Yes, it’s the obligatory look-back-at-the-year post that everyone does but it’s been quite a year so it deserves it, don't you think? There haven’t been as many changes as I’d hoped for but I’ve ticked off a few things from the to-do list, more so than I have in any other year. There have been a decent number of ups, a few too many downs but it was a huge improvement on 2010… so, 2012, can you do better than this? 

In 2011, I:

Learned Spanish

Ok, so I haven’t learned ALL the Spanish there is to learn, but I made a start, which is fairly impressive for me – I’m generally all talk when it comes to aspirations. I did level one and two with Cactus language and am hoping I can stretch some pennies to cover level three in the new year so I can get further than just ‘I’m from England’ and ‘walk straight on’. Seriously.

Revisited Ibiza

...and had the best holiday of my life. I may say this every time I go to another country (I love to travel, in case you’d missed that) but seriously, this really was the best.  I discovered Flower Power at Pacha, I partied every single night, I forgot all about home troubles and really, well and truly had fun. I also met some great people and one who I still think about a little too often, but that's another story...

Got my second nephew! 

Brandon is quite possibly the cutest baby ever (don’t tell the other nephew) and is also the easiest to look after – having spent the last week with him I have been dubbed by my family as ‘good with kids’ a ‘natural mum’ and if Brandon could speak I am sure he would say I am pretty goddamn funny, because he smiles a LOT.

Had my first ever feature published in print 

I freelance whenever I can and this year I was lucky enough to write for Expert Beauty, for their special issue during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Writing all about boobs and what the risks are when it comes to this horrid disease, not only did I learn a lot, but I learned more about the ways of freelancing and felt more like a journalist than ever. More to come next year!

Went to my first UK festival

Yes, I donned my boots (I never have owned wellies) and went down to Brighton for the Shakedown festival and partied in the rain like a true music-loving Brit. Ed Sheeran and Example were brilliant, the toilet queues were not so brilliant, but all in all I loved it and can't wait to do some more festivals next year, funding-dependent.

Sadly, it wasn't all good in 2011 - there was plenty of bad stuff going on too. From supporting my parents as they put their all into setting up a business, having it pretty much sabotaged by an evil woman who shall have to remain nameless and then comforting them when it went horribly wrong and left them both ill, to then saying goodbye to my hometown, officially, after they had to move due to business/job changes/landlord changes, I stressed myself out way too much with their problems as well as mine. Plus I discovered that being single is often tough; being single when none of your friends are is tougher. Booo. 

But, all is not lost - 2011 was better than 2010 by miles, and though I am about to turn 26 (holy crapola) I am planning a pretty fantastic and travel-tastic 2012 already. Wish me luck!

Well, what's the point in making resolutions if you're not going to keep them? Or, more to the point, why blog about them for all to see if you're not going to at least have a go? You may remember I had five little life to-dos back at the start of 2011 (can you believe it's May already?!) so I thought I would write an update, if anything to motivate me to keep going. It's definitely been a better year than the last so far, and being 25 is treating me pretty well. Here's why... 

Resolution 1: Get me healthy

Still a work in progress - that doctor wasn't listening carefully enough - but I am taking my health into my own hands. I've tried out meditation with a wonderful lady who contacted me through Wahanda, and am probably going to sign up to her online membership (Julie records all her sessions and puts them up online so those of us who find it hard to fit it in can still take part). I am also power plating my way to (hopefully) abs that could be mistaken for J-Lo's, and power walking around the block whenever I get the chance. It's still not enough but it's a start, right?

Resolution 2: Get me outta here

OK, this one is a little harder to do in a short amount of time. But, I have just got back from a family trip to Swanage and am planning a girl's holiday for fun in the sun next month. Plus, my best friend just moved to Dubai (sob) so I am already plotting to go and visit once it cools down out there. As for the rest of the global travel to-do list, who knows... 

Resolution 3: Get me writing again, properly

Those tiny nagging inklings of doubt are still lurking, but I am trying to blog more these days and am still enjoying it - so that's the main thing. I seem to be most inspired at around one in the morning after watching a few too many episodes of Sex and the City, which makes it difficult to get stuck into writing anything solid (unless I want to be up all night), but I have written a few intros to stories that I am pleased with - I just haven't finished them yet. Maybe I'll start with short stories instead of a novel! On the upside, I did write my train etiquette post after one painful train ride too many, and it got picked up by a transport website as well as turning me into an official Grumpy Young Woman - so I am pretty proud of that...

Resolution 4: Get me a life

This one is going fairly well if I do say so myself. I booked myself in for Spanish lessons and am around halfway through. I am loving it. Not only is it great to be learning again (I am such a geek, I LOVE learning), but the language is as pretty as I thought it was and the people are lovely. If I can afford it, I'll be doing level 2 without a doubt and carrying on for as long as I can. I've also got my eyes on a few creative writing courses, am trying to find a cheap piano teacher in London and am generally busy every night of the week these days. I might be a bit exhausted when it gets to Sunday night, but it's so worth it. 

Resolution 5: Get me happy

This one was always going to be the hardest because I tend to compare myself to others with a glass-half-empty mentality - positive thinking doesn't come naturally to me. But, doing all of the above is certainly helping and I am keeping busy enough that I'm enjoying London more (separate post on that to come), feeling more active and, most of the time, looking forward to those slightly blurry goals rather than looking back with regrets. I've just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love - the film of which I've watched around ten times already - and it definitely inspired me to just start living. 2011 is already a big year and it's going to get bigger - so hopefully I will grow with it. Wow, that's cheesy. But true! 

Oh, and the photo is one of me and my sisters that my dad dug out - it makes me laugh every time I look at it. I'm the one in the middle. And I own a pair of sunglasses just like them now, at age 25 - so things can't be all bad!

What about you? Have you kept to your New Year's resolutions?

I may have skipped a few of the 30 Day Blog Challenges since some were for things I do all the time, but I liked this one since I've been addicted to looking at Blogger stats every single day of late. I'm amazed that I get traffic at all, let alone people from all over the world (I appear to attract the Russians, weirdly), so thanks for reading! 

As one of these bloggers who can't choose a subject and therefore writes about all sorts, it's interesting to see what people read more and comment on. In honour of today's challenge and to share what content gets the most hits, here are my top five blogs:

I am surprised this is my most read post and reckon it may be because I left it in the top slider for so long... that or you're all just looking for inspiration for New Year's resolutions! Now that we're a quarter of the way through the year there will be an update on those shortly...

Given the number of tweets about the dire state of public transport in my feed every day I am not surprised this is number two. It even got me a contributor's position at Grumpy Young Women and was published on a transport blog... now, Boris, if you're reading - let's get it plastered all over the trains, yes? 

This one gets me a lot of SEO traffic so I'm not surprised it's in here - it's a topic that is continuously debated about. I still think internships are a great way to get into journalism and necessary, but there are limits. Just make sure you know yours!

Actually, the next three most popular are my X Factor posts but here's the one that came up top. I enjoyed these and can't wait for the next series to start... Saturday nights just haven't been the same since Take Me Out finished!

After the X Factor posts, this one about the very weird repetition of three boys' names in my love life was the next most popular. Luckily I am not alone, but still, when I do (rarely) look at online dating sites, there are four names (three plus the ex) I most definitely avoid...

So that's three personal or 'Just Judy' blogs, one dating (Single Scoop) blog and one review/TV blog. Interesting... what would you like to see more or less of? Do you think it's better to specialise in one subject?