Life with Helen Johnson

 Before we begin I want to share that this is not an easy blog to write. In fact I've written this blog two other times and stopped it from being published as I wasn't ready to share my journey. If I'm being honest the only reason I now feel able to share this story is because I'm in a better place with my mental health. I also want to share that until 2024 I never struggled with my mental health, I've experienced loss before and broken relationships and even in those seasons I didn't struggle with my mental health. The reason I want to share that is because when 2024 hit it brought new emotions that I didn't know how to handle, and that's why it's taken a year to see some sort of a recovery. Anyway, let's stop procrastinating and start sharing the journey! In December 2023 I was diagnosed with my heart condition and for the first two months I was living in fear, I wouldn't say I was depressed, I was fearful. It wasn't until late January ...

 Andy and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary the other day and it got me thinking about the differences between year one and year two of marriage. I want to share with you some of the changes I've seen in our marriage and how it's helping to grow our marriage in the right direction. Our marriage is not perfect, but then again no one's is. However as life progresses it changes you, whether you're married or not. The question I often ask myself, is it changing me for the better?  #1 - More patience and understanding In our first year of marriage we were navigating what it meant to be married, it was an adjustment stage. However when we entered into year two of marriage I noticed a greater patience and understanding of each others needs. To give you two examples, I learnt that Andy wanting to work hard and focus on his career didn't mean he was putting me second, it actually meant he was wanting to serve and provide for our family. I was able to understand h...

 I've shared in previous blogs that Andy and I want to have a family one day, however as always there is a lot to think about and a lot to plan and prepare. We both do enjoy living in the moment, but I'd be lying if I said we're not planners and that we don't think about our future. Personally I want a home I feel is appropriate to raise a family, I also want us to be financially prepared for the cost of raising a family and we also want to be in the best health we can be in, as it will be a physical challenge, especially for me. So what are we doing to prepare for our future family? 1. Moving to a bigger family home I'm writing this blog on the day our home has gone on the market. We've been looking at numerous houses in areas we'd feel happy raising a family and we're excited for this next chapter. We decided to move house for two main reasons, firstly financially it makes sense to move before I'm pregnant, on maternity leave or when we have young ...

Welcome back to my blog, my family and I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I hope you did too. Life with Helen Johnson has returned and I'm excited for what this year will look like and I will continue to share encouragement, updates and advice on various different topics. In today's blog I'm sharing 4 habits I won't be taking into 2025, these habits are either things that held me back in 2024 or things which I have noticed are negatively impacting not just my life but the lives of everyone around me. Habit #1 - Stretching myself too thin I'm not sure whether it was triggered by my health diagnosis, but 2024 became a year where I felt I had to prove myself and take on numerous responsibilities. Every 6 weeks or so my husband and I were staying away from home, every week we were seeing family or friends, we were taking on new projects and potential business ideas and it became exhausting. The final few months of 2024 I was burnt out, I was catching colds, no...