2013: A Recap.

This is the last photo I published to my blog in 2012.
A lot has happened in the months since then, and many moments were captured.

So… here’s my recap of 2013 in pictures…

January

I took my first 50 Week Photo, named “Steaming Mug Of Ice”.

Grant came to visit and we frolicked in the snow…

And I used a 5×4 camera for the first time.

*

February

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary…

And Dom got me some lovely presents…

… and the sun shone for the first time in months.

*

March

We played chess…

Pulled stupid faces…

And spent time with my little girl.

*

April

Grant and I went to see and met Derren Brown.

And sipped free champagne for his 21st!

Oh… and I turned myself into a puppet.

*

May

I dyed my hair orange…

Sweep wore a coat…

We laughed… ❤

Spent time with friends…

And I watched a lot of Dexter… 🙂

*

June

I started rereading all of Harry Potter… (In the bath… ahem)

Summertime started peaking out of hibernation…

I went to Download Festival for the first time…

Finally saw Slipknot live…

Plus Rammstein! (Among others)

And turned myself into an Elf!

*

July

We went to Oxford for my 21st!

Celebrated with Misty…

Tried Jason’s amazing cocktails…

Drank yet more free champagne with these rascals!

Jason, Tav and Grant. 🙂

We saw Cirque Du Soleil: Alegria in London…

I made my first piece of pottery!

And we sunbathed the month away!

*

August

I dyed my hair back to its natural colour for the first time in 5 years!

Dom and I went on our first holiday, and my first one in 7 years!

We went to Venice!

And we had an amazing time!

*

September

We went to Yorkshire and spent time with my “little” brother…

Plus Vladimir the Impaler!

My sister came to stay…

My laptop died right before term restarted…

So I got my first Mac!

Some friends came to Manchester…

And my precious little baby girl sadly lost her fight with cancer…

*

October

I got my new winter coat.

Found the first conkers of the season…

Developed a little obsession with them…

Got dressed up for the Manchester Zombie Walk…

And made brookies!

*

November

I got a surprise present from Dom!

Shot my photographs for the exhibition…

Got the seal of approval for my images from my tutor…

Went to bonfire night at the Alma…

Visited Alton Towers with friends and saw the fireworks!

*

December

I got my business cards…

Spent most of my time getting the exhibition together…

Put up my first Christmas tree in my own home…

Watched Elf with my friends…

Opened my first exhibition of my work…

Went drinking after the exhibition with my fellow photographers…

We had our first Christmas spent together!

And I got Christmas bow ties for all the animals!

I finally got Starbucks to call me “Gandalf”…

And we saw in the New Year in Reading with my lovely sister and her boyfriend.

*

2013 was an absolute whirlwind. Some incredible memories created, new friends made, and sadly some goodbyes too.

I want to wish all my beautiful followers a Happy New Year, and I sincerely hope you all have a great 2014.

❤

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My Life in Letters: S.

This letter marks my 50th post. It also marks the day I’ve finally submitted my research project! So thank you to those I interviewed, and not thank you to the eighteen people who liked my post pleading for help but didn’t send me any interview answers. 😉
(I’m joking, thank you, dear readers.)

So, the letter “S”… I think I will have to go with my old family dog Spike for this one.

Spikie was a japanese spitz crossed with an akita. A strange mix, which made him, particularly when he was younger and before his muzzle greyed, look almost exactly like a wolf with a collar.
When he was young he had a pure black face all the way up to his ears, which steadily greyed over the years.

We had Spike for 12 years before he eventually passed away. He was a part of the family. We grew up with him- he was the forth sibling. He was fiercely protective over us and was the most loveable dog in the world. There wasn’t a single person who met him who didn’t fall in love with him.

We all felt so lost when Spike passed away. He had been with us for so long that it felt wrong not to have a layer of white fur over everything.

We’ll always miss him and his old tricks.

Spikie,
They called him Spikie,
He was the biggest, bravest doggy in the world.
Spikie,
They called him Spikie,
He was the biggest, bravest doggy in the world.

– A song my sister and I made up for him when we were little. ❤

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Summer of Love…

 

If Love was a currency, I’d be the richest man on Earth.

My boyfriend just came out with that. ❤

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The Future’s Bright…

Today I was reflecting on the past year of this little adventure known as “my life”. I was thinking back to this same day, a year ago.
Where was I then? Or rather, who was I then? Well…

By the beginning of June 2011, I was at the start of the end of the worst relationship of my life. You’d have thought I’d have been ecstatic? No. The opposite. As far opposite as you can be from ecstatic, was me. As far as I was concerned, this was the end, not of the two year long hell worthy prison with the tag “boyfriend”, but of life itself.
This guy was everything to me. Poor, pitiful me. He had broken my heart countless times; hell he’d even blown his nose on it and stamped it into the ground for good measure, and yet I couldn’t help but love him.
So there I was, heart broken yet again, unable to see any way out of my self-pitying, endless torment, acting like I was the only person on the face of the entire Earth to experience such pain.

Of course, I wasn’t. Countless people have been through this- the break up you never wanted to happen, watching the other person move on without so much as a glance backward. While all you’re doing in the way of “coping” is looking through old photos, thinking nostalgically of “well… there were SOME good times?”, torturing yourself over social networking activity and trying desperately not to text/call/email. And drinking. A lot.

The self pity stopped after a few weeks and I eventually got on with my life.
This is the point where we start reflecting: If you had told me then, that in just a year’s time, I’d have a year of University under my belt, a tonne of new friends, a new relationship (and the best relationship I could ever ask for, I might add) and a life that actually feels like I’m living it, rather than just watching it pass by? I’d have never believed you. And yet here I am. Typing this. Reflecting on how much I’ve grown since then; grown up out of teenage-hood and into adulthood, and grown overall as a person.

Turns out, I could survive it. And I could even bring myself to trust someone else again, and love them even more than I’d loved previously. I could survive being a student and I could survive moving to the other end of the country, where I knew no one, completely independently.

With this growth, I’m safe with the knowledge of one certainty; if I can survive those things, how hard can the rest be?

A year ago I thought my life had come to an end. Now I know that my life is just beginning. The future’s bright, if you only open your eyes wide enough to see through the tears of the present.

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My Life in Letters: J.

For J, I have one person in particular I want to dedicate this letter for my life to. Julia. My step mum. She also happens to be one of the greatest and bravest women I’ve ever met in my entire life.

I met her when I was only 5, and she has been a constant source of inspiration every day since. Ever since I’ve known her she has suffered from kidney failure, and for years was on dialysis. Though she no longer has to dialyse since she got a donor kidney, she still suffers from many other ailments including multiple bone diseases and also, blindness. She lost the sight in one eye about 2-3 years ago, and soon after lost the use of both. This is irreversible and can only be described as the same thing that happens to those who get old- bits of the body simply stop working. But Julia is only 40 something years old.

Despite these things, she has always been the most amazing mother to not only my two step siblings, but to me too. When she and my father split up, nothing changed- she still welcomes me home as one of her own children, and I still see her as a second mother. We’re amazingly close, and she’s one of the best people I know. She’s always so full of optimism no matter what, and it’s truly amazing to know someone like her. I love her with all my heart and I always will. ❤

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Love.

Warning: I get soppy. It’s not what I’m normally inclined to do. But sometimes, it’s just needed. (:

I’ve been reflecting lately, on my past relationships compared to my current one. And it’s made me feel exceptionally lucky to have Dom.

Before, in every relationship I’ve been in, without exception, I’ve had trust issues, derived from my childhood, and my issue with getting attached to people- I tend to keep people at arm’s length. My experiences told me that if I let someone get too close, then I would be let down. So I didn’t let anyone get close enough to. The ones I did, it ended badly.

However, then I fell in love with my best friend. It wasn’t planned, I didn’t necessarily want it to happen, or ever thought it would. I didn’t realise I was feeling so strongly for him until we revealed our feelings for one another- and it suddenly hit me. It scared the shit out of me. I wanted to run. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship, and I didn’t want to lose him, and I didn’t want to get hurt again.

When I decided to go ahead with the relationship, I was taking a huge leap of faith, and a massive risk. But I am so glad I did it. We’ve been together now for almost three months, and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. It just keeps getting better and better, and we have such a natural, easy relationship. We just click. We work. We understand each other perfectly, so we don’t ever feel the need to question anything about our relationship. It’s amazing.

The other night, he said something to me that I think will stay with me forever. I was recalling the way I used to feel when I was with my ex, who treated me appallingly, and completely used me. I said I was really glad I was out of that relationship, and that I was now with someone who was amazing. He said “I would lay down my life for you.”
That really, really touched me. And I can honestly say, I would for him.

Loving someone, is giving them the power to destroy you… but trusting them not to.
I think I’ve placed my trust in the right person for once.

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

❤

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My Life in Letters: B.

B.

Well there are several things starting with B that I think define who I am in some way or another.

It’s the first letter of my name: Bryony.

Bolton. I live here now, and I have done for a while. Although the town itself isn’t that great, for me, it’s my freedom, my independence. And for that, I love it.

Another is “Best friends”. I know that’s pretty general, but it’s definitely a phrase that is a huge part of who I am. The friends who are closest to me, who I trust, are those I count as my Best Friends.
And who else can say they’ve been lucky enough to fall in love with one of them? And best of all, have them love you right back? (:

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