New thing every week in 2016 #2

This is the second post in my 'new thing every week in 2016' series - you can read the first post here.

I love documenting one new thing I do every week, however big or small. This instalment is a pretty good mix of big exciting things and terribly mundane ones... here's what I got up to between 11th March and 19th May 2016!

Week 11: Went to the top of the CN Tower in Toronto

Week 12: Went to Toronto Island 

Week 13: Ate cream tea at a wedding 

Week 14: Had a meeting in the Harvester 
(yes, this was obviously a very dull week!)

Week 15: Went to Cafe Citta

Week 16: Got layers in my hair 

Week 17: - Went to the Stable 

Week 18: Bought plant pots for the garden 

Week 19: Went to the gym in the middle of a working day 

Week 20: Attended a conference in the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea

I'm sure you can spot the terribly mundane entries, as well as noticing that I ate a lot of pizza during these ten weeks! Check back next week for the next instalment in my 'new thing every week in 2016' series. 

2016... the good bits!

You know a year has been particularly bad when people start using it as an adjective... 'Oh it was terrible, so 2016!' 2016 has given itself a bit of a reputation for being a lousy year, mostly because of game-changing political events and the seemingly endless stream of celebrity deaths.

Sadly,  aside from all this, 2016 has also been a bit of a personal disaster for me. It started with my grandmother passing away in February, then the whole summer and autumn disappeared in a thundering wave of horrible emotions caused by lots of tests, nail-biting delays and my resulting cancer diagnosis and surgery. When you combine these personal issues with the wider political calamities of 2016, it's hard to look at the year in any kind of positive light. In fact, I'm pretty sure I cried more in 2016 than in all my other adult years put together!

However, before I gladly condemn this year to the rubbish heap at midnight on New Year's Eve, I wanted to find a way to remind myself that 2016 hasn't been ALL bad. That's why I decided to blog about all the good times I've had this year - there have been plenty of them which means the year hasn't been a total write-off. I want to keep all those good times at the forefront of my mind rather than looking back in complete doom and gloom.

Without further ado, here are the greatest hits of 2016!

Fake Christmas

The annual much-anticipated 'Fake Christmas' event took place in January with my university friends. The year had already got off to a bad start by this point as I'd just found out that my grandmother was very ill, so this was a nice distraction with some of my favourite people.

Liz's hen weekend 

I had the opportunity to meet up with my university friends again in February for Liz's hen weekend. We spent the day in London with an underground challenge and afternoon tea, then had a sleepover in the evening with lots of crisps, wine, reminiscing and Cards Against Humanity!

Homes for Wales rally 

This was one work achievement I absolutely had to include in the best bits of 2016. Months of hard work preceded this huge event in March to raise awareness of the housing crisis ahead of the Welsh elections. It all paid off and this was one of my proudest days of the year!

Toronto

We spent a week in Toronto in March and had an amazing time full of sightseeing, spectacular views, Canadian culture and (of course) eating. I would definitely recommend Toronto if you're currently planning your next holiday!

Liz's wedding

I was very honoured when Liz asked me to be her bridesmaid for her and Pete's wedding in March. It was a lovely day (in spite of the torrential rain) and it was yet another chance to catch up with my university friends! Three times in three months... we really were spoilt this year.

Visits from friends

Nicola, Sarah, Liz and Fee all came to stay at various points throughout the year... I love having a spare room with a proper bed! These visits all consisted of lots of laughing, talking about old times, shopping, eating and drinking, and never failed to cheer me up whatever else was going on.

My 30th birthday 

I celebrated my 30th birthday in June and it seemed to go on for about a month. I was lucky enough to have lots of celebrations with different people and I received a huge amount of lovely gifts.

A visit to my nephews 

We visited my sister, brother-in-law and my two nephews in Southampton in July for my youngest nephew's second birthday. It was an unexpectedly sunny day and we had a lot of fun!

Second wedding anniversary

Although our second wedding anniversary was overshadowed by the news of my diagnosis a few days before (and my MRI scan on the day itself!), we still made sure we went out for a nice meal near Penarth Pier to celebrate.

Florida 

We went away to Walt Disney World in September, in between my diagnosis and my operation. In spite of the circumstances, we had an amazing time and were able to spend some quality time together in our favourite place.

Theatre trip to London

Three weeks after my operation, we went to London for a theatre coach trip which include a night away and tickets to see Aladdin on stage. We'd booked it months before everything happened but decided to go ahead anyway as there wouldn't be too much walking for me to do. It was so nice to be out and about again after being confined to the house for so long!

Harry Potter Studio Tour

I visited the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford with my university friends in November. It was even better than I'd ever imagined and I definitely want to repeat the experience!

Celtic Manor 

We went to the Celtic Manor for a night away, dinner and breakfast at the beginning of December because we thought we deserved a treat, quite frankly. It was a nice mini break and the Christmas decorations at the hotel were beautiful!

Christmas

I couldn't blog about my highlights of the year without including my favourite time of year... Christmas! We spent lots of time with family and friends, as well as relaxing with each other, and it was nice to finish 2016 on a high. 

So there you have it... obviously 2016 wasn't all bad. However, I'll still be glad to see the back of it and am desperately hoping for a calmer and happier year next year!

What were your best bits of 2016?

Toronto - a visual summary

If you've read my previous blog post, you'll already know that we planned a holiday to Toronto earlier this month. I loved every minute of it and thought it was such an amazing and varied place. 

I put together a 'top ten' list of sights we wanted to see in my last post, so I thought going through those ten (in photos) would be good way to summarise what we got up to during our week away. The only attraction we didn't get to was Toronto Zoo... one no-show out of ten isn't a bad success rate! 

1. Niagara Falls

Wow. Just wow! Definitely a sight where photos don't do it justice, particularly with all the water vapour floating around... I wanted to stay there forever. 

2. CN Tower

Amazing views of the city...

We also went for a meal at the revolving 360 Restaurant on top of the CN Tower which was quite simply spectacular. 

3. Casa Loma 

Nice bit of Canadian culture, and more beautiful views! 

4. Union Station

A pretty majestic sight... certainly better than Cardiff Central. 

5. Toronto Island Park

As promised, a tranquil escape from the city. And we made friends with a cat! 

6. St. Lawrence Market

So much pastry, meat and cheese... and maple candy. 

7. Royal Ontario Museum

An insight into Canadian and world history, as well as the usual prehistoric suspects. 

9. Distillery Historic District

A quiet stroll on our last morning - bit of a hidden gem! 

10. ALL THE FOOD PLACES

No need for words here...

Have you ever been to Toronto? Did you love it as much as I did? Let me know!