~ 21 ~

I know that it's been a while since my birthday but I felt that, before writing about turning #TWENTY2, I needed to write about being 21, and everything that came with that.

I'm always reluctant to use "the best year of my life" because I've only had 22 of them and since the first 5 barely count because I can't really remember them, I always feel like I'm being a bit hyperbolic by saying it. With that being said, if I was going to choose a best year of my life out of the relatively small selection I have, I think 21 would have to be the year I picked.

So much has happened this year.

Not just big, life-changing things (although there's been plenty of them) but smaller, easily missed moments that have added up to one of the happiest, and most exciting, years of my life.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't all been sunshine and roses and rainbows or anything. There have been a lot of shitty moments. A lot of friendships have ended, or faded into silence. A relationship ended. 3rd year almost finished me, and I don't think I have ever been so stressed in all my life. But at the risk of sounding cliché, I really do think I am better for all of the shit that has come with this year. I am stronger, braver, learning to apologise more (but only when it is needed), and finally learning what kind of people I want in my life.

The bad has also made the good seem all the better. Like when you realise that you mean considerably less than you thought to those you considered friends, your heart will break from the kindness of the friends that are there to offer comfort and love. Discovering that the weeks and months of stress and tears and wanting to give up have paid off in a way you could never have expected. It is so true that the bad helps you appreciate the good.

And boy, has this last year been good.

I suppose I should have known 21 was going to be a special year, considering I celebrated it with my family in Orlando, in Harry Potter World. Also known as: one of my top 10 favourite places on Earth. That day was our first experience of the Hogwarts Express ride, one of my absolute favourite life moments. I struggled not to cry from pure happiness for the whole journey.

~

There were the many, many moments that came with my third year of University:

* Going to a Wheatus concert, hearing Teenage Dirtbag live, and meeting Brendan (who we just called "Wheatus" from then on).

* Not quite Uni related by definitely concert related, Charlie and I spent an evening dancing like teenagers at the McBusted concert we bought tickets to, and it was honestly the best kind of fun.

* Going Paintballing for the first time for Leigh's birthday! I don't actually think I shot anyone but the adrenaline/fear was enough to firmly convince me that a military career will never feature in my future.

* I finally owned my British heritage by trying tea for the first time. I also inadvertently started The Milk Debate of 2015 but hey, at least I found a new drink I liked.

* Meryn and I drove to the top of Cefn Bryn one Saturday morning and had perhaps the prettiest breakfast in all our 3 years in Swansea.

* I gave my first presentation of my degree without messing it up, throwing up, or fainting from nerves!
* Meryn and I went for a coffee one afternoon and ended up with two £5 armchairs. They were not only totally uncomfortable, but they actually wouldn't fit through the internal doorways of our houses. Mine ended up in the living room as a blanket-holder and it did not come with me when I moved out in June.

* I managed to survive the most stressful year of my entire academic career (in fact, it was the most stressed I've ever been, ever).
* I completed the GoApe course in Margam Park, despite spending the whole time threatening Meryn for inviting me. I even think I started to enjoy myself at some point!

* We celebrated Meryn's 21st with a drastic haircut and a terrifying zip wire (that did not have the effect I wanted it to). The evening ended with the four of us singing happy birthday in the dark in a little Italian car somewhere in Swansea marina.

* After hours and hours and hours of time spent worrying, researching, writing, editing, changing, despairing, and rotting somewhere in the depths of the library: I handed in my Final Year Project and was awarded with a 74.

* Varsity. (Need I say more?)

* Me, Tom, Anna and Meryn spent an afternoon walking around Rhossili, which meant I was finaaaally able to see a part of Swansea I'd had on my list of places to visit since I first got there in 2012.

* We celebrated Tom and Anna's 21st birthdays with a little surprise tea party of the four of us. It was such a lovely little break from our revision. I really do love those 3, and I absolutely loved being able to spoil Tom that day as well.

* Despite this last Summer Ball was so different to last year's, and world's apart from first year's, but it was so much fun and I enjoyed myself so much that I would not have changed a moment of it.

* And of course, my time at Swansea ended this year which meant packing up all of my things and moving back home.

* Then this July, I spent a nerve-wracking morning with Tom waiting for our results (I weirdly didn't seem to care until that point). I still can't believe that I managed to achieve a First Class Honours. I couldn't keep the smile off my face on graduation day, and I still get a little burst of pride every time I'm asked about it.
* Speaking of graduating, that whole day was perfect.

~

Leaving Swansea was a really sad part of this year. But it was also really really exciting. It opened up this whole world of possibilities that I'd never really paid much attention to before. Suddenly I could do whatever I wanted; go wherever I wanted.

But it's not like I've been short of going places this year. From the trip to Amsterdam last Halloween with everyone, to a quick weekend visit to Chester a few weekends ago, I've been really lucky with the places I've visited while 21.

Obviously there was Orlando last September: a week long celebration of my 21st, Lottie's 18th, and Mum and Dad's silver wedding anniversary.

I went back to Amsterdam with my friends in October and remembered exactly why I fell in love with the city the year before.

I celebrated the New Year in Dublin, stood on a cold street trying to hear Kodaline playing from behind the walls around the University.

I honestly can't remember how this even came about as an idea but early January saw the exam-less Meryn and I boarding a plane to Poland, where we spent a few days exploring Kraków. I'm not sure what I was actually expecting but it was so different from any expectations I may have had.

I've visited some places closer to home as well! I spent a wintry weekend in Narberth with Meryn, and tasted mulled cider for the first time. Being clever with booking journeys meant I could spend a few days of the Easter holidays with Soph in Poole and other than a weird evening of fog, we were blessed with beautiful weather the whole time I was there. I spent a week in Taunton with Tom's family, staying in a bungalow that completely changed my opinion of them. Cheap train tickets meant I could finally visit Bryony in Chester and I really enjoyed seeing what her life there looks like. Leigh and I had a (long overdue!) afternoon of catching up on everything we had missed since Graduation, with the Brecon Beacons as a backdrop.

The adventures won't be stopping with 21 though. One of the major things that happened this year was that Tom, Meryn and I booked tickets to New Zealand! We will be stopping in Melbourne for 4 nights at the end of this month, before flying on to Auckland where we will be spending the next 6 months living and working on the other side of the world. How insanely exciting?!

~

Of course going away and booking holidays weren't the only things in my life at 21, after the months in University.

I had the immense pleasure of watching my little sister start and finish her first year in University. Being accepted was a surprise to no one other than her and it was so sweet seeing how disbelieving she was as the days to leaving started coming closer. Despite all her fears of not making any friends, or struggling with the work load; she has fallen in love with Carmarthen, her course, and the wonderful group of friends she has made there. Moving her into her second year house was bittersweet for more reasons than one (one obviously being my heartbreak about not being a student anymore) but I could not be more proud of her than I am now.

Speaking of proud moments, my strange-and-sometimes-awful relationship with food got so much better than I could have hoped this year. Anyone that knows me well knows that me and food have a strained relationship at best. Discovering I had IBS and, symptomatic of that, lactose intolerance helped explain a hell of a lot, and subsequently helped me have a relationship with food I could not have dreamed of even two years ago.

I was able to enjoy my Christmas meals last year, something I have never been able to comfortably do. I even managed to eat the Christmas meal the four of us cooked together in Swansea, in spite of the efforts to ruin it, and I was properly able to enjoy sitting with good food and good friends around a table for what felt like the first time ever.

I even managed to successfully go meat free for a week, with Tom, as an experiment and an excuse to experiment with some recipes I had had my eye on. Fancy that! Me wanting to try different foods! Willingly! Even with excitement!! It's something that still amazes me.

My new found love for food was what made one of my Mum's 'surprise' Christmas presents so perfect: a morning in Cardiff attending a cooking class hosted by a local Italian restaurant. Guys, we made pizza. And pasta. And butterfly chicken! There was wine, for cooking and drinking, and I'm fairly certain I was in heaven.

~

And if the food in heaven is Italian, then the sport is definitely rugby. This year was the first year I've ever been to a proper rugby match, in a stadium and everything. Soph and I went to see Wales v South Africa in the Millennium Stadium last November. We might not have won but I was too drunk to even notice by the end of the match and that evening fast became one of our favourite stories to relive and retell. That first experience led to many more and match days with Soph will always be my favourite date to write on my calendar.

Of course, my adventures with Soph weren't limited to rugby. This year saw Soph in Swansea a lot more than we were both expecting and I absolutely loved having her there, and being able to be a shitty tour guide but a great host (KFC in bed anyone?). Plus there is nothing better than seeing your best friend happy and this year was full of that.

Plus, because of the pure magic that Soph can create, she managed to find me, her and Meryn tickets for Taylor Swift in June. Is there a better way to take your mind off leaving University than a weekend in London with #TeamTaylor? No. No there is not. Especially when you're staying in an apartment that has a balcony. It was one of those trips that really made me appreciate just how damn lucky I am to have those two women in my life.

~

The big moments weren't the only things that made this year great though.

There were countless afternoons spent drinking tea in my room with Meryn, discussing everything from University to the beginnings of a conversation that would eventually lead to plane tickets across the world.

I'm not sure how many cups of coffee I had (and I don't think I'd want to know) but I do know that I loved those slow, lazy visits to Costa with Tom or Meryn and sometimes Anna, when we would just sit and let the world go by because that was all we had planned that day.

There were the too-few nights out that were probably better because of that, and the absolutely hilarious incident of the infamous "Do you have a toilet" question. The less hilarious "Guys I've been sick over literally everything and I think I'm dying" and the just plain weird, like the house party where a cyclist was called in off the street and was eventually asked to leave after drinking an entire bottle of Sambuca.

The many, many afternoons/evenings spent watching Tom race. Sometimes with company, sometimes just me. Always fun. (and always cold.)

There was the daily routine of cooking food with Tom, and the amazement that he could make something as mundane as washing up dishes something I would look forward to.

All of the afternoons of revision that were bearable simply because I was sat with him, waiting until our lunch break so we could continue watching The US Office.

The walks home from Uni, in sunsets that seemed to set all of Swansea on fire, knowing I was coming home to him and his goofy little grin.

Because if I had to pick an absolute favourite part of this year, I would probably pick him.

Him teaching me how to herd sheep. How to work the gears on my new bike (bought so that I can one day cycle with him). Him handing me a lamb to hold. Him laughing at my awful jokes, his own awful jokes, my terrible pancake flipping skills. His eyes lighting up every. single. time. he told me about his bike rides. Cuddling him at night. Laughing with him in the mornings. Laughing with him all day long, actually, because life is endless fun when we're together. Knowing I always have someone who is excited to see me, and who wants to hear about my day. Who actually asks about my day. Who encourages me to try new foods, who shares my new-found love of curry, who understands my need for coffee.

I would pick him asking me to be his girlfriend, because I honestly thought my heart would burst with happiness.

~

And of course, my last day as a 21 year old was spent with him; one of the main reasons all the other days of being 21 were so much fun.

It was spent having an amazing breakfast at the Cosy Club (new found food love!).

Booking our LA and Dubai accommodation for the return trips from New Zealand (adventures!).

Shopping for New Zealand extras, and other little bits and bobs (it's the little things).

A meal in Five Guys (enough said).

The night of my last day as a 21 year old ended with us sat in St David's Hall, finally making use of the Kevin Bridges tickets I bought him for his birthday. I spent my evening listening to him laugh at his favourite comedian, and knowing I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

~

A hell of a lot changed from the 9th of September 2014 to the 8th of September 2015. I am in no way the same person I was last year, and my life in no way looks anything like it did last year. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Because 21 was the best year of my life, and I wouldn't change that for the world.