I levelled up again, turning 26 last weekend – closer to 30 than 20, my sister enjoyed pointing out! I did a whole bunch of amazing things last year with some very special people, and enjoyed completing my 26 Things Before 26 list, with highlights including watching my Mum get married, cycling the Tarka Trail, and getting my Nintendo Switch! All I can say is: roll on another year!
1.) Attended the UK Games Expo for the first time
2.) Neil moved in – hooray!
3.) Started playing Gloomhaven with a group of friends
4.) Cycled to the beautiful Crow Point in Barnstaple on one sunny Saturday
5.) Visited the South Devon Chilli Farm and picked up my first ever chilli plants to grow
6.) Got to see one of my oldest friends get married – tears were shed!
7.) Saw the incredible Ice Nine Kills play live on a boat. A boat.
8.) Went to a shooting range for the first time to practice air rifle shooting
9.) Interviewed for a new post at work and GOT IT! Ridiculous levels of happy
10.) Got sponsored by GiffGaff to do a games night, with a ton of goodies to make the evening memorable as well as a delicious load of pizza! You can read the post about this great night right here.
11.) Launched a book group at work – I get so much joy out of picking the books each month!
12.) Visited Bath again after 3 years (!). Had an amazing few days eating food and hitting some tourist spots in the rain with my Mum. We’re already planning our next trip!
13.) Took part in the Glow in the Park charity run again – definitely didn’t “run” very much, but we did have a great laugh going around the party-themed track
14.) Saw Ghost perform live in Cardiff – the most theatrical show I’d ever seen! (While we were there we had the most delicious katsu curry dinner in a Japanese restaurant called Mt Fuji – it was fun to show Neil what I enjoy so much about Japanese cuisine)
15.) Had a traditional family Christmas. We haven’t come together like this in years, so it felt pretty memorable
16.) Spent new year at a board game cafe, playing party games in a group of 16 people. Many, many laughs, and a really special way to see in the new year
17.) Had the operation I waited all of 2019 for. Seemed to go well – phew!
18.) Bought a new Syrian hamster after Cookie sadly passed away – I’ve really enjoyed settling little Pilky in and training him
19.) Ate at Taco Bell for the first time ever… and definitely not for the last time!
20.) Started playing Clank! Legacy. Actually the best tabletop game I have ever played.
21.) Painted pottery – I’ve been wanting to do this for years!
22.) Played Animal Crossing! I have over 300 hours in this game at the time of writing this. Only a little bit obsessed… I started a YouTube channel just to have somewhere to archive the ridiculous moment I have with my islanders.
23.) Lived through a global pandemic – whaaaat?! This is possibly the craziest thing that happened this year, but it wasn’t exactly on the bucket list… A lot of the things that were going to fill these final spaces have been cancelled, so I’m going to making different kinds of memories for these last few months…
24.) Did some ‘proper’ gardening (and loved it). I’ve never actually done gardening before (as silly as that sounds to admit) because I never really cared for the back garden, but lockdown has made me value the outside space we have so much
25.) Found a love for making videos. My work has had to focus on digital services while our building is closed, and I have really found a passion for filming and editing videos. I think it is a hobby I want to delve into a little deeper, but I need to figure out if I would have the time once I’m back to “proper” work again!
26.) Explored new kinds of exercise – I am now obsessed with Ringfit and Rockfit!
27.) Put a deposit down on a puppy – aghhh, can’t contain my excitement!
