The Forsyths in 2023

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

June: Majorca - I went with my lovely sister Hannah for a surprise birthday trip arranged by Adam

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.

Well, it's certainly been a year of learning, adventure and rollercoasters! He's had to really put in extra hours and has become a bit of an AI whizz! Chat GPT has pretty much become a 5th member of our family! No longer do we 'google that' - we Chat GPT it. But seriously, it has brought a crazy amount of new functionality to his role and the stuff he's figured out how to do is WAY beyond my comprehension.

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! 

 ----

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...? 

The Forsyths in 2022

 For any of our family and friends in far (and not so far) flung places, if you’d like a little glimpse into what our lives looked like in 2022… then here you go!

Overall:

We managed a year without moving - woohoo! We genuinely love our house, our cul de sac, and our village - it’s gorgeous! Fingers crossed we’re here for many more years (we’re serial movers though, so who the hell knows! I’m hopeful though! 2 years so far…)

We’ve been lucky to go on some fab holidays this year:

April saw us fly to Canada to visit Adam’s sisters (Emma & Jenni + family) and then from there fly to New York/New Jersey to see my sister (Esther + family). We absolutely LOVED that trip - spent some wonderful time with family and also saw some amazing things. 

In May half term we visited the Greek island, Rhodes for a fantastic all inclusive week away. It was filled with swimming, sunbathing, relaxing, food, a boat trip, snorkelling, beach trips… and more food! 

At the end of August, we got our 2020 postponed holiday to the caravan site in Berny Riviere (North East France). We’ve been there a few times before and it’s a definite favourite! We were particularly chuffed because, due to it being postponed twice, we got a fancy upgraded thing - even had a dishwasher!! Amazing!! 

And finally, Adam and I went to Krakow, Poland in October for 2 nights away together whilst my wonderful mum had the boys. It was very special - such a gorgeous old city, and we also had a trip to the Salt Mines that are TRULY spectacular!! Well worth a visit. 

Now, on to individual updates… 

Adam:

Funnily enough, the very end of 2022 was also the very end of Adam’s job at Transform Medical Group. He’s joining/helping start a company called the Healthcare Collective doing a fairly similar thing, but as a business partner in a new start up. It’s very exciting (and slightly nerve wracking - as is any start up) so we’re looking forward to what the next year will bring.

Other than work, he’s still very much into his health and fitness, and completed a number of regimes this year like P90X, Insanity, and others that I’m not sure of the name, but involves lots of pulls up and press ups - he can even do one of those fancy ones where you jump and clap in between reps… very impressive! 

He’s an amazing dad, as ever, and the boys have very much bonded over their shared love of Xbox gaming. Any time I mention I might be going out in the evening, there’s an immediate chant of, “Boys night! Boys night! Boys night!” which usually involves loaded nachos and gaming! 

Josh:

2023 will mean the next school chapter for Josh! He’ll be entering secondary school!! But not yet, he’s currently in year 6 and ranges between loving school and being with his friends, to being utterly fed up of the idea of education for the next 7+ years of his life! 

In September, he had a pretty bad break in his ankle during football, and had an operation to shift a growth plate back in place and pull out some cartilage (or something) that had managed to slot inside the gap created. He was on crutches and ‘no weight’ for 6 weeks, a moon boot for 4 or 5 weeks, and now has a bit of a limp when he runs, but the physio is pleased with his progress. He’s been gutted to miss out on sports though as he absolutely loves footie, rugby, cricket and anything else that requires some sort of sports ability (definitely didn’t get that one from me!!)

Other than that, he’s still very much into all the geeky things his parents have bred into him - Star Wars, Harry Potter, lego etc. but also (as said above) is very much into gaming whenever he’s allowed (we do try to limit it, of course!)

Joey:

Bless our little baby kangaroo! He’s an absolute ball of energy and excitement 99% of the time! We’d already discussed his ADHD with him earlier in the year, but hadn’t quite known how to approach telling him he was also autistic. 

A month or so ago in the car, he randomly pipes up, “mum, dad, I think I’m autistic.” I’m not sure whether someone at school had mentioned it, or if he’d realised after watching a video in a class, but either way, what was lovely after we explained that he was right, was that he followed it up with “it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong, just that my brain sees things differently to some people”  - what a sweetheart. 

He’s a good’un. Challenging as hell at times, but always there with a ready smile and a hug that never ends (especially at bed time when he’s trying to distract you from the fact that he should be going to sleep!)

He loves anything active, as well as Pokemon, Beast Quest, jigsaw puzzles, lego, and listening to audible whilst asking Alexa every 3 minutes how much time he’s got left on the sleep timer. 

Me: 

2022 brought a new job for me! I left HSL in August (just shy of 5 years to the day that I started in 2017!) and started at ITV as a Senior Communications Exec in their Content Supply & Distribution department. It’s a bit complex to go into what they do (I still don’t fully understand all of it!!) but basically they’re the guys who get the programmes and content that’s been created onto the TV or streaming service - sort of like the engine room! 

It’s a big department of 350 people, and I’m in charge of all of the internal communications for everyone as well as raising their profile outside of the department (sometimes the ‘engine room’ gets forgotten when it works, so it’s important to get it out there what we actually do!) I also help out with the communications for the ITV Able Network (the disability network) and the Leeds Social committee.

I’ll be honest, for the first 4-6 weeks I felt really lost and overwhelmed, there were even times where I was worried I’d made a mistake because I felt like I suddenly didn’t know anything at all! Buuuut, once that initial bedding in process had passed, my confidence came back and now (3 ½ months on), I’m a lot more settled and can honestly say I love working there. The people are genuinely wonderful, and I’m really into a rhythm and feel like I’ve got a vague idea what I’m doing now - always a plus! What’s lovely is that in a recent 1-2-1 with my manager, she said that she was really happy with how things had been going and that since I’d been there they’d seen a huge difference (a good one… thankfully haha). 

Other than work (sorry, I get a bit carried away), this year I’ve rediscovered a love of reading. I’d begun 2022 determined to start reading again, and had been making my way through books fairly quickly, so Adam kindly got me a Kindle for my birthday in June and we signed up for Kindle Unlimited. Ooooh my gosh! It’s amazing!! I have read so many books!! I’ll be honest, none of them are particularly challenging, and 95% of them have had a very definite love story nonsense theme running through them, but it’s been wonderful to enter a world of books again! Honestly, I will regularly be up until midnight (and later) reading… I need to set a resolution to turn off at 10.30!!...... Maybe 11 hahahaa! 

I’ve babbled on about myself for far too long, but ah well! If you’ve managed to make it this far - well done, I’m going to close off by saying that I love you all (probably… I presume if you’ve clicked the link that we had a good connection at some point in our lives hahaha). Thank you for whatever relationship we have or have had. I know the people around me have hugely impacted my life for good (mostly), and I’m grateful for that. 

Wishing you all happiness, health and prosperity in this coming year… lots of love to you all xxx

The Forsyths in 2021

A few years ago, in lieu of Christmas cards, I wrote a little update on where our family was, what we were up to and our highlights from the year. Since then, I’ve still not sent any Christmas cards, but also ended up forgetting the update too – how very ‘Martha’ – haha!

Anyway! Thanks to the lovely extended days off this year (how awesome is a Monday bank holiday 2 days AFTER new year?!) I’ve got some time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and babble on in a meandering soliloquy that you are very welcome to read if you fancy.

So, without further ado, here’s a little summary for each member of the family:

Adam

Our favourite Mackem has been working at Transform Hospital Group as their Digital Marketing Manager for nearly 2 years now. He started on 23^rd March – the DAY lockdown started!! So he’s been working remotely the whole time. Since then, his team ended up moving from Manchester to Glasgow, so now he has the occasional trip across the border to meet with the rest of the team.

He’s still very much into fitness – having completed P90X, Insanity and all those types of things, and is impressively focussed when he wants to eat healthily. During the summer we had a race to lose ½ stone and he beat me (and then lost another ½ stone!) and the winning prize he chose was a 3 night trip to Majorca! We all went along though, so I wasn’t overly upset that he won!

His infectious cheekiness and sense of fun is still as alive as it ever was, and everyone loves being with him. My mum regularly lets me know what a lovely husband I have and what an amazing daddy the boys have, and I do happen to agree with her actually… 😊

Martha

I had a bit of a change around with work this year. I left HSL in August 2020 after a challenging time during early Covid, and ended up working with Adam at Transform for 10 months! We were sat next to each other (I mean… we were sat at home at the end of the dining room, but we were also on all the same Marketing meetings etc haha!)

I actually loved working with him, but the role itself wasn’t what I’d hoped and when my old manager got in touch to ask whether I’d consider coming back to HSL – with a nice promotion (I went from Communications Exec to Communications Manager) I thought, why not? I’ve enjoyed being back with some familiar faces (though a lot of the original crew aren’t there anymore and I do miss them), and have enjoyed stretching my creative writing side again.

I still love to bake, go on walks, and have started reading more again. I want to carry that through into 2022 and am going to challenge myself to read at least 1 book a month (I know that doesn’t sound a lot, but I think I read a sum total of about 3 books in 2020!)

Josh(ua)

Josh (he stopped being Joshie a couple years ago *sob*) is now in Year 5 at school and is (overall) enjoying it. He went on his first residential in September and had an absolute BALL! He loved every minute.

His favourite subjects are history and geography and he says he wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up. He was particularly pleased this year when we went to visit my Auntie Jane near Norwich, and he heard that she’d been excavating some Roman ruins, and not only that… but that the Celtic Warrior Boudicca had walked the very walk that we went on together!

He’s a very sociable boy and is very caring and aware of people’s feelings (most the time). His teachers say he’s always the first one there when people are upset or have hurt themselves and will try to help wherever he can.  

Joey

Joey – our very own baby kangaroo (!) is his usual amazing self. He lives life at 100 miles an hour, but is also very sweet and gives the biggest hugs – not just a quick squeeze and he’s off – no, he holds on for as long as time allows.

He began an SEN referral in Autumn 2019 and this year we finally had his assessment and diagnosis – autism and ADHD. I know not everyone is in favour of having a diagnosis (or ‘label’) but I’m so glad that we went through the process. It’s helped us and his teachers understand his unique way of seeing the world a little better. He’s not severely autistic thankfully, but it shows itself in ways that you wouldn’t always realise (if you’re interested, I’m happy to discuss privately, but I won’t put it here for all to see 😊 ).

He loves all things Pokemon and is incredibly impressive in his ability to retain information about them. He’s a keen artist and loves to tell us how talented he is 😊 He’s also his happiest when out in the wilds – going for a walk with our Joey is always an adventure and I’m sure he takes about 3x the number of steps as we do as he whizzes around like a puppy discovering trees for the first time.

Our 2021 top 10 (in no particular order – just as they pop into my mind!)

1. Our trip to Dubai (the Atlantis Water Park was particularly incredible)

2. The last minute, spur of the moment 3 night holiday to Majorca – after so many cancelled holidays it was AMAZING. 

3.     Our bathroom makeovers – particularly our on-suite – sooo beautiful! (we moved to a new house in Nov 2020)

4. Visiting the tank museum in Norwich (we had a week in a caravan there, but the tank museum was probably Adam and the boys’ favourite thing that year up to that point)

5.    The boys starting Karate classes (Adam’s quite jealous!)

6. Visiting Stonehenge for the first time (I know it’s just a pile of rocks, but it felt so special for all of us)

7.  Finding new walks in and around Roberttown – we really love being in such a lovely little Yorkshire village that is situated in so much countryside. 

8.  Completing our paint by numbers geek wall (honestly, it sounds juvenile, but paint by numbers is exactly the kind of mindfulness malarkey that works for us)

9. A caravan holiday to Cornwall with the Smith family. Lovely to spend time with them, and bonus – this year Joey didn’t break an ankle! (He fell over on a crazy golf course and ended up in a moon boot on our first Cornwall excursion in 2020!) 

10. Adam’s 2021 birthday cake… honestly, it was something else!! Eton Mess inspired – Victoria sponge cake layers, sandwiched with Chantilly cream, strawberries, blueberries and crushed meringue. Smothered in slightly salted ganache and decorated with assorted fruit, more meringue and a white chocolate shard. 

That’s all folks! I hope you are all well and looking forward to 2022!

 Lots of love to family and friends near and far.

 

From

Martha, Adam, Josh & Joey xx

The Forsyths in 2017

Hi all,
So last year I did a little newsletter type update on here, and I think it's always a nice way to look back and reflect on the 12 previous months - the ups and downs, the good times and the bad, the fun and the heartache... I sound like I'm writing wedding vows!
Anywho, I'll get right into it...

Overall
We've had a very busy year... we started off in Redditch, Adam at Superdream, me at Tesco, Josh at a local lovely school, and Joey at a little pre-school that he enjoyed. We've now ended the year 100 miles North, in a wonderful old town called Mirfield in West Yorkshire, and it's all change on our work/education.
In around March time, we felt like it was time that we make the move that we were planning for "some time in the future" - I'd always loved Yorkshire (having spent many a happy childhood time at some family friends' house in... or near... Meltham), a number of Adam's family members live here, and we loved all the rolling countryside and small towns/villages. We also knew that there was a lot of work for Adam's line of work in Leeds and Manchester... so the logical route for us eventually, was to move up here.
Originally, we'd thought we'd do it at some point before Josh started secondary school, but a number of reasons (I won't go into it here) meant that we felt prompted to look into the idea of moving earlier than planned. Once we started the process of dipping our toe into it, it all rolled very quickly! Adam was offered a job within a few weeks of reaching out to a couple of recruiters, the house sold within days of going on the market, and we very quickly found a house that we totally loved, and, conveniently, was in the same town as Adam's mum... it all just "fell into place".
We were sad to leave some lovely people we'd met in Redditch but we felt like it was the right next step. 

Adam (32)

He's had lots going on this year, he'd progressed well at Superdream and was managing his own team. Once we moved, he actually continued working for them for a few months - doing 3 days at home, and 2 days at the office, which whilst he loved the company and colleagues, eventually proved to be a bit too much of a strain on time he spent with the kids (he was putting the boys to bed on a Sunday night, and then not seeing them until Wednesday morning!) So when a recruiter called him about a job in Manchester (well actually... probably the 5th or 6th recruiter!!), he agreed to speak to the company, and once that started, he discovered a great online gifting company, has been promoted to Head of Search Engine Marketing, and is able to learn and progress in the direction he wants to be going in. Bless him, he does get up at the crack of dawn every day to get a 6.45 train from Mirfield, but it means he can work 8-4 and is home for dinner (or tea as they call it here) with the boys.

Oh... on a side note, his company sell gorgeous bouquets of flowers, so I get much more regular random surprise flower gifts brought home - epic! :)
Adam has continued with his weight lifting, and by the end of the year, he'd was pressing well over 100kg (doubling his original target!) He's been eating healthily for most of the year (we all have time off at Christmas!) and so this year has been in the best shape of his life.
He's a great husband and daddy, and we all adore his quirky sense of humour and the fun he brings into life.




Joshua (6)

Adam and I were talking recently, and I think that overall, the move was hardest on Joshie, he'd had a lovely school in Redditch,

and some real diamonds at the church we attended - there were 3 brothers who were so welcoming and lovely to him, and were massively into lego, so it was a match made in heaven! Poor kid had a bit of a breakdown a couple weeks after we left and just cried for about 10-15 mins about how much he missed his friends. My heart absolutely broke for him... thankfully things have got much much better.

We managed to get him into a lovely C of E school 10 mins drive from us (the good schools in Mirfield were all full!!), we were very lucky as it's an "Outstanding" school, that was well over subscribed originally, but had a space open up just a few weeks before we moved up. He has made a great group of friends, who have got him into collecting football cards - currently he likes Hudds Town (well, we do live right next to it), and Spurs (might have been helped by my telling him that's the one my brothers support!). He goes to a football club and multi skills (some sort of sports each week) after school that he loves, recently started Beavers, and will be going to a Drawing and Painting after school club in January.

He loves to write stories at school, he was in a celebration assembly at school recently and praised for an adaptation he wrote on the 3 billy goats gruff - it was the "3 Cheetah's and the Zombie Under the Bridge"- wow! He also enjoys maths, and having options for school lunch! :)
He's a kind and generous person who shares so nicely and really feels emotions. He loves unconditionally and really tries hard in everything he puts his mind to. We love him very much. 



Joey (3 1/2)

Our little "destructo boy" has absolutely loved having a grassy and exciting garden to play in, during the summer (and some of the winter!) he was constantly there digging, exploring and having a generally awesome time. 
He's started at a lovely new day nursery and they are brilliant with him. Unfortunately we've had some challenging times with him too... we had noticed for a while that he seemed to have been a lot behind Josh was at his age, but just thought he would "grow out of it"... these development issues had been noticed at nursery, and after a few different observations and meetings, he's been put on a "My Care Plan", which will basically mean he gets a little extra funding and a bit more one on one time to help him in his understanding, speech and some large group social events. The phrase "autism spectrum" was mentioned in early meetings, but no official labels have been given, and they're hoping that with some more one on one time, we can hopefully bring him up to the same "speed" as the kids his age.

He's an absolute scream though... he is hilarious in his own little way, he makes us laugh (and pull our hair out!) every day, he's very intense and passionate about the things he wants to do, and can be an absolute charmer with his gorgeous little smile when he wants to be. We've been having the challenge of potty training him... I did a daily update on the blog a little while ago, which was fairly amusing... he's totally there with wees now, but the other aspect... well, lets just say we've thrown lots of pants away! 
We love our little crazy Joey though... life is definitely an adventure with him in it!

Me (31)

You know what... I have got so much to be grateful for this year. We had established some lovely friendships in Redditch, and after we first moved, I was worried that we might have made a mistake... but very quickly, I met some absolutely lovely mums at a local group, and they are so lovely and welcoming that I've felt settled very quickly. We've been out for nights out here and there too, so I feel like I'm properly established and happy.  I'd also been thinking hard about what I wanted to do work wise, and was applying for any and all part time jobs, and had assumed that it would have to be another "just fits around the kids, put my future career on the back-burner again" type job... but a few weeks into looking I saw a job for a Marketing Administrator at HSL Chairs that was 20 hours a week, and that really seemed interesting - and in the first instance, it included proof reading- woooo!! I could use previous admin experience, and also start towards feeling like I was using my degree (English - graduated 2009)! I applied, and hoped and prayed that maybe I'd hear back... and within a couple of weeks I was invited for interview!! I then found out that one of the mums in Mirfied actually worked there, and so I was able to speak to her about tips for interview etc, it felt so right, that I was worried I was getting far too carried away with it all and that I was due a big bump to reality... but guess what? I got it!! I got the job and started in mid August. I've really enjoyed it, my colleagues are so lovely, and have even been able to start doing some blog writing for them, and helping out with an internal newspaper. It's also school hours, so I don't need to worry about never being around for the kids whilst they're young, but I also feel like I could be on the step towards a career.
I have my ups and my downs, I feel emotions far too strongly (wish I could put a regulator on that!), but overall I'm happy. I have a fantastic husband, strong, healthy and lovely (most the time ;) ) kids, a home that I really love, in an area that has history and character, and fields!! and a job that I am always happy to go to. 

We've had a crazy year (do we ever not?!), but we've had some really lovely and exciting turns in our road of life! Thank you to all the old and new friends and family that have been part of it all. We love you.