My New Year's Resolutions

Hi

I'm back again and it hasn't been months since I last posted which is surprising, but not impossible. That is kind of what this post is about; achieving the things that you wanted to do, but thought that you couldn't. Things that you set yourself to achieve, but often fail miserably. So if you haven't already guessed, this post is about new year's resolutions. You see, I never usually do these, mainly because new year's eve is my birthday and that's when people usually think of them and on my birthday, no thinking is required. However, this year, I feel like I need some goals because last year, I feel like I achieved nothing. I did achieve things but I just don't remember them (I have a top tip for this, just keep keeping until the end). I know i'm doing this a bit late but better late than never!

So my first resolution is to be more organised. I thought I was an organised person but having just done my GCSE mocks, I have realised that I am actually in no way organised. This is a bit of an issue considering I have been told you need to be super organised to do GCSEs and all exams so this is a priority. I will let you know how this one goes.

Similar to the previous resolution, I want to procrastinate less. I have tried to do this already but any techniques I have tried don't work. I find any way to procrastinate that I can. This can be procrastinating anything such as work or even blogging by just going on the internet. I use the excuse on myself that I need the internet for research but most of the time I really don't. I just lie to myself to make myself feel better about it than I do and make me not worry. This often makes me too calm so I don't revise or do stuff that I have to. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Next, is to blog more. I know this sounds simple and easy enough but as you probably know, I have failed this so far but I hope that will change. This time, i'm not promising anything like a post every week, because with all of my schoolwork, I know that won't happen and it will put even more stress on me as well as the stress from school. I don't want this blog to be something I feel forced to do, I want to blog to relax and to have fun, not to be forced to. It is a hobby after all!

Another resolution is to cook more. Now I don't have to cook for myself as my mum is the one that cooks, but cooking used to be a hobby of mine that I really enjoyed. That is why I took GCSE food tech but that has just turned cooking into a chore for me and made me not want to do it. Once I get cooking I really enjoy it, but it's just getting started. I want to take cooking back as my hobby and stop it being a chore.

These next three I am counting as one because they are all to do with my health and fitness. I have a year pass to go to the gym and I hardly ever use it unless I have to which I want to change as I feel really good post-workout. I also want to get more sleep (that's another thing I seem to procrastinate) as I often am up gone midnight just endlessly scrolling on tumblr on my phone, or watching YouTube videos trying to make myself happy. The other one is to read more, it's not exactly to do with health but I want to take English Language next year so it is a good idea and it relaxes me as well as making me tired and more likely to sleep.

I am also very shy, which I have mentioned before, and I see myself as very socially awkward as I won't start a conversation with someone if I am not good friends with them or if I haven't planned out exactly what I will say. I don't put my hand up at all in class for fear of doing something awkward and I can't seem to make myself talk. This is why I want to try and start a conversation with someone I know, but wouldn't usually talk to. This may seem silly to you but I figured I have to take small steps at first or I'll just scare myself back into my box. This also links with the fact that I want to try and stop caring what people I don't even know think of me. So what if they judge me, I don't know them and don't care about what they think of me so why do I feel so scared?

As I said near the start, I always forget my achievements so I have a way to try and remember them. I have this jar (similar to the one in the picture on the right) and throughout the year, I plan to write things that have made me happy or that I have achieved on little notes and fold them up and put them in the jar. Then hopefully if I managed to keep it up, I should have a quite fully jar by the end of the year and I can read through them and see all the positive things that have happened to be all year. If it works, it should make me more inspired next year or whenever i'm feeling uninspired and a bit pointless.

So that's all the resolutions I have for this year, tell me what yours are in the comments if you like. Well, here is the quote:

"The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking" 

~Robert Schuller

Grace x

Make your own decisions

Hi.

So things have changed a lot since my last post. Again, it has been a while but I needed time to think. I have finally chosen the option I want to take for A-Levels not that anyone approves. My parents have been wanting me to make a decision for months, and when I finally did, they just picked at the faults. I want to do English Language, ICT A2 (I will have completed the first part of the A-Level (AS) by the end of year 11), Media Studies and computing.

I know that computing and ICT are similar, but they are not the same. Computing is more like web design and understanding how computers and coding works, whereas ICT seems to be focused around satisfying the client and making systems for them. I value computing more than ICT because I enjoy that side of it better but my parents want me to finish ICT, so I guess I am doing it to make them happy. You know, last year in my ICT class, we had to create a system for a client. It could be anything, we had the freedom to make out own decisions. I chose to design a website but everyone else in my class either made a spreadsheet or a database. People said to me I wouldn't be able to do it, they said I should try to do the same as everyone else and for once, I stood by my idea. I did what I wanted and didn't listen to the people putting me down and the end product was a great success. The teachers said that my system was much more complicated than the others and that I would be suited for web design.

Back to my subjects, my parents say Media Studies is a waste, they say universities hate it. I researched this and they used to hate it, but they made the course harder. It is now one of the hardest courses to get an A/A* in. I guess it shows that you don't always have to blindly follow what people say, because they aren't always right. Then English Language, it is my best subject. I get the best grades compared to all of my other subjects and I enjoy writing. It isn't to do with ICT or that type of career but I enjoy it, so I want to take it.

Basically, this whole post was trying to say, don't let others squash your dreams because they can't comprehend them and don't let others push you around. I'm a wallflower, I get pushed around easily and don't react but doing what I wanted for a change, felt really good, so go and do what you want to do!

Saying that, I can't do the A-Levels that I want to because the school have basically decided that because only I chose those options, they can afford to not cater for me and have put all my options in one block. Basically there are 4 blocks and you have to pick a subject from each block that you will do and they ignored my choices and out mine in the same block so I'm back where I started. Help.
Nevertheless, in my true style, here is the quote:

"Don't let the opinions of others define you. Don't let the doubts of others confine you. You can be so much more than even you suppose." ~Michael Josephson

Grace x

You don't have to be positive all of the time

Hi

It's been a while. GCSE's are hard okay, don't look at me with those disapproving eyes. I've been trying to concentrate on my controlled assessments, but I just worry. I worry that everything i'm doing is pointless. I've been looking around colleges and sixth forms but I can't think of one subject I want to take for A-Levels. I thought about btecs but my family say they are pointless. I worry that if I leave my friends and go to college, I won't make any new ones. I keep thinking I'm wasting my life, I have no idea what I want to be or what I enjoy. All I know is i'd love to travel the world and that I'm interested in interior design. I can't even do that as i'm terrible at drawing.

Everyday I have been worrying about stupid things like, what if I go to college and get lost on my first day, or what if I forget to tie my shoelace in the morning. I don't know why but I've been super panicky about almost everything lately and I can't stop it. I just feel like after my GCSE's I have nothing, I will just do A-Levels and more exams. Then what? What happens after A-Levels? What if I don't get into uni? Do I even want to go to uni? What will I do if I don't? Will I end up living at home for the rest of my life?

I'm sorry that this was short and wasn't a very positive post, I think that is where I've been going wrong. I think I've been putting too much pressure on myself to be positive on here all the time but I've realised that writing down negative thoughts is okay. After all, by doing this, i'm sharing parts of my life and they isn't all good.Apparently writing down worries helps so I hope this works for me.

As always, here is a great quote to remember:

"Life is a roller coaster. You can either scream every time you hit a bump, or you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy it."

Grace x

50 Great Blog Post Ideas

Hi

I've been having a lot of writers block recently and I know that most fellow bloggers get the same thing sometimes. I needed some inspiration and I've decided to help other people out to. So today's post is:

50 Blog Post Ideas

These are just some I thought of that I would like to read about, so I hope it helps you :)

1. Day trip/Holiday photos and description
2. Design idea
3. Review of something you have liked or are liking (e.g. book/film/beauty/item)
4. Monthly favourites
6. Technology
7. Advice about a topic (e.g. anxiety, camping, anything you know about)
8. Helpful tips (with a theme of something like storage)
9. A tag (15 facts you didn't know about me)
10. Music playlist
11. Decisions you have made recently
12. A recipe for something you enjoy making
13. What you want your future to be like
14. Best blogs/websites to look at
15. Comparisons (e.g. film and book)
16. Q & A post
17. Something you have learnt
18. Childhood story
19. Short autobiography of you life so far
20. Talk about a hobby you enjoy
21. Seasonal post (e.g. Christmas, Summer, Halloween)
22. Your inspiration for life
23. Why you got into blogging
24. Your favourite foods
25. A rant about something
26. Quotes and what you think they mean/what they mean you you
27. House/flat/room tour
28. What's in my bag
29. Essentials for something (e.g. travel)
30. Fashion (e.g. clothes/brands you have been loving)
31. About a charity
32. Describing events in your life
33. About a fandom you are in (e.g. Harry Potter, Hunger Games)
34. Restaurant review
35. Ask your readers questions
36. Show a project you have been working on
37. About your family/friends
38. Moving house description
39. Birthday/Christmas presents hall
40. Shopping hall
41. Dreams you have
42. Goals to achieve in the next few months
43. 30 Day challenge description/images
44. Show/explain a photo album
45. Encourage others
46. About your town and where to go
47. Thing you liked on Pinterest
48. Fiction story
49. Random facts list
50. And lastly, go and make a Vlog, enter the video blogging world and see where it takes you...

I hope that you found some of these helpful and inspiring but if you didn't, then maybe this quote will inspire you:

"Limitations live only in our minds.  But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless" Jamie Paolinetti

Grace x

The Liebster Award

Hi

This post is a little bit different. The other day I was just minding my own business, reading my emails, when I came across an email from a fellow blogger to tell me I had one an award. At first I was quite confused, what had I won an award for? I couldn't think what I had done to deserve it. As I read further, I found that the award I had one was the Liebster Award.

For those of you that don't know, the Liebster Award is an award given to a blogger with less than 200 followers from a fellow blogger. It's a way of establishing relationships in the community and promoting blogs that you think deserve more credit than they have. As the person that nominated me, I ,as a newbie, take it as encouragement. Without it I probably still wouldn't have written a post yet. It shows you that at least someone reads and cares enough about what you have written to nominate you for this. The person that nominated me is the amazing Katrina. She is an 18 year old blogger and you should definitely check her blog out. 

To keep the encouragement flowing, there are a few things you should do once nominated:

• Link back to the person who nominated you. 
• Answer their questions, all 11 of them!
• Share facts about yourself.
• Nominate up to 11 other bloggers with under 200 followers.
• Get ready to know more about these incredible people. 11's the magic number. Come up with 11 questions for them.

Katrina's Questions:

1. What's your favourite book?

I have only just got into reading so my favourite book so far is The Fault in our Stars by John Green but it is bound to change at some point. I can imagine the characters so easily and although it's incredibly sad, it's so good that I put myself through the pain of reading it again. If you haven't read it already, you should definitely check it out or if you have, re-read it.
2. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging, only about a month ago because I had nothing to do. I never really told anyone how I was feeling about things and I thought I was time to change. By that I mean I did talk to my friends, but dreams and things I like never comes up in conversation. There isn't a problem with this but I just wanted to express myself in a different way to different people, which is probably why none of my actual friends know about this blog.
3. Favourite song?

My favourite song changes all the time but at the moment it is Great Escape by Mike Dignam. It's not the type of song that I usually listen to but I really liked it as its about escaping from troubles by travelling the world which is what I want to do.
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

This is a hard question for me. In five years I will be 20 and that's quite scary. I don't know what job I want to do yet, all I know is I want to travel. I hope to have found myself and what I want to do and either be doing that, or be travelling the world on a gap year or doing a job whilst travelling. They are my dreams for the next five years and I hope I can achieve them.
5. Top 5 bloggers

Now my top five bloggers is quite hard, as I only do some blog reading but the blogs that I enjoy reading the most are:

https://www.districtlines.com/Troye-Sivan

• Zoella
• SprinkleofGlitter
• Jim Chapman
• Steve Booker
• JacksGap

6. If you were given $1000, how would you spend it?

This is hard too. I would probably treat myself to this beautiful TRXYE jumper first. I'd then use some to travel the world and help people. I'd give the rest to charity. The reason I'm not giving it all to charity is because for some people, it's not money they need, it's company. I want to help these people but the only way I could would be using money to travel.
7. Which place do you want to visit the most?

Ugh the questions are getting harder. I'd love to travel the world but if I had to pick one place it would be...errrmm...Italy. I'd love  to go to Rome and Florence. It just looks like one of the most beautiful places to visit. I also want to go to Orlando, Florida to Harry Potter World (I couldn't leave it out).
8. What's your motto?

The quote I live by, or try to live by, is "I'd rather have a life of 'oh wells' than 'what ifs' " which I have mentioned in a previous post.
9. Comfort food?

OREOS - they cheer me up any day. I have only just started eating them and they are just life.
10. What is one thing you can't live without?

My incredible rabbit, Champers. He is my best friend and I love spending time with him. He's almost 8 so he's getting quite old for a rabbit. I won't be able to cope when he goes, I'm tearing up even writing this.
11. Tell us 3 things you like about yourself or your blog. (it's okay, we won't think you're bragging)

This is probably the hardest question. I guess I like that my blog is an escape for me from the world. I like that I can write my dreams here without being embarrassed about it and I like that at least someone reads it.

Now that's over and done with, feel free to ask me any questions. Surprisingly I really enjoyed answering those.

I nominate:

• Lauren (http://dailylittlebit.blogspot.co.uk/)
• Gracie-Chan (http://gracie-chan.blogspot.com.au/)
• Jasmine (http://collectingcities.blogspot.co.uk/)
• Jade (http://sincerelyjademarie.blogspot.co.uk/)
• Amy & Angella (http://importedbubbly.blogspot.co.uk/)

My Questions to you are:

1. What is the one thing that makes you smile the most?

2. Where is your favourite place to escape to?

3. Last food you ate?

4. Favourite film/TV show?

5. Worst habit?

6. Favourite thing to do?

7. Last thing you bought?

8. Your favourite blog post you have done (it's okay we know you're not bragging)?

9. Favourite shop?

10. The last embarrassing thing to happen to you?

11. The best thing that has ever happened to you? 

Answer them in a blog post and then comment here when you are done so I can read them :)

I can't wait to see the responses,

Grace x

Do What Makes You Happy

Hi

It's been a while. I haven't written anything in a while and I don't really have any excuse. My first two posts are within a couple of days of each other and my third is only a few days after that. I thought that if I was going to blog, I would have to do it very often. I guess I just pressured myself into it too much. I kept thinking that I had to blog every couple of days but I realised blogging too often about stuff that I didn't care about would be boring, for you and for me, so I decided to leave it for a week, just let it be more natural and how I wanted it to be. Then a week turned into two weeks, into three and now it's been over a month. You can't blame me, I started watching Big Bang Theory and it kind of took over and Sheldon is so fabulous I just couldn't do anything else but watch it okay!

I guess that what I'm trying to say is don't pressure yourself into blogging. It doesn't make you any better, if anything it makes you worse at it. I forgot how to even write a new post for about ten minutes and I just stared at the screen ignoring the massive button next in front of me. Blogging should be natural,not something that you are forced to do, but something that you actually enjoy doing. I'm not saying that you shouldn't blog every couple of days, just don't force yourself to blog. You may have an exciting few days you want to blog about and then nothing for the next week. That's fine. When you post doesn't matter with blogs, it can fit to what you want. You can spread it out, or post in chunks. As long as it's good quality writing, nobody will mind.

If you don't enjoy doing something and you won't benefit from it, then just drop it out of your life. After all, you should "Take time to do what makes you happy". This is what I have decided to do with my life. For the past few weeks I have just sat on my laptop, watching other peoples adventures and wishing my life could be as adventurous as theirs. Sadly that will never happen, not unless I try. I realised that it's me who has to make the effort because if I don't, there's no way my life will change.

 I went out today to Southampton on a train with my mum to go shopping. I thought that I would much rather stay at home on my laptop, but I actually enjoyed myself. I thought to myself, What kind of life is sitting at home all day watching others lives, without living you own? I've organised thing like going camping with my friends and I joined the gym. Although I don't need to lose any weight, as I am "blessed" with a fast metabolism, I need to gain muscle. I have basically none and I find things much harder than others, such as lifting boxes or doing a lot of exercise (no stamina either). I'm not saying having a fast metabolism is the worst thing but it's much harder to gain weight than to lose it and I preferably want to gain a little bit. My arms look like "sticks" as there's hardly any muscle, especially around my elbows.

 Anyway, after that rambling, my message to you is:

"Never get so busy making a living, that you forget to make a life"

 Grace x

Interior Design

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Hi

I have recently been thinking a lot about when I leave home and get another house or flat. I can sit for hours daydreaming about what it will look like and how I can decorate it. I have loads of different ideas and I couldn't fit them all inside one house, let alone one flat. They are all so different that they wouldn't go together at all. Sometimes I like rustic and vintage things, whereas some of the time I love simple modern things. I post most of my ideas to PINTEREST so go check it out of ya like. 

This gave me the idea of a career in interior design. I don't know much about this career or if you need to be good at certain subjects to do it (if you need art I'm stuffed as even my stickmen look deformed!). When I was younger, maybe 8/9 I always wanted to be an interior designer until I was about 11 when I decided I wanted to sit at a computer all day. I thought I wanted to do that until about a month ago when I did my work experience at a Graphics company which I absolutely hated (I only made tea and coffee). (If anyone knows an interior designer or anything about interior design please email me placesforgrace@gmail.com ).

Anyway, back to the point, I'd love to travel and design but is there a job that links both? I certainly don't know but I hope so. People also say "designers are planners with aesthetic taste" which basically means that designers are people that love to plan/organise while making things look nice. This is so me, I love planning and organising. Maybe that is what drew me to travelling, lots of planning goes involved and I love the sound of that but I also enjoy graphic design and layout design. This may even be classed as architecture, I don't know. I love designing houses in the Sims (so excited for Sims 4) so maybe that's the career path I should take? Ugh, thinking about careers just gets me confused so I just blab about stuff so I'll leave you with this quote by the one and only Steve Jobs:

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works"

Grace