Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

Happy New Year 2013

It's that time of year again - everyone looking back at 2012 & looking forward to whatever 2013 may bring. I'm no different really although after the year I've had, 2012 is probably going down in my personal history book as a humdinger of a year!

I started the year with a post like this one - my first look back post on this blog. It had been a vague year, reaching goldcap in WoW was probably the highlight for me. This year started off in a similar vein, I set up my US account 2nd January, logged in once or twice then walked away from WoW totally for 3 or 4 months! I had no intentions of taking a break, it was just one of those random things that happen sometimes.

I was having some counselling for my depression & a very good friend online was metaphorically holding my hand every step of the way. I felt myself coming back to life, like snowdrops pushing their heads up through the snow & ice & when I did finally wake up, I realised some major changes needed to happen. Whilst in my cocoon of depression, I had changed & so had some of my closest loved ones. So I made a very difficult decision to walk away & start fresh on my own.

It wasn't quite so easy to actually do that though - finances kind of kept me stuck there so after a couple of pretty rough months, things calmed down to a point where we could start moving stuff along & make our separate plans. That's around the time I found my lump. If you've been reading for a while, you may remember my charity fund raising in the summer. I managed to raise 293GBP for Breast Cancer Care by chopping off most of my hair & donating it to a charity that makes wigs for children with cancer. With fantastic support from my fellow gold bloggers & my lovely Twitter peeps, I managed to keep my head & spirits high & after a short operation, I was given the all clear.

I have to say, I have never been so scared in my life! But so many of you, readers, twitter followers & gold blogging friends sent me positive support messages, it was like little rays of light shining through for me to follow a path out of that particular darkness. It also gave me a new impetus to get stuff done. I finally moved into my own little place & now I have a 'pit' to call my very own for the first time in my life.

I've been blogging like crazy, writing on Squidoo to make some cash there too & I even started a second World of Warcraft blog, She Rides Dragons, for my more general WoW ramblings. With some blogging guidance from my good friend, Cold, this blog has seen a huge increase in visitor numbers. I don't write just for the numbers but I will be honest, it really does make my day when I see just how many visitors are reading my stuff! My old school English teacher would have a heart attack if she saw me voluntarily writing all this stuff! I hated English lessons at school & essay writing homework was always the bane of my school existance!

And then there are the podcasts! I guest hosted with Jim on Power Word:Gold podcast a few times in 2011 & he was kind enough to invite me back for a few episodes this year. I played Hearthcast AoE against Rewt (twice! because of technical problems) & I finally got a chance to talk to Rez & Cold on Eviscerated Gaming Podcast last month. Brandon from Gold Shields blog also set up some Google + hangups late in the summer - just a bunch of gold makers hanging out on Google+ & shooting the breeze - those were fun & there's talk of more in the future once Mists of Pandaria activities die down a bit!

So what does the New Year bring? Who knows? I sure don't. This time last year, I was just hoping to get a job & keep blogging too but the job didn't happen. This year, I feel alive & just about ready to tackle anything! Obviously, I'm going to keep blogging here & She Rides Dragons too but I really want to get my photography blog up & running again. I spent most of my WoW gold too - all those lovely mounts & pretty pets available on the Auction House so I guess I will aim for goldcap once more but without glyphs this time!

I'd like to thank everyone personally but the list was long last year & has just got longer this year. New friends, new readers & followers as well as old friends & early followers - thank you all - your tweets & comments here keep me going & makes this all worthwhile for me. I hope my wordy ramblings help you too - I never did perfect the art of short answers - you can blame my Dad for that!

So I guess after all that I just want to say Goodbye 2012 & ooh hello 2013 - onwards & upwards for me & I hope 2013 is a great one for you too. Happy New Year everyone & thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you xxx


Image © Vironevaeh under Creative Commons licence

2011 - What a mixed bag it's been!

My 2011 started off full of enthusiasm & found me writing regularly here as I rode the excitement of the early stages of Cataclysm. Levelling 4 alts to 85, levelling JC & Enchanting so I could make even more gold, discovering Trade Skill master & making new friends was so much fun & kept me going until mid-summer.

Once I hit gold cap though, I kinda lost my drive & if you've been a regular reader, you'll know my posts have been very scarce here since. I hadn't been doing the new Cata dungeons & hadn't even seen inside the Zandalari ones when they were released so I did a few with guildies & got sidetracked into PvP with my newly dinged Hunter. Had some personal problems with a couple of guildies & combined with the lack of drive/focus with my gold making, I spiralled down quickly & have been fighting clinical depression for a few months now.

The gold making community has been a constant source of friendly support though & I'm so proud to call them all friends. Just little messages of 'I'm here if you need me', 'I miss your writing, Nev' or even just 'hugs' means so much when one is so low. One special person gave me the impetus to start fighting again & to get some help so now I'm booked in for various sessions in the coming months to try to sort all this crap out.

I could waffle on forever about my plans for the New Year but right now, it's all the small stuff - baby steps & 'just keep swimming' as Dory would say :P I plan to return here more regularly but I won't promise, I just don't know yet. There's light at the end of the tunnel - I just have to get there.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is 'a huge Thank You' to all my readers, my fellow writers & my goldmaking friends - without you guys & gals, I'd still be broke in game & broken in RL. I was going to name everyone who's been so nice to me but the list got so long, it would need its' own post!


Wishing Everyone a wonderful start to 2012 & lots of gold in your futures

Luff y'all
Nev
xx