The year in review (2013) Part II

The year in review (2013) Part I HERE

JULY
- We had the hottest summer ever that I can remember. We spent so much time outside. I will always remember this year for how the sun shone most days this season. It was just glorious.

AUGUST
- This month we had our annual community camping weekend away with our church family. Always a fun time had. 
- My nephew got dedicated.
- After doing the anxiety course I decided to go further with some counselling & it was the best decision I've ever made in order to find some peace & healing. It has changed my life & lots of prayer came with it too which was really refreshing. God spoke to me so directly in this time & since I have dealt with so much stuff, His voice is so much more clear to me now.

SEPTEMBER
- I turned twenty four & I felt very loved by so many people.
- We went away with some friends for the weekend for a 60th birthday party & had a fancy dress medieval feast. There were about 30 of us & we hired out a whole youth hostel. One of those weekends when you think 'did we really do that?'. Sign of a good time I think!
- A few good National Trust trips too!

OCTOBER
- We visited The Harry Potter Studio Tour for our nephew's 7th birthday. SO GOOD!
- We saw Johnny Flynn for my birthday treat & I surprised Sam with tickets to see a Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash & Buddy Holly tribute act.

NOVEMBER
- I talked a little about my anxiety
- We had a really perfect weeks getaway to Yorkshire & a day in The Lake District. We've travelled a lot, to all sorts of places around the world & this was one of our favourite holidays. Maybe because I'd finished my counselling & was in such a good place. We had so many dreams to look forward to & just felt so alive in life at this point. God surely knows us best.
- We also visited our friends down in Peckham, London & had a wonderful much needed catch up with them.

DECEMBER
- The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug! Awaited this all year!
- I had my christmas craft fair mid December & it was a GREAT success. Hopefully a few more this new year,
- Went to see 'The Bootleg Beatles' before Christmas & they were incredible.
- Christmas was magnificent!

The year in review (2013) Part I

JANUARY
- In January we saw The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey before celebrating Sam's 23rd birthday with an extended 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy viewing marathon party!
- I passed my driving test finally. I really don't like driving that much, even a year later! But I do appreciate being able to hop into the car & go where I like. I just enjoy the getting out the car once I've reached my destination a lot more!
- We had epic snow fall in January that stuck around for a long time.

FEBRUARY
- We viewed a few houses in February thinking we might be able to buy our own place. We never really found anything we liked & found it rather discouraging. Thankfully it was not God's timing for us.
- I started as a blogging contributor on herecomesthesunblog with nail art tutorials.

MARCH
- The snow started again in March & we did a little egg rolling with some friends from church.
- We decided this was the time to let go of a view things we were doing, clear our schedules a little because I particularly felt very tired from so many commitments within church and outside of it too. Although this was a really hard decision at the time we're both really glad we took the space.
- We found out we would be moving homes. This was such an exciting time. We loved our first home but this current one is unbelievable for us at this time. We love it here.

APRIL
- April was a busy & very exciting month. We spent a weekend in Manchester to visit my older sister & on the way home stopped in Liverpool to see my little sister who was living there at the time.
- Season 3 of Game of Thrones started & we began a tradition with some of our friends to have dinner together & watch two weeks worth of episodes every other week. So fun. Looking forward to the new season to begin in a few months, especially after 'the red wedding' episode! Auuuugh.
- Some of our best friends had their hen do & stag do & it was also my sister-in-laws baby shower!
- We went away for the weekend for our friend Michael's 30th birthday. There were about 15 of us (maybe even a few more). We had a really amazing weekend eating REALLY good food, spending time in really good company & canoeing on the river Wye. Good times.

MAY
- My nephew was born 10 days late (cheeky boy!)
- Some of our besties got married & I had the honour of making their wedding cake.
- We moved into our new home the last weekend in May as well as hosting our church community event in our garden that very same day!

JUNE
- We celebrated TWO years of marriage. I am still giddy about my husband. <3
- We travelled on a 17 day cruise around the Mediterranean. Such a blessing to have been able to do that & a much needed holiday. 
- Something that I now see as a very positive experience was getting myself onto an anxiety course my church was doing. This really opened my eyes to what I've been struggling with & little did I know at this point but it was the beginning of my healing process.

Reflections on 2013

It's a week into the new year & I haven't been sure on what to write about this past year. When I don't think about it properly it didn't seem like such a great year for us because of some of the hard stuff that we went through, some of which I shared on the blog & others I didn't go into much detail about but then I was writing my annual letter to Sam for his birthday (we write letters to one another instead of giving a card) and realised I was reflecting a lot on the year we've had. I thought I'd share SOME of the letter I wrote to Sam here...
...after a load of mushy, lovey-dovey stuff I wrote:
(slightly edited)
2013 was definitely one of our hardest years together. We felt completely beaten and sometimes hopeless but even after everything we've been through I can already look back and see that 'it wasn't so bad'. I can see how God was always there standing right beside us, teaching us and still protecting us. It may not have felt like it most days but eventually He healed and restored us. He gave us so many good things & everything came in His perfect timing. Let's not look back on 2013 as a bad year with bad memories, let us look at it as the time He taught us, the time He grew us close together and closer to Him, the time we became to understand ourselves better, the time we realised what hopes and dreams we really had for our lives...
...This year let us promise to see God in everything and remember He is always with us. Let us remember how good life is, how privileged we are and how at the end of the day we will always have each other. 

That is only a tiny portion of the letter I wrote but it made me realise how good we've got it. Life throws all sorts of stuff at us and when we're in despair sometimes it's so easy to wallow in it and forget the good things we have and the great things that have been. 

At the end of the year we sit and look back on our calendar. We share a synced calendar on our iphones and Sam puts absolutely EVERYTHING in it. He even writes all three Sunday services in even though we only tend to go to one. It's so he can remember what every day has given us. If we do something spontaneous he goes back and writes it in too. I love that about him. We had a good evening looking back on all the great things that have happened and that totally put the year into perspective. The year we could have potentially 'written off' was really a very good year indeed.

I'll be writing our 'year in review' post this week just as a little reminder to myself of how good it's really been amongst the difficult times. I'm not too good at writing things into a private journal, there is something easier about blogging & posting (even if it's for the world to see). I tend to look back on things I write & cringe a little but when I'm writing so publicly I can think about things a little more so that's why I blog. I love clicking back on links and looking through the past. My memories and thoughts are with me wherever I go.

2014 is going to be a good year. It's going to be a great year! I can already say that because of what I've learnt this past year. I have so much to be thankful for.

Hopes & dreams 2013

- Create an editorial calendar & develop the blog, posting more frequently with DIYs, new adventures & photos.

- Travel more! Even if it's just around England, I want to see & do more!

- Prioritize date nights. Last year was so busy we found on a regular basis we had accidentally booked up every night of the week & weekends then had no time for cuddles & quality time! That's an important one for me who needs more snuggles than the average person!

- Read! Make the space to pick up the list of books I want to get through. 

- Bake! I LOVE cooking & baking and definitely need to get more adventurous in the kitchen. I'm ready to try new foods & new recipes! 

- Move! I find on my days off from work and I have time to work on my business I'm mostly at the computer or my craft desk sitting down. I'm going to make the effort just to go for short walks or discover new places in the middle of the day. 

I think that will do for now. I'm excited for this year! 

P.s. I already achieved one goal of this year. I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST! It's been a long time coming & definitely not something I've enjoyed doing but the feeling now it's all done & done is wonderful!

Hope you're all having a gorgeous day! Xx

Reflections on 2012

I love keeping a calender, firstly we need one but I love looking back on all the months at the end of the year and thinking "wow, I can't believe that was this year/did that really happen?/can't believe that was so long ago!" etc etc. You know how it goes!

- At the beginning of 2012 we had just settled into our first home and threw a house warming/Sam's 22nd birthday party. We had just come home from a three month long honeymoon, spent two months living with my parents and then found this place just before christmas! Such a blessing!

- We started a new tradition with some friends where once a month we would have balti pie & chips from the chip shop and either watch a film or play a board game. We've kept it up and had many a fun night together!

- I struggled through a few illnesses & work-related stress but then pulled through and have been doing really great in the last few months. Consequently, Sam & I got new jobs - spectacular new jobs! No work-related stresses there!

- I STARTED THIS BLOG!

- Our best man got engaged and will be getting married in May this year & one of my bridesmaids got married in July to a really wonderful guy so LOVE is all around!

- We went on a really amazing camping trip with our church community!

- We went on a spectacular holiday to Nerja, Spain with two wonderful friends and took part in the Spainish celebrations when they won the world cup!

- While in Spain we celebrated our FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

- We saw Mumford & Sons!

This year I've learnt so much about myself. The ways I cope with certain situations, the way I manage my time, especially now that I live in my own home and live with the man of my dreams. I've learnt about compromise, a lot about compromise! I've realised I'm not the only person in the world - ONLY JOKING - I really did know that but being married makes you let go of a lot of selfishness you never realised you had and do things you wouldn't normally do because you know your hubby would like it. I still haven't gotten used to sharing a bed, I still sleep like a starfish and steal the covers, but its fun to wake up and have someone to cuddle and chat to in bed every night & every morning.

We learnt how important putting time aside for 'date night' is. I mentioned in a previous post we have to schedule in time to spend just the two of us. Our diaries get so full up with work, church and hospitality - we LOVE it all but also love our quiet evenings in together.

Overall, this year has been a beautiful one and I have so many plans and dreams for 2013! I will share with you soon!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS! Xx