Looking back at 2016

I'm finally taking the time to reflect on another very busy and life-changing year. Here is a brief summary of what 2016 involved for me:

• started the year pregnant
• had my first article published by the Guardian online
• went to Dubai for the first time
• sat on the judging panel for Civil society's "Charity Awards"
• had a family holiday at Centreparcs in Woburn
• joined the Advisory Panel for Resource Alliance's "Fundraising Online"
• witnessed my first child's first word (his first word was "Mumma"...boom!)
• recognised as one of Grant Thornton's "100 Faces of a Vibrant Economy"
• spoke at the Institute of Fundraising National Convention...twice
• named the "7th most influential fundraiser" in the UK by the readers of Fundraising Magazine
• gave birth to my second child (natural birth after a c-section with my first...felt like superwoman!)
• discovered it is possible to love another little person as much as I love my first born
• continued to mentor some amazing fundraisers from UNICEF, the NSPCC and Breast Cancer Care
• became an Ambassador for CharityConnect
• experienced what it's like being a Trustee when the CEO steps down
• became Head of Marketing for the Institute of Fundraising South East & London Committee
• took redundancy from change.org (note: I will be looking for a new full-time role starting August 2017)
• set up my own company
• forgot what it is like to get a full night's sleep (my youngest still feeds every three hours...day and night!)
• another family holiday to Centreparcs, this time in Sherwood Forest
• spoke at SOFII's "I wish I'd thought if that"
• wrote off our car (oops!)
• enrolled in Squared Online...which I start in January 2017
• ended the year with friends, laughter and anticipation for what 2017 will have in store for us all.

Happy new year everybody. Here's to another action-packed, unpredictable year.