Goodbye 2016

Some will say that 2016 has been a terrible year and in some ways it has. I honestly can’t believe that Brexit happened, or that Trump became president of the USA. Furthermore, the amount of celebrities that died this year seemed more than any before, especially with regards to legends. It makes me feel somewhat selfish to say that 2016 has actually been a really good year for me and our family. Of course, its had its ups and downs as all years do, but generally I’m left feeling happy and content as 2016 draws to a close.

So what are the major things that have happened for us in 2016?

At the beginning of the year, we managed to finish all the decorating in the house. It was a huge task and took quite a few weeks but eventually we got there. In April our house went on the market but while we’ve had a couple of viewings, it hasn’t looked very optimistic overall.

We attended a few geeky events, though not as many as I would have liked. There was Walker Stalker in February, Fairytales (in Paris) in June and Harry Potter in August. Sadly all three were fairly disappointing but at least we can say we did! There was no cosplay this year either, by myself or by the kids. I’m sure that’s largely due to the fact I still really want to get on with my diet (yet somehow not enough to do anything about it).

We got to see quite a few movies at the cinema, which is nice. The list (that I can remember) is; Deadpool, Zootropolis, Suicide Squad, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Moana. I was looking at the list of Movies to look out for in 2016 and while I didn’t see all that I would have liked, I did see most.

Lily turned 8 and Megan (only a few weeks ago) turned 12. Megan also accepted her first choice for Secondary School in March, finished Primary School in July and started Secondary School in September. It feels like it’s been a bit of a landmark year for Megan especially, not to mention she’s ended the year with her first proper boyfriend (who she attended school disco with). Lily managed her 25m badge in swimming and since she had started the lessons unable to swim, that was quite a good achievement.

There was no major holiday this year (like Florida in 2015) but I was lucky enough to travel to Paris twice – once with my family and once with Nat. We also had our first family camping experience, during the summer holidays. We were lucky enough to be gifted a really nice tent too, which made our second trip, much nicer. We’re hoping to do more of that this coming year.

There have been lots of lovely moments, including a family Valentine’s Day spent together as a four, Galentine’s Day celebrated with all my favourite girls, holidays and weekends away with family and/or friends, a 40th Wedding anniversary celebration for my mum and dad despite my dad no longer being around, and most recently Christmas with family and the day after Boxing Day with extended family.

Finally my blog has very much taken a backseat this year and I hope to find a little more time, especially during the beginning of the year and maybe with better planning, throughout the year as a whole. However Closet Geek has really flourished and as my first full year draws to a close, I have to admit I’m very proud of my little baby. I’ve gone from selling pencil cases, hair bows and girls dresses at the beginning of the year, to adding bunting, cushion covers, ears and even the odd item of clothing for boys. I’ve made my most successful cosplay to date, in the form of Jane (from Tarzan) and I’m looking forward to continuing on again in the coming year.