I'm giving you advance warning, this post is very very very photo heavy, so if you're not prepared for that then maybe you'd better go and get a brew or a snack before you start reading/scrolling.
2016 was a really, really long year for me. For the first time in all the years I've been writing this blog I haven't spent every monthly round up post saying how fast I think it's gone by, and the same can be said for this year as a whole. Overall it's been long, long and tiring to say the least.
Those who're close to me will know that I'm not exactly someone known for being a positive Polly, Patricia or Patsy, but today I'm going to try my very best!
2016 will be a year that goes down in the history books as being pretty dang world changing, nothing more needs to be said than Brexit, Trump, Alan Rickman and Carrie Fisher. And for me personally I can't say it's been all sunshine and rainbows, there's been a whole heap of personal challenges and hurdles. I'm ending the year feeling as if I've gone through a fight and have hardly come out the other side alive, but, I am alive and I'm still here, despite definitely having the wind completely knocked out of my sails many a time.
However, despite so much hurt, pain, sadness and confusion, 2016 wasn't all bad for me, and that's what I want to try and focus on in today's Goodbye 2016 post.
2016 had its fair share of wonderful moments and laughter, of adventures and learning, of friends and family. Despite my own negative perspective and thinking, looking back 2016 was a year filled with good friends, having fun with some of the greatest people and creating memories that I will cherish for years to come. 2016 was also the year I got to fulfill one of my biggest goals and that was to travel more, I got to visit 5 different countries this year, 4 of which I'd never been to before (but more on this in a super exciting post to come in the next few weeks)
I've split the year up a lil', and am gonna try and go into a little more detail on the great things that happened during that season and time during 2016, as I've mentioned above there's been a lot of travelling and a lot of friends this past year and I think that'll be pretty clear the more this post goes on.
Spring of this year saw my health deteriorate quite a bit, and I seemed to be going to various doctors appointments and hospital visits every week. I was there that often that the hospital receptionist even noticed when I'd had my hair cut.
A trip to my favourite place (ever, ever, ever) Calpe in Spain was exactly what I needed and one of the best days of my life, a trip to a northern beach with my lil' uni fam was just dang wonderful! Spring of 2016 saw the end of my second year at university and a shed tonne of memories I'll never forget of days spent in parks, nights drinking mojitos and binge watching Lord of the Rings and mornings where I went to sleep as the birds had just awoken. To say my sleeping patterns were a lil' wrecked is a bit of an understatement. 
The summer was a really really long one, 4 months out of education and pretty much just living out of a suitcase. I went from Nottingham to Italy, Leicester to Paris, Stoke to Wimbledon and so much more, me and the London underground were such very good friends. Afternoon tea and a theatre trip for my mums birthday, strawberry picking for my own, adventures to both Italy and Paris. As well as a cancelled internship, and a last minute rush to try and find another, which I did in the end but left me in a right ol' state after spending 4 days worrying and sending out countless emails. Oh, plus there was a pretty hilarious camping trip and a visit to the Harry Potter studio tour too! 
The last few months of 2016 were definitely the hardest. I went back to uni for the final time to start my third and final year in education, third year has been pretty tough on me so far, especially with only having about 6 contact hours a week. I battled (and am continuing to battle) personal demons and challenges that have left me in a bit of a state. But there has been some lovely moments too, and lots of watching Harry Potter and eating chocolate, which is never, ever a bad thing! Plus a very wonderful festive trip to the lovely city of Prague to close the year.
2016 definitely hasn't been my year, but I'm hoping that 2017 will be. I definitely wasn't ready for a new year, but here we are anywho. I'm looking forward to the new possibilities, new adventures and new memories that the days of the next 12 months may hold, although this whole graduation thing is pretty dang terrifying I must say!
This is my final goodbye to the roller coaster of a year that was 2016. Bring on 2017! I'm excited about what may happen and the places I'll go and the ways I grow and the things that may adventures that may occur.
Love
God Bless
