I know I say this at the end of every year, but this year has absolutely been the best year of my life. I don't know how 2015 can top 2014, honestly. This has been the year that: - I finished school - I did my A levels and actually got good grades (how?!?!) - I went to Zante with my best friends - I went to my first festival - I actually have a boyfriend now (?!?!) - (I fell in love) - I started university - I managed to make actual friends at uni - I'm so so happy It's been a year of milestones and as lame as it sounds, 2014 is a year I'm never ever going to forget. I'm so thankful for everything amazing that's happened in these past twelve months. Of course, it's not all been joyful and plain sailing: this is also the year that my beautiful grandad died - the first time I've lost anyone close to me - and there have been unbelievable amounts of stress and tears at some points (looking at you, A levels). But it's okay, wonderful in fact, because I have a fabulous set of family, and friends and even a boyfriend to act as amazing pillars of support. The fates, or God, or just a great series of incredibly fortunate events, have been so so good to me. I feel so lucky and so blessed to have the opportunities I do, but mostly to have the people in my life who I love so much. I hope you, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, have not only a wonderful night welcoming 2015, but also a wonderful year, and a wonderful life.
Let's just take ourselves back to the end of last year. I was happy, and bumbling along through life. - I'd only been doing my AS levels for a couple of months. - I had a great group of friends. - I didn't know how to dress myself. - I played football every week. - I had good skin. - I fancied my best guy friend. - I lived off my parents. - Uni seemed a long way off (what even was a personal statement?!) Now we're a year on, but I'm still me, I'm still happy, and still bumbling along through life. - I'm happy with my AS grades from the summer and am working on A levels (God help me please). - I still have a great group of friends which is ever-growing, and always for the better. - I like to think I've found more of a personal style now, one which I'm happy with. - I no longer play football but I run three times a week and did my first 10k race last Friday. - My skin has deteriorated but I don't think I mind much. - I don't fancy my friend anymore but we're still close; he's in a very happy long term relationship and I'm venturing into the world of dating (how alien). - I'm earning my own money working at McDonald's which makes me feel so great. - I actually wrote a personal statement and got accepted at all five of my universities! Considering that one year ago, I didn't even have a long-list of unis, that's pretty cool. I wasn't exactly sure how to structure this post but I feel like a want to do a monthly highlights thing, so let's get started on that. January: I bought a beautiful dress and wore it to a party where I met a really cute guy who I kissed and haven't seen or spoken to since. Living it up, huh? I made the decision to donate blood (the act of which occurred at a later date). I discovered Dodie Smith and incense in Camden, and also wrote a particularly scathing review of The Fault In Our Stars. February: I tried my first TGI Fridays meal and was so bloody impressed. I cried at Les Mis. I went to Amsterdam, now my favourite city, and I'm desperate to go back. I also met up with my first internet person, Jess, and we had a fab shopping trip together. I drowned in school work and I'm still not out of that deep sea of endless essays. March: I went to the most bloody boring lecture on the Russian Revolution and fell asleep there. After nine years of playing football, I got my first proper injury from it. I dressed up as my favourite book character, Jeane Smith, for World Book day. To top it all off, I had my first "date" with a guy I'm not in contact with anymore, so you can see how well that went. I also narrowed down my potential unis to a list of about fourteen. April: I met a guy (possibly my soul mate) on Omegle and then met him in Camden two and a half days later. We got on so well I considered eloping to Hawaii with him and never returning. I turned seventeen the next day. This was also the month I began revising for my exams and I hated every minute of it. I played my last ever football match and cried a lot.
May: Revision stepped up a notch. I had six AS exams within the space of ten days and felt horribly stressed for the first three weeks of May due to that. I read some more Dodie Smith and fell in love with I Capture The Castle (blog name inspiration, perhaps?). I met my pen pal, Abdullah, and we've emailed a couple of times a week ever since. June: I went back to school after a blissful couple of weeks of freedom. I also visited three universities and took a particular liking to Chester. I donated blood for the first time and it was so great knowing that I might have made a huge different to someone's life. I got really excited about summer. July: I went on an overnight trip to Cambridge with some of my best friends and had two of the best days of my year. I also went to one of the best parties of this year, followed by two more parties which weren't quite as good. We broke up from school and I went with my family to Cornwall for a week.
August: I was a mentor for the National Citizen Service and began "dating" a fellow mentor. We hung out a lot and went out to a lot of places. I also went to Germany with my family for a week. The biggest milestone, however, was applying for, having an interview for, and getting a job at McDonald's. August was a crazy month, but a bloody good one. September: I started back at school and had my first shift at McDonald's, which I loved. I went on more dates with aforementioned mentoring guy, and also discovered Polyvore which is a godsend! I wrote a very long post about the internet guy and felt much better about the whole situation which had begun to make me feel a bit crappy. October: I decided to end things with the guy I was seeing but we stayed friends. I became increasingly obsessed with Polyvore. I began to feel like life was a bit empty and I wasn't entirely happy, but I did get to read The Bone Season which is a book that's going to stay with me for a long time, and which lifted my mood considerably.
November: This month saw me send off my uni application and get accepted to all five of them, which I felt was a huge achievement. I snapped out of my sad mood from the previous weeks and decided to take part in the 2014 Blogger Challenge. I went to my best friend's party-for-the-hell-of-it too and had the best night there. December: I drowned a bit more in schoolwork and cried over a few essays, but I also bought some new clothes and really got into the Christmas spirit. Previously mentioned mentor guy and I rekindled our burnt out flame (lol) and started hanging out again. I had one of the best Christmases of my life, spent with my family and a lot of good food. And so this brings us up to date. I hope you've all had as good a year as I have. 2013 has been the best year of my life so far, but I've been saying this every year for the past ten years, or something stupid, so I don't know how much it counts for. Tonight, I'm going to a girl's house party. I go to school with her but have never spoken to her which makes it ten times more awkward. I'm a bit reluctant to go but it's probably a lot better than sitting at home alone to welcome 2014. I hope you all have fantastic nights tonight, whatever you're doing and wherever you are! I'm so ready for the new year.
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