2016 In A Pretty Large Nutshell.

This is where i'd usually put a lovely header with '2016' on with some nice pictures from this year, however I found it impossible to choose 4 or 5 of my favourites so I gave up.

I'm just going to start this one off by saying WHERE THE HECK HAS THIS YEAR GONE?!

I think we can all agree that for the world, this year was an absolute disaster. Whilst some people argue that bad things happen every year and there's worse things happening around the world than a few celebrities dying, i'd just like to politely shut you down by saying they weren't "just celebrities". Many of them were role models, icons that many people looked up to. Alan Rickman was a phenomenal actor, and I was genuinely upset when he left us. Victoria Wood, a comedian showing us that girls can be hilarious too. Prince and Bowie, 2 artists proving that being quirky and different isn't something you should shy away from. Gene Wilder! I must have watched Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory a billion times when I was younger. And of course, champ himself, Muhammed Ali, one of the most celebrated sports figures of the 20th Century. Then, when all things seemed calm, the past week seemed like the grand finale after we lost even more legends; Rick Parfitt, George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds all left us within a few days. For some reason, I think Harambe's death will be the most remembered. Don't even get me started on the politics. Brexit and Trump? I'm just going to leave it at that or i'll be here for hours. So yeah, that sucked big time.
This year has also brought us the Mannequin Challenge, the Rio Olympics, another wonderful series of Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth and the short-lived craze that was Pokemon Go. 2016 for the world has just been the most bizarre year yet.

But selfishly, for me, this has been one of the most exciting years yet.

It was the year that I finally moved out of my family home...to Australia. It was there that I met the most amazing people from all around the world and will hopefully have a bond with them for a long long time. I cuddled koalas, swam in the Great Barrier Reef, I got drunk (a lot), fed kangaroos, held a snake, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, gained an appreciation for Crocodiles, learnt to surf, went to the Grand Prix..blah blah blah.  I wouldn't change anything about my 5 months in that wonderful country. I miss it every single day, but I know i'll be back at some point in the future.

Australia.

Come home was honestly amazing. I was so excited to see my family and friends I nearly knocked a kid out with my suitcase pulling it off the conveyor belt. My sister, Emma had been telling me that she wouldn't be at the airport to pick me up as she'd be doing some sort of Duke of Edinburgh thing in Scotland, and that she'd be home that night. So coming out of departures, I saw Mum and Dad and got the biggest hugs, feeling emotional but holding it together. That was when Emma stepped out from behind some strangers, and I wasn't holding it together anymore. I burst into tears at the sight of my best friend whom i'd missed a hell of a lot. So yeah, thanks for making me cry you little shit.
I got home and had a bath (sitting in a seat for 24 hours makes you v v stinky), and I just remember sitting there thinking, 'what do I do now?' it was such a weird feeling and to be honest, I felt a little lost for a few days.
A week later we had a BBQ at the house and invited everyone round. It was so great to see everyone again and everyone kept asking me how it was, but how do you put something like that into words?
About a month later, I went to Spain with my family, where I actually got a proper tan for the first time in my life. After settling back into work and having a busy few weeks seeing everyone, it was nice to have a week of just relaxing, however I did get to knock another thing of my bucket list that i've been wanting to do for years; parasailing!

Back with all my friends & fam.

Is it me or did the second half of this year just slip by us? I'm honestly finding this part difficult to write because it all just feels like some big massive blur.
September saw me move up to University and experience real student living for the first time (in the UK). My housemates, Sian, Ellie, Erin and Sophie are luckily very easy to live with (i've heard a lot of horror stories about housemates from hell, and these girls are nothing like it). Most night's we'll get snug in the living room and watch a good film or TV Show. But we also have our nights out, where some overdo it more than others!
I also ventured to London with Viv to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was amazing. Watch it now. We also made some good use of our free Merlin Passes and went on the London Eye (another ticked off my list), Sealife Centre and London Dungeons.
For Halloween my Dad (a zombie), Emma (a mash up of the characters from Stranger things) and I (Harry Potter post-war of Hogwarts), went to my cousins for a mini-party.
Then in November I finally got to take Emma to her 16th birthday present (almost a year later). The Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour. A few days earlier we'd been to see the midnight showing of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, so when we walked in and saw they had props and costumes from those films too, we were in our element. Of course, every student gets a wand, so as a "little" extra, she picked out Newt Scamanders wand for me to buy her.

Such Potterness.

Then came the panics of Uni assignments and present buying for Christmas which took up a lot of time. Then finally, myself, Jagger, Danny and Em went to Disneyland on the 18th December. And guess what? I ticked another off my list. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and I absolutely shit myself. The 3 days following we spent in the parks going to the parades and on the rides. We've been on Space Mountain 6 times now, and every time we've either been right at the front, or right at the back. Em had a massive birthday badge on the whole time and was wished Happy Birthday by Ariel, Eric, the Soldiers from Toy Story, Peter Pan, the Fairies from Sleeping Beauty (who argued about whether they should make her a green or pink dress) and Jessie - who got a queue of strangers to sing her Happy Birthday. My only claim to fame was a snog from Tigger. All in all we had a brilliant time and didn't seem to stop laughing for the entire 4 days. It was a great ending to the year.

I miss it already!

Throughout the year I got to knock 13 things off my Bucket List in total. I conquered fears, travelled to 3 different countries, met new lifelong friends of many nationalities, learnt a lot about myself and gained so much independence.
So just like Kylie Jenner, this year I realised a lot of things.

If you're feeling bored and want more reading, here's what i've been up to all year in more detail;
January/February/March/April/May/June/July&August/September/October/November

2016, you've been an absolute rollercoaster ride. Here's to a more positive year for the world and to seeing what 2017 will bring.

Annabel

September.

Here it is! 3rd year! I can't believe that i've only got 1 year of education left. Thank god for that. After 17 years of non-stop learning (apart from my "Gap Yah"), it's finally the beginning of the end.

Maybe the biggest thing that happened for me in September was moving into my new house for 3rd year into Headingley. This will make it so much easier to make those early lectures and i'm just excited to live in a house with all girls. Unfortunately because none of us really thought to arrange it earlier, we need to go the first 2 and a half weeks without WIFI or a working TV. I'll be doing a room tour just like the one I did in Aus soon.

A benefit of working for LEGO means you get a free Merlin pass for yourself and another, which means free entry to anything Merlin (Alton Towers, Sealife, Thorpe Park, Legoland...). So my sister and I went for a day out in Manchester where we collected our passes from the LEGO Discovery Centre in Trafford, then went through the attraction and decided to visit Sealife next door too. We then went for a bit of a shop (I actually started my Christmas shopping), which was when Em spotted Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright in Selfridges. Which is really depressing because she had no make up on and she still looked stunning.

Walking around Trafford.

We also had another work get together which went the usual way: getting completely smashed. I don't remember falling asleep, but apparently I crashed pretty early and just wouldn't wake up. Oops.

I decided to get a group picture before the alcohol began to flow...

Towards the end of September I went to London with Viv from work, and we went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the Palace Theatre (which coincidentally is on Shaftesbury Avenue, where Harry, Ron & Hermione apparate to in the Deathly Hallows Pt1). No spoilers here, but what I will say is that it was quite possibly the best live experience of my life. I loved it. The way they do the magic on stage is so so clever. We stayed overnight in an AirBNB near Kings Cross and on the day after we wanted to put our Merlin Passes to good use. We went on the London Eye which is something i've been wanting to do for ages - that's now ticked off my Bucket List!. We also visited the London Dungeons and went for a quick walk around London Sealife. Total ticket prices for that day: £0. Winner winner chicken dinner. We then made our way to the coach for our 4 hour journey home.

INSANE. Go see it. NOW.

And of course, i'm now officially in 3rd year. The stress is real, and I already want to pull my hair out. Graduation can not come quick enough!

September was actually a great month as far as gig tickets go. I managed to score Green Day, Russell Howard, Two Door Cinema Club and one more that I can't tell you about yet... They're all in the beginning of next year and i'm so so so excited.
Annabel