Happy New Year!

Let me start this post, my first one of 2013, by wishing you all a happy, fun and prosperous New Year!

We had our best friends over last night for a little gathering with one dress code: Bad Jumpers. Here we are looking oh so stylish!

As is tradition when we all get together, we spent most of the evening eating and drinking with a bonfire thrown in for good measure.

 

I try not to go over the top with New Year’s Resolutions as they are so easy to break but there are certain things that I will be aiming for over the coming 12 months:

• Brush up on my Spanish: I studied Spanish at university and actually trained as a Primary Spanish Teacher so I feel very guilty that I haven’t really kept it up as well as I could have. Obviously, a weekend away in Spain each month would be a great help (!) but my more realistic approach is coming in the form of some Spanish podcasts. Having only recently joined the iPhone gang, I am relatively new to downloading podcasts onto my phone, but now I have discovered them I am addicted! I listen to a variety of podcasts on different subjects from cooking and music to film and gardening on my way to work and I am very pleased to have found some Spanish podcasts to help me brush up on the language. So if you see a blonde, curly-haired woman talking to herself as she is driving along, you will know why!
• The Garden: I blame the dreadful weather we had last year for not doing more in the garden but I hope in 2013 this will change. The two main things I want to achieve are to grow some of our own vegetables and to get a few chickens for fresh eggs and some garden companions!
• Get a bit fitter: Like most people who spend the Christmas period with a glass of alcohol and some sort of nibble in their hands, I have once again over-indulged this Christmas! So, I intend to reduce my portion sizes, eat a bit healthier and get a bit more active. It is a beautiful day today so a few walks in the countryside are definitely on the cards while the sun lasts!
• Improve my skincare routine: I saw on Twitter the other day that someone said you know you are a grown-up when you stop using face wipes and move onto posh face products! At the grand old age of 27, I feel it is time to stop taking the easy route of face wipes and upgrade to some nicer stuff. I treated myself to some items in the January sales so will give them a go and report back soon!
• Spend more time with my friends: This has been quite an ‘interesting’ year for me friendship-wise and it has made me realise and appreciate those who really matter to me. Good friends should be happy for you when you get good news, support you when you are going through tough times and make you laugh nonstop when you see them. I read an article recently which labelled some friends as being ‘toxic’ which I totally understand. I think we all have those people in our phonebooks who are quite a drain on you emotionally and are not actually very nice people when you really think about it! I have made a decision this year to stop pandering to these people and concentrate on those who are worth it and who make me happy when I spend time with them. Yes, we are all busy but if you can’t make time for those special people in your life then quite frankly what’s the point?! I have one group of friends where we struggle to find a date that we are all free which means we have to be quite business-like about meeting up and schedule our dinner dates in our diaries weeks ahead, but we do it because for those few hours we spend together we don’t stop smiling, talking and laughing! So, I will be finding the time for those that matter to me and stop wasting time on those that don’t…harsh but so worth it!

I received an email yesterday from WordPress giving me an update on my blog statistics for 2012. I was very happy to see that I had about 3 times as many visitors as in 2011 from 86 different countries! Thank you very much for visiting my blog. I still LOVE writing it and am very excited about what this year will bring! xxx