2012, where have you disappeared to? There have been so many highs and lows in the past 12 months, yet somehow I have survived to see another year! I thought that I would share some of the moments that really defined the past year for me, and to accept closure, ready for the blank canvas ahead. 

January:

Unfortunately, 2012 did not start off on a good note. Once I got back from celebrating NYE in HK, the family received some bad news. The day that my mum was driving me back to Uni, we got a phone call. My grandmother, who had been suffering from dementia for the last few years, had taken a turn for the worst. We immediately rushed back and went to see her. I believe that this was around the 8th Jan. My immediate family began to show up from all over the world within the next few days. We went to visit her everyday, sometimes for hours, just waiting for the worst. After a week or so, I couldn't bear to see her like that anymore. She had no idea who any of us where, and she was slowly forgetting how to breathe. The last words I said to her were 'I'll be back to see you tomorrow, I love you'. This was about a week and a half before she passed away. Looking back on it, I don't regret not visiting her more, as I know in the long run it was probably better for my mental state, and she didn't really know that I was missing. She passed away on 24th January, 2012, the same day as my little sister's 17th birthday.

R.I.P Katie Cecilia Vaughan 
1922-2012

February:

At the beginning of February  I was on the cusp of dropping out of university due to the stresses of the previous month. The whole incident kind of knocked me out of balance and I din't know where I stood or what I wanted. Luckily, my parents convinced me to carry on at Bath, and I'm forever grateful that they did as this was the month that I made some of my closest friends. If you are reading this, I am so happy that I met all of you, but a special note to Grace, Katya, Alicia and Sam, you've made my life so much more enjoyable and made me want to stay at university even more. 


March:

God, it's hard to remember what was going on at this time as all I can remember is working hard at uni! I really got to know the people on my course and my flatmates better. The first semester was so stressful because everything was new at it was a lot to get used to. Therefore, I really began to find my surroundings and make great friends. I also spent a great few evenings in the library until 'stupid o'clock' as my friend Grace would call it - studying for exams! 


April:

Ahh, April. I spent the first few weeks in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, I was horribly ill so spent pretty much the whole time in bed - bad times! When I returned to the UK, my blog hit 10,000 page views (!!) and I held a little giveaway! I also had my first uni meeting for my year abroad (which is next academic year!) and got my new camera as an early birthday present :) April was also an exciting month as I got my first ever email from a company offering to let me try their products out - Travalo! Literally squealed when I saw the email - means so much to be recognised! 


May:

May was both an awesome and a terrifying month. I was on exam leave for the majority of it and had to write a good few essays. On the other hand, May is my birthday month and I turned 19 on the 27th (a day before my Russian oral I may add!!). In addition, isobelrose.blogspot changed to isobel-rose.com! Finally, I got my anti-helix piercing and my 'esperanza' tattoo :) but had to start packing up my uni room and leave my halls behind :(


June:

Was gutted to leave all of my friends and my uni life behind but was excited for the summer of british-ness. The jubilee, the olympics, it was one great summer to be British! I also got to visit Spain for the first time. I went to Madrid to visit my friend Alicia for a few days. I love Madrid - and my language skills and confidence improved so much, even in 4 days! Sadly, the 21st would have been my grandmothers' 90th birthday, but 89 is still a pretty impressive age! 


July:

At the beginning of the month, I got to meet up with some of my uni friends in London and have a good nosey round. We went to Portobello, Covent Garden, and many more interesting places - it was so nice to see them again! Then on the 8th, I landed back in Hong Kong for a month of doing nothing much at all :) I got my first real job teaching English to Cantonese speaking children, and Hong Kong experienced one of the worst typhoons in decades (it was stronger than Hurricane Sandy). Luckily, good old HK is built for these kind of storms so we all just basically wound up having a 3 day pyjama party! Also, on the 26th, I set up my blogs fb page :) 


August:

I spent almost the entirety of my August in Australia (nothing else can beat it!) so there isn't much to really say about this month. I got a nice suntan and cheered on the brits during the olympics, but overall, August was pretty chilled :) I got my hair ombréd and then I flew back to the UK on the 27th :)


September:

September started off well! I went up to London to #VougesFashionNightOut with Caroline, Maddy and Laura and picked up some goodies. I finally moved back to Bath on the 19th into my own flat :) (I've done a flat tour here if you want to take a look!) In September I really started to get into going to the gym and started to eat healthier as well. I have actually been keeping this up (except the naughty christmas period!!) September brought the disappointment of failing my first driving test :(


October: 

October = classes begin! They didn't lie when they said that 2nd year would be a LOT harder. I didn't do many videos this month as I got freshers flu which then developed into laryngitis so I couldn't talk for over a week (which believe you me is rather inconvenient whilst doing a language course!) I went through a few personal changes in October, and then got my 3rd tattoo - 'две жизни прoжить не дано'.


November:

November was all together a pretty hectic month. Exams, essays, presentations, the lot! Although, I did take a bit of time off and managed to get some amazing pictures of Bath. I got the opportunity to climb to the top of Bath Abbey at sunset and snap some shots - it was amazing! Mid month, I finally passed my driving test!!! I had so much work to do this month that I hardly got to do anything else, yet I had a special visitor at the end of the month to cheer me up! Finally, after a year and a half, my best friend from HK managed to get her butt down from Manchester to come and visit me! We had a great time and I took her on a night out to meet all of my friends. I also went back fully blonde in November after getting bored of the ombré!


December:

The beginning of December was more of the same thing I'm afraid, essays, presentations and exams! Luckily, I got to open my Ciaté mini mani month advent calendar everyday which helped to keep me going! Finally, on the 14th, classes finished and I was free for the month (minus the 2 essays and revision ahead of me!) I came home to Kent and have been wizzing around in my little Vauxhall Corsa ever since - I love being able to drive!!! YAAY! I finally reached 1,000 YT subscribers too :) Finally, I had a lovely Christmas with my family, went to go and see the Jersey Boys up in London, and brought in the New year with my friends and family.


Well that's a whole year in the life of Isobel Rose. I hope you all had a wonderful year and that 2013 treats you even better!

So, what have I got in store for 2013?

- A YT giveaway for reaching 1,000 subs!
- Trying to be a better blogger!
- Moving to Russia in the Autumn time to begin my year abroad!!!

& many more!



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