Disney Land Paris 2013 NYE
I know i'm a little late with this post and everything but hey, better late then never. Last year I was lucky enough to start the year in one of my favourite places, Disney Land and I was even able to bring the year to an end in one of my other favourite places Dubai!
I have to admit 2014 was definitely my year! I can honestly say it was the best year of my life so far. (As cringe as that may sound). So much went right for me, with little going wrong and I met some of the best people along the way.
I'll fill you guys in on just a handful of things which made 2014 the year it was. First of all i'm pretty sure starting the year at Disney land Paris, singing along to let it go, (yes from frozen) speaks for itself. I managed to get four days off from work at the end of December- that probably doesn't sound like a lot! Trust me when you're a Christmas temp and working in retail... IT IS. As a family we decided to spend the four days including new years at one of our favourite family destinations. We had one of the best weeks of our life when we were there, but soon it was time to return.
January began, and soon after I got back from Paris, my Christmas temp contract at Lego had come to an end. At the time I remember wishing I could just somehow carry on working there, but anyways long story short I had to leave. Having worked their for just over three months, I left having made friends with some of the loveliest people, and of course having bagged myself some retail experience.
Once I left Lego, I had one main task on my mind which needed completing. That was passing both parts to my driving test. At this point I had already sat my theory test twice and sadly hadn't passed. Once again I got the highway code out and started revising for what felt like a test I would never pass. February soon rolled around and I felt prepared once again, went ahead and booked the test. This time in Harrogate, I almost felt as though the Leeds centre was cursed. Apparently it was...third time lucky...I PASSED.
Now that I had passed my theory test, I was one step closer to getting on the roads, all that was left now was the...practical! I went ahead and booked it, for the day before I was jetting off to a friends wedding in Pakistan. I hadn't told anyone I was taking the test, not even my mum or dad. I was forever hoping I could just pass the test and surprise them but just my luck, it didn't quite work out that way. I can't actually believe I said 2014 was my year- it sure hadn't looked promising so far. By the way I promise everyone reading this post I'm not a bad driver. It definitely sounds like I am but I had just had a bad time on the roads up until now.
At the start of April I came back from an amazing holiday / having attended one of the best weddings of my life, and I was waiting for my baggage at the reclaim belt when i received a text from my manager at Lego, asking me if I wanted my job back! I couldn't quite believe what I was reading, I mean I hadn't even been back in the country an hour. This was just what I needed in my life right now. For a second I asked myself whether I would be able to manage the job alongside sixth form, and i knew it wouldn't be easy but I was prepared to put everything in to make it work. Once I got back to Leeds i filled in the paperwork and returned the following week, as though I had never actually left. (It really did feel a bit like this)
The following week I turned 18. It had been exactly one year since I had received my provisional license, and I really didn't want to think about it but I couldn't help myself. I knew it was time to give the practical test another shot. Once again I went ahead and booked the practical test in the hope that April would be my month, and to my surprise turns out it was. I ACTUALLY PASSED. FINALLY. I HAD A FULL LICENSE. The driving journey had been a long one but I completed it a year later. At this point 2014 started to feel real, and from now on the only way was up.
Having received all of my university offers, earlier on in the year the time to firm, and insure had come around. I loved the Manchester open day, but leaving Leeds meant leaving Lego, the job that I had just gotten back. This was enough to help me make my decision to stay in Leeds. Being honest, I never thought I would get into Leeds. For me getting AAA didn't seem possible. Although firming Leeds motivated me to give it my all, to make sure I could secure the place.
I spent the next 3 months doing nothing but revising day and night, and working on the weekends. Looking back at it, no idea how I managed it but I am so happy I did! It was well worth it.
The only interesting thing that happened in these three months was the Year 13 Leavers Ball, which was quite nice to see everyone formally dressed before we all left.
Exams were soon over, and results day came around. Like most other people across the globe I was up all night (that was not an intentional One Direction lyric, for any fans reading) over thinking everything. I still remember being sat on my bed an hour before UCAS was meant to be updated, did I use enough quotes in the Philosophy essay, and that textiles portfolio, was it really worthy of a grade A. I soon realised nothing could be done now it was too late. With less then an hour left, at this point I thought I'd try to get some sleep incase I had to spend the whole of the day looking at clearing courses. My head hit the pillow, and I pulled the quilt over my head...and just before I had a second to think... I got a notification on Twitter from @UniversityLeeds. The tweet had a link which you could follow through to check if you had secured a place or not. WHAT? THERE WAS STILL AN HOUR LEFT?
And well the picture kind of speaks for itself, does it not? I don't really know how else to explain it- the picture does a good enough job though I suppose. All that hard work finally paid off. I couldn't believe it for one second. I felt over the moon, it just wouldn't sink in. I never ever in one hundred years thought the day would come.Now the stress free holiday really began...
I spent the next month enjoying what was left of the holiday swell as shopping for university and just generally preparing myself for the next few months.
The first few months of University have flown by, I'm not going to go into much detail about them. I'll save that for another blog post. Besides pretty sure 90% of you won't have even reached this part of the post because you zoned out two paragraphs in. (sorry about that, I like talking)
For now all I will tell those of you reading is university is definitely not overrated.
The 12th of December actually came around quicker then I wanted to, and it was time to say bye to everyone. Some of my international friends were jetting home the next day, whereas my friends from the UK were travelling back the same evening. Not only did it feel great leaving university for the Christmas break knowing the choice I made to stay in Leeds was the correct one, it also felt pretty surreal.
I spent the better part of my Christmas holidays working, and trying my best to survive my second Christmas in retail at Lego. I have to say this time round it was even better! For the second year in a row I was lucky enough to finish this amazing year in another one of my favourite places previously mentioned... #dubai, and on top of this I even got to go to Pakistan for a week to visit all the family which was as always lovely!
2014 was a great year lets see what 2015 brings along to beat it.
I hope those of you who made it to the end enjoyed reading my first blog post, I promise I will work on shortening them.
All comments and feedback welcome!
Dubai - Burj Khalifa 2014 NYE
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