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Many people moan that January is the worst month of the year. Perhaps because I am an eternal optimist, I do not see it that way. In my eyes January is a cosy, snuggly time to hunker down in your home and just soak in what you have. I think my gratitude list for the first couple of weeks of this month reflects that:

1. Time to be: the first few weekends of this year have been spent curled up on the sofa watching Making a Murderer and reading How to Win Friends and Influence People (excellent, btw). When we have ventured out it has been for hot yoga or to our favourite local haunts. Looking forward to my packed diary for February to April, I know I am going to look back on these hazy nothing and everything days with starry eyes.
2. Future plans: January is the month of booking things and as a Type-A planner I simply love this process! So far I have booked Sam's surprise birthday (all to be revealed in March), a weekend in Lisbon with my bestie in May and a short trip to Glasgow for a friend's 30th. As I type this blog post my logistics man is getting his google on, as regards our three holidays this year!!
3. Time with Daddy: we spent a lovely evening at Sartoria in Mayfair with my Father a couple of weeks ago. I have resolved to make far more of an effort to bridge the very short geographical distance between us this year, and already have train tickets to Bath booked for February. 
4. My new coat (below): Daddy bought me a camel coat from Nicole Farhi for Christmas. I have been lusting after it forever and now I own it, I never want to take it off. The best thing about the camel colour and the cocoon shape is that it is perfect for work and play but looks totally different in each scenario. And have I mentioned how soft it is?. So soft.

Last weekend Sam and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. Ten years ago, after a Christmas holiday spent obsessing over the gorgeous boy I had snuggled up to watching a Margaret Thatcher documentary at the end of Michaelmas term 2005 (yes, we were destined to be!) I returned to Oxford and within a day we admitted to one another we had already fallen in love.

My life changed that day, and although there have been the inevitable ups and downs that come with growing up with the other half your heart, I am so, so thankful to have found the person who completes me so early in my life and to have already shared so many milestones - including Finals, my Call to the Bar and his MA graduation, to name but a few - with him. 

As it is also our five year wedding anniversary this year, we decided to have a low key celebration and took a day trip to Camber Sands; a beautiful stretch of sandy beach in Kent. It being January in the UK, the British weather did as it does, but that did not deter us. We had a windswept but beautiful walk along a beach we shared with a few other humans and one very enthusiastic spaniel, followed by a delicious meal at the Gallivant (a restaurant we have been meaning to visit for years.  

Delicious fish, sand in my hair and Sam by my side. Happy 10 years of us indeed.

Christmas 2015 marks the second year we have hosted both our families (Sam's parents and my Dad and my Uncle)  at the Tombs house, and two years of spending Christmas as one family we can officially say we have fledgling traditions. I love this, as it feels like the beginning of many, many happy years where many, many more customs will become second nature.

For now, the traditions I cherish are these:

• our Christmas Eve supper of lasagne (Sam's favourite food) and doughnuts (to mark Chanukah as well as Christmas;
• stockings on Christmas morning with Daddy and Kerry and Joan. We each have our now now and they sit happily filled by the fire as we wake;
• a Christmas day walk to get everyone out of the house and ready for present opening and canapés. Both the Heath and the Parkland walk are perfect for this;
• always having Turkey and all the trimmings for a very late lunch/ early dinner (I am a traditionalist in this regard, and no other Christmas dinner feels right);
• a Christmas day movie all curled up on the sofa full and happy surrounded by opened gifts and cups of tea. 

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 I have very obviously neglected this blog in the latter half of 2015. The reason is, I hope, a good one. I began my new job as an Associate Barrister at a City law firm in June 2015 and the whole process was a big adjustment; from working in an office of 8 people I began working in an office over 400, with all the associated systems and working practices. I found that in committing fully to becoming embedded at work, I simply didn't have time to blog meaningfully, exercise and enjoy time with family and friends. I am happy to report however, that I have now been taken on as a permanent employee and feel genuinely settled at work; I truly love my challenging  job as well as the life it allows me to have outside it when I manage my time efficiently. And, having got used to it all, I now have enough time to blog about that life too!!

It seems only right that the first post of 2016 is about goals. As I have already reported on this blog ,goals are something I am passionate about; without a clearly defined goal it is impossible to fulfil one's potential and in my view life is about being the best you you can be. With that in mind on 31 December 2015 I sat down with my http://www.emilyley.com  Simplified Planner and road mapped my goals for 2016. My practice is to divide my goal setting into different areas of my life e.g. career, family, financial and set goals within these categories. As per last year I will be breaking my goals down into monthly 'do-able' chunks to maximise my ability to achieve them. 

I also have two words that I aim to focus on throughout the year, particularly when I am in a difficult situation. Last year those words were BALANCED and GRACIOUS. This year, the are GIVE and LOVE.

January 2016 goals

• Career: attend the mid-level Associate development centre at the end of the January and capitalise fully on the opportunity to learn;
• Family: book flights for Sam's birthday surprise;
• Financial: complete month 1 of my 3 month Contentment Challenge. To find out more about this read this post from the inspiring Nancy Ray: http://nancyrayphotography.com/i-am-content-the-challenge/
• Travel: book flights for our trip in April (Seoul and Japan are a definite contender!!)
• Blog: complete three blog posts, including one about my favourite new Christmas traditions having hosted our second Christmas in our home.