At the end of every year I like to reflect about what I have done, what have I achieved, what am I proud of and what would I change and seeing as one of things I have done is start to write/post regularly on this blog I though that this should be the place I look comment.
So what did 2018 give us ……..
Homelife
Well this was certainly a huge year of change for us.
I have said to Mr TWB for a couple of years now that I was ready for one more move, our forever home, closer to the catchment area we need for Ella’s secondary school and more space blah, blah, blah but he needed convincing. I have therefore been sending him Rightmove links for quite some time – every one he ignored.
However, at the beginning of the year I sent him the details of a house and he said to book an appointment. We loved the house, made an offer (somewhat prematurely) but sadly it was declined. It did start hubby thinking though and we started looking at pretty much every property within our price range. We missed out on a couple and then in April we went to see a house and even though the owners loved their home they hadn’t treated it so well. I saw the potential in it straight away, Nigel needed a bit more convincing but after calling in a builder he was on board so we made an offer and it was accepted and a few months later we moved in.
Our forever home (I am NEVER EVER moving again) needs a lot of work, a lot of love and it will take a few years but it will be amazing.
Our builders started about a month after we moved in to start Phase 1. We left our new home to go on holiday with a kitchen and a conservatory and returned to a building site – no kitchen and temporary walls where the conservatory had been. There was no turning back.
Fast forward 4 months (although it felt that it was slow forward) and just before Christmas the temporary walls came down and the new kitchen/dining/living area started to take shape. We absolutely love it and I cannot stop pottering around our beautiful new kitchen (4 months without a kitchen will do that to you). We also have a utility and I have an proper grown up office for the first time ever I feel like we are totally winning.
We have a bit of styling to do in the new parts of the house but want to take our time getting it right before we move on to any other room. It is the plan to get everything done in each room before we move on to the next. Living through the chaos for 4 months makes you want order for a while plus we want to make sure we know exactly what we want in each room before starting a new project.
Work
In October 2017 I left a company I had worked at for over 15 years and made the leap of faith to a new one. The company excited me, they champion flexible working and it just felt like the right thing. Throughout 2018 I have learnt to love the company, embrace the better work/life balance I have achieved and develop some good relationships with my new colleagues. There are things that thrill me about the future with the company which is always a positive. So on the work front things are very rosy indeed.
Health
For a few years I have suffered with a reoccurring knee problem and whilst I am not fully recovered (and may never be 100%) I have had very few problems with it this year. I think getting better at going to the gym (although that has taken a back seat over the last couple of months) has helped massively and I am looking forward to getting fitter over 2019.
I ended the year making a commitment to finally lose the weight that has piled on over the last few years. Rather than wait until the New Year I grabbed the bull by the horns a few weeks before Christmas and registered with my local Slimming World. I knew that the festive excesses might leave me even heavier and even more down on myself so getting started earlier definitely helped me curb some of the temptations. Entering 2019 I was 8lb lower than at the start of December and my journey will continue.
Blogging
When I started this blog, I did this to have a place to capture moments that Ella could read back on. I had no idea what to do (I still don’t know) but I do know I love getting my thoughts, ideas and stories down. Whether anyone reads them is not why I do it, but if they do it is obviously a bonus.
I have started to read and follow many more blogs ( something I never did before) and I am in awe of the content they produce. No wonder their followings are so high. I would love to get there someday and would love more advice on how to make a this what I do for my job as I get so much satisfaction from putting my fingers to the keyboard. I have no clue what to do next but it is my goal to put more into it during 2019.
I had never used Twitter or Instagram in connection with my blog but in May I signed up and I remember the joy from my first comment/follow. This is still miniscule compared with some of the people out there in the cyber world I follow but I am happy that anyone is interested and I think that is key – rather than following for numbers sake.
Travel
Second only to my family, travel is my greatest love. It was certainly my first love and probably the reason I will never be rich (well in monetary terms anyway). I generally have at least 2 trips planned and I am constantly researching destinations, reading up on new places and adding to my “living list“. Working in the Travel industry certainly feeds this obsession and the reason I cannot see myself working in any other field.
This year due to the house move it felt as if we were a little thin on the ground but reflecting back we did OK. April gave us a magnificent return trip to Morzine followed by a couple of days in Geneva. and then we enjoyed a couple of days in the big smoke, specifically North London. In May we were blessed with amazing weather so packed up the tent and headed to Northumberland for a couple of days camping and then in June our annual friends reunion in the gorgeous Peak District.
We joined a couple of different groups of friends for a fantastic weekend at Deershed Festival in Thirsk and then it was time for our summer holiday where we had a gorgeous 9 days in the Algarve in Carvoeiro and Ferragudo. We were due to camp again bank holiday in the Lakes but were not blessed with the weather this time so had a quick trip down to Bournville to Cadbury World and an overnight in a hotel just outside Birmingham followed by a good walk in the countryside the next day when the rain let up.
The TWBs have enjoyed many lovely walks and as Ella gets older we can make these longer and we have less complaining so full intend to carry this on throughout 2019.
Summary
A year of big exciting changes, getting a passion for work and home again and some special times with team TWB. I am hoping we get more of the same in 2019.
Bring it on …..
thetravellingwilbennetts 