Exciting Times Ahead.

As you can probably tell, I gave up on the challenge, because I've been too busy pretending to be a good student!


Anyway, it was Emily's Birthday on Tuesday, and I went back to Manchester in order to celebrate it with her. I'm normally utterly rubbish at buying presents, but because it was her 21st, I wanted to get her something good this time, so I racked my brains and decided on a goody box full of 21 gifts. Here it is...

As you can tell, she likes pink/purple. And baking. And chicken noodles.

Quite proud of it, I must say :D And Emily loved it, so that's all that matters! We had a really good night, and I got to see Martin, Hannah and Ray, who I haven't seen in ages :) Emily had her makeup done by the Mac people in Selfridges, and she looked absolutely bloody gorgeous!

Ignore my stupid eye.

Now it's only 8 days until my Birthday :D Yay! I'm so excited, you'd think I was 12 not 21! I'm having a party at my house, with my family and friends from both home and Bangor, so it's going to be a great night :) Then I'm skiving off uni for a week (Shhh!) in preparation for our holiday to Sissi in Crete :D 

I like to think the recent amazing weather is preparing me for it :) I've been wearing shorts for the last couple of days, and today I'm even wearing a dress and sandals :O

Of course, the flip side to all of this is the amount of work I have to complete before I can enjoy myself for a couple of weeks! I have another (much less fun) blog to write for my Writing for Publishing class, a presentation to prepare for, (which also ties in with my LAST.EVER.LECTURE!) next Thursday, and of course, the big D. But the less said about that, the better! 

So, it's Friday, and from tonight until Sunday night, I'm imposing a 48 hour isolation period for myself, setting up camp in my room and not leaving until I have at least 5,000 words written (other than the obvious toilet/kitchen visits).

This just made me laugh.

            

 Sounds fun, doesn't it?! Needs to be done though, or else, knowing me (which I do, very well), I won't ever get it done, and it'll ruin both my Birthday and holiday. Nobody wants to be sitting in Crete and writing an essay. At least nobody I'd like to meet!

I suck!

So yeah, it seems I'm seriously failing at this! I was tempted to give up, but there's not that long left, and I was enjoying it before I started slacking, so I might as well carry on! So this is a three-in-one because I've been uber lazy. (Well, actually I was busy writing the world's worst essay, but hey!)

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget

I spent the last few days writing a sci-fi essay about whether Rocky Horror could be classed as sci-fi or not. It was rubbish. I'd like to forget I ever wrote that. 

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at

If I could have one skill, I'd love to be able to draw. I struggle drawing stick figures! My cousin Joe, and my brother, are amazing at art, and I envy them so much! I just think that it'd be something I could spend a lot of time doing and would help me relax. It certainly keeps Cameron quiet for a long time!

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book

This one was probably the hardest choice I've had to make yet with these! To be honest, this has been a recent change. I've always classed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as my favourite all time book, but I absolutely fell in love with Eat, Pray, Love. I have to admit that To Kill A Mockingbird came very close to stealing the title again, but although I do love that book and can't wait to read it again, Eat, Pray, Love touched me and changed my outlook. (I never thought I'd ever say that about a book, but yeah, it's powerful.) 

I read Eat, Pray, Love during the summer, and it took me an unusually long time to read, I have to admit. For those who don't know, here's the blurb:

Elizabeth is in her thirties, settled in a large house with a husband who wants to start a family. But she doesn't want any of it. A bitter divorce and a rebound fling later, Elizabeth emerges battered yet determined to find what she's been missing. So begins her quest. In Rome, she indulges herself and gains nearly two stone. In India, she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors. Finally, in Bali, a toothless medicine man reveals a new path to peace, leaving her ready to love again.  

The book is one emotional rollercoaster, as you can probably imagine just from that snippet. I first heard of it when I saw the trailer for the film, which I instantly wanted to see because I adore Julia Roberts, but I knew that the film couldn't possibly compare to a book with that much personal thought and feeling involved in the story, and it doesn't!

I gave the book to my mum and my friend Jasmin to read, and both of them ended up giving up on it, which I don't blame them for at all. It is hard going, especially during the India section, where Gilbert spends most of her time talking in detail about her struggle with meditation and prayer. I think that it's something you really need to have the patience for, and an interest in, to work through. But once through that, the finding love in Bali is worth it! 

It's basically a story about going on a journey and finding yourself and figuring out what you believe in and what you want from the world. I've been reading a lot of books like this lately, I think because it's what I'm trying to do myself at the moment.Gilbert is extremely easy for me to relate to (although I'm not a 30 odd year old divorcee travelling the world, there is a moment when she's in India when she talks about her relationship with God, and I was just like 'wow, you've just summed me up'. It was amazing.)

Anyway, now I've showcased my extremely lame book reviewing skills, (which I should really try to improve, considering the career choice!) I'm going to shush about that! I think that if you haven't read Eat, Pray, Love though, you definitely should. 

Oops...slacking!

Argh, I've missed a day again! I did spend the beginning of yesterday giving a presentation and in another lecture, and the second half of it asleep, so I think I've got another good excuse! Anyway...

Day 19 - A picture and a letter

Cutest. Thing. Ever.

This is a picture/letter combo. This is the letter my brother wrote to me before I moved to Bangor. He was six at the time and spent about a week very upset because he thought that I was going away for three years without coming back, and that he wouldn't see me until he was nine! He cheered up considerably when he grasped that I was going to get the train back every few weeks and that he couldn't get rid of me that easily. Bless him. If you can't make it out, here is my translation...:

Dear Laura,

I want you to have a good three years at university.

I love you lots and lots. I do hope that you do that good.

Bye bye Laura.

I love you.

Good bye Laura.

From Cameron and mum.

Then he has drawn a picture of a rabbit, and under it, it says 'I'm a rabbit. I'm a pet. I have got a circle tail. And the rabbit is saying 'next door's got three rabbits'... I should explain that when he was about four, and first got his glasses, we thought he looked like Jonathon Lipnicki in Jerry MaGuire, who said 'next door's got three rabbits' to Tom Cruise, and we used to always say it to Cameron...

I read the letter to Cameron over the phone the other day, and my mum said he was extremely embarrassed! He's obviously too cool now at nine years old to admit that he ever cried because he thought he wouldn't see me for three years haha!

So, moving on...

Day 20: A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

Africaaaaa

Aha! A way to get my Africa answer in afterall! I've always wanted to go to Africa and volunteer, but it costs a lot of money and I'm very poor, so it's a no-can-do. Hopefull I will be able to do, when I have a job and have saved up that lot of money! ...But then I'll have a job. Oh well, I'll definitely go at some point! 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Seventeen and Eighteen

Oops, I missed a day! I was working at an open day and then was rushing around getting ready, then had a few drinks, so I didn't have time! Anyway..

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

I have to admit I never thought that I would admit that getting up when it's actually still morning would benefit me in any way! But I gave up lie-ins for lent and it's done me the world of good! I've actually been in a better mood when I get up (anyone who knows me will know I'm a horrible, horrible person in the morning!), and it's actually motivated me to do more, instead of just sitting around being lazy. I have to admit that I've slept in this weekend because I'm ill and been waking up during the night coughing, but I feel more tired now after more sleep than I have done all week! So I think this is something that I will carry on with, (even if I have technically failed my lent challenge!)

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity

That caption is very true! People seem to be think that big boobs are public property. It's really, really annoying.  I'm not gunna cry myself to sleep about it, but I do get really annoyed when I'm out and just get random people oggling! I wouldn't go up to someone with a huge arse and be like 'Woah your arse is huge!' and then grope it! ...Anyway, this one isn't a very fun one, so I'm going to finish it now before it turns into a moaning blog! :) 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Sixteen

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

Nicholas Sparks

This is rather fitting, considering I've just watched the movie version of Nights In Rodanthe. I absolutely adore Nicholas Sparks, as I've mentioned before. His stories aren't fancy or groundbreaking, they're just stories about people and their relationships. There's a bit of religion in there, and you can guarantee that someone is going to die, but they're just about love and family, and they just make me happy when I read them, even if I'm smiling through floods of tears! 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Fifteen

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

My first choice for this one was volunteering in Africa, but I couldn't find the right picture to represent it. Anyway, the second thing on my list is a sky dive. I can imagine that it'd be the most thrilling thing ever to do, but I reckon I'd be too scared haha! They would literally have to push me out of the plane!

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

Ignore my black hair...I was going through a 'stage'.

I know I'm doing a lot of cheating in these blogs, but frankly, who cares? There's not just one person I couldn't imagine life without, therefore I can't choose just one picture. So I chose two. My two favourite pictures of my favourite people in the world, my family. Simples. 

There's obviously a lot of people missing from these photos, because my family is HUGE. But even though there's so many of us, spread out so wide, we're all extremely close and I love that :) Plus, I have to love them because we all look so much alike, I'd never be able to deny we were related! 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Thirteen

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist


This was actually a really hard one! My first thought was Snow Patrol, because they make up the majority of my top 25 most played playlist. Then I thought Jimmy Eat World, because they remind me of college and I adore The Middle, and Hear, You, Me is one of about four songs that have ever made me cry! The Script and Lifehouse were other possibilities, but I simply couldn't choose between them. Then I remembered this beautiful man...

Michael Grubbs

Grubbs is the lead singer of band Wakey! Wakey! and I absolutely love his voice! He played a character of the same name in One Tree Hill, and I fell in love when he sang this song...

Dance So Good (Youtube) PHWOAR! 

Anyway, download his album... Almost Everything I wish I'd Said The Last Time I saw You :)

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Twelve

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

Well I love and want that clock, but the thing I really love is books! I just typed 'books' into google and that's one that came up..wow, it's amazing. Anyway...as I've said already in a previous blog, I really don't know how many books I've read in my lifetime. Let's just say it's plenty! I've also read the same books over and over again, because I always have to have a book to read, and sometimes I'm poor and can't afford to buy a new one. However, my friend Cait (blog) has just linked me to an amazing website which I'm sure is going to provide me with endless reading material from now on! 

The reason I love books so much is because when I read one, it's pretty much the only time ever that I can sit still and concentrate for more than five seconds! I go into my own world, or the world in the book, and just get lost. It's the most amazing feeling ever, along with the mixed feeling of finishing a book...both glad and sad at the same time that it's over. I love characters, and I often find myself in a fantasy love affair with a fictional character...sad I know, but oh well! 

My favourite author is Nicholas Sparks. I know a lot of people say he writes the same book over and over, and although I agree that yes, his books are about a lot of the same themes, and of course mostly all set in the same place, I just love his characters, and the love they all have for each other. Cheesy, yes, but I think I've displayed enough of my cheesiness over the last twelve days...or indeed the last 20 years... for that not to be a surprise anymore!

Another author I adore is Trudi Canavan, who wrote The Black Magician Trilogy. Other than obviously Harry Potter, they are the first fantasy novels I ever read. My mum bought them for me when I was about 14ish I think, as an unusual present, and I fell in love with them. After reading that website I've just realised that there's a second trilogy, ooohhhhh, so I think I'm definitely going to have to read those, although I hope they're not going to ruin my love for the originals! 

Anyway, that's enough procrastination! Byeeee! 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Eleven

Day Eleven: A picture of something you hate.

BLEUGH

This is just a silly one, because I don't like the word hate, it's very strong and shouldn't be used lightly! Therefore, I just thought I'd remind everybody of my...shall we say...disagreement...with vegetables! As I get older, I do eat more...if they're disguised! The best invention ever is hidden vegetable spaghetti! 

NOM

Yes, that's right...a 20 year old who has to trick herself into eating yukky veg. I'm not ashamed. 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Ten

Day Ten: A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with

Tish Tash Tosh

Although I have to admit that I don't do many '****** up things', (seeing as my idea of making the most of being home alone tonight is blasting my music and cleaning the flat...), but Tasha is definitely the person I have the most fun with when we're drunk! 

We have many games we like to play when we're out...pinchy bum and chat up line challenge are probably the best. Pinchy bum has actually got us in trouble a couple of times! I think one of the best nights out I've ever had is Halloween 2009, when we went out on our own and played an EPIC game of pinchy bum, that ended up in us being chased around Time (R.I.P) by a weird foreign guy. 

If you don't know the rules of pinchy bum, you basically stand in a big crowd, pinch somebody's bum, and then carry on with your conversation. It works best if there's two guys stood back to back...very funny reactions! The aim is to see how long you can get away with pinching the same person's bum without being caught :D 

Anyway so yeah, that's Tasha, my fave drinking partner <3 *Cough* GAY *Cough* I did actually try to find a picture of us playing a game, but I couldn't. There are MANY drunken pictures of us, but I didn't want to hurt anybody's eyes. Anyway...laterz!

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Nine

Day Nine: A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

Me and my mummy, 2008

I'm gunna be all mushy and talk about my mum some more! She's not just my mum, she's my best friend too :) I honestly don't know what I would do without her! It's been a rollercoaster for my family over the last few years, and I think we've relied on each other a lot to get through lots of stuff. Now things are finally looking up for all of us, and it's thanks to my mum's belief in me and her unconditional support in everything I do and believe in, that I'm about to graduate from uni and become an adult! I knoooow, super cheesy and gay, but I don't care :) <3 

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Eight

Day Eight: A picture that makes you laugh.

My Phil Mitchell Impression

Normally, I deny all knowledge of all bad photos of me, but this one is just too funny. There's 31 comments on it on facebook, mostly from people stumbling across it and pissing themselves at it. I think the funny thing about it is nobody has any idea why my face was like that...I was supposed to be smiling! I've even tried to reenact it, but it's impossible. Enjoy!

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Seven

Day Seven: A picture of your most treasured item.

Sammy Crow

That's Sammy, and there was no competition for my most treasured item! It probably seems sad to most people that a stuffed scarecrow is my most treasured item, but he's my version of a comfort blanket, and a 21 year habit is hard to break! My granny June knitted all of us grandchildren one when we were born, but there was only really me and my cousin Kayleigh who stuck to ours. Kayleigh outgrew Jimmy a few years ago, but I can't abandon Sammy just yet! ...I was the kind of kid who used to kick my teddies out of bed, and then see them on the floor and felt sorry for them because they looked cold, so ended up with a bed full of stuffed animals and no space to sleep!

30 Day Picture Challenge: Day Six

Day Six: A Picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.

This was a tough one, and as you can see, I didn't actually manage a picture of an actual person. I thought hard about it, and my first thoughts were between Katy Perry, Victoria Beckham or Georgia Moffett...spending the day with one of three of the sexiest men on the planet would be quite nice! Then I thought of Kate Middleton, or even the Queen, just to see what it's like to be Royal. 


But when I thought about it seriously, I'd trade places with a successful editor (preferably one working in New York!), to see if it's really what I want to do. I think that'd be a pretty cool and rewarding day!