My 2013

So can you believe it? It has been a whole year, since I have started blogging!

A WHOLE YEAR!!

 

And I had almost 11900 views!

 

And I have actually really enjoyed it! I've blogged about allsorts, including blogs about my favourite films, TV shows and music.

Brought you blogs about the earth and environment along with the great British Weather! Talked about some of the main news stories through the year. And I have shared some of my great experiences that I have been challenging through this year. Not only that but I have also shared some of my crazy dreams in my Dream Diary blogs. It seems such a long time since My first blog. The following links take you back to blogs I put up about myself throughout the year!

 
2013 for me was a rollercoaster of a year. I started off with a new job, a short term contract at the Centre For Ecology in Lancaster as a field and lab assistant. I joined a family in their home to rent a room, of which were really nice and made me feel very welcome. I was back in the city I loved, of Lancaster, and still had friends around that were still studying. I extended my university experience and saw the university from a whole new side. The job was great, the people were great and I got a good experience of how research projects work some of the real life laboratory tests needed. I went on some  amazing jobs in the field which saw me collecting soil samples from the field. I got completely muddy, working in all conditions from snow, rain, wind and sun. Going across the UK to collect samples in farmers fields of crops, grassland and arable. Staying in some beautiful places!
 

I had some great nights out with friends from university and friends from home across the UK. In January - February I had a big night out in Sheffield and a big night out in Leeds both of which had significant snowfall, I was surprised I made both journeys. But it was good and we went sledging and made a snowman. There was a period of time in which I was completely down with some sort of flu, I was off for almost a week and have never felt that in a while and had to miss a few days at work. Following on from that I ended up getting an eye infection in which my eyes were glued shut in the morning!

I had some great adventures up in the Lake District and saw some spectacular views amongst the snowy mountains. At the end of February I went on a field job with work to Wales! Driving through the Welsh mountains was amazing and I had an amazing bison burger along the way. Arriving at Bluestone and our log cabin. We got all the work done in time and even got a free activity, which was Outdoor Laser Quest while we were there which was fantastic! Was great to do something like that with work!

I was back in Wales at Easter with family and we had booked out another lodge in the middle of the Welsh mountains this time with a Hot tub! :P During the winter I was wanting to go to a log cabin in the alps, chilling in a hot tub in the snow in the mountains. I did not expect to be doing exactly that, in Wales at Easter! The snowfall had been significant over the week before and I had never seen it so deep. In some of the villages nearby there was huge dumper trucks and JCBs used to pile up the snow. The mountains looked stunning and there was some really nice places. Some parts reminded me of New Zealand! The Welsh mountains are definitely underrated!

At the beginning of May my contract ended at Lancaster. I had a great time and didn't want to leave but was excited about what I could do next. I returned home and began the search for the next job. I got a temporary job at a local company in the meantime whilst looking!

At the end of May I had a very swanky weekend. I went to Cartmel Races and stayed at a friends house on a very sunny weekend. Was great drinking in the sunshine trying to put bets on horses and walking in the countryside! We had some very dry and sunny bank holidays and after the coldest spring in 50 years we had a very hot and dry summer with some areas experiencing a heatwave! I enjoyed the sunshine lots! :) and the many BBQs. I also went to Go Ape which was great, with uni friends. The funniest bit being one of my friends getting stuck!









As we entered June, I went White Water Rafting! I was back in Wales and it was a warm and sunny day. It was a great laugh and would love to do it again! Did get a bit wet, after falling in and getting stuck under the boat before flowing downstream! Here I am, as it happened.
 







The following weekend was another exciting one, I went down to Kingston-upon-Thames to see where my brother would be going to university but also went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour! Another fantastic day out. Got to see all the props and sets from my favourite films. Even had a butterbeer!



At the end of June I went to sunny Spain for a week. Chilling in the sunshine with Sangria and San Miguel! Hiring a car we got to see the nearby towns and beautiful beaches which were massive! I had some amazing food, got burnt within the first 3 hours after falling asleep but had a really good time! There was also one of the nights in which thousands of people went down to the beach to make hundreds of bonfires. We were amazed to see so many people but understood that it was a traditional Spanish Celebration!



I returned in July and brought the sunshine with me and had my belated graduation. I did graduate in 2012 but did not have a ceremony as I was away on holiday so graduated this year. Which gave me good closure from my time at Lancaster though it was sad that none of my friends were there.

I enjoyed the rest of the summer with the wonderful sunshine and had my birthday. Though summer wasn't full of joy and happiness. Behind all these exciting events I was feeling down on the fact that I just wanted a permanent job and to begin my career. Settle down and enjoy life! Looking for a job was exhausting and painstakingly slow. I had a few interviews to no avail and didn't hear back from the tens of jobs I had been applying for. I kept plodding on but hope for my luck to change.

At the end of August I took a trip down to Lincoln to see a friend and had a good trip on his canal boat down the canal. Even got towed behind the thing in a rubber ring at one point as the weather was still lush! A pub crawl along the canal was a great idea :)

My brother left for University in September and it made me feel even sadder at how good university was and that I miss the easy life and being with friends. I cant believe that time has been and gone, it went so quick.

At the beginning of October, however, it seemed my luck had changed! Finally after a long time, I got the phone call I had been waiting months for. I had finally got a permanent and dream job! For a global company in an area I am really interested in working in laboratory which would then go onto becoming an offshore geologist. It was very exciting! The only catch was that it was right on the otherside of the country. 5 hours away on the most Easterly point of the UK in Great Yarmouth. I therefore had to find another place to live and went for a houseshare again. I found a lovely huge Victorian house in Lowestoft and has some great tenants.

The house is in a lovely area in quite a nice town and has the beach at the end of the road! The beaches around here are fantastic, clean and golden sand and I cannot wait for summer! Its not been so great being by the sea during this crazy and stormy weather we have been seeing with this coast taking a battering by storm surges and waves. I have settled in well and am loving the job.

I went down to see my brother coming up to Christmas in London. I had a great time and got to see all the sites again and chill out with my bro and have a few drinks in the pubs along the Thames. Then that night I had one of the best nights of my life. He got some tickets to a roof top party overlooking St Pauls Cathedral. The ticket was cheap, included mulled wine, entrance, snow machine, and vodka ice luge! The tables and drinks were a little expensive but partying with the rich and famous in that amazing place with my brother and his uni mates was great! Getting home was good laugh, getting lost and walking across London in the middle of the night! Really good time!

Christmas was good for me, being back home and having a good time with family and friends and my dog! It seemed that I was at home for a month or so but it was only a few weeks. I found it hard to come back and know that I am leaving them all again and that I am so far away. But I am excited to go back to work and see what this year has got in store for me. I think its going to be tough, being so far away from home and not knowing people. But I will power through.

Overall 2013, was pretty good year. A year in which I got my dream job, had some great experiences and I even wrote a plot line to a film and even wrote two amazing songs! (Which I have not yet revealed :P)

2014 for me though is going to be a great one! I haven't got any set plans as of yet. But I plan on going on holiday with friends in a villa and possibly go and visit Japan! It looks to be very exciting and interesting to see where this job takes me and what summer is like on this side of the country!

But the question is.... will I continue blogging?! Well 2013 was the year of my blog. The year of blogs and boulders. And I have really enjoyed it but question whether now I should let it be and stop. So I have come to the decision that I will not be blogging in 2014 as much as I was in 2013! I am going to focus my blogs on my personal life rather than all the amazing things I find, that is unless there is something ultra amazing! So 2014 will see my personal blog year, but I will only do one a few times a month, rather than one every day almost, like this year!
 
I hope you have enjoyed my blogs from 2013 and hope you can join me next year and see where my path is taking me. I have a few other blogs coming up in the next few days about 2013 but for now I shall blog again soon and let you know how I am getting on.

However, if you cant wait weeks to hear from me, follow me:

 

Twitter: @Adam_Dargan

Instagram: adam_dargan

Now I will leave you with this, a quote I really like and one that I put in my very first blog.

 

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain