Hopes and Dreams for my blog and YouTube

I know this is the kind of post that you would usually see at the beginning of the year, but I’m never one to follow the rules! I wrote my first post on this blog on the 22^nd September 2013 – that’s four and a half years ago – where has the time gone?! I also uploaded my first YouTube video three years ago, which just feels crazy because I remember so clearly both of these firsts. I started my blog and YouTube for a number of reasons – I loved reading and watching other people’s content and was looking for a creative outlet to distract me from my health problems. I put it off for so long, thinking I wasn’t good enough to make my own content, but finally decided to give it a go. I just wish I’d started sooner! When I started out, I didn’t really have any goals or plans for my blog or my YouTube. It was just a hobby and my only goal was to upload a post or a video whenever I fancied it.

But as the years have gone by, my life has changed a lot, and so have my priorities for my little spaces on the Internet. I’m coming to the end of my three-year journalism degree, and for the first time I’m looking at my blog and YouTube channels as an opportunity for something bigger than a hobby. The idea of working has always been a difficult one for me because of my health problems. Trying to hold down a 9-5 job is out of the question because I don’t know how ill I will be from one day to the next. But being able to turn my love of writing and creating content into a career that will actually fit around my health problems is something I’m starting to give more thought to. I know it’s not something that will happen overnight, and of course, it will still take a lot of work. But it’s work I’m willing to put in if it means I can create a job that I both love and that I can actually do.

So I thought I would just share some of my hopes and dreams for the future of my blog and YouTube channel with you. Some of them are realistic, while others are pretty out there. But as the blogging world has shown over the last few years – nothing is impossible!

Hit the right numbers

I really don’t want to get bogged down in numbers because I worry that I will lose what initially attracted me to blogging and making videos. But the reality is, numbers open the doors to success. So I would really love to hit 1000 subscribers both on my blog and on my YouTube channel. In the grand scheme of things, 1000 is a pretty small number when you consider the big bloggers and YouTubers out there. But for me, it would be a massive achievement and would hopefully see me on the way to bigger and better things.

Gain more conversation

This kind of links to numbers, but for me it’s more of a qualitative element. I would really love to have more interaction with the people that read my blog and watch my videos. I always think it’s lovely when I watch my favourite YouTubers, read my favourite blogs and look on social media, and you see lots of people commenting and interacting. I have very few commenters at the moment, and it’s something I would really love to see increase. Now I need to get quicker at actually responding to any comments I do get, but it would be lovely to see that number of comments growing too.

Get into a routine

Up until now, I haven’t had any kind of schedule on my blog or my YouTube. It’s just been a case of posting as and when I have the time and energy. But once I’ve finished university this summer, I’m really hoping I will be able to focus on my blog/YouTube fully, and can therefore actually plan my content ahead of time, so you guys know when to expect a post or a video (I can wish right?!)

Work with awesome brands

I’ve been lucky enough over the last few years to work with a few different brands – some quite small, but also a couple of bigger brands. I always find it strange when I check my e-mails to find a brand I recognise asking if I’d like to work with them – it’s one of those pinch me moments when I wonder if I’m dreaming! But through reading other blogs and watching other YouTubers, there’s still a hell of a lot I would love to do. There are so many awesome brands out there that I would love to collaborate with (I’m thinking Disney, New Look, Mac… so many fashion and beauty brands I don’t even know where to start!) Just having the opportunity to get creative with a different set of resources would be amazing.

Get invited to events

I guess this one could be linked back to working with brands, but I would love to be invited to more events. I absolutely love seeing other bloggers/YouTubers go to all these amazing trips and events put on by brands, and it’s the dream that one day I might be at some of those too. Yes, it’s not always going to be easy with my health getting in the way, but a girl can dream right?!

Travel

Much like seeing others going to events and parties, I’m always swooning over the content bloggers create when they get to travel around the world. This is either off their own back or through a trip organised by a brand – I’m really not fussy! Travelling and seeing the world with a chronic illness isn’t easy, but I know it is possible and it’s something I would love to do more of. Being able to use travel to talk about the realities of travelling with a wheelchair and chronic illness on my blog and YouTube would be great.

There are so many other little things I would like to achieve when it comes to my blog and YouTube – improving my photography, increasing the amount of content I’m able to put out, meeting other bloggers and making some friends. But these are a few of the ‘big’ ones that I thought would be fun to share with you in this post. So keep your eyes peeled – maybe one day I’ll be doing all of these things and more!

If you’re a blogger or YouTuber, what are your hopes and dreams for your channels? What are your thoughts on mine?

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Sunday Snippets - 30th April 2017

It’s been a better week thankfully, as the antibiotics seemed to help and I’m now recovering from the infection. I’ve still got a nasty cough and a bit of a sore throat, but I feel better than I was, which is the main thing. I’ve been working hard on my university assignments, and managed to get one submitted this week. I’ve still got quite a bit to get done over the next couple of weeks, and am feeling rather stressed out, but I’m doing my best to do as much as I can physically managed. I can’t quite believe I’ve only got two weeks left of my second year at Uni. Where is the time going?!

I got up ridiculously late last Sunday morning (like 11am – whoops!), which I really hadn’t planned. I was just hoping that sleeping was helping me to get better. I sorted out my medication for the week ahead and then started doing some blogging. David and Emma came round so I chatted to them for a while. Once they’d left, I had my Fortisip and finished my blogging. For the rest of the afternoon I watched some TV and spent a while working on my dissertation proposal. This book by Emma Hatcher, who created ‘She Can’t Eat What?!’ arrived in the post (I know, post on a Sunday!) and I’m really excited to look through it. I’ve really struggled to find any decent recipe books for the low FODMAP diet (I’m on a similar diet but a bit more strict, although I’m pretty crap at sticking to it sometimes!) so it will be good to see what’s inside. Richard and Lisa came over for dinner, so it was nice to chat to them.

I spent Monday morning editing some photos and then writing and uploading a blog post, which was nice because all I’ve managed recently is my Sunday posts. I also had a flick through my Uni handbooks to check exactly what I need to hand in over the next few weeks. My afternoon was mostly spent working on my dissertation proposal. I was finally starting to feel like the end was in sight, which was good considering it was due in on Friday! This little chap kept me company for most of the afternoon – he’s such a cutie (even if he does climb all over me). When I got bored of doing that, I filmed myself opening some post because my voice was finally coming back!

I had to be up fairly early on Tuesday morning, as I’d decided to try going into Uni. My Mum drove me over and we met up with my support worker, who took me up to the classroom. Our lecturer went through some guidance on what to write for our reflective commentary, which we have to submit with our long form piece. It didn’t last as long as I thought it would, so I spent some time on my dissertation proposal. I was almost finished!! I then met up with my mentor to check in on how things were going. My Dad came to pick me up and we drove over to The University of Surrey in Guildford. We went to the canteen first to have a bit of lunch, and then headed down to the archives. The lady there showed us some letters that E.H.Shepard and his wife wrote to each other during the war and we chatted to her a lot about old letters in general too, so hopefully that will help with my article. This fish on a bicycle is outside the archives and it made me smile. I’m not sure what this statue represents, but I found a saying “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” which I rather like!

I was up early on Wednesday for my counseling session, which was helpful. I can’t see her again now until June because I’ve got a News Week at Uni and am then going into Stanmore for three weeks. My Mum picked me up and brought me home. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I had so much to do. I spent the morning editing a video and uploading it to my YouTube channel. I then watched a bit of TV with my Dad (Paul O’Grady in India, which was lovely). After a bit of a break, I finished writing my dissertation proposal and submitted it, which felt so good! I then did quite a lot of work towards my narrative article. At the moment I have no idea how I’m going to get it done on time. I felt really sick by the time the evening came round, and was struggling a lot with acid reflux. But I found Alfie on the little sofa in our back room – he was spread out over the whole sofa fast asleep and looked so cute (but I managed to wake him up trying to get a picture!)

I had to be up super early on Thursday morning so my Dad could take me over to Frimley Park Hospital. I had an appointment with my physio and she did some more acupuncture with me. When we got home I rested for a while and watched This Morning. My Mum then took me down to the hairdressers, where I had a treatment and hair cut. I came home, watched some lunchtime TV and wrote my cards for May, including this cute hedgehog one. After lunch, I popped to Waitrose with my Mum to get some ingredients for dinner. I did a bit more Uni work on my laptop when we got home, and then dozed a bit because I felt so tired. My Dad helped me cook some dinner, as I had a recipe idea I wanted to try out.

This is the dinner I made with my Dad – I’m rather impressed if I do say so myself! It’s based on a halloumi burger that I had at Bill’s and because I love it so much I wanted to try and recreate it at home. There are a couple of little changes I would make if I cooked it again, but overall it was really tasty.

I was up early again on Friday morning, so I could go back over to Frimley Park Hospital. This time it was to see my Urologist. He was running about half an hour late, which wasn’t too bad in the scheme of things. I told him how I’ve been since I had the Botox and, because it hasn’t really made much difference, he’s going to refer me to a specialist in London to discuss the possibility of having a bladder nerve stimulation device implanted in my spine. I came home feeling absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on the sofa for ages. I didn’t wake up until about 2pm – oops! Once I’d woken up a bit, I had my Fortisip and watched some TV. My afternoon was spent doing work toward my university narrative article. Bekkah brought her goddaughter, Trinity, over so I got to have a baby cuddle with her, which was nice. In the evening, my Dad and I went to the Beefeater for dinner, as I was kindly invited to review it on my blog. There will be a full post up soon, but here’s a sneak peek of the seriously yummy lemon gin and tonic trifle I had.

My Saturday didn’t get off to a great start, as I was so exhausted when I woke up. My Mum and I went to Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke for their fashion event. We watched the first catwalk and then chatted to a lady from Clarins who tried out some make-up on me. We then headed off to Primark - I was looking for some exercise leggings and a rucksack to take to Stanmore, but I couldn’t find anything I liked. We also popped into Boots and Superdrug, so I could have a look at the make-up. I treated my Mum to lunch at Café Giardino, which was very nice. We then watched another catwalk and chatted to some girls from The Body Shop, so I now want to buy everything in the shop! After looking round a few more shops we made our way home. I had such a bad headache and felt so tired, but really wanted to see my friend Sarah. So I popped across the road to see her and baby Charlie. We played with Charlie for a bit and then I helped Sarah get him ready for bed, while we had a good chat.

You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to continue doing!)

I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

If you don’t already, please give me a follow on Bloglovin here - I would love to reach 800 followers and we’re so nearly there! I do have a little giveaway planned for when I get there!

What have you been up to this week? I always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!

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Sunday Snippets - 16th April 2017

Happy Easter! I hope you’re all having a lovely day and enjoying lots of yummy chocolate! The last week has been pretty up and down. My parents were away for part of it, and while I am so happy that they managed to get away for a break together, I found it hard not having them around. I have also come down with yet another cold/virus thing (seriously, what is going on with my immune system?!) so finding the energy to do anything hasn’t been easy. But it’s been nice to have some time off Uni and to see a few friends and family.

Last Sunday I managed to have a lie-in, which I didn’t expect Jaffa to allow me to have, as I thought he would be pestering me for food! Richard and Lisa came round to collect the bunnies, so I said goodbye to them. I then wrote my Sunday blog post and watched The Simpsons. In the afternoon I ordered my last couple of Easter gifts and then worked on my dissertation proposal. Bekkah and I also watched all three episodes of The Replacement, which was really good. I popped out in the car to post a letter, then filmed myself opening some post for a YouTube video. Alfie decided to help me and looked so cute.

My bleeding heart has started to flower again. It’s one of my favourite plants in our garden and always makes me smile. Considering when it arrived after buying it online we thought it was dead, I can’t believe how huge it’s got!

I’m really loving this month’s Pink Parcel box. It’s such an awesome idea to make that crappy time of the month a little nicer, and I love the little treats you get! I can’t wait to try everything, especially the tiny pudding in a jar.

I put together an Easter basket for my friend, Sarah’s, baby, Charlie, on Monday morning, and also wrapped up Sarah’s Easter gifts. Bekkah and I then went down to Waitrose to get some pudding for the following evening, as we were going round to Richard and Lisa’s. I spent the rest of the morning editing and uploading a YouTube video. I then had lunch and relaxed on the sofa for a bit, whilst doing some work on my dissertation proposal. When Sarah was free, I went over the road to see her. We chatted for a while, played with Charlie, he opened his basket and then I fed him his dinner, which was fun, as his new favourite game is blowing raspberries! So we ended up with food everywhere! When I got home I was feeling exhausted, so crashed out on the sofa.

The April Crown and Glory Glitterati box is full of all things floral and is so pretty.

The Pain Clinic rang me on Tuesday morning and asked if I could get there any earlier than my appointment time, as my doctor was running ahead of schedule! I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to come early before – usually most doctors I see are running late. So Richard came and picked me up and drove me over to Aldershot Centre for Health. I saw my Pain Consultant and he examined me. He wasn’t concerned about the numbness I have from the procedure. The nerves that they stunned are linked to the arms, so he said the procedure can cause side effects down your arms – mine just seem to have been particularly bad. But as the numbness is gradually improving he’s happy that it should continue to get better over the next few weeks, so that was reassuring. Richard dropped me back at home, and then Bekkah and I popped to Waitrose to get a few bits we’d forgotten to pick up on Monday. I’d had a really bad headache since I woke up, so ended up falling asleep on the sofa when we got home. I spent the afternoon working on my dissertation proposal, which really didn’t help with my headache or my stress levels! We all went over to Richard and Lisa’s in the evening for dinner and I gave them their housewarming card and present from Sass and Belle (plus some flowers to go in the jug). All my siblings were there – we laughed a hell of a lot (so much that I ended up with a stitch!) and Lisa made us a lovely meal.

I’m seriously obsessed with this month’s Birchbox pairing with Boden - look at that gorgeous box!! And that £10 gift voucher means I’m going to have to treat myself to something…what a shame!

I was up really early on Wednesday morning, which wasn’t fun, as I didn’t sleep very well and had woken up with a sore throat, cold etc. I had counseling first thing, but struggled to concentrate because I felt so tired. When I got home I probably should have rested, but I wanted to get the house looking nice for when my Mum and Dad got home. So I hoovered the downstairs and made sure things were tidy. I then crashed out on the sofa absolutely shattered and read Sarah in Wonderland’s blogs about her Stanmore journey, as I go in for my three-week hospital stay next month. My friend, Becky, arrived at lunchtime and we had some lunch together. We then spent the afternoon chatting and watching Bridget Jones’ Baby (finally!!) and Beauty and the Beast. My Mum and Dad arrived back from their holiday in Malta late afternoon, and it was so nice to see them and have a hug. I was feeling really poorly in the evening, but thankfully I could rest a bit more now that my parents were home.

I got up on Thursday feeling really poorly with this horrible cold/virus thing. I went down to the Doctors in my electric wheelchair with my Dad. The nurse did my blood pressure lying and standing, and then did my ECG. It took ages because the machine didn’t seem to want to work properly, which always happens with me for some reason. Afterwards we popped into Waitrose so I could get some cash out of the ATM. When we got home I rested on the sofa and did a bit of Uni work. After lunch, my Mum took me round to my friend, Katy’s, and I had a massage, but I found it hard to relax because my nose kept running and I couldn’t breathe! We then went to Waitrose (again!) to do a fairly big shop, and I treated myself to some tulips. When we got home I did some more work on my dissertation proposal – it will be the death of me! I was feeling really rubbish, but this Easter arrangement I bought my Mum from Bunches really brightened the place up.

I got up a lot later than I’d planned on Friday morning, but I obviously needed the sleep. I took some photos of a tea subscription box I’m going to review on here and spent the rest of the morning editing a video for my YouTube channel. My Dad and I watched an episode of Vera while I had some lunch. I then did some work on my dissertation proposal (can you see a theme here?!) and caught up on my Uni emails. My mouth was full of ulcers and I felt so run down and exhausted. But Alfie wearing these bunny ears made me smile.

On Saturday I woke up still feeling pretty awful with this virus. My friend, Sam, popped in to drop something off, so it was nice to see her. I then sorted my video out to upload onto my YouTube channel – it’s a huge collective haul if you fancy checking it out. My Mum and I went down to Waitrose to get a few ingredients for dinner and baking. When we got home, she helped me back some Easter Crème Egg brownies and some Rice Krispie cakes. I felt absolutely exhausted by the time we’d finished, so curled up on the sofa, watched Billionaire Boy, as it was on TV, and ordered some prints from Printiki of David and Emma’s wedding. I’m hoping to make a scrapbook of photos from their wedding, and also Richard and Lisa’s wedding, so I have something to remember them by. In the evening Richard and Lisa came round for dinner, so it was nice to chat to them.

You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to continue doing!)

I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.

If you don’t already, please give me a follow on Bloglovin here - I would love to reach 800 followers and we’re so nearly there! I do have a little giveaway planned for when I get there!

What have you been up to this week? I always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!

Follow me on Bloglovin, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube