A Look Back on 2014

After having a bit of a break through December I thought, as today is the 31st, I'd do a quick look back on this year and reflect on some of the things that have been really awesome in 2014. I've also included some of my aims for 2015 and things that I'm looking forward to. What have some of your highlights of the year been?

1. In June this year I started my blog. After reading blogs for years and talking about starting one for such a long time I thought I should just do it! Although I don't have the time to commit to a regular posting schedule I'm so glad I have managed to keep it up. At the start of December Charlie from Little Red nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award. At this time I was having a bit of a blogging break but I am so grateful to Charlie for the thought and mention! It really means a lot to me. Thank you also to all my new Bloglovin followers. It really means so much to me that people take some of their time to check out my blog. In the Autumn my boyfriend very generously got me a DSLR camera which has encouraged me to try and improve on the quality of the pictures here and learn a bit more about photography.
Aim for 2015- Experiment more with my camera and learn a bit more about what all the fancy buttons do!

2. This is the year that I really started to go regular, longer walks. I'm glad I have managed to record a lot of these on On a Wild Hunt so I can look back at all the day trips, forests and hills my mum and I have stumbled and climbed. Before I started my blog we climbed Ben A'an which is one of my highlights of the year. It was a beautiful sunny day and the climb was one of the hardest we have done, but I also felt such a sense of achievement. Maybe we'll try it again in 2015... I also loved our day trip to the Isle of May and I can't believe we saw a whale. For our long weekend in November we explored Perthshire, an area that I had never been before and would love to visit again. So many beautiful forest and hill walks in that area!
Aim for 2015- Continue to go regular walks and maybe try some more hills/ baby mountains?

3. In 2014 we went on two foreign holidays to European cities- Prague and Porto. Both were amazing trips and I have some really happy memories of both locations. We went to Prague in February and spent a lot of time exploring the city, dining in restaurants and keeping cosy in our spa hotel. For my birthday in Prague we watched the Superbowl in to the early hours of the morning and walked back to the hotel in the snow. It really is a beautiful city and I've been told the elaborate architecture of the castle inspired the Disney castle. In June we went to Porto where we wandered round the stunning sundrenched streets and relaxed at Porto Primavera music festival. I also discovered Port wine and had a great time dining in some really nice restaurants and cafes. (My first 2 blog posts were on Porto if you're interested in reading a bit more).
Aim for 2015- I can't wait to go to New York in February! It is somewhere I have wanted to go for years! If you have any recommendations please let me know.

4. Work wise 2014 has been a busy year for me. After 3 interviews I finally got a new job in October this year and am really glad to be on to a new challenge. I have also done 42 Saturday shifts at my volunteer placement and in September I started a new volunteer role on Monday evenings. After years of avoidance I have also started swimming lessons and have learned the basics so far!
Aims for 2015- I'm looking forward to continuing my volunteer roles and hopefully mastering breathing for my swim lessons!

Altogether, I have had a great 2014 and am really grateful for all I have been able to do. Let me know the things you've enjoyed this year and I hope 2015 brings with it even better stuff!

Alasdair Gray Exhibition

Living in Glasgow it is easy to find the work of Scottish artist and writer Alasdair Gray dotted around the city, but it is the current exhibition From the Personal to the Universal at Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery that really shows Gray's artistic range. As a fan of Gray's literature and artwork for a number of years I loved this exhibition and was very close to purchasing one of his limited edition prints (I may have to start a kickstarter for £600). Today I thought I'd share a couple of snaps from the exhibition, some of the postcards that I picked up and some images from Gray's autobiography A Life in Pictures to give you an idea of Gray's style and range if you are not familiar. The exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery is running until 22nd February 2015 and I think I might take a second trip. If you're not from the city or nearby I highly suggest A Life in Pictures which is available here. I got this as a Christmas present and I love it; so much inspiration and a bit of a look at a very talented and interesting man's life. If you're interested in discovering more there is a leaflet handed out at the exhibition that pinpoints a number of Gray's murals around the city, some of my favourites being the ceiling in Oran Mor and the image of the West End at Hillhead subway station.

Have you been to the exhibition or read any of Gray's novels?