Christmas and 2015 reflections

The year is drawing to a close and what a year it has been. I may post again before the year is fully over, but it felt right to combine reflections on Christmas with thoughts on this year as a whole.

First, Christmas. It was lovely. I was getting a cold, which was less lovely, but it was our first Christmas in our new home and we enjoyed a relaxed and laid back day. There were lots of presents, lots of food, and just the right amount of effort to make it special. There is something to be said for a Christmas where you do everything just the way you want to.

 

In line with "just enough effort", we had a buffet-style Christmas dinner and I made less from scratch than I'd intended. I made roast potatoes, glazed carrots, and salad with pecans and cranberries. I bought hummus and vegan-friendly falafels and spring rolls from Waitrose, and Mr Bite had some sliced roast turkey. I thought about tofu kebabs but we didn't need them; similarly, I thought about individual apple pies but we had plenty of sweet things without.

Even if we hadn't had sufficient sweet items, my Christmas selection would have helped us out. Mr Bite excelled with choosing me some incredible vegan chocolate options. I have a plain dark block, an M&S dark chocolate with ginger block, a Doisy & Dam dark chocolate with ginger, chilli flakes and hemp seeds block (which I've admired on several occasions but resisted on account of price), individual flavoured chocolates by Moo Free, and caramel choices to round things off. When I'm not eating chocolate I can be drinking tea, reading, bathing with Body Shop apple bath gel, and considering when to use various vouchers, including an outing to nearby Hever Castle and use of the digital magazine site Readly.

In all, I am well positioned for the end of the year. Unlike previous years, I didn't set many goals for 2015. To repeat my exact phrasing: "The reason is that I have relatively few, but those I do have are relatively large. We want to look into moving somewhere bigger than our current 1-bedroom apartment, most likely in the commuter zone just outside of London. We may get a car to accompany that move. And...I have a charity place in the London Marathon."

A year on, we have moved, we do have a car, and I did run the London Marathon. It has been a full year and a fulfilling one. I feel very lucky.

It has also been a full year at the end of several equally momentous years. Life is busy! With that, sometimes my blogging is less consistent than it once was. Sometimes I feel like blogging less than I once did. Going into 2016, I have decided to accept that and even embrace it. So, from here on, I am abandoning posting schedules and my sense that I "should" post at least 3 times per week. I have decided it matters more to me that I post recipes I want to share (accompanied by photos I want to share) than to hit publish on something for the sake of it. I'll still be reading blogs and I will still be posting, but the frequency is likely to vary according to whim and time.

On that note, I hope that your own 2015 is drawing to a happy end - and that 2016 brings all you want it to.

Do you have plans for celebrating the new year?

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