2021 Rewind

 

Happy New Year everyone!

This year has defiantly been the craziest one in a long time and yet it has flown by.  Looking back it seems surreal to me all that has happened in the past 365 days. So, as is tradition I wanted to share with you a look back into last year in my 2021 rewind.

I started to write this post detailing what happened and how I felt each month, but I only made it to April and I didn’t like how negative it made the year sound.  So, I wanted to try something else that would recognize the hard times but focus on the good times.

The first three months of 2021 was the lowest I think I have ever felt.  Anxiety was at an all time high, I was fed up, sad and spent most nights in floods of tears.  It was during this time that I really learnt the importance and power of gratitude and looking on the positive side of things.  As cases/deaths decreased and the vaccination process was in full swing, we began to come out of lockdown.  By April, the end was in sight, the roadmap was set out and we would soon be able to see family/friends and the events industry would open giving me the hope that I would return to my dream job.

Although these months were some of my worst, I learnt so much and so I don’t want to forget that. I normally describe myself as a glass half full, positive person.  But being positive doesn’t have to mean you are happy all the time.  It means that even on the toughest days you know better ones are coming. This is a lesson I hope to carry with me forever.

Better days did come and looking back I actually did a lot more than I thought, despite various restrictions!

I had some amazing family reunions from dinners and shopping trips to my Aunties wedding.  It was so nice to finally see everyone again and what a way to celebrate than at a wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony and the evening was filled with lots of dancing, laughs and crazy games.  I even got to help decorate it which was so nice to do again!

In May I recorded a song with my sister about our relationship and growing up together which was so much fun. Check her out on Instagram @wattnotsings for amazing covers and originals.

I made some amazing memories with friends, making the local paper watching the football, breaking out of my first escape room, going on dog walks and dancing away at the local festival.

In July I had the best staycation with my boyfriend and my family in Wales.  We climbed Mount Snowden, climbed a waterfall, went extreme canyoning and so much more.  It was a beautiful week filled with love and laughter that I will always remember. 

 

In October I completed the Great South Run blindfolded and deaf in order to raise money and awareness for Ushers Syndrome.  My boyfriend and I completed it in under 2 hours and raised an incredible £1,422.  It will be a day I never forget as I crossed the line and hugged my cousin who was diagnosed with Ushers Syndrome. I couldn’t have done it without my amazing boyfriend who was quite literally tied to me the whole way round!

To celebrate my birthday, my boyfriend and I were lucky to make it to Paris in November!  It was such a magical weekend as we saw all the sights from The Louvre, Notre Dame, St Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe and even climbed the Eiffel Tower. Our first trip away together and I didn’t want it to end.  Although it was very different due to COVID restrictions, we were lucky to get to go and do all that we did there. If you want to read more about out trip, check out my previous blog post: Birthday trip to Paris.

Another great thing to come out of 2021 was my job.  The year began in roadworks, dreaming about events. In August, my dream came true as the events industry re-opened and I landed an internship at one of the local museums.  I met some amazing people and learnt a lot during my time there.  My biggest achievement being planning and coordinating the first live event on their newest attraction, a WW2 vessel.  As I stood there watching the performance, news camera around me and audience members singing along my eyes filled with tears.  This had been what I was waiting for.  I was back in the world of events and I felt so happy.

Having been triple jabbed Christmas was finally here and I got to celebrate it surrounded by all my family.  It felt so good to be able to bring our traditions back and sit around the tree once more.  Although the crazy is starting to come back with a new variant on the loose it didn’t matter for we were together at last.

Unfortunately, my new year hasn’t started how I had hoped.  As the clock struck midnight, I sat on facetime to my boyfriend, a shot of night nurse in my hand watching the London fireworks suffering with COVID. 

It may not have been the start to the year I had hoped, but if I have learnt anything from last year it’s that it can always go up.  2021 had its good times and its bad.  I feel I have grown a lot as I experienced new things and took on new challenges.

I don’t know what 2022 will hold but unlike last year, I feel a lot more positive and I know good things are coming.

With it being such nice weather across the UK I decided to join my sister on a trip to the farm with the little boy she nannies. She found one in the New Forest called Longdown Farm, where you can actually feed the animals - awesome I know! I don't know who was more excited, me or little Oscar haha!

When we arrived we got our tickets which were rather cheap at just under £10 and free entry for little ones, so great for a day out on a student budget.

I wasn't really sure what to expect which sounds silly but I haven't been to a farm since I was a little girl, i've only ever really been to the zoo! But OMG it was amazing! They had so many farm animals from cows, pigs and horses and donkeys to chicks and guinea pigs. 

The first animals we saw were the cows and their calves and they were so cute! They had lovely big eyes and looked so soft. We were lucky enough to be there as they were being fed and even got to give them a bottle! 

We then saw the pigs and their piglets who were so tiny and I must admit I fell in love and wanted to take one home. We also saw the donkey and a huge horse who was a gorgeous chestnut brown colour. 

Next on the list to see was the baby goats who were also due a feed when we saw them. They were full of energy and defiantly ready for a bottle. The farmers told us that unlike the cows who stayed in their paddock whilst we fed them, the goats would be let put and come to us. So the bolt was lifted and out they came very excited and gulping the milk down. I loved it so much I did it twice!

We then ventured round to the chicken pens where we got to look and see if they had laid any eggs, sadly we only found one but hey better than nothing! Next up was the petting area where we got to hold chicks and guinea pigs - adorable!

Overall it was an amazing day and I think I fell in love with every animal and wanted to take it home haha. Well, thats all from me and my crazy adventures for now! 

Disney Adventure

In my last post, I spoke about what reading week means for me and even told you some of the things I had been up too or was planning on doing that week. However, I did miss out one major thing I did during the last weekend of reading week... I went to Disney!

I met a girl at school when I was 4 going on 5, 15 years down the line and we are still best friends. From as long as we can both remember, we were always going to celebrate our 21^st Birthday in Disney Land. Neither of us can remember actually saying or even asking about it, it was just always assumed we would! As we got older the idea was never forgotten but I guess we never actually thought we would do it. However, over the summer, we were determined to book it for our 21^st birthday’s and so one night, she came over and we booked it, just like that!

From that day, time has flown and last Thursday I was all packed and heading off to London to stay the night at hers and get the Euro Star first thing Friday Morning! We were both so excited and barley got any sleep, but come Friday at 6am and we were high on excitement having checked in at St Pancras international, eating chocolate croissants waiting to board our train.

After a few hours, we arrived in Paris where we then had to figure out how to get to Disney. I knew a little French from school and Alice knew a little more than me having been to France a few times, so eventually we managed to buy a train ticket and take two metro trains (which were double decker!) to DISNEY!! Sadly our euro star was delayed and it took a little longer than expected to try and figure out the ticket machines but, we arrived at around 2 o’clock and couldn’t wait to get into the park!

We had booked to stay in the Disney New York Hotel as it is right on the park and it’s occur 21^st so got to treat yourself! OMG our room was amazing, the hotel were so lovely and gave us an upgrade to celebrate our birthday so we had a  beautiful view. After unpacking, it was time to explore the park, go on some rides and do a bit of shopping! 

We were very tired on the Friday so only went into the Walt Disney Studios as it is slightly smaller as we didn’t want to be tired going round the bigger Disney park. But it was still amazing! We went into Toy Story Land, Went on a flying carpet and saw so much more, it was interesting looking at the creation of the characters and films and I would defiantly recommend you check these bits out if you go!

On the second day, we went round the main park and with the help of Magic Time (where we got access to the park before the rest of the public) we got to do so many rides we wanted. These included: It’s a small world, the tea cups, merry go round, Dumbo, hyper-space mountain (Which was AMAZING!!) and got to explore wonderland seeing the queen of hearts. At around 5pm we took to the main street ready for the parade, which was just as magical as I remember it being as a young child. We even got a birthday wish from two of the fairies from sleeping beauty! The dancers were incredible and the costumes were beautiful! It was well worth the wait where we had good fun with the park staff dancing and singing to the music.

After the parade, we dolled ourselves up and headed to a beautiful buffet dinner at the hotel restaurant. WOW did we go for it! You have to with a buffet, especially if it’s your birthday! So a fair few courses down, we headed to the bar for some famous glow in the dark Disney drinks. Mine was bright blue and reminded me of frozen and Alice’s was bright red like the apple from snow white.

One of my favourite parts of the trip was illuminations. Many people think this is just fireworks, but it is so much more. The castle was transformed into various Disney movies with fireworks, water displays and songs in both French and English to match. It was a beautiful atmosphere as everyone gathered together to watch the show in awe. I even made friends with a French family who tried to talk to me in English while I attempted to speak to them in French – I think I did pretty well! 

After another night of little sleep due to continuing the celebrations with face masks, balloons and laughter in our hotel room, we were up extra early for magic time. Saturday was very busy and queues were rather long even in magic time, so given that we had to catch a train at around 1 we each picked one ride we wanted to go on during this time. We headed straight into the Studio park and went straight on The Rockin’ Rollercoaster without having to queue at all! It was great, as it meant we could squeeze in a few more rides after heading into the Disney park to Peter Pan. After a few hours, we had completed nearly more rides than we had done the whole of Saturday!

Unfortunately, the fun couldn’t last forever and it was time to head home. The weekend went WAY to quickly but I had a blast!