21 Good Things That Happened In 2021

2021, I’m truly thankful for all the opportunities that came my way, as well as having our pup Archie in our lives and buying our forever home.

When it turned January 1st this year, I was feeling really hopeful after a rubbish 2020. A recap of being seriously unwell: blood transfusions, countless days in hospital, an IVF procedure gone wrong, stoma surgery. As well as my nan and grandad passing and being made redundant for the second time. AND, not forgetting Covid and multiple lockdowns we all had to deal with. A disaster year I was glad to see the backside of.

So yes, 2021 for me was a good-ish year compared to the year before.

When this post goes live, I’ll be in a hospital bed recovering from another major operation – a stoma on the other side of my stomach, before they can go ahead with reversal. I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the lead up to Christmas!

Any who… Here’s my 21 top moments:

Finding a part time job

I was lucky enough to find a role in social media marketing early in 2021, and part-time too, which was ideal for me as I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself.

Buying our forever home

At the end of June we completed on our forever home in Hertfordshire. We love it, it’s so cosy and we’re putting our stamp on all the rooms.

Getting Archie

Well, technically, we got Archie right at the end of December, however, we announced our furbaby on the 1st January 2021. We adore our abso pup.

Oxford

A highlight for me was travelling to Oxford for our 11 year anniversary. We stayed at the super Instagrammable Artist Residence. You can read about our trip here.

Archie turned one

On the 19th October, Archie celebrated his first birthday, we had cake, party hats and balloons!

Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary

We celebrated with a film and nandos! A tradition.

Purchasing a YSL bag

I try not to be materialistic, however, I caved and purchased my second designer handbag! It’s dedicated to my nan and grandad! Read all about it here.

Getting my apple watch

Joe treated me to an apple watch, and I love closing my rings every day! A great purchase.

Practising Yoga

I’m been getting into gentle exercise this year and yoga for me has been great for the mind and body!

My operation

I’m one step closer to getting my stoma reversed – in fact, I’m currently recovering from part one surgery! It’s been a long time coming and I’m so glad that in early 2022 I won’t have Barry hanging around anymore.

Decorating the master bedroom

Our master bedroom is looking all warm and cosy! Navy tones, dusty pink bedding and oak wood furniture.

Sausage Strolls

We’ve been on a few sausage strolls this year, they’re a great event for meeting other sausage dogs and their owners!

My birthday

I had a lovely 4-day-weekend of celebrations with friends and my hubs. We went to the Alice in wonderland exhibition, crazy bear and friends came over to watch horror films on my actual birthday.

Becoming Vegan

I eat mostly vegan but sometimes have veggie meals when I’m out and about if the menu is limited. I decided to eat vegan for health reasons and to help the environment. Plus I love animals! I wrote a blog post on why I went vegan here if you’re interested.

My friends

I’m soooo thankful for the friends groups I have. I couldn’t ask for better group of ladies/guys. And my best friend is moving back to the UK (in fact she will have already moved back on the 10th by the time this post goes up!)

Blog opportunities

Although I didn’t take on too much work this year, I did some wonderful collabs with some fantastic brands. I’m really proud of the content I produced. Hopefully in 2022, more collabs will come my way.

Exhibitions

We went to some pretty beautiful exhibitions this year, one was the Alice in Wonderland exhibit at the V&A and also the Van Gough exhibition was rather cool.

Date day in Berko

Joe and I don’t get the chance to have date days anymore since we got Archie, which is absolutely fine but Joe’s mum Marilyn offered to look after Archie while we have a ‘date day’ in a town near by to us. We went to the Olive Tree which is a gorgeous cutesy restaurant.

Painting the feature wall in the living room

We wanted to add a pop of colour in the living room, so we used a navy colour for the fireplace wall. It looks BEA-U-TIFUL. This was the first bit of decorating we did in our new home.

Grandad’s Wake

We couldn’t arrange a get-to-together when my grandad passed cause of Covid, so, in the Summer, we drove up to Margate and had a picnic on the beach. It was lovely seeing family and thinking of those we lost recently.

Seeing my grandad regularly

I’m really close to my grandad, we speak every day on the phone. He always puts me in a good mood, he’s always so cheery and full of life (he’s 86!). We don’t see each other as much now that I’ve moved a bit further away from town, however, I’ll get to see him on Christmas day!

That’s 21 of my favourite moments from 2021. I hope 2022 will be a good year for me (stoma reversal soon and maybe try for IVF again at the end of the year, we’ll see – depends on my recovery).

What’s your favourite moment of 2021?