ideas for Better Health
Blogging
October was yet another amazing month for traffic to my site. I'm truly blown away by the number of page views. More than double what I had in September!
Thank you so much to all of you that visit my little corner of the internet. I really appreciate your support.
Traffic for October: 262,198 page-views
Number of blog posts published in October: 20
Current DA score: 27
Top three traffic sources in order:
1) Organic search
2) Direct
3) Organic social
Top three sources for social in order:
1) Twitter (X)
2) Pinterest
3) Facebook
I've been continuing to update older posts on site to improve SEO and it's been having a huge impact on traffic. If you're looking to grow traffic to your blog I highly recommend updating some of your older content. Even small things like checking for missing meta descriptions or adding in headings/sub-heading can make a big difference.
I also created pages for Book Reviews (work in progress) and The Clock Reading Challenge this month to make navigation on site better.
I've got a post coming up on 5th November where I'll be showing you exactly what I did to increase my blog traffic.
Reading challenges
Whilst not a particularly good month for my reading challenges, October was a good reading month.
The Clock Reading Challenge
I completed the Clock Reading Challenge 2023 in November.
I didn't read any books for this challenge in October which means I'll be catching up in November to make sure I finish the challenge on time.
Books read:
The Net Galley TBR Reading Challenge
Spell's Bells by Annabel Chase - My Review (coming soon) - Amazon - Goodreads
Lucky Charm by Annabel Chase - My Review (coming soon) - Amazon - Goodreads
Better Than Hex by Annabel Chase - My Review (coming soon) - Amazon - Goodreads
The Traveling Circus by Mark Watson - My Review (coming soon) - Amazon - Goodreads
Currently reading:
Shadow in the Ward by Ari Gray - currently on page 81/345 - Amazon - Goodreads
Travel
Nothing to share here as didn't really go anywhere this month.
Fitness
Nothing much to report here either. The first part of the month was very uncomfortable for me and so I didn't do any sort of exercise. Towards the end of the month I did make an effort to get more movement into my days. Walking more, stretching, doing some squats and a few arm exercises with weights.
I definitely want to include more walking into my daily routine. Luckily the weather has reverted to summer again at the moment so I plan to get out and about more during November.
I'm also planning on doing some fitness challenges to help keep me motivated to exercise more.
How did you do with your October Challenges? What challenges are you doing this year? Join the conversation in the comments section.
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