Life lately

If I had to sum up 2018 in one word, it would be “rollercoaster”. It was a year of contradictions. It was a year that was challenging but also exciting. It was a year that seemed to drag on but it was also over in the blink of an eye.

2018 was the year that we finally sold our house. However, this was after losing out on the house of our renovation dreams due to a very dodgy surveyor’s report. FYI every subsequent estate agent when they heard the story of our dodgy survey report asked us if our surveyor was “???”. It was always the same name mentioned and yes, that was our surveyor. It seems he has quite the reputation and a number of people have needlessly lost out on their dream house thanks to him.

I digress. We sold our house and ended up renting a beautiful cottage to the east of the island and that gave us time to think about where we wanted to be. We even discussed the possibility of moving to New Zealand. However, we eventually (some might say reluctantly) agreed that Jersey was home and as such we went on the never-ending house hunt again.

Houses on Jersey are incredibly expensive and that means there is fierce competition for any house that is considered reasonable. We looked around a house where there were rotten windows and a leaking roof, we looked around a house where people were queuing up to get in and people were putting in over the asking price offers. We saw houses where ants were crawling out of the window frame, where the smell of dog was so overpowering that we thought we might pass out, houses where the door handle came off in our hand and houses where the house was so close to the neighbour, we could see him having a poo (the bathroom windows were not frosted and they were sash).

Then just as we were giving up hope we found this house. We were the second people to look round at 9am and by 11am we had put our offer in. We knew that we had to move fast. We knew that the house wouldn’t be hanging around for long. Finally, we have a home that we all feel settled in. For the first time since living on Jersey, I feel like this is my home. I love the exposed granite wall in our living room, I love that I can see a slither of the sea from our bedroom window. The girls love that they now have their own bedroom and that they now have a garden to play in.

It has been a year that has been incredibly emotional. Moving house on Jersey is never straightforward and that is in part thanks to the bonkers way we sell and buy houses on the island. However, we eventually got there and now we can focus on putting down roots.

It was also the year that I spent the first half of the year convinced that I was going to get sacked from my “new” writing job. Landing my job of writing for a company, at the end of 2017, had been a dream come true and I spent at least 6 months convinced that it was going to suddenly end. However, it’s now 15 months on and I still have my dream job (touch wood) and I still feel incredibly lucky. I have a job that I am able to fit in around family life. Working from home means that I am there for the children and that I can always do the school run.

However, that has meant that my blog has suffered. I have now been writing this blog for three years but 2018 was the year that I struggled to find the words. Spending my day job writing often meant that I felt like I had nothing left to give when it came to my own blog. I still want to carry on with this blog. This blog is what kept me sane, and looking back over the last three years on my blog, has helped me see how far I have come. I started this blog feeling miserable and not happy on Jersey.

This blog helped me fall in love with Jersey. The blog is also great for keeping me accountable. 2018 was the year that I didn’t drink for four months, I read more books than ever thanks to Mumsnet Book Club, I started baking again, turned 40, went to Jersey Weekender with Mr C, visited Disneyland, Amsterdam and stayed in the Royal Yacht, Jersey on a staycation. It was also the year that I faced my fears and spoke at the Jersey Festival of Words, I had my foot operation and finally said goodbye to Gary. I tried to start running again and then had an incident that scared me and so I ignored the trainers gathering dust and vowed to exercise more at home. But 2019 is the year that I join a running club. I will be running again (wish me luck).

It was also the year that the girls moved school and surprised me with how well they adjusted. They adore their new school and they are very lucky to be at such a lovely and supportive school. Both are doing well and it clearly was the right decision for the girls. It was also the year that youngest came down with a nasty dose of the chicken pox and we had to cancel our trip back to the UK and Peppa Pig Land. We all then held our breath waiting for the first spot to appear on Oldest. They never did appear and now at 9 years-old she still hasn’t had chicken pox-argh.

Looking back now - see this is why I love these type of posts - I can see that 2018 was an incredible year in so many ways. I can’t wait for 2019 and I’m excited to see what it brings. I just hope that this year is more steady and less of a rollercoaster. I want this year to be the year that we all come together, that we make the most of our time as a family and the year we continue to fall in love with our home and Jersey.

I will be setting some other goals and you can read the post I wrote for VoucherCodes to see what type of goals I will be setting. However, in the meantime, I just want to take a moment to breathe and to appreciate what I have.

Thanks for being on this ride with me and for putting up with all my moaning 😉

Cheers 2018, you were a fickle beast. 2019, bring it on.