SHWMAE 2013

So we have arrived in the year 2013.

I know I've probably said it a million times in the past year but I actually cannot believe how quickly 2012 flew by. So much happened in the year that's just passed.

 

 The year began on the beach (and that is where we're heading today. A New Year's day tradition.)

 

 

Soon after that we were heading to Centre Parcs on a little week break. And while we were there the whole place turned in to a winter wonderland as the snow fell and covered all the trees and villas. The same week we actually went to visit Royal Holloway for the first time on an open day. It's weird to think that RH is my home now. It felt a very long way away on that cold, snowy day in February.

 

Before long I was back on the road again travelling to Ireland on the school hockey and rugby tour. We went to Limerick and while we were there we stayed in the same hotel as the Munster team, used the gym, went swimming, played hockey, watched the boys play rugby, had a few half pints of Guinness and went to watch Munster take on Leinster in Thormond Park. It had to be one of my favourite school trips ever.

 

Oh, and in between those trips Wales won the Grand Slam! Nicola and I were in Cardiff watching the match (on the big screen) as it happened!

 

In April I turned 18. I celebrated by going out for a meal and having a little party at home. 2012 was the year for parties as all of my friends were turning 18 - so there were a lot of parties being held all over the place! It also meant a lot of travelling around the countryside at around 1am trying to quietly cover houses in flour, beans and toilet paper (a tradition that is carried out when a person turns 18 in our part of the world).

 

Many walks were walked (here & here) = those were two of my favourite.

 

I finished school and got AAB (History, Geography & English respectively) in my A-levels. You can read about me finishing school here, here, here & here.

 

The summer was filled with trips to New York (here, here, here, here & here), working in an Italian summer school for a month and going to V Festival & Carfest.

 

It was also a year of seeing live music. Some of the bands I saw this year include Jools Holland, The Killers, Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds, Snow Patrol, Tom Jones, The Stone Roses, The Feeling, Razorlight, Madness, Texas, just to name a few.

 

The end of summer meant moving 4 and a half hours and 250 miles away to London and to the University of London Royal Holloway. I've met some awesome people and some that I know I'll be friends with for a very long time. Moving to University was a huge part of 2012, so big that I'm not going to talk about it in detail here but I'd like you to know how awesome/scary/awesome it is to have met friends like these immediately. It made the whole transitioning from school to a university in another country so much easier. :)

 

 

Although 2012 was filled with exciting and adventurous things it most definitely not complete joy throughout the year. This was the year that I was picked to train with the Welsh Women's rugby squad but it was also the year that I had to finish rugby and almost all other sport. I had been having pain down by leg for a while but it got to the point that I couldn't sit down or stand up for long periods of time (and it's still the same today). It was a year of frustration more than anything because I wasn't able to do the things I wanted to do or go the places I wanted to because of the back injury. Even if I did go places I wouldn't have the patience to enjoy it. So that is my aim for 2013 - to get this blinkin' leg better so I can enjoy life again.

 

I hope 2013 will be better than the year just passed, even though that was pretty awesome itself. I look forward to the opportunities that will present themselves and the joy that will follow. I'm sure that will happen because I was given the penny skateboard for Christmas and that has just made me feel so much happier already :)

 

Here's to 2013 and happiness :)