The time of year has come where we all spend some time reflecting on the past 12 months and what we’d like from the year ahead. I’ve struggled for a quite a while with the thought of this post. I’ve made no secret of the fact that there’s been some really tough and challenging times this year and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to write this post because I didn’t want it to be all doom and gloom. However over the last couple of months I’ve come to realise that this year has provided some of the absolute best moments of my life so far and these far outweigh the negative blips that have occured. So here I am writing my end of year post and focusing on the positives, not to fool anyone into thinking this year has been all sunshine and rainbows but because I’ve wasted enough energy on the bad points of the year anyway and I want to go into 2019 starting afresh and continuing to feel as happy as I do right now.
So here’s my 2018 summed up, the big and the small things that made this year great!
1. I left my job that I’d been at for 4 years and started a new one. Although I was unsure if I’d done the right thing at first it’s turned out to be the best decision I’ve made. I’m so much happier.
2. We created a YouTube channel at the start of 2018. We’d always said we’d like to vlog our Florida holiday but seen as we’d paid out for the camera we decided to give weekly vlogging a go. After we returned from Florida we switched to daily vlogging and for as long as we’re enjoying it we won’t be stopping.
2. We headed back to Florida and it was the absolute perfect holiday, we did so many amazing things hence why the next few points are all about Florida!
3. We got to attend Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Epcot Food and Wine Festival for the first ever time whilst we were in Florida. Both were absolutely amazing and we’d definitely love to do them again.
4. We both swam with dolphins for the first time whilst in Florida. It’s been a bucket list item of mine for a while now and it was better than I could have ever imagined.
5. I’ve flown through so many books this year. I’d fallen out of love with reading a little at the start of the year but once I was back into it, I couldn’t stop. I’ve read more books this year than I ever have and it’s great to keep track of my progress on the Goodreads app too.
6. I’ve worked really hard on my blog this year and I’ve put so much time and effort into it. I’m ready to really up my game in 2019!
7. At the end of the year I became a brand rep for the absolutely amazing Emily Makes Boutique. Emily makes the best home fragrance products I’ve ever bought and I was a huge fan before she kindly asked if I’d like to become a rep. If you add my code ‘laureny.c’ in the notes to seller at checkout, you’ll receive a freebie with your order.
8. We were super lucky to get tickets to see Paul McCartney live at The Cavern in the summer. Any McCartney and Beatles fan knows how big of a deal this is. It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m so glad we were part of that experience.
9. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better than the gig at The Cavern, Josh surprised me with tickets and backstage passes for Paul McCartney’s hometown Christmas show at The Echo Arena where he surprised me even more when we got there…
10. We got engaged!!! Backstage at the McCartney concert, Josh dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him! You can read the full engagement story here but it was an absolutely amazing way to end the year and I’m so happy!
What a year! I honestly couldn’t have wished for better moments. I’m going into 2019 happier than I’ve ever been which is also why I’ve made the decision to not write down goals for the year ahead. If 2018 has taught me anything it’s that things don’t always go to plan and I’d rather just see where the year takes me than be restricted my meaningless targets I’ve imposed on myself.
As always I’m going to end this post with some of my favourite blog posts I’ve wrote over the past year.
Our everyday money saving basics // Why pets are great for your mental health // Stop waiting for things to get better // Why my pets are my family // Why Disney shouldn’t replace PhotoPass photographers // 5 things you’re not obliged to do at Christmas // Our engagement story // And as a cheeky bonus I’m adding on our Florida vlogs!
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