Happy New Year. 2023 escaped me. It was a busy year.
January started off like any other year. I was still working as a researcher in the stroke survivor project and demonstrating anatomy for the medical school. Not much happened in January, outside of work and Zumba a few days a week. February, the boyfriend, and I celebrated 4 years together. We celebrated by seeing a play at the local theatre where we had our first date. In March, I started a hula hoop class on the days I was off. This is not the normal hula hoop that you get when you are a kid. This hoop is weighted. The hoop, that I now own, is 1.8 kg and gosh that class is hard. My first class in March, I was happy to keep it up for 5 seconds. April was more exciting! We travelled to France to see my brother who was coaching. This was the first time any of us had been to France, the first time my boyfriend had meet my brother, and it was 5 years since I had seen him. It was such a great trip/reunion. Bordeaux was an amazing place and I loved watching my brother do what he loves, and he is amazing at it. We found an all-gluten free bakery which I obsessed over and dragged us to every day. The grocery store was huge and amazing! It was a great trip. I would go back.
In May, was Eurovision! I love Eurovision. Outside of the flashy lights, it is by far one of the funniest events on TV. At the end of May, I spoke at my first conference. I travelled to the Netherlands and spoke about the survivors of stroke research I was working on. I was one of two non-physiotherapists there. The town I was in was really small. In June, the boyfriend and I saw Kinky Boots at the University theatre. On June 16th, we went out to dinner and afterwards went for a walk. During the walk, I was asked a question "Will you marry me?" The answer was yes. Well, there was shock, and then the answer, but the answer eventually came. 😂 Phone calls were made, and shock lasted a while. Perfect timing too, as mom and some family had just arrived down south to visit. While family was here, the fiancé and I showed them around this part of the country, and we even managed to teach the fiancé the game of spoons. I hadn't seen my aunt, uncle, or cousin in 5 years, so it was great seeing them as well. We were so busy that one day we decided to just relax and see the new Indiana Jones movie. While they were there, we had an engagement dinner so my family could meet most of his immediate family. It was a fun dinner and nice to see the two families coming together.
In July, we had engagement photos done by his brother and they look amazing. I threw a tiny get together in my flat for one of my favourite holidays in July! We watched the parade, shared some food, laughs, and had some fun. I love that holiday!
In August, I went with my future sister-in-law and her daughter to try on some dresses just to get an idea of what I was looking for. Nothing really peaked my interest so we headed to a hotel for cocktails. 🍸 That was a bit more fun. I also attended a birthday party for a puppy and got to know my future SIL family a bit more. Coming from a family where it was just mom, my brother and I, this is a huge family I am marrying into! She has 6 kids, and they all have kids and that’s only one of his siblings. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I love this new family of mine. I also started a new role in August. I switched from survivors of stroke to adolescent athletes and injuries. I absolutely love it. It is nice going back to the exercise science and anatomy field. I also attempted ariel hula hoop. The Zumba/hoop teacher runs an ariel hula hoop class and had an open day at one of the town halls for a festival. That hoop was so hard to get into and I felt like such a dork once I did get into it, but it was so much fun!
In September, we went to Comic Con. It was so hot but fun. I got pictures of Captain Jack from Doctor Who and Yandu from Guardians of the Galaxy. I also had another dress appointment and was able to say Yes to the Dress! I absolutely love my dress. We went to a place that was closing and they were lovely. While I was trying on dresses my future SIL skyped my mom so she could be part of the experience and see the dresses. In October, there was some sort of event or activity every weekend. We celebrated the fiancé’s Aunt's 93rd birthday with a surprise dinner for her. She was so surprised and happy. It was a nice meal with great company. We went to a 2 person play in the next town over. It was interesting. The concept was basically the actors would play out one scene, and then act it out a different way to show how a decision can impact their life. Then it would play out for a while and then rewind and react with a different decision. Then I surprised the fiancé with the Game of Thrones Studio Tour for his birthday. I really recommend it, even if you haven't seen the show. It was cool to see costumes, set designs, and props. The following weekend we went to another town to try out some wedding food. Wedding planning has been going on for a while and slowly coming together.
In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving again this year with the future SIL and future brother-in-law. The fiancé and I cooked, and they provided desserts. I had my first sticky toffee pudding. I am hooked! We also taught them spoons. We had such a fun night. I also started Pilates and yogalates at the end of November. This Pilates class is the closest thing I can find so far to the one I took back home and loved. It is still different, but it is fast paced like Pilates. This one changes every week and sometimes she does a guided meditation at the end. In December, I finally reached 8 whole songs in Hula hoop. Happy days. That class is rough, and there were days I wanted to quit. I don't think I have ever had a more challenging fitness class- outside of trying to learn golf for one of the Kinesiology classes in my undergraduate degree. I don't think I will ever forget trying to learn golf- I don't think mom will ever forget trying to teach me either. 😁😂
In December, the fiancé and I went back to the USA for Christmas. I dragged him from person to person and place to place. Well, mom drove us person to person and place to place. I have not driven in 5 years and by the way I kept getting the directions wrong while we were there, it is maybe a good thing I did not drive. There were a few places I had not been so, so it was a new adventure for the both of us. It was fun showing him my university, the church I grew up in and introducing him to friends and family. It was really nice seeing my nieces and nephew after 5 years. It was so fun going wedding shoping with my nieces, sister in law, best friend, and mom. It was a nice visit but the 10 days went by way to fast. We celebrated the new year with the fiancé's dad and skyping my best friend and then my mom. Now we are in to 2024. So far it has been a good start. Work is back in session. Wedding planning is in full swing, and life is pretty good. Zumba and hula hoop has started back and pilates and yogalates start in a few weeks. I have also been teaching myself British Sign Language. It has taken me a while to get through the alphabet as its very different from the American Sign Language alphabet. Hopefully, I can sign sentences soon.
Hopefully, I will post more this upcoming year. Untill then, have a wonderful start to 2024!
