As the final pages of our 2023 family diary are coming to an end, we find ourselves at the threshold of a new year, poised to step into the unwritten chapters of 2024! In this Family Diary Roundup, we invite you to join us in a collective reflection, to sift through the past twelve months with gratitude and glean lessons that will illuminate our path forward.
As we share our family’s journey through the past year and our hopes for 2024, we hope to inspire you to do the same. So grab a cup of your favourite drink, settle into a comfy nook, and join us as we reminisce, celebrate, and plan for the adventures that 2024 holds!
Well that was a bit deep, wasn’t it? – During the latter months of 2023 I have been trying out some AI software to help with snippets of text during my writing work. As you can probably tell (or did you?) the first two paragraphs were AI written. AI has helped me speed up a few things like planning a blog post and helping to order the structure of a blog post. I love to write so posts by me are human written! I do think AI can be a scary topic, but it looks like it’s here to stay for many applications in the world!
Before I get onto going through looking back at the months of 2023, I just wanted to show you the things we’ve been trying out this month.
Things We’ve Tried
Asian Snack Box
We’ve had lots of fun seeing what was in our surprise Asian snack box from morueats.com. They are an online Asian shop with hundreds of carefully chosen Asian supermarket and grocery products from Japan, China, Korea, Thailand & beyond!
You can buy your sweets, snacks, noodles, drinks, pantry ingredients or bundles. We had a range of things in our box, including noodles, brown sugar bubble tea, rice crackers and chocolate goodies! The Choco Boy biscuits are a winner!
Revive Collagen
Just before Christmas, this fabulous pack of award-winning Revive Collagen Original ready-to-drink supplements arrived to try. It is a Hydrolysed Marine Collagen Drink with Hyaluronic acid and Aloe Vera Juice. Perfect for your hair, skin and nails to look their best! Trust me my hair needs a boost!
Revive Collagen’s unique formula works by boosting the production of collagen and hyaluronic acid within the body. Alongside this, Aloe Vera extract acts as an anti-inflammatory, helping to treat dry skin.
Drinking a sachet daily helps rebuild and restore your collagen levels, with over 8500 MG of Type 1 Hydrolysed Marine Collagen per serving. Their unique formula has been developed alongside some of the top UK laboratories and has been specifically developed to deliver superior results. They are suitable for all diets as they contain no dairy, no gluten, no soy and are lactose-free.
Each box contains 14 or 28 ready-to-drink sachets in a great-tasting citrus flavour. One sachet is recommended daily for best results. Available to buy directly from Revive Collagen.
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Looking Back over 2023
I love to look back over our year and see how much the girls have grown and the memories we’ve made. Here is our month by month review of 2023! Enjoy!
January 2023
A week into the new year saw my 40th birthday. I felt strange turning 40 as I didn’t feel my age. Well, maybe after a broken night’s sleep! I can remember turning 30 and wanting to stay 29 for a few extra years! But I’m embracing my 40s, I have a wonderful family and my own business, a beautiful home with my books. I’m extremely happy! Cheers to the 40s!!
We also had our first and only snow day of 2023!
February 2023
We got out and about in February visiting Glendurgan Garden, the beach, and the Eden Project! Our eldest turned 7 years old!
March 2023
Spring is so beautiful in Cornwall. Again like in February, we got out loads on sunny days and visited Trelissick Gardens to see the blooming Magnolia Trees! It was Mr B’s birthday so we had a couple of nice lunch dates minus the kids! And the garden came alive with tulips and more!
April 2023
Our little Dottie turned 5 in April! We went to lots of National Trust places and our favourite The Lost Gardens of Heligan for the Easter trails. The girls have so much fun on these trips!
May 2023
May was one of my favourite months of the year! The weather was amazing, the flowers were out everywhere we just got out and enjoyed the Cornish countryside!
June 2023
June was a busy month, with school sports days, science fairs, and lots of outside fun in the sun! Mr B and I had a few days together, exploring some local places during school hours!
July 2023
It was our 10 year wedding anniversary! My older sister came over from Canada for a couple of weeks, we always try to do lots with her while she’s home! We had our yearly visit to Trebah Gardens which I always enjoy. Then we came to the end of the school year. If I’m being honest school holidays are tough with the girls. I still have to work with the girls around me. The change of the school routine can be tough on Dottie as she needs a structured routine. By the end of the 6 weeks, the new school year could not have come fast enough!
August 2023
The school holidays are in full swing! I tried to take the girls out somewhere each day in the morning, so they “just got out of the house”. Plus it gave me time when we got back for an hour or two of work! We had lots of trips to our local favourite places and of course our holiday to Derbyshire. When we visited Hardwick Hall – the National Trust passes came in great! And a visit to Chatsworth Gardens – one of my all-time favourite places. We stayed at Landal Darwin Forest – which is great for the girls as we come and go when we please!
I also started to get out of my comfort zone and started doing clothes reviews – I’m so awkward at posing!
September 2023
And back to school! The weather is still hot, but boy I was glad for them to get back! We loved the heavy horse weekend at Heligan, it’s one of my favourite events of the year there!
October 2023
October was a very busy month for me work-wise – gearing up for Christmas! The weather was still good so lots of outdoor trips! Halloween trails! and a visit to Newquay Zoo! I took a morning to myself and went into town for a coffee and a visit to the Gaia exhibition at Truro Cathedral.
November 2023
Rainy days at the park! A trip to the Eden Project on a blue light day and my mum having snow but not us despite being only 12 miles away!
December 2023
And here we are at December, the last month of the year and what a year it’s been! We’ve been to lots of places, seen so much, made many memories and had lots of fun!
December saw us go on my favourite press trip of the year to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary! And just before Christmas, we took our annual trip to the Heligan Night Garden which was it’s best year ever!
Little Dottie pulled her first tooth out on Christmas Eve, the second she pulled out on Boxing Day!
Thanks for stopping by today, I will be back soon with the next family diary roundup in 2024!
Happy New Year!