Goodbye 2011

At the risk of sounding like somebody aged 40+, this year has passed in a blur. Or maybe it hasn't, maybe it's passed in real time, only enough has happened to give me enough excitement for ten years, never mind one! I've been living back at home with my family since before Christmas and it was time needed to rest and recuperate.
Since being back home, I've managed to read two books on why the psychopathic mind is different to the "normal" mind (Psychopaths: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Wicked Men - Andy Shea & John Clarke and Cult Killers - Frank Moorhouse), and one book refuting the modern day arguments against Christianity (The Case for the Real Jesus - Lee Strobel), made page upon page of notes for my upcoming exam, sat up many a night with my family watching trashy films and drinking Malibu and coke and somehow got out of tidying my room, probably because I'm technically a guest so can't be nagged about such things.
I've also been to restaurants with Heather before Christmas and with Claudia afterwards, spent my Christmas Eve at a Northern Soul disco with a room full of 40 year olds and a lovely Hawaiian boy, watched nuns sing, discovered the Emmaus charity, went to the post-Christmas sales and came home with more black tops than I could ever need and become reacquainted with my local pub and my old friend Russell.
I also got a new diary for Christmas and it has sequins on it so I couldn't resist abandoning my old one for the new model and it's lovely white pages. In doing so, I reflected on the past year and here a few highlights, good:

Going to Italy for the first time, discovering God, rebuilding my relationship with my dad, getting beautiful new tattoos, doing brilliantly in my A levels, overcoming depression and anxiety, moving out, starting university, getting a first on my poetry assignment, reading classic novels, going to stand up comedy for the first time, growing closer than ever to my best friends, and so much more.

As you can see it's been a big year for me. I've matured, psychologically in what I've overcome and in what I've found, physically with the addition of my tattoos, piercings and brunette hair replacing the peroxide blonde and also sociologically, with the beginnings of independence and (attempting to) study for a degree.

This year, I'm hoping I will continue to grow.

Resolutions:
- See all my best friends regularly. It's so easy at uni to go to the pub with your flatmates every night and before you know it, it's been weeks since you last saw the people who mean the most.

- Join the gym and actually go there three times a week. Eat healthier. Sick of feeling bloated and sluggish and feeling like the chunky one when I go out with my skinny friends.

- Save as much money as I can every week, just because.

- Take my degree more seriously. There is nothing I despise more than someone doing better than me. It means I am not doing enough.

- Plough my way through my stack of books on Christianity and science. I want to know as much as I possibly can about my faith.

- Not go on meaningless dates or kiss boys that I don't feel anything for. Being single is fun because there isn't the drama of a relationship, not because flirting with random two-dimensional people is okay.