I was going to write a round up of my year, but when I sat down and thought about it, I realised I could sum it up very easily in just one simple sentence.
I had a baby and finally discovered what I want to be now that I'm grown up.
Those two things are pretty much the big defining moments I'll take from 2012. This year two things have also changed my outlook on life in a way I never saw coming. The first unsurprisingly was the birth of my daughter, the other very unfortunately, was the sad news we received a few months ago about a friend. I won't go in to it as it's not my story to tell, but it's stuck with me ever since and both these things have instilled in me an urgency to make sure I'm living my life right. To be a good role model for Pip, to make sure that I don't take my time on this earth for granted and to make sure that I don't waste what time I do have pursuing things that don't even make me happy.
That sounds like a load of self-indulgent waffle I admit, but I've thought about these things so much these past few months.
I've imagined it was my last hour on earth more times than I care to admit and about what I would regret the most. Almost always it's the time I've given to other people who were less than deserving of it or the opportunities I've let pass me by due to fear of failure, rejection or just simply looking stupid.
The start of a new year seems a good time to start putting an end to that.
And now, just for fun, and to raise the tone a little, here's a bit about the photos I used to make my awesome (and not at all rushed) 2012 collage. Have a great new year folks. xxx
January - The state of my garden after the chickens had run riot on it for the whole winter.
February - Heavily pregnant and in this photo, feeding an out-of-shot chicken some of my jam doughnut.
March - She arrived!
April - It's me 'Dressmaking and Fashion Design' diploma innit.
May - Took the cub to Wales to meet the fam.
June - Getting the hang of this mothering lark.
July - Started sewing a 'test' collection of dresses. This is when I had my "this is what I want to do!" moment.
August - One of the dresses.
September - Went on a camping trip with Dan and Pip. Survived.
October - Piplin growing bigger and ever cheekier by the day.
November - Out of the blue snow! I was so excited to show Pip her first snow. She couldn't have been less bothered.
December - Pip loves the swings THIS much.
