For as long as I’ve been blogging, I have sat at my laptop on January 1st and written a post looking back on the previous year, and forward to the one that is just beginning {2010, 2011, 2012}. It’s funny how we can create traditions and rituals for ourselves without even having to try.

In a similar vein, Mr LA and I ushered in the new year last night with {the now traditional} steak and cocktails. Confining ourselves to the comfort and warmth of the sofa, we watched a movie {Prometheus… good stuff} and then, when the end credits had begun to roll and it was a little after 11pm, we switched over to Jools Holland and his Hootenanny. We kissed at midnight, drank a little more, and then tumbled into bed. It was perfect.

Looking back…

Best moment of 2012? Easy…

Photography Copyright (c) 2012 Eliza Claire

Closely followed by…

Graduation from loveaudrey on Vimeo.

2012 was the year I added a ‘Mrs’ to the beginning of my name and an ‘MA’ to the end of it. It was also the year I went freelance, became a part of team Love My Dress, and joined The Wedding Reporter as an associate writer. The biggest goal I set myself last year, the one I dared not say out loud, was to get paid for my writing – to make a living from words. We’re not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I call myself a writer with more and more conviction each day.

There was also a honeymoon. Six months after our wedding day, Mr LA and I flew off to Koh Samui, Thailand. It was our first ever holiday alone, without the children. The colour and vibrancy of the island was mesmerising and Thailand remains one of my favourite spots on the globe. This was our fourth visit to South East Asia, and it won’t be our last.

Of course, in amongst it all were these two. They grew and grew. They made me laugh at least once every day. They exhausted me. They challenged me. They gave me purpose and direction and perspective. 

Looking forward…

I’ve said it before, but I don’t really do resolutions. I like goals. Things I can work towards. Tasks that require energy and action, rather than will power or the ability to resist temptation.

Anyone who knows me well will know, that when it comes to life, I’m not good at standing still, at coming up for air or pausing to take a breath. Got to keep moving. We have big plans for 2013. Hopefully, it will be the year we sell our house in Exeter and buy a new one in another city. Perhaps the most important task I will face this year will be building this new home for us, wherever we end up. Settling the children in, making new friends and, as Casee so eloquently puts it, going above and beyond to beautify our space and make our new life a true reflection of who we are.

As ever, I want to read more and write better in 2013.

I also want this to be a year of friendship. There needs to be lengthy phone calls, handwritten notes, texts that make the recipient laugh out loud or smile inwardly, and gifts sent in the post just because ‘I saw this and thought of you’. I will make time for the people who mean the most to me and make sure they know their true value.

Above all, I will let the children stop me in my tracks, distract me from a train of thought, or drag me from my laptop as often as humanly possible.

Happy New Year! How did you welcome in 2013 and what are you hoping to achieve this year?

Love Audrey xxx