Tuesday 31 December 2013

NYE - A Look Back At 2013 & Onward To 2014

Highlights of 2013
  • The introduction of my new furry friend, Jackson! After the immense sadness at the beginning of the year when my dearest Scrabble died, having another little hamster to dote on eased the pain a bit. Jackson is no longer little now, but big and fat and playful, and he's been a great addition to the family.
  • On March 17th, Norman Reedus (e.g. Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead and all round sweetheart and sex god) followed me on twitter, and still follows me to this day!
  • I turned 21, a milestone age!
  • This year in May was the first time I attended Comic Con at London; it was blogged about extensively on here, and was so much fun! I definitely want to go again some time soon!
  • I also gave blood for the first time, and still get a little rush of pride when I think about it.
  • Ashleigh's hen party - also blogged about here, the whole night was so much fun and cemented my belief that my brother chose the right lady to marry.
  • I sold my soul to Apple and got an iPhone, and it may as well be surgically attached to my hand now.
  • My darling brother Liam got married to Ashleigh, on the 15th August. I wrote about it here, and it's one of my fondest memories - not just of this year, but of my life. It was the most beautiful, happy day, and I got to be a bridesmaid for the third time in my whole life, but the first time as an adult!
  • I began my final year of university; I will soon be spat out of academia and into the world of being a real adult! In addition to this, an honorary mention of my flat this year has to be made. I'm so happy with the people I live with, they're brilliant! I'm glad this wasn't a repeat of where I lived in my first year. My flatmates have made uni fun again for me, and I thank them so much for that!
  • I visited Caz in Manchester for the first time, and that was a lot of fun - even though I was sickened at how inexpensive some absolutely beautiful flats are there!
  • Getting Lana drunk for the first time was a highlight; I was very proud of how well she holds her drink! I'm glad I could get her out and having a laugh with me and my wonderful flatmates, and I'm happy that she enjoyed herself so much!
  • My health kick and general life upheaval beginning to take form (more on this when I talk about my goals for 2014).
  • The Flat 1 London outing and Christmas party - two very enjoyable days with my flatmates before leaving for the Christmas holidays! We ate and drank and shopped and had lots of fun; it was great as a last hurrah!
  • I wrote a dissertation for the first time ever. I have written about language and communication difficulties faced by people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and I am so proud of how it's come out, and the fact that I've actually finished it! I enjoyed myself writing it, but it was easily the hardest piece of academic work I've ever done.
  • The Christmas holiday has been one of my best yet. Seeing all of my family and being back at home is wonderful, I've been able to annoy the hamster every day and eaten far more than I should have. Christmas Day was spent at my Mutti's with her, Martin, Ryan, Nan and Dave. Later, we were joined by Liam & Ashleigh; Arron, Kim & Harvey; Paula, Steven & Ellie; and David! So I got to see all the siblings on Mutti and Martin's side. Boxing Day Liam, Ashleigh and I went over to Vati's, where we and Kath were joined by Nan, Uncle Paul and great Uncle George. More food and presents occurred! And yesterday, I went for dinner with Mutti, Ryan, Liam, Ashleigh, Gramps and Maggie, as well as my Uncle Adrian who has come over from Australia, and his girlfriend Jacqui! It was bloody delicious, and I think I have put on about a tonne of weight, but it's been such a happy time!

Photo Collages

I made some collages of a few of my favourite photos from this year! It was hard to narrow them down, because I take so many photos and there were so many great ones, but here's the collages I ended up with:







Goals for 2014
  • Finish my degree and graduate from university.
  • Continuation of the aforementioned health/life kick: Swim lots more and get fitter, watch my eating habits and be more healthy, keep up with counselling and my journal.
  • Get a job - the thing I'm most interested in at the moment is teaching English in Germany. Liam's friend Colin is doing a similar thing in China, and he doesn't have to know Mandarin because the kids are only allowed to speak English in his class; I want to see if there is something similar in Germany as I would like that experience, and also to work on my German so I can speak it better! That's only one possible avenue though, of course.
  • Save up some money and get an apartment (either somewhere in England or in Berlin)
  • Have a holiday - I'm hoping Rome will be a possibility!
  • Do all of the London museums that I haven't seen - Natural History, Imperial War, Science and the Tower of London.
  • Blog more here, and blog properly!

This evening, Caz and I are going to have a feast of mainly tequila and whiskey and it's going to be a bloodbath. Happy New Year to you all, and I hope 2014 is everything you hope for!