An Obligatory Year in Review 2016

Some have dubbed it a rather disastrous year, full of surprises and controversy and pain. Me? I can see where those people are coming from, but my 2016 was full of love, and adventure and learning. From every day in college to every summer road trip and the big move that will likely shape my life for good. 2016 brought into my life people I would be heartbroken to lose, it showed me places I will never forget and made me look into myself when I was struggling most to find strength.

Come with me through a chronology of the past year:




JANUARY 

While January is often presumed a quiet month, relaxing, recovering from December, my friends and I had other plans. And I would like to believe this was one of those definitive points in my life where will look back and realise my longest friendships really fixated here.

Birthday's and celebrations bring people together I have found; especially as someone who considers herself emotionally detached I found myself beaming with compassion and adoration at the people around me. 

MAY

The following months from January cemented every bond and promise, strengthening me as the days went. Oddly these were the hardest months of the year, the hardest perhaps I had ever been through. Losing a job, losing someone I loved and being diagnosed with depression and anxiety in the space of two months could massively deplete a person's energy and confidence. To allow myself to enter summer in a hazy stupor of self pity and loneliness would have been foolish however. 

Thus with exams round the corner and summer just over the horizon my friends and I pulled through every issue and obstacle till we finally realised on 27th May that it was our last day of college. We were effectively adults, no matter whether we were going to work, university or travelling. We had made it. We were proud, of ourselves and each other. 

Celebrations abound again...and they were only just beginning...

JULY 

...kicking off the summer with a girls holiday to Barcelona was needed. Sparing no expense four of us headed off and did the tourist thing, we did the locals thing, the party thing and to relaxing thing. Accumulating to a week of exuberant pleasure and never ending memories. 

There were a few cultural highlights though; I'm not just a party boozer. Particularly of interest to any gin fans out there, I found a quaint and exclusive local gin bar in the Gracia area of Barcelona: Elephanta has an undeniable charm from the second you walk through the door. While there I perused the extensive 50+ gin menu while my friends stuck to fruity cocktails; in the background a soft hum from the projector distracted you with continual Disney classics (hopefully still a feature), and walls boasted several snacks one could order to get you through your drinks (which were well sized, might I add).

Aesthetic and flavour...how could I not mention this diamond.

AUGUST 

By the close of summer of course things were starting to settle, the realisation we would all be heading different ways caused a stirring pain in my gut which I never expected to feel. I would be soon leaving these people who had helped me through so much and new lives would be created. How was I to survive?

Trip to Cornwall...of course, who doesn't disappear six hours down the road with their best friends just because they can? So, in the midst of packing up my life for Scotland and working my ass off to earn money I probably would need for food there was just enough time to pack up a small bag and escape to the shore of Widemouth Bay to watch sunsets on the beach and climb not so tall cliffs and generally enjoy the beauty that is England, even though I seldom realise how beautiful it actually is.

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 

OK, so I'm skipping the first two months of university because if truth be told it was a blur to me and I don't think I'd have a chance explaining how wonderful and scary and overwhelming it was (other than it was all those three things). 

So November, the month I finally felt somewhat settled, new job, great flat, good friends (I can't be too nice to them though, got that Yorkshire toughness to keep up), LOTS OF UNIVERSITY WORK. Yes, it's difficult, and lots of reading, and not enough contact hours. I'm figuring it out though, I have a few years to really understand what I'm doing right? 

Edinburgh itself? I know that's probably what you're wondering about; do I like it? HELL YES...although I haven't been up Arthur's Seat yet. But nightlife, that's damn good, sometimes I wonder how I'm going to be able to keep up for the next four years. 

Slowly though, that excitement and freedom started to be replaced by a niggling home sick bug working away in my mind. Irritating but oh so true, going home at the start of December was the best Christmas gift. It reminded of all the things I've achieved and the people who helped me. There was a bittersweet pain to returning Huddersfield too. Seeing people I had left behind, realising they would support me no matter where I was. 

P.S. part of me really didn't want to leave home for a second time...I'm always going to be a Yorkshire gal, I can't lose my roots and my roots dig deeper every time I try leave. 

Year in review. Compressed in one quick summary. Doesn't seem possible when I really think about all the things I did. But there it is. And this year in review is here to remind me of the years to come, the things I can achieve. It's been a selfish article but one of my resolutions is to start remembering I should focus on me before I focus on anything else. 

Happy new year lovelies, 

Love Wee Gee xo