2016.

Image found via Pinterest here

Happy New Year! I can't believe that 2015 is already over, I feel like it should only be October...at the very latest. Looking back, I can see that I managed an impressive total of 5 blog posts over the last year - that must be some sort of record!

2015 was wonderful - it was the year that I married my best friend and I will always treasure it for that. The months leading up to our September wedding were a haze of preparation and excitement, and the day itself was simply magical (although if I could state one criticism, it's that it went far too quickly.) We went on a wonderful honeymoon in Sicily a few days after the wedding, which was absolutely blissful. We both took three weeks off to celebrate our wedding, three fabulous weeks which passed like three short minutes - why does that always happen with holidays and yet when you're not on holiday sometimes it feels like a month has passed before Friday finally arrives?

Saving up the annual leave to have three weeks off in a row meant that we had very little time off both before and after the wedding. 2015 was busy - 'busy' doesn't even seem like a strong enough word for work at the moment and, on top of that, I'm commuting almost 4 hours a day. Stupid really. As soon as I came back from honeymoon, I threw myself back into it and it was exhausting.

So it's not much of a surprise that as soon as I stopped for a breather at Christmas, I got sick and I've been ill for the majority of the holiday. Lesson learned!

Rather than make a list of resolutions this year, which somehow I never follow after a few weeks, I'm determined to start looking after myself a little more and have made a little list of must-dos which all revolve around that. I need to eat more healthily and make time to improve my fitness. Actually, the word' improve' implies some level of fitness which doesn't actually exist. I want to achieve some level of fitness (!), taking up yoga again and swimming more regularly. Mental fitness is important too and a good friend of mine (hi M!) recommended a meditation app, which I tried today for the first time and am hoping to fit into my schedule on a regular basis. I know it'll be difficult to stop my brain from stepping in and funnelling a whole range of thoughts into these sessions but with practice I'm sure it'll get easier.

I also want to really focus on some more me time, doing things that are relaxing (crafting, blogging, cooking) and help my brain to switch off from work, and more us time - I have a very understanding hubby but it is not fun that I come home from work every evening, absolutely exhausted, and fall asleep on the sofa an hour later. First step for the new year, we're planning a move to reduce my commute. Hooray!

So 2016, it's time for me to adjust my priorities - look after myself a little more and have some fun and adventures on the way. Let's go!