The end of a Decade: 2019 Review

So it's come again, that time of the year; and I have to say that this year has gone really fast and I can just about recall the end of last year as just the other day. This year has been a remarkable year of personal growth and meeting new people while saying goodbye to others. The year began with watching Si turn the Big 3-0 and we celebrated this time with a surprise trip to Edinburgh to party the way that the Scots do, this was then followed quickly by Valentine's Day, where we started to play with the concept of Yoga and Low Carb recipes.

March was quiet on the activities front with a near work change due to a bitter employee; but we went to see a fair few movies and this remained quiet until about July where we celebrated our 3 wedding anniversary with good food and traditional gifts exchanged, and the second near miss in terms of jobs for myself

August saw the birth of our friend's daughter and the first time I've enjoyed spending time with babies. We captured a lovely picture of Si holding the baby. This was also the time of my aunt visiting before going to Portugal to celebrate my aunt's 80th. My application for volunteering with Age UK began. We spent quality time with Si's folks for my birthday and had my parents up as well to help with the dreaded DIY we needed doing. August also saw the retiring of my father in law and of course was well deserving of a regency hamper as our way of saying Congratulations.

September saw a beautiful soul enter my life and now a very close friend, we have regular catch ups and finally have someone really close who has time for me as a person and not just a shoulder. As with any new skill Si enrolled in his acting classes and landed his first two roles almost instantly; one Murder Mystery and one Panto in Feb, which we were both floored by.

October saw two of our close friends get married and starting a new life together, but also signalled my ability to join the driving club, whilst Si sadly had to postpone his acceptance. We also lost our two Rats within 2 weeks of each other. This was also saw the blocking of the last remains of toxic family drama paving the way for a happy festive period. Si started his new role with JCT after a bad bout of illness due to switching jobs and severe stress from an unmanageable boss

November saw us agreeing for the first time to not have a festive tree or decorations and also brought in the surprise of our little Spritie which Si would find about in December. This also saw the massive fallout between myself and another family member, however this wouldn't dampen the rest of the year as we would be looking forward to spending the festive period in a hotel. November saw me connecting with one of my aunts after her 80th Birthday. We also picked up Marmajuke towards the end of the month and I had to do a lot of firsts in this car; from driving down the motorway which the Lovely Sarah helped guide me the way back, to driving by myself to collect Si after work in the dark and in the rain. The only thing left to learn is how to drive in Snow and I'm sorted!

December saw a nice change of pace with two Christmas Parties and Si falling ill days before the festive season. We saw one of my dearest friends on the 23rd and shared the excellent news with herself and Si before making our way to the hotel and dinner with my sister and her fiancé on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day saw us travelling to Berkshire for the first time in about 8-9 years to spend time with my cousin and partake on board games, Lego and delicious food. In the evening we met up with my mom to have some drinks and discuss her present and our big news. Boxing Day saw us at the cinema with my mom to watch Playing with Fire; which was actually quite disappointing, before making our way back to Yorkshire on the 27th with some fantastic crafting gifts and my new failing attempt at picking up knitting again. Having time off together, I could now start filming my vlogs for the first time in nearly 2 years and see how I felt being in front of a camera again before seeing the new year in with the Two Towers (if you start the film at 21:13:16 on New Year's Eve, you begin the New Year; and in this case the new Decade, with Théoden saying "So it begins"). It wasn't long after this that we made our way to bed having stayed up for New Years for the first time in 3 years.

As a whole, this year has seen a little bad, but mostly a great year of everything shifting to a positive frame with most of my woes left firmly behind in the beginning of 2019. 2020 looks very optimistic with the arrival of Spritie and my sister's wedding as well as hopefully seeing Si join the driving club.

I hope anyone reading this has had a marvellous year and any negative drama be safely left at the end of the decade where it belongs.

As always, Ciao for now!

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