2022 Personal Highlights

2022 - A re cap.

I am sat next to a poorly toddler and struggling to find the words for this blog post that are steering towards something positive and moving away from the negatives of 2022. The first half of the year was pretty good to be honest, and then the latter months seemed to be entirely overshadowed by illness after illness and I know that so many other families have also had it all, too. It really has felt like a never ending cycle of colds and coughs and everything in between. I won’t dwell…there have been some awesome times and if you have read my previous post about my 2022 weddings you will know I focused on the ‘not so obvious’ moments and I tend to focus on that here too. I didn’t take my camera out with me half as much as I used to when the big 3 were little, but I feel I have a good mix of mini and a couple of big adventures in my roundup.

We didn’t do that many big days out, this is primarily just little wanders to the beach, sunsets at the park and strolls in the woods. Will and I went to Iceland, and as a family of 6 we had a our first abroad trip to Croatia! Our boat day in Croatia was my favourite day of the whole year and will forever be something I look back on with very fond memories! So many fears were faced with the kids and to see them overcome them was really special. I do love a holiday for new experiences that you wouldn’t ordinarily face in your day to day life.

You’ll notice that Wren, our 3 year old, features heavily in these photos and that is purely because he is with us 95% of the time! It is so much more rare now that we are all together aside from evenings after school, due to co parenting, social lives, extra curricular clubs and our work days are usually always on a weekend! It does make me sad but also I know I had this time with them when they were small, too, so it is only fair that Wren gets this time as well. The bigger 3 are definitely coming up to the point of not wanting photos anymore, and they only really feature in more staged group photos because I have insisted on it and they are appeasing me!! The days are over when they would happily do all the things I asked them to do in the name of photography and expanding my creativity!

I managed to get in a few knitting projects in 2022, which are featured at the beginning and end of the gallery below. I tend to just lose all focus for it in the Summer and of course, that is my busiest working months, so I just don’t really have a lot of free time to do it. But I am determined to do a few little projects over the Summer this year and keep the momentum going. Hopefully this will improve my knowledge/skills etc etc.

Looking forward, I would really love to take the time to read more. I started leaving my phone downstairs when I went to bed at the end of last year and it really helped with winding down better and also not spending half an hour - an hour just aimlessly scrolling. This meant I read heaps more in December and I finished 2 books! Which for me is a miracle! Long may that continue in 2023, although I keep forgetting to leave my phone downstairs but it has meant I just don’t even reach for it anymore and I am disciplined enough that I don’t get back in to the habit of scrolling. Would recommend!! It has meant for a much better nights sleep (unless a toddler wakes me up!)

I don’t really have any high expectations of 2023, I am in a mindset of ‘what will be, will be'. We had wanted to move house but that won’t happen now the market is the way that it is, we won’t be doing a big holiday this year and our plans are all very small. I am quite looking forward to it though, I have to say. I am all for the big wins but this year I just don’t think I have the energy for it! I want to be with my family, I want to do my work and do it well, I want to read and I want to stay active. Anything else is just a bonus at this point!

Well done if you made it this far in my ramblings, so unlike me to get carried away with over sharing… And Thank You! I hope you have a very low key but wholesome 2023, too.

Charlotte x

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