2015. I think I liked you. It’s hard to sum up an entire 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days in a blog post but I’d say this year was a good one, more nice moments, fewer less nice moments than the few years that came before it and a few absolutely-fucking-amazing moments that I will never ever forget.

Amazing moment number one? Running the London Marathon in April. I still have moments when I’m like “wow, I actually did that?“. I also have moments when someone / something is difficult and arduous and I think “I’ve run 26 miles, of course I can deal with this“. So, thanks, marathon for being an amazing day and for giving me a much needed boost of inner strength. You can have people telling you that you can do something, anything, but I guess I need to actually do it before I can believe it. Thank you also to the people who came and cheered me on, especially at mile 23. Would I do it again? Do you have to ask?

I saw a little bit more of the world in 2015. Re-visiting Paris for the half marathon, two trips to Lisbon and a weekend in Bilbao, a week in Vegas and my travels around South Korea and Japan. I’m so lucky to be able to visit this beautiful world, to see new cultures and experience new places. To travel with my friends or on my own and to make friends for life or friends for just one afternoon. Travel is my top indulgence and having a trip written into my diary for a few weeks time makes those crappy days a lot less crappy. Top travel moment? Taking selfies at the North Korean border and feeling the nervous tension slip away as soon as the phones came out.

What about me in 2015? I turned 28 but still get asked what I’m studying (long may this continue). I attended weddings of two good friends – we’re actually proper adults now and definitely weren’t when we turned 18 a decade ago. I put down expensive shoes and bags and didn’t even look at the January sales because mortgage and bills (still internally sobbing about this and remembering the girl who once walked into Topshop and bought every orange item). I saw some of my friendships drift away and some become closer and stronger. I’m still single and living alone but I don’t feel lonely. I’ve stopped feeling like I’m a sad loser for not having a boyfriend just because its easier to say you have one than that you don’t. I’ve stopped feeling like I’m owed an amazing sparkly glam perfect life because no one owes me anything and I’ve started to trust that the universe will work things out and everything will be ok in the end. I’ve started to prefer simple pleasures and contentment over an emotional rollercoaster and the dizzy emotional highs that you just know are going to crash down around you but you’re not sure quite when.

I’ve learned to really value every moment of fun and laughter with friends because life moves so fast and its sometimes sad and strange to remember that I used to see my best friends every single day rather than spending three days just trying to find a few hours to catch-up. I’ve learned that I maybe shouldn’t drink six G&Ts on a weeknight and that I still know the words to Atomic Kitten’s greatest hits. I’ve learned that it’s ok to sometimes say no and that as a rule nothing good happens after 3am but that rules have exceptions and sometimes the best things happen after 3am. I’ve learned that its ok if people don’t like me and that it’s ok to let on to my friends that, yeah, I’m not perfect (but they maybe knew that already and didn’t care) and that most of the pressure I feel comes from me and not from anyone else. It’s ok to be on my own page because this is my own story and other people are living theirs and, yes, it’s probably all going to turn out just fine so stop worrying and rambling.

So, thank you 2015. And now to do it all over again…