Those of you that have been following my blog for a while will know that I like to take some time every year, on Thanksgiving (USA) to write a blog post where I express some of the things over the last year that I have to be thankful for.*

The last few years have seen some of the most monumental changes of my life, marriage, separation, two transatlantic moves, a surprise dog, some major career progression and a home of our own last year!

This year opened with a lot of stress as the unemployment continued, pandemic was starting to really take it’s toll, and a LOT of work was needed on our home. Early this year I was able to get a job thanks to a friend in the area who was able to refer me. I also joined the local Rotary club as a means to become more active in the local community.

Slowly but surely over the course of the year, we have gotten the home into a liveable state. There’s plenty more to do but we have running water, a kitchen, comfy bed – the essentials. Just earlier this week – I reorganized my desk to be a much better layout for both my work and hobbying.

Speaking of the hobbying, I have had an outstanding year, I taught my first convention classes at ReaperCon, I was able to maintain a steady flow of commissions throughout the year while still able to get through some of my own painting backlog. I’ve been interviewed in a podcast, I’ve grown my Instagram presence and established a major hobby mentoring group for partnering people with mentors and students so they can help each other improve. I also became VP of my local IPMS group.

I’ve also been able to get more consistent gaming in over the last year with some of the games that I’ve long struggled to play actually hitting the table, sometimes even more than once! A lot of the gaming has ended up being online but that’s also been a good way to stay in touch with friends back in the UK.

It’s been a pretty strong year given the many setbacks we’ve faced and I look forward to next year and trying to continue moving forward down this path!

*yes I am aware that Thanksgiving has some awful history behind it however I believe the exercise of focusing on things I have to be thankful for is good for me and this holiday provides a good opportunity to do so.