Now, would my blog even be my blog if I hadn't stopped posting for ages but came back with a vengeance around new years to reflect and set new years resolutions? The answer is no, my friends.
Aye, so, as you can see from the title, 2016 has been a bit of a cock of a year, hasn't it? I mean on a personal level it's been pretty great but we'll come to that later. I'm referring to all the death and politics basically. Why the fuck did all the great ones die? Because we voted for Brexit and Trump, that's why. They didn't want to live in a world where that shit is going on. That's my reasoning behind it, anyway. Losing George Michael and Carrie Fisher at the end of the year hit me the most; they were both such advocates of just being yourself, being unashamedly your true self. They were advocates for sexuality and mental illness and the working classes and generally all the good stuff I believe in. Despite not being a star wars fan or even really aware of George's work aside from the classics, their respective passings really upset me and have fuelled an urge in me to be better next year.
Personally though, my 2016 has been pretty great. I finished my degree and graduated with a first class Spanish degree, like what the fuck is that??? How did I do that??? I applied to do my masters at Durham university, one of the best in the country, and got accepted. WHAT??? I got my British Council placement in a town not ten minutes away from where I've wanted to live since I could remember? Bearing in mind I applied for three different regions in Spain, was allocated Canarias so could have been on any of the islands, got Lanzarote and could have been on the other side of the island, and instead got San Bartolomé. Ridiculous. On top of that, my school is just so bloody wonderful and I couldn't have asked to have been placed anywhere better. I have plans to write a post about that but I'm pretty shit at writing so like, patience pls pals.
From my 2016 best nine on insta basically my highlights are that I graduated and got my Lanzarote job, stopped hating my face (and boobs?? lol) and took ace photos of life in the sun. Pretty accurate.
However also this year I removed toxic friendships from my life completely and moved on. I have such brilliant friends and am so lucky to have all of them. My family are pretty great. I translated a book! Yay. I wrote more articles for UEA's Spanish magazine. I went to some excellent concerts. I bought tickets for more next year, long live my ticket collection. I actually got employed which some would see as a miracle. We organised the LCS ball which to be honest will sit as one of my greatest achievements because it was so bloody brilliant, everyone loved it and nothing went wrong except Gianni not being there (miss u G-bone). I gave blood for the first time and got my first tattoo - yay for needles?? My parents got married FINALLY. We all went to Florida which was just magic.
There were also things that didn't go to plan. I tried and failed with jobs because of my anxiety just not letting me be able to do it. I stopped running and meditating. I had to pull out of the Great North Run. My anxiety was really quite bad and I even had a few panic attacks which just aren't great. Still can't drive, still can't save money or budget wisely, still not healthy or fit. Lol. Haven't taken my meds for about two weeks because I keep forgetting. Can't have everything, right?
As is customary, let's have a look at the resolutions I set last year and see what I managed.
1) Get back into running - OOPS
2) Great North Run - OOPS
3) Breakfast everyday - I kind of do this yay!!
4) Fewer takeaways - I barely get them in Lanzarote and even when I do they're from actual nice restaurants and aren't swimming in grease so I'ma say this is semi-successful too
5) Read a book in Spanish - aw precious lil KB, not only did you read more than one, but you translated one, ya lil gem
6) Frank Sinatra's filmography - Soz Frank but this went completely out the window
7) Have a clear out and buy less crap - Did this woop woop
8) Bullet Journalling - THIS WAS FAB!!! Whilst I was at uni... during the summer and now I'm in Lanzarote where my life requires less planning I kind of fell off the wagon. Defo will do it again when I start my Masters next year though. Love it
9) Read 24 books - As it stands I've read 31 and am v close to finishing another before tomorrow so BIG TICK
10) Watch 100 films - I stopped recording how many films I watched :( I hope so though...
11) Budget/spend wisely/save - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh god
12) Bottle less, talk more - well this one worked I think. Fam can't shut me up
13) Write more ie start blogging again - Once again, OOPS
14) Blood Donation - AH YEAAAAAAH DID THIS ONE. Hello friends I have O+ blood and I think if you can donate then you should
15) Tattoo - Did this too woohoooooo
16) Eat more veg - Trying, really am trying
17) Read more poetry - OOPS, still want to though
18) Driving lessons - OOPS :(
19) Stay off Coca Cola - OOPS
It all went to shit at the end but y'know, semi successful year? I gave blood and got a tattoo and read lots of books and got organised and am more open?? Solid 6/10 for effort.
Now for 2017 resolutions WOO
I feel like 2017 is gonna be the BEST YEAR even though time is totally arbitrary and years aren't even real and time is a construct and bla bla I still feel v positive about it and life is what you make it so HERE WUH GAN LADS
1) BE SELFISH
Not like selfish as a bad thing, but the focus is gonna be on my SELF. More selfies and self love and self care. No more putting myself through shit and pain to make someone else's life easier. This is for meeeeee. Gonna use this year to make me be happy for me
2) TAKE MEDS EVERY DAY
It's just gotta happen. This gal doesn't want any more panic attacks on planes, you get me?
3) RUN, FORREST
I was just a better, happier and healthier person when I was running.
4) BE BETTER WITH MONEY
This isn't just a hope, I have to do this one. I am in so much debt and it's gotta stop.
5) WORK HARD
Now I'm not saying my job up at school is particularly hard but I'm going to try and be as good as possible, to be more confident and try more things with them and try and make their lessons with me really really good and enjoyable and helpful. On top of that, I start my masters this year and because it's costing me more money, I need to do well in it. I want to do more freelance stuff and work more, and especially get a job when I'm hope in the summer. Gonna get more organised with my new diary and get back on wunderlist and just gotta work work work work work and try and be a far less sexy version of Rihanna.
6) READ 30 BOOKS
In 2014 I read 24 and in 2015 I read 21 and this year I read 31 so anything between 20-30 seems to be good for me so when setting targets it's best to go for the higher one right?
7) RECORD ALL THE FILMS I WATCH
I missed doing this this year so I'm gonna try again. It's not even difficult so someone slap me if I come back next year having forgotten to do it.
8) TRAVEL ESPAÑA
Ok well this one is just an excuse to visit my besties who live in Spain, shhhhhh
9) GET GOOD AT MAKEUP
Lol this one sounds so daft but basically I follow lots of instagram accounts dedicated to glittery eye makeup and I got eye glitters for Christmas but they look daft without shadow underneath so I bought a beautiful eyeshadow palette but I know nothing about makeup SO THIS YEAR look out for me trying to learn how to do this shit and try to make my eyes look bloody glorious and like a bloody QUEEN yaaaaas hunny.
10) ESPAÑOL
This is so vague and yeah essentially my life is based around Spanish but essentially I want Spanish to be a top priority in my life so I want to read and write more in Spanish, watch more films and listen to music/radio/podcasts, speak more, translate more, BE MORE SPANISH. I fucking love Spain and Canarias and LatAm and all its many many many cultures and languages and words and just everything and I want to dedicate more time to this main love of my life.
Soooooo yeah, there we go. 2016 was a cock but great personally. 2017 is likely to be terrible politically with the inauguration of Trumpy McFuckface but I hope it's good for me. Hope it's great for all of you too. I'm ending 2016 in Lanzarote with all my fam and will be thinking of all my pals and loving life. Lots of love to ya, my loves.
Hasta 2017
KB
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