End of the Year Roundup - 2017

This time last year, I wouldn't have imagined I'd be capable of half the things I've done and achieved this year. 
The year has brought so many memories, some good, some not so good. I'm going to go through my year in months, picking out my best (and some not so great) bits! 



January was a tough old month. I had just about recovered from what we now know was my first real Fibro flare. I had returned to work to be greeted by a HR meeting handing me a written warning for sickness. To be told that your job is on the line after becoming physically unable to make it to work was tough. I panicked about money and my future and everything else that came along with this shock.


February, was the month that I finally got a diagnosis for the pain and fatigue I had been in since October 2016. Being told I had Fibromyalgia was both a relief and a huge shock. I was now qualified as a "disabled person", something I never dreamed would happen. I was directed to help both physically and financially to help me to live with my new diagnosis, my medication was altered to ease the pain and I was sent on my way. Its a very lonely condition to have and one that's incredibly hard for people without it to understand.   
Towards the end of February, Jack and myself visited The Making of Harry Potter. This was part of Jack's Christmas present and I treated myself to a ticket as it was my 25th birthday. 

The 22nd of March, I decided that I'd had enough of feeling crap about myself and that I was going to do something about it. A friend suggested trying a Keto diet as shed lost weight successfully through eating this way. My weight loss journey then started and as of today I have lost a total of 5 stone 1lbs.


In April Jack and I took a weekend trip to London for our 1st year anniversary. We saw Wicked the musical as we'd seen it many years ago together. It was a tough trip on my body, but I enjoyed every second of it. We hopped around on the tubes, saw all the sights and enjoyed our time together away from home.


July was a month for weddings!! My cousin Adam invited us to his evening wedding reception where Jack had the chance to meet a tonne of my family he'd never met before. 
Jack's cousin Oliver married the weekend after. We were invited to spend the whole day. It was my turn to meet some of Jack's family. Both went very well despite both of us suffering with anxiety. 
My cousins wedding was my first opportunity to show off my weight loss to a lot of my family!! By this point I had lost 3 stone. I bought a new outfit for the occasion and for once I was able to look at photos of myself without being disgusted at what I saw. 


Moving into a flat with my other half back in August has definitely been my biggest moment of the year. We rent a one bedroom ground floor flat not too far from either of our families. It was a big job to turn the flat into a liveable space. We had holes in walls, no flooring and fleas all of which needed sorting before we could move in as well as having to repaint the whole place!!
Sorting out bills and direct debits was much easier than I thought it would be. I'm grateful that we had our families guidance for this as I felt like a little fish in a big pond trying to sort it all out - this really should be taught in schools!!
Its taken a god few months for us to completely settle in and figure out our routine, but thankfully it now feels much more like home.

September was the month of our holiday. We returned to Florida once again (we cannot get enough!!). This was my first holiday abroad as a disabled person and I was terrified id be stuck in the hotel for 2 weeks if my body didn't behave. Fortunately the weather over there seems to help Fibro symptoms, we took lots of breaks, got enough sleep and didn't over pace ourselves. Our holiday was full of laughter, fun and great food!!



October was the month of Halloween and as we were still in Florida until the 3rd, we decided to check out Universals Halloween Horror Nights!! It was honestly one of the best nights of my life. We screamed so much and I was genuinely terrified the whole 6+ hours.
It was also the month we arrived back in the UK. It took a while to adjust to the much colder weather and get ourselves back in a working day routine.  



December has been a great month. We finally feel settled in our flat. We have taken a few shopping trips together to prepare for Christmas. We purchased our first Christmas Tree together, decorated it, chose gifts for our families, prepared our food for the festivities and spent a lot of time watching Christmas films and TV.
This month we have been researching and visiting lots of dog rescue centres in the hope that we will be able to adopt a rescue dog at some point in 2018. Lots of forms have been filled in and tonnes of dos have been viewed. We haven't made any decisions yet as this isn't something to jump into, but hopefully soon we'll have our own little furry friend.



Here's to hoping 2018 brings as man great memories! What where your favourite memories of this year?

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