Hello! Welcome to the first monthly life update of 2025 - AND Happy New Year! Although I feel like it's way too late to be saying happy new year now. Last year I only started these monthly updates in about March and I think that one has over 100+ views which is so cool. I never thought these monthly life updates would do so well but here we are. So welcome to my January 2025 life updates! I will keep writing these because they are so fun and they get such a welcoming response.
What have Ashy, Benji, and Luke been up to so far this year? Let's take a look and find out!
If you wanna check out all of my previous life updates, you can do so "here."
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January 2025 Life Updates
Luke and I both survived getting sick - chest infections suck.
We didn't do much for New Year's Eve except watch TV (I think, it feels so long ago now).
I had a few doctor's appointments and now I'm back on iron supplements, ugh. If I really can't handle them this time, it's going to be an iron infusion but they seem very complicated because you have to go get the iron yourself? I also got some B12 shots as that was low too, and I'm going back for 2x more in the next two months. Apparently, B12 shots are like vaccines where you get 3 over the course of 3 months. But I NEVER ever want to take B12 supplements and iron together - that was like having gastro all the time. So far the iron hasn't been as bad as last time but I am still getting some whack a$$ symptoms like random stomach pain, especially at night, dizziness, irritability, and more subtle "gastro" symptoms. So far, it's not as bad but still annoying. I also think you shouldn't share specific medications or medical info about people to others (without their consent, just a side note).
The YouTube videos I put out are as follows: First Vlog of 2025 // 2025 Predictions From a Social Scientist // My 2025 Goals // Weekly Vlog: Planning, Productivity, and Progress
The Freaky Friday Files I put out are as follows: Mysteries In My Life I Can't Seem To Solve // The SOS Incident. I'm not sure if any more will be out this month but we'll see how we go this Friday (I'll add it here once it's out so TBD for now).
TV shows that Luke and I have been enjoying are Eat The Invaders, Dr Karl's How Things Work, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Australia, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and Would I Lie to You? I'm still annoyed at myself for not realising Spicks and Specks was based on Never Mind the Buzzcocks but I think it does it better because the secret song is such a fun game to play.
I got myself an iPad and downloaded Procreate - I have not learned much yet (it's one of my 2025 goals if you read that blog). And because I got an Apple product, I was able to get 3 months free of AppleTV+ and I am so glad I took that offer up because I have been watching Severance and that show is f*cking fantastic. I am HERE for ALL the fan theories! And I am definitely looking forward to seeing what's in store for season 2.
The TV shows I've personally been enjoying are obviously Severance, Tracker (S2) - which that last ep left such a big cliff hanger so omg, and Prime Target (kinda) - I think I need to pay a bit more attention to this one because I am very confused when it comes to maths and numbers.
The books I have read are as follows: 1. The Strangers We Know - Pip Drysdale 2. The Teacher - Freida McFadden 3. Don't Believe Her - Nicola Sanders 4. The Perfect Imposter - Iris Baxter 5. Tripwire - Lee Child 6. The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman 7. Under Her Skin - Jessica Huntley. You can check out my book review blog post "here." It goes into detail of my thoughts of the books and also talks about what I'm reading currently.
I celebrated my 3 year "Aus"-iversary aka I've lived in Melbourne for 3 years. I was sick with a chest infection so I did sleep most of the day BUT Luke bought me flowers which was nice and they lasted a really long time.
I've been keeping up with my journalling and thought diaries for my therapy sessions.
I've started doing daily mindfulness which is either affirmations, a nature walk, a journal entry, or a meditation of some kind. Oh, and some colouring on the iPad (it's like a zen app, it's cool).
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My National Geographic magazine subscription finally came - it took like 3 months (so long).
It was the 2 year anniversary of Luke's Grandma (on his dad's side). RIP.
It was the 3 year anniversary of my Grandad on my mum's side. RIP.
Benji has been getting out for more walks and going to the dog park again - we waited a while because of his des*xing last year and wanted him to heal. He's been pretty good off lead so he'll be looking forward to more outside time for sure.
We went for brunch at Francis Winifred - a really great cafe and I had Strawberry Hotcakes and an Iced Strawberry Matcha. Luke had the Summer Burrata and an iced long black. I really like the food there. It pays to go either really early in the weekend or on a week day because it gets busy really fast.
Another brunch spot we stopped in at was "My Oh My" in Richmond (we stopped one day after a doctor's appointment as when I used to live on that side of town, it was a great brunch/lunch spot and the staff are always so nice).
My shoulder seems to be feeling better so I think it was just a muscular issue. I also talked about suffering from scalp psoriasis in one of my vlogs so that seems to be healing up nicely too.
I am kinda wanting to get a a new desk and completely change my workspace - I am using Luke's old work desk, which is a good desk but it's not a space that's making me feel happy and productive, so we've been looking around different places to see what's out there. I think it's also a bit annoying because I like to put my legs up sometimes and they hit the drawers on the desk because I'm tall HAHA. Idk how Luke used this desk. My new chair hasn't come yet BUT I am very excited for when it does because it's gonna be so comfy. I am also looking at a make-up dresser for the bedroom and we are also thinking about getting a smaller dining table. I absolutely hate our dining chairs - they hurt my back and I am sorry they are not very pretty (sorry Luke's family who gave them to us). I think it's more about me wanting to make our home our space and feel more sacred. Like when I come home, I want it to feel like home ya know? I hope this makes sense. But also I don't want to spend money unnecessarily because I want to save.
I had my first therapy session of 2025, which was good, I felt a bit nervous going into it because I wasn't sure if the psychologist was going to tell me I was in the wrong but he didn't. He actually complimented me on my healthy boundary-making skills and can see my growth since starting, which is always nice.
This isn't something I expected to happen but one Sunday we took Benji down to the dog park and then he got super excited and he ended up knocking my phone out of my hands and the screen turned green (it was not worth salvaging for how old it was) so I had to go and replace it and I lost a few things (nothing like photos or anything) just some stuff I had on my old phone like gratitude stuff etc. It's funny now but I was so grumpy about it (and of course, we didn't get mad at Benji, he has no idea our lives are on our phones).
Luke and I saw Penn and Teller (the magicians) which was pretty cool. I definitely saw how some of the tricks were done - I could be wrong - but I think I'm way too much of a critical analyst not to think about what they are doing in that situation. They're also really funny. I highly recommend checking them out if you like magic shows. There were a lot of kids there too which I didn't expect, but lots of the jokes went over their heads hahaha.
The same night Luke and I saw Penn and Teller, we went out for dinner in the city to somewhere we hadn't gone before. We were under a time constraint so we didn't have too much time to look for somewhere to go, so we went to sake - a Japanese fine dining restaurant and it was SOOO delish. I highly recommend it. We did end up having just enough time for dessert and I got this thing called the "Dragon's Egg" - it's like an easter egg made from chocolate with coconut mousse inside, and they put liquid nitrogen over it. It's so fun. I didn't get a video and wish I did but I think sometimes you gotta just live in the moment and put it in the memory bank. I managed to find a video of the exact dessert on Facebook "here."
And IN BIG BIG news, I am currently in the process of setting up my 2nd blog - www.eatswithash.com (it's under construction right now so you can't see it) so hopefully that will be live soon. I'll be sure to send an email to anyone subscribed to asheycakes once it goes fully live so that you're the first to know SO make sure you keep up to date with those emails! For now, I've set up a Facebook Page and Instagram for it so if you are into your socials, I'd love it if you checked those out too. I'm not sure if I want to make a second YouTube or TikTok for it but let me know your thoughts. I'm using WordPress for that blog so I can compare it to Wix but I know nothing about WP so it's definitely a learning curve - especially learning you need plugins for most things haha.
I got really disappointed seeing a lot of the Australia Day posts - I don't think supporting invasion is a good thing (but hey, that's just my opinion).
I've been trying to add in little extra bits of exercise so either trying to go for 2x walks a day, add in some running, or do more HIIT exercises - I am proud of that. It's not as much as I used to be able to do, but I'm hoping my energy levels will continue to increase.
Lastly, I've still been struggling a bit with mental health and the ol' depresso espresso but I think I'm doing everything I can - seeing a psychologist regularly, talking to my friends, going for mental health walks, and mindfulness. I just gotta keep going.
What are some things I am looking forward to in February?
I've got a haircut on Saturday morning - that will make me feel more attractive and is a good mindfulness thing.
Benji will start back at obedience school so hopefully he'll be more well-behaved (it's meant to go back on the 2nd of Feb but they just posted on their FB page that they're unsure if it will go ahead this week due to extreme weather).
Our 2nd inspection being over (I know it'll be fine but I feel like everything has to be super clean and tidy) - feels like a lot of work for only someone being here for 10 minutes (it's on the 5th of Feb so I can update ya'll all on that then). I do like making sure we deep clean our house at least twice a year - we clean every week but don't deep clean as often.
Jack Whitehall - Luke and I have tickets for that on the 3rd of Feb.
Valentine's Day because I'm sure Luke and I will have a nice dinner (whether it's at home or out).
My 2nd blog being launched woo!
My new office chair should be coming - still waiting on a text for delivery but hopefully, I get something soon.
And I'll leave the rest for next month's life updates so I don't spoil anything.
Thanks for reading this month's life updates! See you soon!
Ash x
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Sounds sounds like you had a lot going on. I can confirm that finding a desk space that feels productive is a big thing, and you'll know once you're comfortable. I'm still finding a space that feels just right, but haven't succeeded yet. I'm finding a desk space near the window too distracting because then I will tend to people watch haha.
THIS IS SUCH A FUN POST! This is such a fun way to recap your month, and I think this is will be so fun for you to look back on! Thank you so much for sharing! You are inspiring me to keep up better with what happens during my month cause I feel like I get to the end of a month and I cannot tell you anything good that happened the past month.
Thank you for the cool post. We survived a chest infection, too, and it lasted two weeks. I can't wait for spring.
You are a busy person! Best of luck on your new blog! :)
We love Penn and Teller. Sounds like a good start to the year - keep up the good work on the blog!