As I mentioned in my previous post, 2017 has been an amazing year and I've achieved so much more than I thought I could when I made my 2017 goals.

I didn't manage all of them, but some of them I smashed out of the park so that makes up for it ;)

Money Goals

1. Replenish our savings

As I'm sure you can imagine buying our house has taken its toll on our savings so this year I want to try and help them recover a bit so we have a more adequate rainy day fund. 

2. Repay Kiera

My sister very kindly lent me some money to buy my new carriage when I had none. I have paid her back more than half now but this year I want the debt to be finally wiped out. 

3. Save enough for some sort of mini break

We might manage this or we might not as we have other priorities for our money but it would be good if we could manage a weekend away somewhere this year. 

Travel

4. Visit Rome

This was actually one of my 2016 goals and this year we are definitely making it happen because it's all already booked! 

Jared and I are going to Rome in late April for our five year anniversary. 

I've always wanted to go back and explore more and I'm really excited about it. Jared's Mum very kindly bought me a guide book for Christmas so looking forward to putting that to good use.

5.  Visit more local attractions on our doorstep

We made a good start on this in 2017 but there are lots more places to see in the immediate area that we live in. I want to make an effort to visit these before we head further afield. 

Development

6. Pass my first financial exam

This is a big one for me this year as I am back to studying. I am officially a student again and have a NUS card to prove it. 

I am sitting my first CII qualification and have started studying for the first module. I am aiming to pass this as soon as possible so hopefully I can get back to studying in the New Year.

Blogging

7. Sort out my domain name

I have actually owned the domain name for this blog for years but because I'm not very good with computers I haven't managed to successfully set it up.

This year I want to get this sorted as I think it will make my blog a little nicer, plus I am currently paying for something I'm not using which is daft.

8. Create some categories

I want to change the layout of my blog a little and make it easier to navigate. As I'm not the most tech savvy person in the world I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage this but I want to give it a go!

Home and Lifestyle

9. Spruce up the outside of the house

Now that we have redecorated the inside of our house, I want to give a bit of attention to the exterior. 

Our windows and fascias need repainting and I'd like to improve the garden a bit.

I've thought of a few small and easily achievable ideas that I'd like to try, more on that at a later date!

10. Grow more stuff

I've always loved growing things and I spend many happy hours in the garden with my mum and grandmothers as a child. 

As I've got older I always try and grow something at home, but I'm always a bit half hearted with it. 

Now that Jared and I have our own house I want to try and grow a few new things I haven't tried before. Thanks to Cider With Rosie for sharing her veg growing excitement and inspiring me to continue with my old lady hobbies ;)

2017 - The Highlights

2017 has been a momentous year for me. So much has happened that I never expected and there have been times that have severely tested my mental strength and resolve.

I'm actually quite sad that this year is over, but looking forward to what 2018 brings.

1. We bought our first house!

This is obviously the biggest and most important thing that has happened to me this year (just in case I haven't gone on about it enough yet on this blog). 

Owning my own home has been my number one goal for a very long time, so to finally achieve it feels amazing. I've written quite a lot on here about how it hasn't really sunk in yet that this space is now mine and I can do what I want with it, which I wasn't expecting to feel like. I thought it would me immediate and I would instantly feel like it was mine but its actually taking a long time.

I am loving buying all the little bits that make it ours (my bank balance is probably loving this a lot less) and seeing it start to come together. 

Without a doubt this is one of my proudest achievements ever as Jared and I have done this by ourselves after a lot of hard work. 

It is nice to finally be able to enjoy that hard work and sit back and relax in our own home.

2. I started a new job

I started 2017 determined to find myself a new job where I could push myself a bit harder and learn more about the industry I work in.

It took me a while to find somewhere that was the right fit, but I absolutely love my new job. My new role is more challenging and the company I now work for is keen for me to develop professionally which is all I ever wanted.

While it was a steep learning curve initially I feel that I have started to find my feet now and am looking forward to continuing this next year.

Timing wise, my new job wasn't brilliant as I signed the contract just days before we had our offer accepted on our new house. This complicated our mortgage application but it all worked out in the end so it was worth chancing it. 

3. Visiting Norway

It's hard to believe that this trip was already almost a year ago but I absolutely ADORED Norway. 

I've never visited a country before and thought 'Yep, I could live here pretty happily'. It was such an  incredible family holiday and we still talk about it all the time. 

Seeing the Northern Lights, going snowmobiling and husky sledding... all things I've always wanted to do. Not to mention Norway's incredible landscape. 

Now I want to go back and kayak under the Midnight Sun, see more of the fjords and experience the landscape in a different season. 

4. I wrote my first sponsored post

This year I wrote my first sponsored post as for the first time I was offered a collaboration that I was genuinely interested in. 

I've been writing this blog a long time and it was nice to see it finally pay off in some small way.

5. Completing our redecorating project

Buying a house has meant we have had to learn how to do many new things and that includes decorating. When we got the keys we decided to repaint the vast majority of the house.

A pretty ambitious project for two 23 year olds who have never done anything of the sort to complete on their own. 

It took us three weeks of every evening and weekend (plus a few days off work for Jared) to get it done but it was so worth it. 

The house now looks how we want it to and although we have a tight budget we have made it our own.

I'm really proud of how it looks and can't wait to continue improving the remaining rooms and garden next year.

6. The support from family and friends 

I have been absolutely blown away this year by the continuous support we have had from our family and close friends. Buying this house was the most stressful thing I've ever done and I could never have done it without their help.

My parents especially deserve a huge thank you as they supported me through all the ups and downs that happened over the six months it took from viewing the house to getting the keys.

On top of that they have very kindly donated to us all sorts of furniture and appliances, which has dramatically reduced how much we have had to buy.

In fact, all sorts of people came out of the woodwork to donate or very kindly buy us useful gifts for our new house. As a result we have bought hardly anything new and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped us. 

If any of these people are reading this, thank you so much. It really has made all the difference to us and we've been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness. 

To quote Bridget Jones: An excellent years progress. 

Looking ahead to the New Year 2017

2016 according to most (or at least the people I follow on social media) has been an awful year.
My timeline on every channel is full of 'Good riddance 2016' type posts and statuses.

However I'm feeling sad that this year is over. While it's been challenging it's also been one of the best years yet for me.

I started 2016 feeling stressed, anxious and panicked and as we begin the New Year a lot has changed for me. I made 8 goals back at the beginning of 2016 and I've surprised myself by achieving most of them.

I've completed my masters project and received a mark I'm really proud of. My bound copy of it now proudly sits on my bookshelf along with my 3rd year mapping project as a constant reminder that although it seemed impossible at the time, I still managed it.

2016 also saw me graduating from the University of Southampton with a 2:1 MSci in Geology. It only seems a few moments ago I went to look round the campus for the first time and now I have finished my masters degree. My 3rd year at uni was tough for me and I struggled all the way through my final year feeling like I wasn't good enough and that I didn't deserve a place on the course.  But I proved everyone wrong and I think it is fair to say that I am really proud of myself.

My plans for life post graduation were fairly simple. Move home, get a job and then regroup from there. What I didn't expect was to be made redundant from my job (along with the rest of the team)  just weeks before I graduated. I hadn't even received my degree certificate yet and I was already being made redundant. Not the plan I had in mind.

I signed up to a temping agency and a few days later they contacted me asking if I could start a temping job in 3 days time. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for but I said yes. 3 weeks of temping later and the company offered me a full time role with them. It turned out that finding a job post uni was not as hard or as scary as I had feared. Now I am settled into my full time job and have learnt a huge amount about the new industry I am working in.

While all of this happened without as much difficulty as I had feared it has been a huge period of change in my life. On top of that my family dynamic has changed massively. When I graduated and moved home my parents also invited Jared to move back home with me so that we can try and get our own place together. I absolutely love him living here and how well he gets on with everyone, although it was a big change to get used to. We now have to share quite a small space together but coming home every day and getting to spend time with him is just the best.

Looking ahead to 2017 I want to make some new goals to help challenge and focus me throughout the coming year. I didn't achieve all of my goals in 2016 and some of them I have put on hold for a while, but hopefully the New Year will be as good as the last.

Money Goals:
1. Reach my saving goal for our house deposit. This is the biggest goal for the year, Jared and I are trying to save enough money and while we have made a pretty good start already the next 12 months are crucial if we want to stay on target. Money is tight for me while I'm saving so its going to have to be quite a frugal year but having a house of our own has got to be worth a few years of scrimping.

2. Pay into my pension. Now that I work for a pension company I feel I actually understand what a pension is now. Don't laugh I know most of us have no clue either. The one thing I have had impressed upon me is the importance of small but regular contributions throughout your life. Over the course of a working lifetime it can really add up but the key is to start right away, not leave it until you're older. Although as I've previously said I could really do with the extra money I am trying to look at it as additional saving that I am doing for my future.

3. Donate to some charities that mean something to me. While I have been at uni (without the reliability of a steady wage) I have not been as generous as I would like to be with my money. This year I would like to choose three charities and make a small donation. Not because someone is waving a collection tin in my face, but because I think their cause is worth helping. Sometime we can feel pressured by others into donating and I would like to take the time to support charities that matter to me, as well as those that matter to other people.

Travel Goals:
4. Visit Norway. Going to Scandinavia has been high on my bucket list for ever. This year we are going on a cruise to Norway and I cannot wait! Luckily this was already paid for by working overtime from my old job while I was at uni so it shouldn't affect my saving plans.

5. Visit Bath. Considering this is pretty close to me I have only ever been there on a couple of nights out that feel like a lifetime away now. I'd really like to take a day trip there and actually explore the city. There is no excuse really as it is only an hour away.

6. Visit Ann in Exeter. My best friend is graduating from the University of Exeter this year and I've been trying to go and see her since she was a fresher. Now that I don't have deadlines and exams to fill my weekends I am hoping to make it down there soon!

7. Visit Oxford. On a similar note to Bath this isn't very far from me and I've never visited. I'd like to have a wander about and see what's what. As I haven't got a huge amount of spare cash at the moment a proper European city break is out of the question so I'd like to visit places on my doorstep instead as a compromise.

Development Goals:
8. Read 3 'classic' books. One of my goals from 2016 was to read more and now that I've left uni I am actually relaxed enough to find the time to read. I've always been someone that reads what I enjoy, not necessarily what challenges me. There are so many books that I should have read but haven't got round to it. So I'm going to start small with some of the books many people read at GCSE (Animal Farm anyone?) that my school didn't cover.

9. Practise my German. Since I've left school the amount I've forgotten is shocking. I was by no means fluent (lol) but I could get by on trips to Germany and Austria (where is the toilet, how much is this etc). I want to get my butt back on Duolingo and get practicing again.

10. Become competent in all processes at work. As I've only been working there for a few months there is still a lot of stuff I don't know how to do. Over the next 12 months I'm hoping to learn new things and keep improving.

We'll see this time next year how many I've managed!

New year... new goals 2016

Ok, so I realise this post is about a million years too late and that I haven't blogged for ages. I'm aware its pretty much March already and this sort of post had its day about 2 months ago. But gotta get back on the horse at some point and today I just feel like everything I want to get done is jostling about in my head and won't be quiet so I can focus on things.

The best cure for that is writing so here I am, back at my laptop and typing my thoughts on the internet. Then once they're written down I can start putting them into action. 

2016 is going to see my life turning upside down as I prepare to leave uni and take my first steps into the world so I think I need to have some realistic goals in place to stop me losing sight of where I'm trying to go. 

1. Finish my dissertation. 

Hang on a minute I hear you say, wasn't that your goal for 2015? Well yes it was but because I was daft enough to study for an integrated masters degree I get the joy of not one but TWO dissertations. Ain't life a bitch. So here I am in almost exactly the same position I was in this time last year in science hell questioning all my life decisions. But, I really want to do a good job and get it done so I can move on and finish my degree.

2. Graduate.

Speaking of which I can't wait to graduate this year. When you do a four year degree you spend most of your summer of third year watching most of year friends graduate (and abandoning you) while also feeling smug you don't have to stress about getting a job just yet. I'm not quite sure where the past year has gone but suddenly I find myself in their shoes and I am both excited and relieved that uni is almost done for me. Four years of studying is a long time and looking forward to spreading my wings.

3. Get a job.

While this once seems very vague I'm not actually sure what I want to do yet. I'm really looking forward to a new challenge and being able to start shaping my life in the direction I want. Having full time employment and a reliable wage opens lots of doors. Being financially stable and independent is my overall goal and to do that I need that paycheque coming in every month. 

4. Pass my trailer test. 

This might seem like an odd one. I learnt to drive when I was still in 6th form and as the oldest of four children (three of which can drive) I am lucky to be insured on several of our family cars so have always had access to a car. Unless you are a country bumpkin like me learning to tow will probably never cross your mind but when you live in a rural area its a life skill. Now that I have a car that is a good tow vehicle I want to get that skill under my belt before too many bad driving habits can creep in and other life stresses start getting in the way.

5. Go on a girls holiday. 

This goal is already very much underway as my friends and I are going on a long weekend to Devon after we finish uni. I am already super excited about this one as it will be so lovely to just relax and have fun together. I plan to get moderately sloshed on prosecco virtually every night. Warning you now. 

6. Continue being a *bit* healthier.

One of last years goals was to try and eat more fruit and veg and just generally be a little healthier. I've tried really hard to stick to that one and have made really good progress. At the end of 2015 I even joined a gym and started going properly and I feel so much better about myself. So I want to continue rolling with that and seeing how much further I can push myself this year. 

7. Go to Rome.

I went on a school trip to Rome when I was in Year 10 and started what I suspect might be a lifelong love affair with the city. When my boyfriend Jared told me he really wanted to go there this year I felt like I might do a little wee with excitement. I've totally downplayed it to him about how happy I am about this. I'm not sure how we'll afford it, what with both of us graduating and needing to get a job but I'm determined that this year we are going there. 

8. Read more.

Before I went to uni I was an avid reader. I was never without a book I was engrossed in. Then I went to uni and discovered Netflix and binge watching a whole TV season in one day. There's always a distraction at uni and I find it hard to unwind enough to sit down and get lost in a book. I've got a big pile ready as well as an extensive list on Amazon so I can't wait to get stuck in.

New year... New Goals

Now I'm not really one for making New Years Resolutions. I never stick to them and that just makes me feel bad about myself. However since I was 14 every year with my sport of Carriage Driving I sit down and make a list of goals of what I hope to achieve each year. This tactic has allowed me to compete for GB so it must be working. In which case, its probably time to apply it to the rest of my life.

1. Be better with my skin care. I started using Clinique skincare back in April and it has made a huge difference to my skin. Over the next year I want to start being more dedicated to my routine and stop being so lazy.The effort is worthwhile and will pay off in years to come.

2. Finish my dissertation. This is a bit of a cheat goal because the deadline for this is the end of January and isn't something I am going to work on for the whole of next year. But this is a project I have been working on for the best part of a year and to finally complete it will be a huge achievement. I can't wait for the day after its done. I'm going to sit in PJs drinking tea and watching Netflix. Its going to be glorious and I'm already fantasizing about that blissful moment of relief.

3. Find a replacement curly hair shampoo. I've been loyal to Naked Bodycare for the past year and I've never been able to fault it. Unfortunately they have gone out of business so now everytime I venture into Boots I find myself leaving with every bottle they had in stock. Obviously this approach is not sustainable for ever so at some point over the next year I am going to have to go through the horror of trying to find something suitable to replace it with. No doubt that will appear on here at some point so keep your eyes peeled for that in the future.

4. Stop being so horrible to myself. I am very bad for talking myself down and telling everyone how bad I am at things. Now clearly I can't be bad at EVERYTHING so this needs to stop because the more you tell yourself things the more you start to believe it. It becomes this awful self perpetuating cycle and its very hard to break. This year I am going to make a concentrated effort to stop being my own worst enemy.

5. Care less about what other people think of me. This is a lifelong goal for me and I think it will probably appear on this list for a few more years yet. Certain events that have happened this year have brought how short life is into very sharp focus for me. Life should not be wasted worrying about other people. Over the past year I have started wearing a lot of lipstick, and I am sure it is not to everyone's liking, but it makes me feel happy so I do it anyway. This blog is another example of me trying to combat this problem that regularly threatens to cripple me. I felt like people would laugh at me if I started a blog and I eventually gathered the courage to do it anyway. Now I wish I had done it ages ago. I make small little baby steps with this everyday, but its important to keep focused on it. Otherwise I slip back into my old ways and that will not make me any happier.

6. Go on an adventure somewhere. I'm not really bothered where or what it is but I want to plan it and just do it. There are few things in life that are more invigorating than doing new things and its a worthwhile use of your money. Half the fun is in deciding what you want to do, or in just waking up and doing something on a whim. So while I have no plans yet, I will definitely be making happen.

7. Try to eat more fruit and veg. I'm not going to start whinging about dieting but I do need to eat a slightly more balanced diet and stop having eating so much junk. This ties in nicely with No. 1 and I'm sure my skin will thank me. I'm not going to give up anything or start being restrictive. Instead as a very picky eater I am going to try and be more inclusive and add some new foods to my repertoire. We'll see how this one goes.

8. Go on more dates. Both with my boyfriend and my friends. As mentioned above doing new things is good for the soul and is proven to forge stronger bonds between people. But aside from that its just plain fun. And I'm keen on anything that adds extra fun to my life :) I've already got a few things planned and I'm so excited for it!

9. Do the Race for life. Again I'm not going to pretend to have unrealistic goals of turning into a super fit gym bunny but I would like to do this in memory of my Grandad whether I run, walk or crawl it I don't care. I want to do it anyway. I think its a worthwhile achievement however you complete it.

10. Be more assertive. This is my big one for the new year. Despite my friends thinking I won't take shit from people I am actually incredibly prone to letting people walk all over me. The problem is I have a hard time standing up to people who are close to me. Yet I have no issues releasing my resting bitch face or scathing sarcasm on mere acquaintances who have mildly annoyed me. I don't want to argue with people or upset them and sometimes I let that be an excuse for allowing them to upset ME instead. This year I want to try to say NO more and start focusing on whats best for me. This might mean some of my friendships will change but I'm starting to realise that if they don't see that my happiness is important then they probably weren't my friend in the first place.

2014: My year

So this year has literally zipped by me. Quite scary really. Probably means I am getting old.
Its been a very busy year that has seen some huge changes for me and not all of them have been good. However I am proud that I have managed to get through what has been a tough year at times.
So here are some of the biggest things that happened to me over the past 12 months.

1. I got really ill. Like really ill. Back in January I had Urosepsis which is where an innocent little bladder infection gets totally out of control and gets into your blood stream causing blood poisoning. This was probably due to stress as it was right in the middle of my January exams and I felt horrific. My temperature was so high I was delirious and I just couldn't eat anything. Luckily some strong antibiotics from the doctors (which also made me feel like shit) got rid of it and I avoided being hospitalized. So yeah, that was me being all dramatic.

2. I went on a lot of field trips this year and I won't pretend to have enjoyed all of them. But I have been lucky enough to travel to some really cool places that I would never have seen otherwise so for that I am grateful. Some of them I would really love the chance to go back and explore again but for fun, and best of all a lot of them were in amazing parts of the UK.

3. I didn't compete in carriage driving at all this year. This is the first time since I was 8 that I have not been out and about on the carriage driving scene. At times I have found it liberating and at other times I have found it heart breaking as I was so disconnected from a sport that has shaped my life so much. The reason I had to take a step back was because of all the field trips I had to go on (looking at you, stupid geology degree) as I just couldn't do both. Now I am back and I can't wait to see what 2015 brings.

4. Back in June my Grandad passed away peacefully in his sleep after fighting a strong battle against cancer. This was a very tough time for all my family and I think we are all sad that we didn't get to spend much time together over the past few years. Grandad, you are sadly missed and we think about you all the time. I hope you are looking down from heaven watching all the madness and mischief we get up to. I now look at life very differently and have a greater appreciation of what really matters to me.

5. I'm not ashamed to admit I've had a bit of a confidence crisis over the past year. I've allowed certain feeling of being inadequate to get the better of me and it's time for that to stop. I've let people walk all over me and push me down and I'm no longer ok with it. Over the past month or so I've been feeling much better about myself and I think thats something to be proud of.

6.  This summer I completed my 5 week Independent Mapping Project which is probably the most challenging thing I've ever done. When my dissertation is finished I will sit down and write a post about it, but for now I will just say it was a huge achievement and I will be relieved when it is all finally handed in.