Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful, fun filled Christmas and New Year, and are raring to go for the year ahead.
I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect upon the last year, as 2015 was truly an unforgettable one for sure. I started off 2015 a bit sceptical as the past three years hadn't been the greatest after suffering a few losses. However, I bounced back and made some amazing memories, and lived life to the fullest really.
2015 was the year that I'd finish school and although I was sad to leave my little bubble of friends in my home town I couldn't wait for the next steps in my life to begin, and in my mums words "University has been the making of me". Which I suppose is quite true, I've learnt how to relax more and not get so agitated at the little things and just enjoy going out and having fun with my friends, instead of staying at home and getting stressed over the workload. Don't get me wrong, I always loved school and although, I found the last year very stressful I couldn't have wished for a better fourteen years where I met some amazing people who I will be friends with for the rest of my life, for sure.
However, after living my life a bit more in the past three months I've come back home to my friends being able to enjoy it a bit more with them too, instead of being the 'old' uptight me who virtually rejected anything fun because I was too anxious. Despite this, the hard work that I put into my studies in the last four years of my time at school really did pay off and I managed to get the grades not only that I had dreamed of, but also the grades that I needed to get into Uni. However. I think you do always need to keep in mind that academic success isn't the key to every door in life, and there are many many other pathways that you can take, that sometimes schools forget to show you.
In amongst all this change one thing remained constant, and that was my love for music. Of course 2015 bought many more gigs and enabled me to see my favourite band twice, and even get into the second row at the O2 arena (after a good 10 hour, freezing wait). Now those experiences I will never forget, with the freedom you feel being fully immersed within a crowd of people who love the same thing as you. As well as this I was lucky enough to see Kodaline, Port Isla, Jessie J, The Coronas and Hudson Taylor live too, which were all amazing, and I cannot wait to see Kodaline again this year, along with seeing Hozier as well later this month.
This past year also bought two amazing holidays. One with five of my close friends from school, in Crete, and the other in Ireland with my parents. Both of these holidays were truly amazing, and were great experiences....different experiences.....but both great!
My holiday with my friends was an eye opener to the stress that planning a holiday can bring, and the problems you can face when you arrive but we made the most of it and had a blast. Although, at the time I wasn't a massive party animal venturing into the town of Malia on a couple of nights out was a funny and interesting experience that you should probably do at least once in your life, just for a laugh really! We had many relaxing days by the pool, adventures out in the local town with a few too many cocktails and waffles in our favourite bar 'Akti', as well as having the opportunity to visit the beautiful Chrissi Island. Sharing this experience with some of my friends really taught us a lot about each other and probably bought us much closer than we were if anything! One of my friends even mad a mini Vlog of clips from the week, which is a lovely thing to have which I can look back at in the future and reminisce about the good times that we shared. My mum is also so obsessed with the video and demands that I show all my family members every time they come round, which is quite sweet and amusing.
As well as this my parents and I visited Ireland, in which none of us had ever been before so we were excited to explore some new places that we'd hears so much about. I think this holiday was the best holiday I've ever been on, and that's quite something to say when I've had quite a few amazing holidays in Florida, Portugal, Majorca and Greece. Visiting the city of Belfast was such an eye opener and taught me so much about the history of Northern Ireland, that I didn't really know too much about. My dad and I were truly fascinated by the stories that were shared with us, which I feel probably is one of the main factors that made this holiday so important to me. After travelling up the Giant's causeway coastal road and viewing so many beautiful landmarks we travelled down to Dublin on the train. From being in Temple Bar pub and a musician singing 'Galway Girl', which made me feel like I was In 'P.S. I Love You', to exploring the Guinness Storehouse and wandering up Grafton Street, we loved our time In Dublin and I really hope that I can return soon. We definitely will be returning to Ireland to continue exploring its beauty, most likely the West Coast after hearing of some amazing landmarks that are a 'must see'.
The summer of 2015 was the first time that I had a full time job, and in all fairness I worked my socks off all summer, sometimes working eight hours a day, seven days a week. Which may not seem that bad to some people but as someone who wasn't used to working on their feet all day, dealing with customers, and just generally having to be nice all day every day, I did find it quite challenging. However, I feel that this experience really helped my confidence, and most of all made me believe in myself a bit more. I can now truly sympathise with waitresses when they're having to deal with aggravated customers or just generally having a busy day, as I know how tiring and frustrating it can be working in food retail. Although, getting paid at the end of the week was always a great feeling, knowing that I'd worked very hard for my own money, which I think my parents were very pleased that I could finally stop being so dependent on them when I wanted to go out!
September last year bought the biggest change when I moved in with seven strangers, to a whole new town an hour and a half away from all my family. I can honestly say that moving away from home was one of the most stressful experiences of my life however, the benefits that I have gained from it make that stress so worthwhile. As well as this It has made me more appreciative of my time with family when I come home, although the many questions from family as to whether I have a boyfriend yet do get a bit tiring!
I've excited to see what 2016 has to offer, and am hopeful that it will be just as great as 2015 was.
Sorry that this post turned into a bit of a ramble, but sometimes I think its important to reflect upon your experiences so you can truly see how far you have come, and appreciate how lucky you are. I hope you enjoy reading my little '2015 story', and I wish you all the best for the next year!
Thank you for reading ;)
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