Another year over, already! I have no idea where this year has gone to be honest.

At the beginning of the year, I set up a jar to contain all the positive things that happened throughout the year. This is how it looks on December 31st:

It may not look very full but it doesn’t need to be. As someone who is always more inclined to focus on the negative than the positive this was a great way to round up the year. It is proof that plenty of good stuff happened this year and that it wasn’t just me breezing through another 365 days with nothing to show for it.

I went to Orlando in March and got to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter armed with some Red Vines (“What the hell can’t they do?”), went Minion mad in Universal Studios and got to eat in the Ball Room from Beauty and the Beast which was amazing.

I got my Sherlock Holmes poem published in the book “The Art of Deduction”. While I don’t actually write poetry, I am thrilled to be able to say that I have officially been published in a tangible book. And with a piece that I am actually very proud of.

I became a fully fledged Nerdfighter, watching the entirety of the Vlogbrothers videos over the course of a few months and participating in the wonder that is Project for Awesome this month.

I discovered the wonders of the Potter musicals the early part of the year and truly discovered Starkid in the last few months with their other musicals (so much love for Holy Musical B@man!)

I joined a writing group (well, technically it was last December, but we really came into our own this year, I feel) which was one of the best decisions ever. I wouldn’t have gotten close to my meagre 80k without them and their support.

Speaking of writing, I started a new story and, while I am only midway through, I am still enjoying writing it nearly a year later and I still love my characters which I think is quite a feat in and of itself.

I met Neil Gaiman with my friend Laura when he was down here for a Q&A and road naming. It was a loooong day but a lot of fun!

I arranged a (somewhat ambitious!) book sale for the RNIB, raising a total of £200 and getting a lot of support from publishers and authors who offered signed editions for my auction. It isn’t something I will probably attempt again but I’m glad I did it.

Got to spend a day in Victorian Portsmouth thanks to our Victorian Christmas Festival which was, to be frank, pretty magical.

I had a chat via e-mail with Peter Collington who wrote (or illustrated, technically) one of my favourite children’s books: The Angel and the Soldier Boy. He then sent me a sketch of one of my favourite scenes which was just amazing.

Iron Man 3, Supernatural, The Last of Us, The Night Circus, Lego Marvel Superheroes, Two Guys and a Girl, Thundercats all things that kept me entertained throughout the year.

The adventures of Laura and Catherine in Sway…man. Never stay in a B&B in the middle of nowhere, folks! At least make sure there is a Co-op nearby. But while it was something of disaster, it was still a lot of fun with good food and plenty of words which helped me win July’s Camp Nano! (We shall not speak of actual Nano…) And also not forgetting WIPMarathon which proved very useful for me back in August!

I also created Nerd Cord, my Etsy shop that has completely surpassed my expectations.

So, in all, quite a packed year and one that makes me smile to look back on. May 2014 bring just as many pieces of paper to fill a jar, and I definitely recommend it to anyone that feels a little glum on New Year’s Eve.