Ok forgive me because I am going to the land of no Internet so I will post this now even though it is somewhat premature.

When I started this decade I was fifteen years old. Fuck. It feels more like twenty years have passed rather than ten and I am guessing you guys feel the same.

I was also still living in Spain and it would be another year or so before I left my mother there and returned back to England to finish my education which I had been pulled out of three years before. I would crown that the best decision I have made this decade. Nice one 16 year old me!

In this decade I finished my GCSEs, A-levels, went to Uni, changed majors, graduated and re-enrolled for more which is due to be complete in the beginning of the new decade which is a good way to start it I think. I also met some of the best people a person could ever hope to meet. One of whom would cause a lot of pain but that is just part and parcel of learning right?

I think it would be the decade of learning for me because I did so much of it. I look forward to learning more.

It was the decade of Internet, computers and discovering just how much of a nerd I can be. I also went to some of the most beautiful places in the world and the next decade promises so much more of that.

I worked as a bar maid, store assistant, life guard, chef, waitress, cashier and an estate agent (among others) and I cheated death a few times.

I climbed, caved, hiked, rode, cycled, ran and discovered a love for TKD and squash.

There were many low moments but, looking back, I think the highs outweighed those, and  I hope I can say that again at the end of the next decade.

I lost a best friend. I hope more than anything I will not lose another.

Looking back I am proud of the last ten years. I think the majority of the decisions I made were the right ones and I wouldn’t change any of them..except maybe to tell myself to stop worrying so much about money and travel more. Again, I hope at the end of the next decade I can be proud of my decisions.

So, on to a new decade. I hope the last one was a good one overall for you? I hope that we can all say that the next one is good when it closes.

I was driving home from a friends house tonight and as I came off of the dual carriageway there was the most amazing moon sat over Whitstable. Actually it was more like it was sat ON Whitstable it was so low. As soon as I got in I grabbed the camera and went to the beach because that is where most of the best shots of the moon are to be found (sadly it has shrunk quite considerably by then).

The only thing is that at 10pm the beach isn’t lit and I generally try to avoid it because it is where all the drunk trouble makers congregate of an evening (even Whitstable has those!) so you generally end up getting abuse hurled at you and sure enough as soon as I get to the beach I see two drunk people weaving around, they spy me and are immediately HEY GIRL WITH THE CAMERA!! HEY YOU!! So I am thinking oh great here we go as they walk up to me and then they are say omg isn’t this moon magical, you are taking pictures of the moon too? Great, our camera is rubbish, can you email us your shots??!

So of course I agree and honest to god, it was like I had agreed to give my kidney to their dying mother because the next thing I know they are wishing me a life full of happiness and joy and they did a special dance as they wondered off down the alleyway. It was pretty awesome I have to say.

Sadly they didn’t realise that just because I have a good looking camera doesn’t mean I can take good looking shots especially in the dark beach alleyway..in the freezing cold. I sort of climbed over a wall into someone’s garden to find a surface I can rest my camera on to minimise hand shake (Yes I too am wondering when I will get round to getting a tripod/remote combination) and took a couple of shots before running away when I knocked over some plant pots in the garden and the light came on meaning I was totally busted.

So sorry mystery drunk people, I am about to email you the following shot which doesn’t do anything any justice. Also sorry house people if I made you think there was some creepy person lingering outside your house. I am not creepy. Honest.

It is the 21st of December today! Know what that means?

It is the shortest day of the year and do you know what THAT means?

Summer is almost here!

Having a snow day coincide with the day you get your new camera, a day off AND the day you finish Uni for the winter term is about one in a billion but today I hit those odds.

England did what it does best when faced with snow..panic. My twenty minute commute to Uni took over an hour as the road was at a standstill but it was worth it because everything was so pretty and wintry that you didn’t mind being sat in traffic. Until 10 minutes in you decide you need the loo. I passed the time doing car dancing with a few of the other stuck-in-traffic people.

Do you see how clear of snow the roads are?? Do you? It’s not like we are in fucking Canada.

I got to make snow angels, eat snowflakes (and cause a man to stop in his tracks and observe me doing so, I think he might have thought I needed mental help) and drink Christmas flavoured coffee so now none of you will have to listen to my countless whiny IMs or conversations about how much I want some snow this year. 2009..you did good!

After a long day of work and an evening of transcription it is time to step outside onto the very icy decking, heat up some mulled wine and set fire to some paper to keep warm.

The evidence of a not very successful teabag – cup throwing competition on a break from Uni work.

Kind of sad because normally I am shit hot at launching tea bags across the room into the cup. Aging must be really affecting my hand-eye coordination.

December 2nd and my tree is up. Well, sort of up, it is 3ft so it is more down than anything but it is decorated, it smells amazing and instead of a star the very top is adorned in a tiny knitted woollen hat.

That is just how I roll bitches.