It's that time again, another annual review. I put these posts together for myself every year so I can look back at the good times I've had, the growth I've made and the things I've overcome.

Right now, I'm sat on my sofa, fake fireplace on the telly, snacking on freshly baked cinnamon swirls whilst the Christmas tree enjoys its last evening in the corner of our lounge. It was admittedly a little too big for the room this year but we’ve enjoyed it all the same.

I'll get straight into it this year, as compiling these photos alone took me a solid day and that was without Squarespace crashing halfway through populating the blog. Plus I've got a new planner to do some goal writing in and a Netflix film lined up.

Due to Covid, January was all about local walks. Starting with our annual New Years Day walk, which was on a substantially smaller scale this time. During these local excursions we’ve wandered through Ashton Hill woods, up Troopers Hill, along the River Avon to Hanham Lock, around Greenbank Cemetery and explored various other local spots countless times (even in the snow at one point). For us, if there’s one positive thing that’s come from Covid, it’s that we now know our local area and community infinitely better.

I also lost my mind and decided, in a bid to be more ‘healthy’, to run every day in January. Needless to say I didn't stick to it. I did, however, manage it for fifteen days before pushing for my first 5K (I did it!) and hurting my ankle. I have since learnt that running every day is not a sustainable goal for me. Three times a week is much more realistic!

The walks continued into February when I threw Dan's first lockdown birthday (we narrowly escaped it last year). I asked all his nearest and dearest to film a little birthday message and collated it into a film for him to watch whilst opening his presents. I ordered him a delicious Biscoff flavoured cake from ‘Anna Cake Couture’, we played ping pong in the conservatory and danced in the kitchen whilst we waited for our takeaway.

I finally started reading ‘The Name Of The Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss, a book I've owned for over a decade but due to its size, I’d always passed it up in favour of shorter novels. It was brilliant and definitely lived up to the hype, even though it took me a whole month to read. I had also set myself a goal to read ten books this year.

I was approached on LinkedIn about a new job just before Christmas and spent time working on a design task for them. I got the job and handed in my resignation to my employer at the time.

I gave our kitchen cupboards a facelift with some black vinyl, white cupboard paint and some new handles and I put together a new brand identity for my sister's new jewellery making venture.

In March I started my new job, the first day of which was at ‘Dyrham Park’, assisting on a video shoot for a product collection. It was a great way to meet my team considering I then worked from home for weeks afterwards.

I went for a walk around Ashton Cemetery only to find out I have distant relatives buried there. I'm hoping to go back and find them one day but that could take a while.

I celebrated my first lockdown birthday with doughnuts, plants and a beautiful video Dan put together of all our trips together. I was a hot mess whilst watching it but. it made me so happy and eager to travel again. He had the biggest job of his career so far the next day so I busied myself playing Harry Potter on the Switch whilst he prepped for it.

We got some clearance guys to come and completely gut our back yard ready for its development later in the year. I gave part of the bathroom a mini makeover and bought a new car ready for when the working from home situation settled back into some sort of normalcy. It’s the most modern car I’ve ever owned and drives like a dream. I can already tell it’s going to make trips to the mountains or coast much more effortless.

I apparently didn't do much in April. I did go on a thirty-mile bike ride (which broke me) along the Bristol to Bath cycle path and read a bunch of books. I established a little lunchtime routine when I'm in the new office, where I walk to the local park with a blanket and read (when it's sunny) for forty minutes or so and then walk back.

We also painted the old brown fence in the garden during that freak heatwave we had.

We went for a sunny walk around Ebbor Gorge and stopped by Chew Valley Lake for ice cream on the way home.

In May we went on a trip to Bude to celebrate eight years together and stayed in a cute glamping pod. There were loads of animals on-site too including a resident peacock. More on that via the link above.

I dyed my hair pink again, voted, had my girls over for pizza, celebrated a friend's 30th with a BBQ, had a new fence installed in the garden and was well on track to hit my reading goal.

June saw me back in the cinema for the first time in over a year to watch 'Cruella'.

Apartment Therapy sent a photographer over to the house for a blog feature, which meant I finished off a few bits like the faux living wall in the coffee corner and the shelves in the guest room/dressing room.

We cycled to Ashton Court to watch some balloons take off (with a picnic of course), walked around the harbour more times than I can count and I tried indoor climbing for the first time.

I was reunited with my sister's family in July and visited 'Friendsfest' with my pals on what was the hottest day of the year. We went back to a friend’s house afterwards for a BBQ and I bought a paddling pool on the way because we all needed to cool down.

We gained a new visitor (who we later found out is called Tilly) who frequently likes to let herself in and pad about the place, sometimes curling up on our bed to nap for hours. I got back on the exercise hype train before falling off it once again, had a reunion with Dan’s side of the family, put the final planning bits in place for the garden renovation project (starting in August) and ended the month with a school sports day themed joint hen/stag do for my bestie.

The garden project was well underway by mid-August (which took up a lot of my mental capacity). Covid was coming closer to home and I became a 'close contact', which meant isolating up to my bestie's wedding (very stressful) and missing all the fun leading up to it. The day itself was absolutely perfect and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it.

We went paddle-boarding as a group a few days after the wedding to make up for it and then headed into town for brunch.

We played games in an arcade for Josh's birthday and darts in ‘Left-Handed Giant'. I read more books, had more evenings in the almost finished garden and went to a Candlelight Concert in the ‘Church of St Thomas the Martyr’ where a string quartet played theme songs by Hans Zimmer.

In September we spent a beautifully balmy day at the wedding of Björn and Aisling. There was so much laughter, dancing, pizza and a David Brent impersonator. Dan and I took my mum on a sunny five mile stroll along the harbour to Ashton Court. We stopped off at a coffee shop and a book store along the way, making it a perfect day out.

We spent time with friends in Snuff Mills, read more books in the garden and finally had guests over to the house. We went to London for the day to watch the premiere of Orla Gartland’s album documentary, which Dan had directed. We visited the Frome independent market and I passed my probation period at work. Then I made core memories blackberry picking with my mum in the fields behind my childhood home and by going to see ‘Beauty And The Beast’ at the Hippodrome with my bestie (I still can’t get over how good it was, I highly recommend).

October is usually when I start to worry that I haven’t done much with my year and so I booking things. We looked after my bestie’s gorgeous pup, Ula. We went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour again (Halloween Edition this time though) though. I’m forever in awe of the sets and props.

We took a return trip to Kudhva, an off-grid camping experience set within 45-acres of disused slate quarry on the North Cornwall coast. We went there four years ago when they were just getting off the ground and it was awesome to see how far they had come since then. More on that via the link above.

We went to our first surf film festival and our first gig since Covid started. We spent the day in Leeds surprising Dan’s mum for her birthday and I had one of the best brownies of my life from Get Baked.

We went and watched Dune at the cinema, which we loved, obviously. I designed a logo for Dan’s bestie and tried to finish the month with our usual pumpkin carving day but we could not find any for love nor money. Trust me, we drove to every supermarket and farm shop in the area before giving up and ordering pizza.

My boss gave me a massive cheese plant to save in November. We went bowling at Lane7 with Josh & Baylee. Attended another candlelight concert, this time at the Bristol Museum, featuring compositions of Italian pianist, Ludovico Einaudi and watched a showing of Interstellar (my fave film) in the Planetarium.

We saw Sam Fender play a packed out Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff and finally got to dance to my faves, Gang Of Youths at the Trinity Centre in Bristol. We celebrated my bestie’s birthday with a raucous cheese and wine evening and I attended a ‘Sewing For Beginners’ class, where I tried different stitching techniques and made a hair scrunchie at the end.

We enjoyed tree day a little early this year and went to Westonbirt Arboretum to pick out our guy like we do every year. We brought it home and decorated it whilst ‘Frank Sinatra’s Christmas Hits’ got its annual spin on the record player and snacked until our hearts were content. Tree day is one of my favourite days of the year.

In December I went on a day trip to Bath with Steph & Zoe, where we shopped in the newly opened Toppings book store. I took mum to The Newt for her birthday. More on that via the link above.

We watched Harry Potter at Clifton College, where the theme song was played by the organist as we arrived. It looked and felt epic until we sat down on a solid church pew for two and a half hours. Never again!

My bestie hosted a massive Christmas meal at her house for all our friends. Dan made a vegan wellington for it and I contributed the biggest apple crumble I’d ever made.

My mum came to stay over the festive break and we hosted Christmas Day dinner for her and my brother’s family for the first time. A few days afterwards we took my mum to Bath to visit Toppings and I read my twenty-fourth book of the year, eighteen more then I had read the year before and over doubling my reading goal. Reading is something that didn’t come naturally to me to start with but I love stories so much that I’ve spent the last few years trying to dedicate more time to it. Now at the end of 2021 I can safely say that I life wouldn’t be the same without it.

So that concludes my 2021 blog. I'll leave you with some of my favourite book, films and tv shows from this past year and wish you all a happy, healthy and hopeful year ahead.