t the end of every year I write a wrap up post about how the year went. This year was so bizarre I don’t even know where to begin. I usually publish this post between Christmas and New Year but I’m so keen to see the back of 2016, I’m publishing it early. Each year there are some people that say the year was great and others say it sucked but pretty much everyone I know has had a very average time this year. Here are 15 reasons why 2016 can die in a fire.
(1) Work was not amazing this year. It’s all a part of the freelancer/blogger life but it was consistently pretty crummy the whole year. It redeemed itself ever so slightly in the last few months of the year with some great client partnerships coming through, a few big writing gigs and some regular work which was great. (2) Another stressful part of the year was my old blogger representation agency ceasing to represent bloggers. It was a sudden move I wasn’t expecting which brought quite a bit of stress to an already shitty year. Financially I’d already sorted myself out but it was a bit of a shit thing I had to sort through.
Health wise, I’m probably the fittest I’ve been in my adult life as I’ve been going to F45 at least five times a week for the whole year but (3) I’ve been drinking more alcohol this year (stress = self medication) and (4) my skinny jeans are a touch firmer than they were this time last year, although that could be from the baby Kardashian butt I’ve developed from all those squad jumps! It’s not totally dire (I don’t weigh myself anymore but I’d say I’ve gained about 3kg?) but I need to sort out my drinking habits. This year has been really rocky and I find it difficult to eat as well as I should be when I’m stressed so that’s going to be a big priority from now. I’m not even waiting until next year – it starts now. I can relax a little on Christmas Day and New Year’s eve but those jeans are not getting any tighter. I’m also going to not drink for January and February next year. I usually have at least 2 months a year alcohol free but it just didn’t happen in 2016 so I’m doubling down and starting 2017 on the right foot. I’m totally making it sound like I’m like I’m a crazy booze hound but my usual six alcohol free nights a week have turned into four alcohol free nights and my three glasses of wine on a Saturday have turned into five and I just want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a habit. On the plus side I can do a heavily assisted chin up for the first time in my life so yay for fitness.
The year has ended with (5) Mr Smaggle having sinus surgery and experiencing the slowest recovery in the history of the world. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, so I’ve been an almost full time carer for him for the last few weeks. The poor thing. He’s just miserable, sore and tired from not being able to sleep which has made the wind down to the end of year even more tiring than usual. I’m also a total over thinker so every time he gets a nose bleed or has a weird reaction to his medication, I start thinking he’s going to die. It’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks.
And that’s just the stuff that happened to me personally. (6) Alan Rickman, (7) David Bowie and (8) Prince leaving this world. (9) The bloody US election. (10) Aleppo. (11) Brexit. (12) The Istanbul airport attack. (13) The Orlando nightclub shooting. (14) The attack on Nice in France. (15) Dolly magazine folding. Is it any wonder I’ve been drinking more this year.
Some parts of the year were bloody fantastic though.
I’m now represented by a new agency which is great and I’ve already got strategy and planning dates locked in for next year. They really know what they’re doing so I’m looking forward to starting 2017 all fresh with them.
I got to stand beside my bestie as she married the love of her life when I was her maid of honour in January – it was such a special start to the year.
I travelled to the US in March and had the road trip of our dreams through the California dessert.
I celebrated 10 wonderful years with Mr Smaggle which is just mind blowing. I feel like we’ve been together for five minutes and 100 years all at the same time. I’m definitely keeping him forever.
I travelled to Europe in June and went to Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Copenhagen with Mr Smaggle’s work. It was a dream trip and I can’t wait to get back there again.
I launched two podcasts – Straight & Curly and Sweet Teen Club. Sweet Teen Club is currently on hiatus but Straight & Curly was chosen as one of the iTunes Best Podcasts of 2016. I’m gobsmacked. I had no idea that we were even on iTunes radar. I’m pretty chuffed. I absolutely love chatting to Kelly every week and that was a pretty cool thing to happen at the end of a pretty average year.
I launched a new business Crochet Coach and it’s exceeding all of my expectations and projections. I’ve got 107 beautiful Crochettes who just make my day every day and I’m so pumped to make Crochet Coach the best online crochet school ever. It’s going to be the Beyonce of crochet schools. For real.
Lots of people I really, really love welcomed babies into the world. I got to meet Rupert, Ezra, Freddie, Rosie and Cleo this year – each little one is a bundle of delicious.
And because gratitude is awesome here are a few other major thank yous for 2016…
Thank you!
– To my very excellent 2016 sponsors. MeBank, Bupa, Beef, Bref, Charles Sturt, Be Natural and Star Ratings – you guys rock so hard and you’ve been total delights to work with. I’m so lucky to have clients who just get Smaggle and let me say ‘crap’ and ‘shit’ in the posts I write for them. Also thanks to REA and Foodiful for throwing lots of work my way this year. Love you guys.
– My (old) agents at The Remarkables Group – the last four years have been a wonderful ride and I’m so grateful you took me along for it.
– To my blog tribe – could not have got through this year without you guys. You truly are my safety net. x
– To Mr Smaggle for putting up with me being a bit of a nightmare this year and being the amazing human he always is.
– To Kate from Secret Bloggers’ Business for being my champion this year. I could never say this to her face because we’d both die from awkwardness but she’s been such an incredible support and an amazing kick up the bum buddy with helping me get Crochet Coach happening and managing me through this stressful year. She’s a supremely awesome human.
– To my bestie for taking care of me and all of my mates who have been so incredible in the last few with Mr Smaggle. You are very ace.
– To my gorgeous Crochettes who just make my day every day. Thank you for coming on board this weird new thing and making it even better than I thought it could be.
– To Kelly and Stacey and for being rad podcast partners. Love you both.
– To my incredible Smaggle readers – I love you guys so much. Honestly, Smaggle has been an enormous stress to me this year but you guys kept me going through that. You had me at hello. Tear.
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How was your year? Are you happy to say good riddance to 2016? Or are you celebrating a bonza year?
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