Looking back

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This time of year I always find myself looking back on the past fifty one weeks.  Wondering what has changed, what has changed, what should have changed and realising that as I grow older nothing does really need to change.   Change is good I get that, but sometimes not changing, and just maybe tweaking things slightly is what makes me happiest.

The start of the year is always frantic, Team Honk thunders in to our lives and takes over like the three year old that it is.   This year the band of bloggers that came together raised almost as much as we had raised in the previous two years combined.   Next year’s plans are coming together at THHQ and will be revealed in the New Year.   Hopefully they won’t be so time consuming this year, but will be as much fun and an opportunity for even more bloggers to get on board.

The focus for Team Honk next year will be UK projects supported by Comic Relief.  So many people don’t realise that half of the money raised goes to organisations here at home.  That we all live within 30 miles of a project they support.   It’s not just projects in Africa that benefit, as so many think.   We really want to push that home next year.

Charity is becoming more of a focus for me.   It’s what I want to do in the future, and if I could give up work tomorrow I would throw myself at raising money and awareness for causes close to my heart.    My volunteer work with Victim Support has fallen by the wayside since blogging took off as I just couldn’t fit it all it and that makes me a bit sad.   Talking to the victims of crime supporting them when they needed it most is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done and I want to do it again in the future.

First of all though a trip with a charity I haven’t worked with before, World Vision.   Four days in Jordan in January and all sorts of things are going through my head.   There is no doubt that it will be very different from the trips to Africa I have done in the past.   This feels like it will be more raw and more emotional, something I have to prepare myself for.   The slums in Ghana we visited on our first trip with Comic Relief are still one of the most inspiring places I have ever visited and I always come away feeling exhilarated which really isnt how I expected to feel after a trip.  I have to remind myself that this next trip will be different and that I may feel differently and be prepared for that.

It is also the first trip that I have done without my wing women, Penny and Annie.  Their friendships are two that I cherish and will always be grateful for and I can’t imagine life without them.    Along with the brand relationships I have built up over the year, some new ones, and some that have continued from previous years.   I still get excited when an email pops into my inbox with an offer and hope this continues in 2016.  It’s true that the opportunities we have had as a family, trips abroad, days out, products, none of them would have been possible without this little part of the web.

And of course you, dear reader, you.  Without you there would be no point.  Your comments, your sharing, your interaction on social media all mean the world to me and I shall always be grateful for it all.   Every post I write I try to make sure you get something from it, because if you don’t, well again there is no point.

I entitled this post “looking back” as that is what I was doing when I started it but actually what I am really doing is looking forward.   Looking forward to some time at home with no work for a couple of weeks.  To spending some time with the family.  To baking with Caity.  With just hanging out with Jonnie and Ellie.  To sharing more than an hour a day with Mr B.   To watching trashy telly and eating chocolates for breakfast.

Then to 2016.   Looking forward to whatever that chucks at us and grabbing it with two hands and getting stuck in.  But not looking to make huge changes because nothing really needs to change and I do think that sometimes there is a huge amount of pressure on us to make massive changes.   Tweaking might have to be mantra for 2016.

Not to be confused with twerking.

 Photo of railway lines courtesy of Shutterstock