Highlights of 2010
Like I said last year, it's only when I write everything down that I realise all the many things I've done during the year. Looking forward to the next one already!
January
As seems to be tradition now, New Year was celebrated in Wales. We had a very cold day out on New Year's Day walking around Talybont Reservoir near Brecon. Several snow days later, we were already sick of the cold weather so decided to invest in a new camera and a Playstation 3 to keep us occupied.
February
Another cold month, during which we had days out exploring the canal near Avoncliff and Westbury and made a lot of roast dinners. I'm sure we must have done more during the month, but this is all I can recall at the moment.
Cornwall, April.
Westonbirt Arboretum, April.
March
Andy went off on the first of his work related travels for the year, to Israel. We started watching a lot of Lost, from the beginning and my next ACCA courses began.
April
Easter was spent visiting my Parents in Cornwall. Whilst there we picked up my bike, Andy bought a new one and we spent several weekends cycling around the local area including the Bristol to Bath Railway Path and the Strawberry Line near Cheddar. We spent a day out in Glastonbury for Andy's birthday and another on our annual visit to Westonbirt.
Kefalonia, June.
May
The bank holiday weekend was spent in the New Forest, at our usual hotel near Lyndhurst. We took our bikes and had a rather muddy ride around the woodland. We also made a weekend visit to Wales to visit family and a trip further afield to a wedding in Surrey. We spent quite a bit of time investigating areas and looking at houses to buy, got as far as getting a mortgage in principle, then made the decision to hold off until we were more sure of future plans.
June
I spent a couple of days at the beginning of the month visiting my Sister in Cardiff and sitting my exams. Straight after that we jetted off to Kefalonia in Greece for some overdue R&R! The weather was beautiful on our return so spent a nice day out at the beach in Clevedon.
Stourhead Landscape Garden and The Lake District, July.
July
Had a couple of days out at the Bath Food Festival and Stourhead Landscape Garden. My family came to visit the weekend following my birthday, as also appears to be a tradition now. The last weekend of the month Andy had planned a surprise long weekend away to celebrate our 4 year anniversary, although I had no idea where we were heading when we set off on the Friday morning. Our destination turned out to be a lovely hotel on the shore of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. We spent a couple of days exploring the area, took a boat trip on the lake and visited some waterfalls where during a picnic Andy proposed! Very romantic and one of the most memorable times of my life.
August
At the beginning of the month I resigned from my job, as I had been successful in interviewing for a position at a social housing association which was quite a step up the ladder for me. A weekend was spent in Wales and a week on a cruise up and down the coast of Norway visiting the cities of Stavanger and Bergen and fjord towns of Geiranger and Olden. We have definitely caught the cruise 'bug' and are eagerly awaiting our next one to the Caribbean in February 2011.
Norway, August.
September
I had a couple of weeks off before starting my new job, so I made my way down to Cornwall on the train to visit my Parents for a week. Luckily the weather was great and managed to get a lot of coast walks in. The following weekend Andy and I went to Bristol International Kite Festival, where we used to go every year when we were kids and whilst it wasn't quite as exciting as back then, there was still lots to see. We also enjoyed another weekend in the New Forest, this time visiting Exbury Gardens.
October
I spent most of October on my own, as Andy was in Los Angeles and Seattle for a few weeks working. Although I did spend a few days up in Leeds, at my first conference.
New Forest, September.
London, November.
November
After visiting several potential (and expensive) wedding venues, we settled on one and paid the deposit.. we're getting married in May 2012, which should leave plenty of time for planning everything else. As it was Andy's work's 25th anniversary, they took all employees and their families to Centre Parcs at Longleat for the weekend. We had fun in our lodge cooking and wandering around the grounds. At the end of the month we went to London for a long weekend where we stayed close to Hyde Park and saw The Phantom of the Opera in the West End, visited friends and took a trip to the Science Museum.
December
We started Geocaching in December after hearing my Parents talk about it for ages (my Dad claims it was me that got them into it first, but I'm not sure!) and started toting up our finds. We've found many of the caches within a mile or so of our house and others around Newquay and Newport, where we spent time over the Xmas holiday.
January
As seems to be tradition now, New Year was celebrated in Wales. We had a very cold day out on New Year's Day walking around Talybont Reservoir near Brecon. Several snow days later, we were already sick of the cold weather so decided to invest in a new camera and a Playstation 3 to keep us occupied.
February
Another cold month, during which we had days out exploring the canal near Avoncliff and Westbury and made a lot of roast dinners. I'm sure we must have done more during the month, but this is all I can recall at the moment.
Cornwall, April.
Westonbirt Arboretum, April.
March
Andy went off on the first of his work related travels for the year, to Israel. We started watching a lot of Lost, from the beginning and my next ACCA courses began.
April
Easter was spent visiting my Parents in Cornwall. Whilst there we picked up my bike, Andy bought a new one and we spent several weekends cycling around the local area including the Bristol to Bath Railway Path and the Strawberry Line near Cheddar. We spent a day out in Glastonbury for Andy's birthday and another on our annual visit to Westonbirt.
Kefalonia, June.
May
The bank holiday weekend was spent in the New Forest, at our usual hotel near Lyndhurst. We took our bikes and had a rather muddy ride around the woodland. We also made a weekend visit to Wales to visit family and a trip further afield to a wedding in Surrey. We spent quite a bit of time investigating areas and looking at houses to buy, got as far as getting a mortgage in principle, then made the decision to hold off until we were more sure of future plans.
June
I spent a couple of days at the beginning of the month visiting my Sister in Cardiff and sitting my exams. Straight after that we jetted off to Kefalonia in Greece for some overdue R&R! The weather was beautiful on our return so spent a nice day out at the beach in Clevedon.
Stourhead Landscape Garden and The Lake District, July.
July
Had a couple of days out at the Bath Food Festival and Stourhead Landscape Garden. My family came to visit the weekend following my birthday, as also appears to be a tradition now. The last weekend of the month Andy had planned a surprise long weekend away to celebrate our 4 year anniversary, although I had no idea where we were heading when we set off on the Friday morning. Our destination turned out to be a lovely hotel on the shore of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. We spent a couple of days exploring the area, took a boat trip on the lake and visited some waterfalls where during a picnic Andy proposed! Very romantic and one of the most memorable times of my life.
August
At the beginning of the month I resigned from my job, as I had been successful in interviewing for a position at a social housing association which was quite a step up the ladder for me. A weekend was spent in Wales and a week on a cruise up and down the coast of Norway visiting the cities of Stavanger and Bergen and fjord towns of Geiranger and Olden. We have definitely caught the cruise 'bug' and are eagerly awaiting our next one to the Caribbean in February 2011.
Norway, August.
September
I had a couple of weeks off before starting my new job, so I made my way down to Cornwall on the train to visit my Parents for a week. Luckily the weather was great and managed to get a lot of coast walks in. The following weekend Andy and I went to Bristol International Kite Festival, where we used to go every year when we were kids and whilst it wasn't quite as exciting as back then, there was still lots to see. We also enjoyed another weekend in the New Forest, this time visiting Exbury Gardens.
October
I spent most of October on my own, as Andy was in Los Angeles and Seattle for a few weeks working. Although I did spend a few days up in Leeds, at my first conference.
New Forest, September.
London, November.
November
After visiting several potential (and expensive) wedding venues, we settled on one and paid the deposit.. we're getting married in May 2012, which should leave plenty of time for planning everything else. As it was Andy's work's 25th anniversary, they took all employees and their families to Centre Parcs at Longleat for the weekend. We had fun in our lodge cooking and wandering around the grounds. At the end of the month we went to London for a long weekend where we stayed close to Hyde Park and saw The Phantom of the Opera in the West End, visited friends and took a trip to the Science Museum.
December
We started Geocaching in December after hearing my Parents talk about it for ages (my Dad claims it was me that got them into it first, but I'm not sure!) and started toting up our finds. We've found many of the caches within a mile or so of our house and others around Newquay and Newport, where we spent time over the Xmas holiday.