Today is my Birthday!

Today is my 39th birthday - my last birthday in my 30's, so I've decided to start my blog again to record my pre-40 adventures and my thoughts before I reach yet another landmark birthday, which all seem to happen closer and closer together as each year goes by.

As I've got older, I am becoming more conscious of time passing me by and needing to keep myself focused to make the most of my life whilst I'm still young, fit and able. In my 20's, I achieved so much - both physically and academically. My 30's have seen a real change; a focus on work and career, with much less time for me and those people around me. I've had a "sort of" bucket list in my head for some time and if I'm honest, I've done most things that I wanted to do - and many more! The No1 on the list was seeing Mt Everest, which I was fortunate to do in 2005. Apart from a short adventure to Namibia in 2009 (which started my blogging career), I've not really done a huge amount - apart from work really hard!

So, with my 40th approaching, it was time to refocus - and make sure that I'm "Fabulous at 40!". With that, I entered the ballot for the London Marathon for 2012 (although if I'm honest - that one can fall off the bucket list without me being too upset about it) and I'll find out in a few weeks if I've got a place, but most importantly I've signed up to climb Kilimanjaro in February 2012. With this, I have to loose some weight and get fit! This process is already underway, and there will be much more on that to follow...(no more excuses!)

But before we get there, in a months time, I am returning to Iceland where I spent a month with the British Schools Exploring Society after finishing my A' levels, 20 years ago. This time, I'm going with Mum and Dad for just 5 days - to explore (in a little more comfort) volcanoes, geysers and hopefully the Northern Lights. I'm really looking forward to marking this milestone with Mum and Dad.

So here begins a year of adventures with great friends, loved ones and most importantly - my family.