New Beginnings

I've been slacking pretty badly with my #2014BloggerChallenges lately. I'll get the email with the topic, and completely forget to write it up. Bad, I know, but hey, I've been pretty busy lately! But here's this week's post about new beginnings.

I wasn't sure how to approach this. I'm entering my third and final year (not including my post-grad course next year) of university, and I didn't think that much had changed in comparison to the last two years. But I was pretty wrong. A LOT has changed in this past year that for months, made me an emotional ticking time bomb. One minute I'd be perfectly fine, and the next, I'd lock myself in my room and just cry to myself.

There was so much confusion with Mr. T. I went back to uni with no intention of getting back together with him at all. I wanted him to regret his choices, of course, but I didn't want to give him a second chance. He'd lost that right. But that changed when I saw him, and every memory I had with him came flooding back and sent me into a state of confusion. I didn't want to give him another chance. He'd hurt me, yet when he came to me wanting to talk, saying how he was also confused... I couldn't help but talk to him, and figure out what we wanted to do. I didn't want to jump back into a relationship, but I didn't want us to not try. It was one of the most confusing times for the both of us, and for about 5 or 6 months, I still didn't know if it was going to go anywhere - was it even a relationship yet?

And then in October, me and my then best-friend had a HUGE fall-out, one that I've been unsure about whether or not I should go into detail at some point on here... I've never argued with anyone that much before, never felt like I was being victimised (even though I know she felt the same way towards me). It was one of the most stressful times of my life. I just wanted for us to be friends again (she was like my sister), but I didn't want to give up my position and to say that I was in the wrong, when I genuinely didn't believe that I was, and I still don't. It didn't help that I had to live with her for the next 8 months, either. I've always been scared of confrontation, and this put my limits to the test, big time.

So this time, I'm looking forward to a new beginning, in a way. My relationship with Mr. T is the best it's ever been, and I'm so happy with him. I'm finally at a point where I feel stable. And I'm looking forward to living with two of my favourite people, with as minimal drama and arguments as possible *she says hopefully*. I have a part-time job to keep some money coming in so that I can save up for the costs of living next year, and I'm looking forward to just enjoying my final year at Kent with the people I love.

My degree choice

When we got given the topic of film for the #2014BloggerChallenge, I was immediately drawn to writing about my chosen university degree. For those of you who don't know, I do Film Studies at the University of Kent, a decision that I do not regret in the slightest! But even though I love my course, whenever I mention it, I still get sniggers from people who state that it's not a "real degree".

Sure, Film may not be as standard a degree as say, a science or Maths degree, but why does that make it any less valid? Of course a Maths or Science degree would be necessary to get into a career in that industry, but I've never had any interest in that field, so why would I choose to intensely study something for 3 years that I absolutely hate?

I was never 100% certain of what career path I wanted to go into. All I knew was that I had a passion for the creative subjects like English, Media and Film (all of which ended up being my 3 A-Level subjects!). Teaching was always a career option for me (that I'm choosing to pursue currently), but I only needed to do a PGCE (Post-Grad Certificate of Education - a year-long course, half spent studying, half placed in a school) after I had completed an undergraduate degree. So really, I could have picked any degree that I wanted, as long as I would be able to provide a suitable explanation for my choice when applying for PGCE courses.

I'm a firm believer of doing what you love, not what you think you should do. University has such a big effect of your life, it would be stupid to spend it doing something you hate, surely? For me, Film was something I loved to explore; analysing the meanings behind them, in some cases comparing them to the books they were adapted from, even creating my own film projects. It's something I really enjoy, so why should I be belittled because of that? If I'm going to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a degree, you can be damn sure I'm gonna enjoy it!

Summer Bucket List

This weeks #2014BloggerChallenge, was to write a summer bucket list! I love this challenge so much, and came up with a list of 20 things I want to do before going back to uni in September!

1. Go on holiday 

I've booked flights to stay with my friend Alison (you can check out her blog here) in Greece in the middle of August, so this should be pretty simple to complete!

2. Do different things when Mr. T visits

Mr. T being "the boy" (thanks Betsy, for helping me come up with an online name for him! T is the initial of his first name!). I've been trying to come up with a list of things that we could do when he visits Essex to make things more interesting. So far I have "Southend-on-Sea" aaaaaand, that's about it! I'll keep working on this one!

3. Make ice cream floats

I used to make these ALL the time! Ice cream and coke... It sounds disgusting, but the result is a perfect concoction of fizz and cream.

4. Go on a road trip

A few friends, just go for a drive and end up somewhere we've not been to. Simple.

5. Eat ice cream at the beach

This could probably be achieved if me and Mr. T end up at Southend, but there's just something satisfying about watching the waves while eating an ice cream.

6. Visit uni friends

In particular, my friends Kirstie and Beth (my current and future housemates!), who both live around the Cambridge area. I've been promised a night out that I'm determined to fulfil this year!

7. Have a London tourist day

Simple, really. I've lived near London for my entire life, so I never get to do the whole "tourist" thing, like taking pictures outside the big landmarks and just taking in the scenery.

8. Go to somewhere new

This is again, quite simple. I want to visit somewhere I've never been before.

9. Swim in the sea

Believe it or not, I've never actually swum in a sea. I don't trust the English waters, but I'll 100% get to fulfil this wish when I'm in Greece! Clear waters and sun!

10. Bake more

Cupcakes, brownies, cookies, you name it, I want to make it!

11. Get a decent tan

Easier said than done. I want to be brown, not bright red, after my holiday!

12. Read more

I've actually just placed an order on Amazon for £55, purely on books, so this should be easy!

13. Go to a theme park

I haven't been to a theme park in years! Thorpe Park or Alton Towers is calling my name. I just need a car and friends willing to go!

14. Take more pictures

I've been pretty good with this lately, as I've really started getting into taking pictures for my blog, but I want to have a load of photos that I can look back at in a year or two.

15. Start yoga

It's so relaxing and beneficial, but for some reason, I can never be bothered to start!

16. Dip-dye my hair

Last summer, I dip-dyed my hair both purple and blue, and loved the results. I'd like to try that again.

17. See my friends more often

Last summer, I was too busy moping around or complaining about money to go out with my friends. I want that to change.

18. Clean out my junk

Get rid of all the unnecessary crap lying around in my room!

19. Summer-ise my wardrobe

Cut jeans into shorts, tie-dye some stuff, just make it more summery!

20. Make juice ice cubes and add Sprite

Super simple! I saw a Pinterest post, and you literally freeze fruit juice into ice cubes, and add Sprite. Sounds delicious!

What's on your summer bucket list?

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I have been SUCH a bad blogger recently. I haven't posted in a bout 2 weeks, and I even missed the last #2014BloggerChallenge topic. So to make up for it, I'm posting this week's challenge a little early (and the fact that I've had such a good weekend I feel the need to write about it!).

This week's challenge is to show my week/day in pictures. I opted for the weekend instead, as I spent the weekend visiting my hometown for Mother's Day. I have a very love/hate relationship with this place. I live on the border of East London/Essex, in a pretty shoddy area! I mean, they say that the public transport is amazing, but when I opted to walk home instead of waiting 7 minutes for a bus from the station, not one single bus had passed me on the 20 minute walk. Win for me. Loss for TFL.

I got the 12:25 train on Friday from Canterbury to Stratford International, and had an obligatory stop at Westfield on my walk through to the other station, where I bought some loooooverly flowers for my mum (I also cut them and put them in a vase for when she got home!).

After a little bit of retail therapy, I got the train to my local station, and walked the 20 minutes home, with just my music and this cat for company!

Some of the best things about this walk is seeing the TFL bus stops and buses, instead of the regular ones in Canterbury, There's just something about a red bus... And of course, the out-of-business Blockbusters shop that's been closed for the last 5 years and still hasn't been replaced!

One of my favourite things about being home, is the big TV in the living room, and the ability to watch programmes other than what's on Freeview. In my case, that's non-stop Friends episodes on Comedy Central! 

After spending a mere hour in the comfort of my home, I was rushed out to a night of yet more retail therapy to Lakeside (and IKEA!) with some of my favourite people from home; my friends Rebekah, Jaymi, Sophia & Jordan. Believe me when I say we're a very strange group of friends...

After taking our #100HappyDays pictures for the day (you can check out my progress on my Instagram page!) , I got one of my favourite smoothies from Boost, Strawberry Squeeze, which I always miss very dearly when I'm at uni! It's like a fruit party in your mouth!

After a long day of travelling and shopping, I turned in for the night in my childhood bedroom. Although I'm now used to the luxury of a double bed at uni, there's something comforting about sleeping in your old room...

I was picked up on Saturday morning by Sophia, where we treated ourselves to ANOTHER shopping trip! Apparently I was feeling quite frivolous this weekend! Though I did buy some really lovely summery things... And Marvel... 

We then got Chinese in the evening and watched Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (a weekly tradition when I was younger!), and evened out the junk food with a yummy bowl of strawberries and cream! 

And now for Sunday: Mother's Day! My sister couldn't make it down until Monday, so me and my brother took my Mum to Westfield for something to eat. We decided on the Chicago Rib Shack, which is basically an American diner-style takeaway that specialises in BBQ food (ribs, chicken wings and burgers!). I ordered ribs and wings with homemade lemonade. Honestly, it baffled me that it was part of a food court - it was worthy of being a real restaurant!

I had such a lovely weekend at home - I hadn't been back since Christmas! As much as I love uni, it's nice to just get away from that atmosphere for a while, and spend some quality time with my old friends and family. I also managed to get my mum involved in some selfies! ;)

How did you spend your weekend? I hope it was as lovely as mine was! 

The Great Gatsby

For the third topic of the 2014 Blogger's Challenge, we've been given the chance to write a book review, something completely different for my blog in particular. I've always loved to read, and I was that kid who instead of coming home and playing outside or running riot, I'd be curled up on the sofa, reading a book. I'd go to the library every two weeks and pick out an armful of books that I would get through until my next visit. Although I don't read as much now, I still love to pick up a book every now and then, and just lose myself in another world.

As you can probably tell from the title, my review is going to be on the classic The Great Gatsby. It was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a truly fantastic writer, I might add! Every sentence is like poetry. I first read this book for my AS English Literature exam, 3 years ago, but recently re-read it for my Film & TV Adaptation module for uni. I completely forgot how beautiful this book is.

I can't do the story justice, but a brief summary would be that it follows Jay Gatsby's longing to relight the flame between him and now-married Daisy. Gatsby is without a doubt one of the most beautifully flawed characters ever written, in my opinion at least!

I wouldn't be able to do the story justice by reviewing it, so instead, I'm going to write some of the quotes from the book, subtle life-lessons from Fitzgerald:

"Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope"
"I like large parties. They're so intimate"
"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired"
"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the Fall"
"There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind"
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly to the past"

If these aren't reason enough to read it, I don't know what is! And the best thing? You can download the book for FREE from the Kindle store on Amazon. You can download it onto a Kindle device, or with the Kindle App on smartphones, PCs or Macs (my preference; it has a bigger screen!). I hope you all love it as much as I do!

New Year, New Beginnings

Happy New Year, and welcome to the first post of the 2014 Blogger Challenge! For the first challenge, the topic we have been given to discuss is New Years Inspiration. Now, I'm not the kind of person to believe in the whole "New Year, New Me" thing. Instead, I believe in new beginnings, making new memories with the people you love.

"The beginning is always today" is one of my favourite quotes. The way I see this, is that no matter what happened in the past, if you've had a particularly bad day, or something's happened to you that made you miserable, brush yourself up and don't dwell on it, for tomorrow is a brand new day. 

I've had times in the past where I've been miserable, and let things get to the point where I sit at home on my own for days on end, not wanting to go out and do anything because of my mood. But I look back at that now and think why? Why would I willingly prevent myself from being happy just because I've had a bad experience? What's the use on dwelling on things beyond your control?

If anybody reading this is having a tough time, I'm truly sorry. But don't let that stop you from living your life. Take a day to yourself, but once you wake up the next morning, treat it like a completely new day. Get up, go out, have fun! Because a new day sparks new beginnings. 

P.S. Here's the link to Gaby's blog, explaining the 2014 Blogger Challenge, with a list of all the other girls involved!