Helloooo,
Well, I figured I'd do one of these again for anyone who might like a little bit of an update on what's been going on at Casa de Forsyth!
It's been a bit of a rollercoaster year actually... some big milestones, travelling more than ever before, aaand... well, we've ticked something off our bucket list that we thought wasn't going to happen for at least another 10-20 years! More on that later (ooh... look at me being all *build the tension*)
First up, and without wanting to sound braggy (honestly, we always manage to find really great deals on these getaways - I do a lot of shopping around/alerts for flight releases/filters etc), here's a list of all the parts of our wonderful world that we visited this year:
April - Turkey (Bodrum) - Family holiday during the Easter holidays
May - Athens - Adam went with a friend
May to June: New Jersey/York - family trip to visit the wonderful Daniels family
August: Calgary - Family trip to see Adam's amazing sisters - Jennie and Emma (plus families)
October: South Spain (near Murcia) - Adam and I went on a very last minute (literally planned a few days before) trip to view some apartments... *oooh... she gives a few more breadcrumbs to the bucket list*
October: Majorca - Adam and I went on our "just the two of us" trip that my wonderful mother facilitates by having the kids. This had already been planned and booked several months before, so the one we'd done earlier in the month was just a happy coincidence!
So yes, travel has been a ridiculously big thing this year... we've both said how crazy fortunate we've been to be able to do these things. Honestly, if anyone wants any of the tips and tricks I've discovered along the way, I'm very happy to share 😉
Individual updates
Adam:
Adam has had a bit of a bonkers year at work... I think I mentioned in last year's update that he'd just embarked on a new business venture - becoming a partner in a start up private healthcare company.
On a personal note, he's still very much into his fitness. He works out for close to an hour a day, 6 mornings a week. I'm always amazed at his motivation - especially as it's not like he wants to get up - he just does it! And then he enjoys the exercise once he's done that! Talking of motivation... he's also taken up reading inspirational books again too. He's read a fair few - including telling me I need to count down from 5 when I want to do something - not count up... it does work (sometimes).
Josh
Our Josh started high school this year!! It was a bit of a nerve wracking moment for all of us if I'm honest... He's a real empath - really feeling the feelings of others, but also his own emotions are super intense... there have been a few interesting moments at school so far, but we're getting there and learning as we go.
At school he's loving history, WWI literature and PE. He also started rugby this year and has absolutely loved every second! He's playing at a local team and he's doing really well. We recently took him to a final for the older team and the juniors got to walk out with them - he was in his element!
Other than that, he's still our big geek at heart - into all the Star Wars (Clone Wars specifically), Lord of the Rings, gaming, lego etc. - as well as the usual mindless scrolling on his phone (of course). We're having to teach him the difference between legitimate videos and conspiracy theories (not everything on the internet is true as it turns out 😜). He loves spending time with his brother - either messing around or with him... mostly the latter (fuuuun), but I hope they'll be firm friends one of these days (I remember my brothers!!)
He's kind and loving and we're lucky to have him as part of our family.
Joey
Well our little firecracker had some big moments this year too... he always has a way of making us laugh - whether on purpose or just from his very literal sense of humour. We were watching The Revenge of the Sith the other day, and he pipes up: "hmm... I guess Anikin will just have to go to the second hand shop!"
I think I mentioned in our update last year that he'd acknowledged and accepted his autism and ADHD. Well, that's continued and he's begun to accept and cope with certain aspects - for example, he's started to wear noise cancelling headphones if he's somewhere overwhelming (especially noisy). He'll laugh about his apt name - being a baby kangaroo with endless energy... and he fully owns it!
Like his brother, he's discovered a new sport which he has a passion for - basketball! We originally tried him at an athletics thing... but it was mostly long distance running, and he just gets so distracted by what's around him and he's so unbothered about playing to anyone else's tune that he'll literally just stop and meander along the rest of the running track if he was done! Basketball on the other hand - always new things to react to, bouncing and moving are encouraged, and he's loving all the team sports (he's not 100% a team player yet, but we're working on it!)
He's an absolute sweetheart and brings us a lot of joy.
Me
Well, I always feel odd doing this about myself, but I'll try... There were a couple of big moments this year that I was proud of. The biggest one was that in July I managed to raise £750 for Cancer Research UK for doing a 10k. This was utterly overwhelming and unexpected (I'd originally set the goal at £100!!) In case any of you aren't aware, my wonderful, amazing sister Bethany was diagnosed with two types of cancer last year (hodgkins lymphoma and thyroid cancer), so I wanted to feel like I was doing a little something where I could. The 10k itself nigh on killed me, but I managed to do it with only about 2 mins of walking (shhhh). I was very very slow, but I kept up a jog pretty much the whole way up and down Blackpool promonade.
Something that really enhanced my life was back in April was that I asked my very lovely manager if there would be any scope for me to work a 4 day week instead of 5. She said we could trial it and see if I managed to get everything done. Well... after stupidly forgetting that April AND May had several bank holiday Mondays and actually working a fair few 3 day weeks, 4 days was a breeze! 8 months later and I haven't looked back! It gives me a chance to go on a walk and cafe visit with friends in the morning, then have time for life admin in the afternoon (or just chill) before it's school pick up time - the DREAM!
Another big work moment for me this year was walking with the ITV contingent at the Leeds Pride Parade. It was such a wonderful thing to be a part of - so full of energy, love and light! Amazing amazing!
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Right! Well, if you've got this far down - well done! I'll finally tell you the "bucket list" item...
Adam and I have bought an apartment in SPAIN!! It's very very exciting!! We always wanted to get somewhere abroad "one day" - we'd been putting money away for a while with the vague idea that we'd maybe manage it in our 50s or something. Buuuut... In late September, Adam's randomly asked his close friend, Chat GPT, where the cheapest places to buy in Europe were... and one of the options it gave was in the Murcia region in South Spain... long story short, we ended up flying over in early October to view a few places and found and fell in love with a 2 bed place at United Golf Resorts near La Tercia. It was only $54,000 (yes, we got a mortgage for it - we're not freaking THAT good at saving!!) and the ground fees are about 1/4 the price of a UK caravan site!! Amaaaaazing!! The reason it's so reasonable is because the golf course closed down a few years ago - but it still has 9 swimming pools, tennis court, football pitch, basketball, a bar run by locals and lots of nearby walks. It's about 20 mins drive from the beach and about 25 mins to Murcia. We're a little bit over the moon with it.
We're not going to let it out as an investment, but if anyone would like "friends and family mates rates", please do get in touch! It's a win win as far as we're concerned! You get a cheap holiday and we get some money towards the mortgage! Drop me a line 😉
Anyway! That's all folks! We love you and we're grateful for all our wonderful friends and family.
Onto 2024! What adventures will this next year bring us all...?
