And so that was Christmas...

I can barely believe it's over, those twinkling lights, the promise of magic, the expectation of wonderful packages underneath the tree...

I have to admit that our tree is still up, the lights are still twinkling, apparently it's unlucky to take down the decorations before or after the 12th day so tomorrow we have it scheduled in our calendars to de-Christmas!

I have to admit to having had the most wonderful Christmas and New Year, it was filled with the best of times, the most amazing friends and one or two slightly fuzzy heads.  I don't think I stopped for breath much over the festive season and I have loved it.  I love my life now, it's full of fun and friendship and laughter and hugs.  I'm surrounded by the most wonderful friendship group of people who I love dearly, they really are the people I would proudly choose as my family.

Every year I choose a word, that word becomes the focus of my year and whilst last years word was "Renew" this years word is most definitely "Adventure".  Even though it's the dark days of January and I'm sort of feeling the effects of seasonally affective disorder I am already planning and plotting to make this the year I want to write about, I want to fill it with new and interesting experiences, people and places, I want to journey overseas and also in the UK, I want to take Holly Bobbins for many dog friendly adventures and I want to make sure my kids have the best year ever.

of course I can't achieve this without working super hard, I worked the hardest ever last year and I've no intention to do any different this year because when I work hard I create the means for us all to have a better life and that's what it's all about really, fun, adventure and happiness.

I'm excited as we go into 2016, I actually can't see what happens next, I hope to get more travel photography and writing assignments overseas and I cannot wait to see my article about my cruise from Rome to Barcelona on the Norwegian Epic published in Cruise International Magazine on February 12th, I'll probably be queuing at WHSmith to get my hands on a copy!