26

Hello lovelies,

I've been thinking about this post for a while & how I would write it this year. I wrote a post entitled 25 a few days before my 25th birthday last year & I wanted to come back to it now, as I'm turning 26 tomorrow. So this will basically be like a new year / update over the past year post.

In that post, I reviewed my whole 25 years on the planet, so I just wanted to address a few points over the last year that I wanted to accomplish & what has changed. I'm pleased to say quite a few things have changed & some have stayed the same.

So let's start with James.

We'd just celebrated our 3 year anniversary (& have now celebrated our 4th, yay!) & he graduated university this year which I'm so proud of him for. I wrote in that post that I was excited about being in a relationship which wasn't going to be long distance anymore & I can safely say, it is soooo much better. I do still appreciate having my own space sometimes, but getting to see him most days has been amazing. I also mentioned about the possibility of us moving in together in 2016, which when I think about it now, was quite premature. We're both at a point now where everything is falling into place & I'm so glad we've waited a while before jumping straight in to living together. Hopefully though when I come to write my '27' blog post, we shall be living in a house together!

Work.

So this is a tricky one. So much has happened over the past year that has made us a bit unstable at work which I won't go into, but I will say, I'm still in the same job, which I wouldn't class as a bad thing at all, I still love what I do & I also had the confidence to branch out a bit more last year with a few opportunities that boosted my confidence. I attended a conference in London (which I was so chuffed at myself for going to) & it also opened my eyes a bit to a world within work. That probably makes no sense to most of you.. but just a few inspirational words & speaking to people in the same position as you can really change your perspective on things.

Friends & family.

Lots of exciting things have happened last year with my family & friends. We had two engagements, a wedding & a pregnancy announcement! All very exciting for the year to come. My family also have once again been so supportive & caring as always.

Because life's too short to say "I'll do it tomorrow."

This was the quote I used to finish my blog post last year & how right could I have been. I've really pushed myself over the past year to do things I would normally have said no to, just because I didn't think I could do them. & yes, some of them are the smallest achievements, but I'm so so so proud of myself for doing them. Here's a few that made my year;

I organised a Disney party.

This was one of my favourite things about 2016, my birthday party. I planned the whole thing & it was honestly one of the most amazing nights. Plus I got to wear a princess dress!

I went to Crufts.

Like I said in my post last year, I wanted to do things that have been on my list to do for the longest time & Crufts was one of them. I got to cuddle a Chihuahua & a Pug!

I went to a football match.

Ok, so it was a charity match played by YouTube Stars, but it was still a big thing for me to travel to Southampton & be in that environment. I actually loved it so much!

I went abroad with my best friend on holiday.

Yes, yes I did. I still can't believe I did it. I managed to go on a plane, stay in a new place & managed to relax all while miles away from home.

I got my ear pierced.

This is something that I've wanted since I was 18 years old & never had the courage to do it, until this year! Thanks Gem again for doing it!

So, in conclusion, 2016 was pretty good for me.

I managed to visit new places, do things I never thought I would do & I met lots of new people. There's a few things I want to achieve this year, but mostly I just want to continue with what I'm doing. 2016 was definitely the most positive, confident year I've experienced in a long time as I was completely knocked in confidence after leaving college & it takes a while to bring that back up again. I want to travel more, book things because 'why the heck not' & just live life to the full. I've already got a few exciting days out / weekends away planned & I honestly can't wait to see what 2017 has in store for me : )

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