One Year On...

So it was pretty much a year ago I started this blog and even though I haven't posted as much as I would have liked I'm glad I keep coming back.

This year has been interesting in many ways. While some fairly major events have happened, both good and bad; this year has not been a year of complete highs and complete lows, for which I thankful.

One of the major events was me finally graduating from university. I knew from the age of about 9 that I would be going to university so as much as I would like to go back and get a masters of a PhD eventually it feels really good to say I have finally graduated with a 2.1 undergraduate degree. It also marked the end for now of my life in full time education. Apart from the year between college and university when I worked on my portfolio I have been consistently in education for 18 years and I am really ready for the next bit.

Which brings me to Etsy. Finding out about Etsy and deciding to open up a shop made a huge impact on my confidence levels. Come June, I will have been open and operating for a year. To be able to imagine actually making a living doing something I love is incredible and gives me belief in myself and my abilities.

While the start of 2011 was a bit rocky - losing 2 beloved cats in the space of 2 months - the majority of the year was fun. I completed a 13,000 word dissertation (was only supposed to be 10,00 oops ha ha ha) participated in the biggest anti-cuts march ever to happen in Britain and received my first "first grade" in a module at university.

The middle of the year hit a slight bump when on the return journey from my graduation ceremony my family and I were involved in 4 car crash on the motorway. 3 of the 4 cars were written off because of the damage but thankfully other than a few minor bruises no one was hurt. My parents composure and strength through that time was incredible, my brother had been sitting next to the point of most impact on the car and had the other driver hit us in a slightly different place we would have probably lost my brother. The echoes back to his first car accident were frightfully loud.

However, we came through this OK and now my mum has just finished her first term at university doing a fantastic masters degree in Art Therapy while my brother has traveled down to London to attend a very highly acclaimed university for his BA.

The last part of the year has been the most exciting and unknown for me. I had planned to move to Canada for 7 months starting in October and while my plans got slightly changed thanks to Canadian immigration I am now coming to the end of a 3 month trip which has included getting ot meet lots of new people, spend christmas and new year with my best friend and her husband and meeting my gorgeous god-daughter as she said hello to the world on the 18th November.

It has been an amazing experience for me and I am preparing to leave knowing I will always have a home here if I wanted it. It's been incredible watching my gorgeous god-daughter Anne grow up so much even in these 2 short months, from being new born to being so aware of what's around her and watching her learn to smile.

And in a couple of weeks I will be heading back home, my plans include expanding Etsy, working on some interesting projects with friends and saving up either for driving lessons or another trip to Canada. 2011 was good to me so let's hope 2012 is even better :D

<3