What a fortunate year 2024 has been indeed! Filled with lots of trips out, holidays, oh and how can we forget, a wedding!
Let’s break down the year and recap how it went.
January
- We started the year with a getaway to Minehead and an experience with the Golden Retriever Experience
- We then had our 1 1/2 year anniversary date at Pizza Express
- I took Em to her first ever football game (Women’s football – Arsenal vs Watford)
- I started my BA English Literature and Creative Writing (Part Time) degree (which I have deferred due to health)
- We attended Blossom LGBTQ+ workshops such as the Protest signs workshop and the Barista workshop
- We said goodbye to Mama Lu – RIP beautiful soul ❤️
February
- Went to Disneyland Paris with our friend LJ
- Went to my first wedding on Valentine’s Day!
- Stayed over in Brighton the day after for Valentine’s!
- Went to see Drag Panto the night after that and looked shockingly short next to Banksie who is 7ft in heels! 👠
- Went to see Shrek the Musical but only saw the first 15 mins; ended up in Southampton general.
Victoria Scone was meant to be in this adult Panto but was poorly for our leg of the tour so we had the swing.
March
- My second wedding! One of our good friends’ wedding.
- Staying in Yeovil as the wedding was in Bath and so checking out the surrounding area the next day; we went to Clark’s Village, which I do believe is Glastonbury.
- Saw Feeder in concert- first concert since pre-Covid and autism acceptance really
- Sending out our Wedding invites!!!
- Went to Bude
- Visited my main man (seal) Marlin at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary
- At home slime and Lego making date
- At home Easter activities date
April
- Ending up with many hospital admissions – not fun
- Attending Queer Healing Circle and making our own communication cards – what a perfect craft for us autistics?!
- In April we went to Manchester and I got my tattoo sorted; I have a geometric sunflower tattoo which I would have loved by itself if it didn’t have too many links to my abuser so I decided to keep a tattoo I like but amend it so it no longer is linked to them, in a clever way. I added a story book to signify that we are on a different chapter, we have moved on. I added the lyrics, by Miss Taylor Swift herself ‘Long Story Short, I survived’, because as she proceeds it, Long Story short, it was a bad bad time. But I survived it and out the other end I have come. Stronger.
May
- Police and Crime Commissioner and Local elections – my last elections in Michael Gove’s constituency (not just because he stood down, because I moved constituencies!)
- 1st May I gave notice to Marry Em. It was a vital step in a process that changed our lives for the better in so many ways.
- At the start of May I had to say goodbye to my baby boy Louie. He was the most perfect little Jack Russell and if love could’ve saved him he’d be immortal – he deserved only the best and I miss him so dearly. I can’t believe we left him behind in 2024. I love you Lou.
- I got nominated for two National Diversity Awards; one for Positive Role Model for Disability and the other for Positive Role Model for Gender
- We saw the Aurora Borealis!
- My Mumma turned 12 years sober!
- We made a viral reel when we went to the beach… it currently has 801k views! It was using the Gary Barlow sound “This is our idea of a very nice day out” – check it out here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7euF0vMgF3/?igsh=OWFqdWZyaWRvejg0
- We had our wedding hair and make-up trial which was amazing!
- Our wedding cake samples arrived and we got to try them and decide!
- I got my wife into my special interest, penpalling!!!
June
- I started working for the charity It’s OK
- We went away, Em, my Dad and I for a mini break in the Forest of Dean. The first day we visited Weston-super-Mare and went to the beach and the pier, then we went to the glamping site and stayed in a pod overnight, used the central spa facilities in the morning and went to Bristol and visited the SS Great Britain, then the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
- This June marked 2 years of knowing Em. Swiping right on that dating app was the best decision I ever made.
- This June also marked a year of having seizures. Which is a pretty heavy, life changing one. Not as fun an anniversary to celebrate, that one.
- My Dad and I went to Lyme Regis
- We went back to Astley Book farm. This time I had a bit more money and found a better haul PLUS they had a really good vintage postcard range too in the bits and pieces sale! Which is a special interest of mine.
- I went to see the Foo Fighters
- I went to see the Kings of Leon
- We went on holiday to Le Touquet on the Opal Coast of France…
- …where we found a wheelchair accessible beach!
July
- The month begun whilst I was on holiday in France
- The UK called a General Election and due to being on holiday I voted postally (in my new constituency (Basingstoke and Deane)
- Em and I went into London for our 2 year anniversary. We started our day at Pizza Express and got the lift downstairs to the toilet – in short we got trapped down there playing havoc with the day. The below post explains it in full:
We had a lovely day at Pizza express, Humble Crumble and The Art of Lego Exhibition in the end, and ended our day off with a trip to dark sugar, but it was a little shaken up.
- I went to see The Killers
- I got to go swimming in a local lake when it was 29°c with my mum. It was glorious! Not only was it incredible, but I was full of joy as wild water swimming is one of my special interests so I was a happy dolphin.
August
- We started August with our hen party! It was amazing and got us so hyped for our wedding. I even met online besties for the first time ever
- Em made me a booklet of messages from friends who couldn’t make it to the hen as a lot of my OG friends (though we are both friends with both friends) couldn’t make it (and a lot, last minute) so I felt down on myself
- Met up with my bestie Ro again after a year and 3 months!!!
- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
- Went on a cruise for the first ever time – visiting Norway which was super cool, with my partner’s Dad’s whole side of the family; there were 15, 16 of us? It was amazing.
- Challenged my PTSD on said cruise and tried 0.00% alcohol – recovery win!
- Got Iris art done on the cruise
The rest of the pics: Em and I on the cruise to the Norwegian Fjords and in Norway
September
- Got our nails done both for our wedding trial and our actual wedding. We found SB nails in Basingstoke and what a game changer. Sonia’s salon is absolutely fab – as Sonia does your nails, you will find that she is not just your nail lady but also your friend, your therapist and more! She runs a fully rounded studio where you can also get pedicures, lash tints and lifts and other aligning procedures. We don’t even live in Basingstoke anymore and we still travel an hour to see Sonia – she’s worth it!
- GOT MARRIED!!!
- We finally moved into suitable, accessible accommodation. We moved into a bungalow, our first home together, and it is only 5 mins from the seaside too. Perfect
October
- We went for a day trip into London as we had booked tickets to see Jodie Whittaker in her opening night at her new play called The Duchess (of Malfi) which is showing at Trafalgar Theatre (I think still at the moment). We started the day by heading into Camden and browsed the stalls, with no real focus on any in particular. I got a matcha from Blank Street and then met my Dad by the food for my favourite part of the day (aside seeing Jodes and being with my fam; HUMBLE CRUMBLE!!! This time of year they were serving them inside pumpkins so I absolutely paid extra for the novelty because I am what? A pumpkin spice bitch. It was so worth it. Then we drove through London to make it central and it took ages. We got there with more than enough time to spare but trying to find an accessible coffee shop around Trafalgar Square which wasn’t too busy was a nightmare.
- (On the same day we heard of the passing of a family cat called biscuit. RIP bisc, you will always be remembered. Dedicating this post to you pal x)
- We spent a lot of time actually moving into the bungalow in October as we still had the Basingstoke flat until mid October so we were back and forth.
- Your fave wives go pumpkin picking! We picked 4 all in all and they all got safely composted after Halloween (we have a big compost bin now and are obsessed with composting)
- Indie’s inquest happened and shattered my world into a million pieces. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter before I combust.
- We went to TGIs with my Dad and my in-laws for my birthday which was nice, they gave me a free cake and a silly hat which I loved and it was way more than I could eat but it used to be tradition to go there when I was a kid so it was kinda nice to go back
- Myself, my mum and my Grandma went up the Spinnaker tower and went for afternoon tea in the tea room. We had sandwiches and cakes and scones and tea and coffee and it was gorgeous! It was an early birthday treat for me, I am so very lucky!
- After that, we wandered around Gunwharf Quays having a shop
For a more detailed look into our trip to the pumpkin patch and the accessibility, have a read of this blog post
Bottom: The Spinnaker Tower with my Mum and Grandma.
November
- In November we went on our Honeymoon! Every year, for my birthday, we go to Disneyland Paris, and that’s where we were going on our honeymoon, so we pushed it back a month to combine the two and we went for 5 days and then went back to Le Touquet for another 4 days afterwards.
- I turned 26.
- I met my best friend!!! After 6 years of internet friendship I finally met my bestie in real life. Char, I love you.
- We had a little birthday bash for me and the Poor Sods book and artwork was born.
- We started a really self fulfilling hobby; we joined a choir – Raise Your Voice, Southampton’s Musical Theatre Choir.
- We lost Tiff. She was a Shining bright light in this universe and I can’t believe she is gone. I miss her so dearly.
- We went to a Matt Haig book signing and met him. We got to tell him what his work meant to us (for me, it was life saving).
- We saw Wicked!!! Phenomenal film, despite my scepticism about musical adaptations
- I watched a close family member’s funeral on zoom as we couldn’t make it up to Scotland
I have so many photos that I could’ve chosen from, but I thought I would choose some safe ones, aka ones that have already been published on the ‘gram. I’m a part of the insta disney community and I have a lot of photos `I still have to post from our trip, from our disneybounds to meet and greets – so keep a keen eye out!
Yes… we are eating Mickey cake in bed. We were booked in for the Royal Banquet the night I was given it and we wanted to eat our body weight in desserts to make it worth our while! Because we certainly weren’t making use of the lobster there…
1. Meeting my best friend Char with Em, 2. Choir, 3. Meeting Matt Haig, 4. Seeing Wicked.
December
- Em and I went to Marwell Glow with our friends Katie and Emily. We visited the zoo and saw all the animals in the day then saw the lights show in the park at night. It was so cool
- I watched a close family member’s funeral on zoom as we couldn’t make it up to Scotland for the funeral (this is a second person, not the same as November)
- We put the Christmas tree up!
- I had my migraine Botox done again ✔️
- I was diagnosed with tonsillitis after I presented at the chemist using the Pharmacy First scheme – a wonderful scheme to cut out the need for doctors appts if you can! On this visit I was given phenoxymethylpenicillin which works well for most people.
- I had my nails done all Christmassy by Sonia again, of course!
- We went into Winchester and I had breakfast with my brother-in-law whilst my wife and her twin got tattooed. Afterwards we wandered around (though it was chaos), before going to ASK Italian for our yearly Christmas meal with old friends. Then we headed back to another friend’s to celebrate Christmas there whilst Em’s twin (who lives in Wales) was down and could see us all but later on that evening I had a bad allergic reaction to my antibiotics. I didn’t know it was an allergic reaction as it wasn’t anaphylactic but we called 111 who sent an ambulance very quickly and they worked out the issue. Due to medical trauma and after a long time of calming me down we decided it would be best if I could stay at home and they rung a GP to get me new antibiotics and I got put on clarithromycin and I was told I had an allergic reaction to penicillin and to avoid penicillin based antibiotics from now on! But it was not nice.
- We went to Guildford to meet our friend LJ and their son which was so lovely! We went to charity shops and introduced them to Knoops and snuck into Bird & Blend even!
- I ended up in hospital with meningitis symptoms. For me it was more a severe migraine but very abnormal, hence the 111 call which led to a 999 referral , then a hospital trip, but it’s a very long and complex story – I talk about it in this blog post.
- Before a trip to see Em’s Grandparents, we went to the Pharmacy – just after finishing my antibiotics, my symptoms has reoccurred, so I wanted to speak to someone (thinking Pharmacy First) but as I been given antibiotics by them already and the problem had not been cured, I had to see a doctor. (Pharmacy First really still is a good scheme it’s just unfortunate they can’t treat you after a certain point)
- On Monday, I rung up the Doctors’ surgery and it was a bit of a nightmare. I registered with them (moving from my surgery in Basingstoke) on Friday so I wasn’t on their system yet so they told me to be seen I had to ring 111. 111 told me I had to either go to the Queen Alexandra A&E or to Gosport Urgent Treatment Centre and let me tell you, I was by no means going to accident and emergency. So we went to the UTC and it said there was a 2 1/2 hour wait but as we had a referral, we were seen in an hour. The Dr saw me; I still had tonsillitis, I also had a deeper throat infection further back in my throat, my glands were up, and my ears were red and swollen. So, I was a bit of a nightmare case! Shock! Horror! I was given my third set of antibiotics (azithromycin) and they took a swab of my throat for cultures incase it didn’t go away.
These nails are stunning! They are stamps inspired by Christmas, and a postbox and little letter, all done by Sonia at SB Nails. To book have a look on their website or Facebook
Christmas
- We brought Christmas in on the beach. We live a 5 minute drive from the Lee on Solent seafront so we made ourselves a hot choccy (with special Lindt truffles provided by my wonderful father himself), hopped in the car and spent half an hour watching the waves on the promenade whilst Santa did his magic in our front room!
- We woke up at 10ish and had breakfast, opened our stockings and Em and I opened our sacks from each other. We revealed our present to each other, though we already knew what it was as we co-chose it as it is of joint contribution! (You’ll never guess what it is!) Then we went got ready and went to Em’s family’s house, and it was not long before we had a lovely lunch cooked by Em’s step-Dad Jon. We then opened presents and chatted until Doctor Who really! It was then that I changed into my special new dress (my present from my uncle Jimmie). We watched it, then I needed a nap – I wanted to watch Wallace and Gromit but I wouldn’t have made it through it! After that we chit chatted until Gavin and Stacey and afterwards we played some games – suddenly it was very late and we went to bed! On Boxing Day, we slept in ‘til midday, but in the day, played games again – both our friend Fi and Em’s Dad came over, and as well as that, we also watched some home videos. It was so lovely!
We actually had 3 Christmases due to the complexity of my family dynamic (Em’s family is not complex, just mine, hahah!) so here are our other Christmases!
- In the evening of the 28th my sister Katie and her girlfriend Millie arrived after a long journey down from Manchester (and Katie had just worked the night shift beforehand – she is a midwife). When they arrived they came with supplies to make homemade leek and potato pie with veggies on the side. They had barely sat down when everyone was throwing presents at each other – I don’t know who was the most excited to gift give! We received some really thoughtful gifts like a Pixar colouring books for me, Lego, a bubble tea cup and boba to fuel my obsession, a cookie bake-in-the-tin, watercolour pencils and more – we are so grateful! Though I was more happy than anything just to see her. Soon enough they made the pie and we all watched Doctor Who (I couldn’t complain watching it again) and then we chilled out. The next day we all got up and had a scramble for breakfast (some egg, some vegan) then headed for the beach – first Lee on Solent, then Stokes Bay! At Lee on Solent we got ice cream even though it was freezing! Tradition. It was lovely taking them to our local beaches that we visit so often, especially when we’re having a hard time. Then we went back and I wasn’t feeling very well so I went for a lie down but then joined them playing uno a bit later (and won my first round). I was meant to go to my Grandparents and stay that night but I was feeling too poorly so I stayed home and decided to drive up the next day.
- …the next day!!! On 30th December we had Christmas with my Mum and Grandparents. I was extremely tired from being poorly so we didn’t make it out until midday and almost immediately when I walked in the door I was handed a 0.00% gin and tonic. I was told to choose a seat as present opening was going to commence so I sat up against the radiator as I do every year and I was handed piles of presents. We started going around in circles but eventually fell out of rhythm and soon everyone was unwrapping presents at the same time. We got some really cool gifts, my most notable being my extensive Sylvanian Families (current hyperfixation and main special interest) collection including an exclusive wheelchair and crutch which I have never come across before. I also am very excited about my Seal Jumper from Home of Rainbows from my Grandparents. We then played a few games, had dinner, and played a few more games afterwards, before I got too tired and said I had to go home – poorliness had defeated me. But I had a lovely time.
The lead up to New Year
- After a lovely Christmas, on New `Year’s Eve, my in-laws came round to the bungalow for picky bits, Jules Holland and lots of games – I had to sit out of a few due to being too ill but I joined in as I could – and won a few! We rung in the new year together and it was lovely having my two families together.
An update
I keep saying that I’m poorly in this post – of course you all know that just before Christmas I was diagnosed with tonsillitis and on three different courses of antibiotics…. well, they didn’t work. Why? I have since been diagnosed with glandular fever. And let me tell you, it is not fun. I’m on 6 weeks of rest, but the glandy feevs it hitting every aspect of my life. I’m not getting up until 3pm and even that’s hard, I tried to have Em help me shower after avoiding it for almost 2 weeks and it was hell, I’m struggling to eat, everything is a bit of a nightmare right now. It’s exacerbating my symptoms of other chronic illnesses too! On top of that, it’s put a spanner in the works of our plans; we were meant to be going to Disneyland on January 4th for the Christmas magic but I was far too poorly so we had to reschedule, my best friend is visiting for the weekend and I may not even get to see them, and I won’t be able to go to choir for weeks – so sad.
The final curtain
But I won’t let my 2025 be defined by it. We have so many amazing plans and I won’t let this start take centre stage. 2025 will be as magical as 2024, and ending 2024 like this didn’t ruin my year!
It’s been a fab year but we have lost so many precious souls – Lucy, Ian, Alan, Tiff ❤️ I love and miss you all dearly. And my baby Louie ❤️ You will NOT be left behind in 2024, you will live on in our memories forever. I hope next year is one of less loss and less grief.
I hope this year has been a good one for you all,
Stay safe, stay strong and look after yourself,
Love always,
Laur xxx
@holaurgraphic 
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