Exam Study Tips and Halloween Photo Diary

Hi

I haven't post anything for quite awhile and this is due to the excellent experience of Exam Time. Yes, I've been sitting at home trying to remember 6 months of study within a week. Some may read this and think that it would be easy to go over what you've already learnt within a week, that's heaps of time! and yes, it is a fair amount of time but it's also very difficult when you're sitting at home looking at books on statistics when you'd literally rather be doing... well.. anything else. Suddenly house chores become important and you're on your hands and knees scrubbing tiles which you haven't done since last exam period.

But not anymore! Because, I, the queen of procrastination (can you guess that I'm meant to be studying right now?) have some tips for you:

1. Start at least a few days before your exam and do little by little. Not only will your study time per day be shorter, but you'll remember more. Research shows that shorter bursts of study are much more effective than long, last minute cramming. Do Short bursts!

2. Give yourself something to look forward to after you've done a certain amount of study. I let myself have a bag of popcorn while watching youtube videos for the rest of the day after i re-watch two lectures. You may want to modify this, but whatever works!

3. If you start trying to read and you find yourself taking nothing in, do something else for five minutes (get the dishes out of the way) and come back to it. 

4. Get enough sleep. The main thing that can bring down someones ability to learn or do well is lack of sleep. Our brains don't function properly if we're sleep deprived. Even if it's the night before the exam, you're better off studying and then stopping in time for you to get at least 7 hours sleep. 

5. Cramming doesn't really work for anything but multiple choice tests. Your brain can only remember so much in a short amount of time. If you have options to jog your memory and you only have to look for an answer that feels familiar... it may help with multiple choice. but if you're doing essay or short answer exams... the earlier you start your study, the better. This also stands for multiple choice, but especially for essay or short answer. 

6. Relate concepts you need to remember to something familiar. For example,  catecholamines are a neurochemical associated with appetite which triggers hunger. I remember this because it has 'cat' at the start and cats are always wanting food and hungry. Ta Da, memory triggered!

But the main thing to take from this is, start early and study a few hours at a time. Also, remember to sleep and you're good!

NOW for those who may want to avoid study all together (me too) here is a little collage of what I've been up to over the last little while:

I've spent my time making halloween cupcakes, going out to dinner, watching people learn to surf and wishing I could swim at the beach and buying MAC make-up to try out. Needless to say, the MAC make-up was the most exciting. Trying out that 'Kylie Jenner - Whirl' colour!

I hope you've been well - I really need to get a posting schedule happening!

P.S. I'm trying out Bondi Sands new Liquid Gold tan tonight. Slightly terrified mixed with excited.

P.P.S. I'm obsessed with pintrest now. If you want to find me: @katieleeft 

Becoming an Adult

Hi

So today (or any random day, depending when you read this...) I went to a Cheap As Chips store. Which does sound like a delicious low priced sea food restaurant but you are wrong. For those who don't know (do they have Cheap As Chips everywhere? I don't know, and google would mean opening another tab and that's not going to happen - anyway). 

For those who don't know Cheap As Chips is just a store full of pretty much everything you could imagine (bits and bobs) that are just incredibly cheap. They do flowers, candles, decorations, tables, pillows, toys, candy, fake plants, really unflattering sunglasses, you name it. 

So I'm at Cheap As Chips and I stumble across this candle. But not just ANY candle.. this one comes with it's own little holder or 'tray' as I've been calling it. 

Just Your Average Candle

At this point, I'm thrilled. I love candles and I've truly believed they're quite literally the mark of being an adult. Don't get me wrong, this is not my first candle. I've been dotting candles everywhere I can for a few years now to create the illusion of maturity but I don't feel it's ever really worked for me.

Alas I find the aforementioned candle. You may be thinking "Wow, it's a cheap candle on a dish. Great job, genius. You're all grown up. Enjoy your taxes." And to that I say fair enough and also, rude. But I'll forgive you because I KNOW there's more to this candle that you might think. Once you turn it around...

KIDDING: PEBBLES.

BOOM. TINY PEBBLES. You get to decorate your own candle. It comes with a tray, a candle and a packet of pebbles for you to place on the tray and then display proudly to everyone who visits your home.

I know what you're thinking now. "Wow. Pebbles. That must have cost her a fortune. Ten dollars at least. Those pebbles make the value sky-rocket."

Hey Big Spender

INCORRECT AGAIN, MY FRIEND. Although the value in my heart skyrocketed. The value on the price tag says three dollars. 

And it is now, looking at the sort-of-creation that I feel I have truly succeeded as an adult. I have decorated. 

Grueling Process

Inspirational

It turns out that it's not leaving your parents house, paying your own bills, your own rent, buying your own food, your own petrol, having a job or starting University. It's candles. Candles are the key to your feelings of success.

Don't be me. Don't wait until you're 23. Do it now. Do it while you're young and don't spill the pebbles on the floor while trying to open the packet.

Adult

Prosper. 

Change

Hi

I'm sure you're aware that as we get older we naturally change. Sadly, yourself and those around you won't all change at the same rate. This can be a little hard to accept.

I've found recently that I'm at a point in my life where I just don't have the energy to put into things that shouldn't need it. For a while I wondered why I was so disconnected from the people around me lately and what had happened to everyone. Turns out, they're all pretty much the same but I've (for a while, unknowingly) changed. A lot.

Change is good and you can't avoid it. But sometimes you change in a way that takes you from those around you.

I found the hard way that I had people in my life who were just not good for me. I didn't realise this until I'd started getting a little more confident in myself, realising what I wanted and standing up for myself. These people were quite cruel to me; controlling and unkind. But I'd been around these people for so long that I honestly didn't realise how cruel they were being until I decided to stand up for myself. Then it hit me. I was always anxious, waiting for them to be cruel. Waiting for the moment they would turn. I just never knew if I was going to get 'nice' them or 'mean' them and it was horrible. I didn't want to live my life like that, even if it meant losing my friends.

I'm not going to lie, change can be lonely. I probably feel more isolated now than ever before, and I'm still waiting for the day that I'll get horrible messages of anger towards me for distancing myself.

But I'm not okay with that being my life anymore.

Sometimes you have to break down before you can build yourself back up.  All you can do is know that in the long run you're doing what's best for you, even if it's tough now.

Why ME? (Dealing With Embarrassment)

Hi

Now, I am someone who for some reason ends up in a lot of embarrassing situations or embarrassing things just seem to fling themselves right at me. I don't know what it is about me or why it happens but anyone who has been around me will probably agree that I am an embarrassment magnet.

I have many stories I could insert, from the time my mum invited someone I barely knew over for a sleepover when I was 14 and we sat in silence for literally the entire night to the time I first went for a pap smear (too much information? sorry). But whether it be something little or something huge, almost on a daily basis I'll end up doing something stupid. This could be because I really dislike serious situations so I tend to make a joke out of everything... Turns out not everyone is always ready for sarcasm. Anyway... Seeing as my entire life has been and probably will continue to be a stream of humiliating events I thought I'd share a few things to keep in mind and help you through your own embarrassing situations:

1. It Wont Last Forever

That moment when you're doing a presentation in front of a huge group of people, you're really nervous and you go to make an enthusiastic introduction but while doing so you get a little too enthusiastic, end up throwing your speech notes over the other side of the room while opening your arms into a "welcome to my presentation" motion and have to scurry over to pick them all up while everyone is staring at you wondering how you've made it this far in life? Yeah, I've been there. Only, I'm incredibly prone to my entire face going bright red so add that to the scenario and basically my mind decides that this is it. I've had a good life but at this very point I'm better off on another planet. I don't know if anyone else does this (I assume they do..) But I will go home, sit on my bed and try to distract myself with anything I can while making endless plans in my head on ways to never leave the house again (yay for supermarkets delivering now!).

But, sadly, life doesn't stop so you can take the seven thousand years you feel like you need to recover. The next day you have to go back and maybe face those people again. But, they will forget. It is much more of a big deal to you than it is everyone else. No one else has gone home and spent 12 hours thinking about what happened, only you. Besides, if someone does bring it up, you can just be the 'quirky funny one'. Which brings me to number two.

2. Laugh With Them

If you've done something embarrassing, everyone is laughing and all eyes are on you: Your very best bet is to join them. I think in life it's excellent to have the ability to laugh at yourself. However, I will admit that when you're red faced and wishing that people would focus on absolutely anything but you... this can be hard to do. But if you laugh, even if you don't feel like laughing, and acknowledge what's happened... then you're letting them know that you're in on the joke and you think it's funny too. "You can't hear them laughing if you're laughing louder" <-- I don't know who came up with that quote but it's brilliantly true and I love it.

3. You'll Become More Confident 

A bit of this could have come with age... BUT the more you embarrass yourself the less you'll care. This may sound obvious to some people or completely stupid to others but in my opinion it works. I used to be so, so shy. Let me tell you, when you're incredibly shy and also incredibly... for lack of a better word, goofy... well life can be hard. It didn't matter how hard I tried I would seem to have people looking at me. Don't get me wrong, I still hate people looking at me. But I don't care anywhere near as much as I used to. In fact, things that I look back on and found horribly embarrassing five years ago, if they happened to me today I wouldn't care at all. Now, if I do something stupid and people laugh I don't have to force myself to laugh with them, I just do. The smaller things aren't so much embarrassing anymore but funny.

4. Nobody Is Thinking Badly Of You

This is something I used to struggle with a lot (and still sometimes do). Whenever I would do something embarrassing I would be convinced that everyone was looking at me and thinking I was an absolute idiot who didn't even deserve to be in the same room as them. But let's be honest... If I look at it from a logical perspective pretty much no one is thinking that. Most likely, people are a) glad it's not them, b) feeling bad and wishing they could help or c) not paying attention in the first place. There may be a select few people who are just generally pretty miserable sitting back going "idiot" but these people are rare, and they would be thinking that about anyone whether they had done something embarrassing or not. Nobody likes those people anyway. Which brings me to my fifth and final point...

5. You're Likeable

People like people they can relate to, and let's face it... clumsy people are relatable. We're all a bit clumsy and we all occasionally do embarrassing things. I find I like the person that gets up and does the speech red faced or almost falls over the shopping baskets at the supermarket. Especially when they're able to laugh it off. Those people are the fun, relatable people that others will like. I don't want to hear from the person who has done everything in life perfectly, I want to hear from the person who once ended up falling face first in the sales bin at the chocolate store or the person who went to put an apple into a bag at the grocery store and the entire shelf of apples fell on them. THEY are the stories you want to hear and the people you want to hang out with.

I hope this was some help to someone, have a lovely day!

x

Weight Loss For Lazy People

Hi

Now, I am not someone who enjoys exercise or healthy food. I'm not active and I'm at my happiest when I'm laying in bed surrounded by pizza watching British comedies. But I'm at a point where while I'm not horribly over-weight I am also not exactly confident in how I look. 

Instead of staring at myself and willing the extra pounds to vanish with the power of my mind alone I've decided to do something about it. 

In the past I have gone about weight-loss the wrong way. I dramatically changed my diet and made sure I exercised to the point of suffocation every day until I was happy with my weight, then of course I decided I deserved a treat and would have pizza and I would eventually just fall back into old habits and end up exactly how I was before I started. This brings me to where I am now. This time I'm going to make a plan that is sustainable, that I won't eventually resent and I won't feel like I deserve a break from.

I find it easier (as you may have noticed) to present idea's or tips in list form. So here are my tips for sustainable weight loss for lazy people (like myself):

Food:

- Swap unhealthy things you would normally eat for a slightly more healthy option (i.e. instead of eating white bread opt for rye bread, instead of normal pasta go for wholegrain etc). By doing this you're not depriving yourself of the things you like, you're just changing them up where possible.

- Be as healthy as you can 80% of the time but allow yourself those treats that you love occasionally. That way you can still get something nice when you go out for dinner or have that dessert you love on the weekends. 80-20. Healthy 80%, treats 20%. Balance is key!

- Don't beat yourself up if you find yourself unable to resist a treat. I find I'm very guilty of this, if I've eaten well for a while and then I can't help myself and have some chocolate I will find myself really annoyed with myself and will often think "What's the point? I've already ruined my diet. Might as well quit all together." But that's not the case, in the grand scheme of things, a few pieces of chocolate aren't going to hurt.

- Don't dramatically change your diet right away. If you've gone from eating sausages for breakfast, a McDonalds burger for lunch and pizza for dinner (basically me) then suddenly start eating salad for every meal you're going to get awfully sick of your new healthy eating awfully fast. Change things slowly, start with swapping what you would normally eat for a slightly healthier option of the same thing (Rye bread instead of white bread). Slowly start swapping one meal at a time for a different healthier option and go from there. It's slower, but you're more likely to stick to it and not hate what you're eating.

- Drink water. You've heard it before and I hate being told to drink water but it's better for you than anything else out there and it helps with headaches. You may not suffer from headaches but I do and drinking water really does help. You can still have what you would regularly drink at first, perhaps just at meal times have your regular favourite drink and have water for the rest of the day. Then slowly cut back on your favourite regular drink until it's an occasional thing and you're mainly drinking water.

Exercise:

- Do it. I know, I hate it too. I find work out routines to do at home from youtube for the times I can't be bothered going to the gym.

- 30 minutes a day. Now, I do 30 minutes on the treadmill while at the gym while listening to my music and most days I love it. I create a scenario in my head where I'm a famous singer or something and get lost in it while I walk.

- Of course some days I go "nope, can't be bothered" and that's when I bring out the 'at home work out' where I do kicks, sit-ups, squats etc. Admittedly I don't do half an hours worth of these, but perhaps when I'm a little more fit I will. Riiiiight? Probably not.

- Exercise doesn't have to be intense routines or the gym. Go for a walk around the  block, force your dog to go with you if you feel self conscious, then you can say you're doing it for your dog not you if anyone gives you weird looks. That's what I do!

- Vigorously clean the house - That's a work out. Anything that gets your heart-rate up for a substantial amount of time counts!

- Sometimes I do sit ups in bed while laying watching TV Shows.

- Sometimes I lift light arm weights while laying in bed watching TV shows. Who says you need to give up being lazy to tone? Not me.

- As you feel yourself getting fitter, you'll want to do more. I know people always say that and when you're heaving for breath on the treadmill after ten minutes while drowning in your own sweat you don't believe it. I know I didn't, until one day I found myself walking at the place I usually did for half an hour and hardly felt exhausted at all - Then I realised it was working and I needed to up my game!

- Try to stick at it. By that I mean make it a regular thing, but don't be upset with yourself if  something comes up and you miss a day or you're exhausted from work, school, uni or what not and just want the afternoon to rest. You're human and that's fine, all your hard work won't go away because you miss a day.

- Set aside maybe the weekend where you don't HAVE to work-out, unless you're starting to love it in which case, go you! I usually have my weekend off.

Life In General:

- Don't get deflated and want to quit if you get sick or something happens and you miss a week of exercise and in that week you also fall back into your not-so-great eating habits. This is where I've just decided it's too late, not worth it and give up on the whole thing in the past. But it's not at all, a week or so isn't that long, it may take you a little bit to be back to your healthy self but don't let a set back hold you back completely!

- It's never too late to start again. If you DO decide it's too hard and give up, you can start it up again whenever you like. As long as you're trying, that's all that matters! It doesn't matter how many times you stop and start, the fact that you want it and you're still trying is better than never trying.

- You'll enjoy feeling yourself become fitter and healthier. That amazing feeling when you one day notice you've managed to carry all the shopping to the car in one go and you're not puffed is an excellent feeling.

- You'll enjoy that your clothes may start to fit a little looser. That is also an amazing feeling.

- Don't get too caught up in a vigorous exercise schedule (I tend to because it works for me to do it that way, but it doesn't for everyone), If you find that your schedule really only allows a work out three times a week then that's brilliant! That's more than you were doing before and you'll still see results.

- Be patient. Unfortunately fitness, health and weight loss aren't something we can see instant results for, which is what tends do throw me off. I walk around the block, come home, get changed and will always find myself checking for my amazingly slim and toned muscly body. I know it won't happen after one walk but I will look anyway because I am not missing out on that dream moment of happiness if it does!

- Scales are evil and you don't need them in your life. They won't tell you all that much anyway, especially not at the start. If you do have a goal weight in mind or want to check your scales, do it once when you start and then once again a few months down the track. Don't check it every day or every week. They will go up and down and all around and can really put you off if they've gone up. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - you build muscle when you exercise which helps you lose weight. Not to say you'll be the hulk in a few months. You'll still lose weight, but the scales will fluctuate.

- If you're angry - Exercise. Whenever I'm angry I head straight for the gym (luckily, mine is 24 hour) and I just go for it. Not only do I feel less angry after, especially because I've been listening to angry music while running and also imagining all the scenarios where I say the right thing at the right time in the situation that's made me angry but because when I'm done I look down and the machine goes "you've burnt 300 calories". Yes.

I have gone on for long enough I feel. Most of what I've said here, you probably already know. None of it is ground breaking, doesn't involve a magic pill, won't happen over night and does involve a little effort. But, in my opinion, it's better than an intense diet that you'll stick to for a few weeks then end up hating and going back to all junk food all the time. Plus, it's worth the little changes. In my opinion, anyway!

I hope this helped even a little and that you're having a lovely day!

x

Life Update & Some Cheeky Memes

Hi

I've been absent for a little while - Uni has gone back and everything has gotten busier than ever. Which is pretty darn' good. It's nice to have a lot going on, especially since some of it is pretty good! While there has been a few struggles with family members health and a few others things I would mostly like a place to share the good things that have been happening! 

Firstly I've been seeing a lot more of my friends lately. I can be quite a solitary person at times, I like to sit in my own little bubble at home but it's been absolutely lovely to be seeing people who I definitely don't see enough and laughing until I feel physically sick. Whether this be going out for dinner, seeing movies, planning trips or even just sitting on the couch in track pants watching reality tv shows. I'd forgotten how nice it is to just make time to be around people.

More good news - my little Toby pup finally got to take the cone of shame off his head. He's now able to pick up all his toys and throw them all around my room again (yaay). His foot is slowly getting better and tomorrow him and I are heading to my parents place for a weekend visit, which will be nice. My bed at their place is the most comfortable thing in the world so there's a 85% chance I'm just going to spend the whole time there napping.

Above are some silly internet/tv things that have been popping into my head and making me laugh as I go about my day to day life lately, so I thought I'd post them here. I keep pulling the McDonalds girl pose whenever I'm mildly annoyed at something and it's starting to become a problem. I look ridiculous.

Lastly, I've met some pretty great people recently. So here is to all the good things happening right now and hoping they continue. 

I hope you are well and that all good things come your way!

x

Goodbye Long Hair!

Hello, I am back!

The most interesting thing that has happened to be lately (apart from passing all my exams - yay!) is that I cut all my hair off. Goodbye lovely long hair and hello 3x shorter showers. I'm in a very love/hate relationship with my haircut at the moment. I cannot definitively decide if I like it, but it's been done now so I'm going to choose to like it!

before and after

Now I have new hair and one week of holidays left I've decided to give myself even more of a make over and have started back on the fake tan. In case you aren't aware I am legitimately the most pale person to ever walk the earth, I am translucent. Some people love being pale and that's excellent but of course because I am pale it's the 'the grass is always greener' situation and I've just always wished I was naturally tan. So I've taken it upon myself to spend forever sitting on the bathroom for with a tanning mitt every few days. I've been using Bondi Sands which is an Australian brand which I really like. It goes quite dark and doesn't go patchy or fade too fast like a lot of other tanners. It does have a tan smell to it, which is slightly coconut-like, but once you shower once it vanishes!

in dark because I go hard

The last attempt at making myself over is tending to my nails. Now I'm not allowed to have painted nails for work (I'm a Carer) but because I'm a rebel (Just kidding I have a few days off) I've gone all-out with this lovely purple-grey tone nail polish. I don't know where it's from because one of my clients gave it to me as a gift but it's called 'messed up' and I really like it. I find I look a little washed out with it when I'm pale but with a slight tan it looks excellent!

clearly it leaked all over my bag - joy

That's all from me for now, I hope you have, are having or have had a lovely weekend - see you soon!

x

Little Ways To Be Happier

Hi

I know that sometimes it can be hard to stay happy and it's easy to get stuck in a rut. I thought I would compile a list of things that I personally do that make me a lot happier just in case it works for anyone else who may need a little boost!

Don’t Take Things Too Seriously

Have a little fun with what you’re doing. The older you get the faster life seems to go by and let me tell you: life is far too short to take everything seriously.

Laugh At Yourself

Life is so much easier when you know how to laugh at yourself. Have you ever had one of those moments where you have completely humiliated yourself in front of someone or even a lot of people and you stand there wishing that if there was any time for the aliens to show themselves and take you away now would we be the time? Because I have had many of those. But these situations can be eased slightly, if you can see the funny side and laugh at your mistakes, chances are other people will laugh along too. 

Cuddle Your Pet

To your pet you are their whole world. They may only be a short part of your life but to them you are everything. Your pets do not care what embarrassing thing you did, the mistake you made at work, the fact that you’ve been putting off doing washing for over a month. They love you no matter what is going on in your life or anything you have done. Just a little cuddle, hold or pat to them means the world. Once you truly realise this a little pat, hold or cuddle with your pet will mean the world to you too. Nothing is more comforting to me than cuddling my little ball of fluff!

Exercise

I can almost hear the internal groans of “ergh, shut up, I’ve heard it before”. Believe me I am the most lazy person you have ever met, I would fake injury notes in school to get out of PE (Physical Education) and I never thought I would encourage people to exercise BUT you do feel better for it. I find the only way I enjoy exercise is to listen to my ipod while I do it and imagine I’m the most beautiful, fit person in the world. I’m also usually a great singer in my imagination. Exercise gives me a sense of accomplishment and it’s so nice to eventually be able to do more and more physical things with ease.

Do Something Productive

When I say ‘something productive’ it doesn’t necessarily mean some big task that will take all day. Just something little like return that email you’ve been putting off, do the dishes, get the food shop out of the way, make a start on that assignment, anything small that will make you feel a sense of accomplishment. If you do one small productive thing every day, soon you’ll slowly get on top of things and that is the best feeling.

Set Some Time For You

One afternoon a week (you can organise more or less, up to you!) set aside some time to do whatever you want – guilt free. Now, I’m one to always put off important things and watch my favourite tv shows instead but I can never properly enjoy them because of the guilt in the back of my mind telling me that I SHOULD be doing something else instead. But if you set aside some time for absolutely nothing else but yourself to do whatever you want whether that’s taking a nap, reading, watching a movie, going for a walk, drawing, going to the gym, knitting, practicing model poses in the mirror – whatever you want, you will find yourself feeling a little more rejuvenated.

Plan Something To Look Forward To

Day-to-day life can get quite boring when all you feel like you’re doing is going through the motions of work and/or study then sleeping and starting all over again. One way to make the grind of work, University or school a little more bearable is to plan something to look forward to. This can be anything, depending on your situation. It can be a small holiday away, a big holiday away, a pamper day at home doing whatever you want, a trip to the zoo, whatever it is you want! Half the fun of doing these things is the excitement of the lead up to them!

Tidy

Another thing I never thought I would be the one to encourage. I hate cleaning. It’s a lot of effort and things only end up messy again. But I find when my house or room is cluttered, clothes are everywhere and I’m falling over things as I walk to my bed that I’m a lot more stressed. Probably because cleaning it up is one more thing on my mind that I have to do at some point. Although I dislike doing it once I have tidied my room or my house (it doesn’t have to be immaculate- just tidy) I feel a lot better. I’m a lot calmer and somehow my mood just lifts – even if sometimes it’s only slightly. But just today I did a tidy up and It’s put me in quite a good mood! Accomplishment achieved.

Look After Yourself

This seems simple and anyone reading this is probably thinking ‘well isn’t that just the most obvious thing I’ve ever seen’. But not looking after themselves is something a lot of people are guilty of even if they don’t realise it (including me). What I mean by this is go to bed a little earlier, make sure you’re getting enough sleep! It sounds simple, but so many of us try to run on so little sleep and we end up feeling terrible for it. Rest when you need it, eat when you need it, take a break when you need it, try to have all three meals, and be kind to yourself. Too many times something will go wrong and we will be so horribly harsh on ourselves. You are just a person, people make mistakes and that’s okay.

Change Your Mindset

You’ve probably heard it before but happiness is a choice. I don’t think anyone wakes up and is just constantly happy without making even a slight effort to be. Of course, some people are just naturally more energetic or bubbly but it always takes a conscious effort to be happy. No one can be happy all the time, so by this I don’t mean that whenever you feel sad you have to push those sad feelings down and ignore them while trying desperately not to cry. It’s okay to feel sad occasionally and let yourself work through it. By changing your mindset I just mean to sit and think: “Everything is not perfect, but I do have some good things in my life and I want to be happy. Today I’m going to make the best of things”. Go into the day with the mindset that it could be a good day if given the chance to be!

Be Nice To Others – They’ll Be Nice Back

The way you treat others (as I’m sure you know) as a huge impact on how they will treat you. You can’t be mean, moody, inattentive or uninterested and expect other people to engage with you in a really happy, positive way. Mostly because they’ll feel like you don’t want to engage with them. The nicer and friendlier you are the more likely other people will treat you the same back. Nothing makes my day more than talking to someone who is lovely and seems to want to talk to me, even if it’s only a brief encounter at the petrol station. It’s not to say that 100% of people will be nice to you if you’re nice to them, I wish it was that way but some people are just going through a rough time or are in a bad mood and don’t always respond in the way you deserve if you’re being kind to them. But don’t let that discourage you because most of the time it will have good results and even if it doesn’t it’s nothing to do with you it’s just something they’re personally going through. Not too long ago I did a little post on kindness with some quotes, if you want to check that out click here!

Have Breakfast

I know that everyone everywhere says breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’m not saying that (It might be, I don’t know, I haven’t looked into it). What I’m saying is that you will feel so much more energetic and just… prepared for the day if you have breakfast. I was always one to skip breakfast, I had places to be and I would much rather an extra half an hour of sleep than to be up making food. But in the last few months I’ve been making a huge effort to have breakfast because when I do my days go so much better. I find I feel less tired, I don’t get as many headaches and I feel less nauseas by the afternoon. I actually look forward to my coffee and toast every morning now.

No One Is Happy All The Time

This is very important and something I personally have only just come to truly realise. Of course it seems obvious but a lot of the time we don’t really let it sink in.  Whenever I would feel sad I would try desperately to snap out of it because it wasn’t a pleasant feeling, everyone else was happy and having fun and I wanted to be like that too. But it is okay to be sad. Sometimes something happens in our lives that makes us sad and sometimes we’re sad and not even that sure why. But that’s okay, we need to feel sadness to feel happiness. Everyone, no matter who they are or how happy they always seem will be sad sometimes. Let yourself be sad, give yourself some time, listen to some music, mope around – whatever you need. But know when to try to pick yourself up again. 

It’s Not The End Of The World

Often things will happen, these can be quite big things like failing school or university, getting fired from work, anything. And sometimes it can be smaller things that feel like a big deal or just happen to mean an awful lot to you. One thing to remind yourself is that no matter what happens or how much it feels like everything is falling apart and you’ll never get back on your feet: It’s not the end of the world. More specifically it’s not the end of your world. It may feel like it is and that’s understandable, especially when it’s a huge part of your life or something you’ve been working towards for a very long time. But sometimes things aren’t meant to be. Sometimes we just need to try again and sometimes we need to let it go.  Your world will keep turning, you will pick yourself up again and may even end up in an even better place than you had first imagined. As long as you keep trying you will be okay.

I hope that some of these have been of even a little help to you. Chin up and have a lovely day!

x

Adorable Fashion Jewellery

Hi!

Today I got the most adorable package in the mail. To be fair, I shouldn't have been as excited as I was because I was the one who ordered it. But that was a while ago and I had forgotten about it so opening it up today felt like christmas. (The joy of online shopping!)

This is what I got: 

Now, I have never been too big on fashion jewellery. I've always had my 'real' jewellery and only really ever wore that. But recently I've been seeing people with the cutest little things that they switch around with different outfits and I think it adds something cute and exciting so I've started my own collection. The newest addition being this little owl bracelet which was about $3 on eBay. LOOK AT IT. It's perfection in bracelet form - the only problem being that I cannot do it up by myself because it's an awkward clasp. So I may got get as much wear out of this as I'd like to because I'm lonely and have no one around to help me do it up.

After desperately trying to put on the cute owl bracelet for about 5 minutes by myself and failing, I gave up and decided to dig out my other fashion jewellery that I like to wear (and that I can physically put on) and thought I would make a post about it!

This necklace is black and gold (Clearly) and will go with pretty much anything. This one and the leaf one below are the two necklaces I get the most wear out of. I like that it's not too ridiculously obnoxious and doesn't jingle when I walk (Lord knows I hate to stand out!)

Next up I have theeese gorgeous little earrings. As you can probably tell they're little bows and I think they're the cutest things I've ever seen. I'm not usually one for huge dangly earrings because I tend to get my hair stuck in them then it hurts when I try to pull it out (I'm graceful that way). So these were amazing, I don't think I'd ever use the little studs that come with them but hey, maybe if I had my ears done twice I would. Although that won't happen because having them done once was traumatic enough for me.

Lookie here we have a leaf/feather necklace (wait, which is it?!) . I love this so much. I'm not that sure why, I think it's pretty and delicate and almost whimsical. It's quite fine and a little harder to see in the photo but I can assure you it's adorable. It came in a pack of three with the two necklaces I will show below it but honestly I love it and wear it on it's own a lot.

These two here (top and bottom) came with the feather/leaf (I can't decide) necklace and while I like them I don't like them as much on their own. But when worn together (as they all descend perfectly in length order) they look really nice. I call them my 'filler necklaces'.

That is all of my teeny tiny collection (That I like - There are definitely things from when I was 15 that I would not show). As you can tell I generally go for gold jewellery, for some reason that's always been my personal favourite. But anything with animals can be pretty much guaranteed a spot in my new found collection. 

If you know of any online stores that do cute jewellery, let me know!

Hope you're well!

x

Photo Diary (Target Shooting and Pink Hair?!)

Hey Hey!

I thought for this post I may do a little photo diary/snapshot of the past week or so. I love seeing other people's posts like this (because I'm incredibly nosy that way) and thought I'd join in and do something similar just in case there's one other nosy person out there who may enjoy!

This weekend I grabbed my little dog Toby and we travelled three hours north of where I live to visit my parents for the weekend. Most of the weekend was spent doing more sentimental personal things with the family but on Sunday afternoon Dad and I drove out to a farm near by and did some target shooting. 

The day was absolutely beautiful and I managed to pretty much completely miss the target as it kept blowing over. Admittedly having to walk for ages to stand it up again then turn around and see it's been blown right back over does ruin the fun slightly. I have found that some people find this quite an odd thing to do, my Dad does some gun smithing so it's never been odd to me but I find it's not something that everyone takes part in. However, it is lots of fun, I definitely don't hurt animals and who doesn't want to pretend they have a machine gun even if it's only a 22? There is a video of this but I look like an absolute goober so I may pretend that doesn't exist!

The rest of my week has been filled with boring things such as work and exam study. I got my little Toby-Pup a toy box for all his toys and let me tell you: There is nothing cuter than seeing a little dog pick out a toy from a toy box to play with. Unfortunately Toby has a skin infection on his food at the moment so I'm having to jam antibiotics down his throat twice a day for two weeks. He is not loving me for it. Whenever I go to pat him he gets up and moves to the other side of my bed. A little rude if you ask me!

My last exam is on the 2nd of July (two days) and I am so terribly nervous but insanely excited for it to be over and done with so I can breath easily and not feel guilty whenever I'm doing something that isn't studying (which is most of the time including now). 

And last but certainly not least is something I've been tempted to try out with my hair. Which is this:

I've always wanted colourful hair but I've either not been allowed by my parents when I was 14 or I've been far too chicken to actually do it now that I'm 23. But this one washes out extremely fast and the ends of my hair are already lightened:

So I feel as if now may be the time to be the cool kid I always wanted to be and try it out - even if it is just for a day!

Maybe I'll dye my hair and eat pizza as a celebration when my exam is over? Wow. Look at me, living it up.

Slow down Katie, you crazy.

I hope you're well and if you too post any 'photo diary' kind of posts let me know so I can stalk you!

x

Baby Animals! (Aww)

Hi

If there is one thing you should know about me it is that I love animals. Seeing their gorgeous little faces never fails to bring a smile to my face. So you know what I'm going to do? DO YOU? I'm going to post a ton of cute little photos so that you too can sit here with your hands clasped to your face going "awww" until the end of this post where you go on google and find yourself searching "how to acquire a baby hedgehog". Which is exactly what I'm off to do now.

Did I sneak two pictures of ducklings in there? Yes. I think ducklings are literally the cutest things in the world and they deserve to appear twice. Also I own none of these pictures apart from the very last one which is my gorgeous little dog Toby.

Stay well and don't forget to cuddle your pets!

Brighten Your Day: Quotes and Kindness

Hi

So sometimes we can get a little glum, lose motivation or have our doubts about the genuine nature about those around us. It can (on occasion) only take something very small to ruin your day, or put you in a terrible mood. 

I am a huge believer in the importance of being kind, polite and showing understanding towards others. It takes absolutely nothing to use your manners, ask someone how are they or even just smile. Just doing something as simple as using your manners can turn someones day around. You will be surprised at the difference it will make to the people you're dealing with.

For this post I have compiled a few quotes that I have come across that I like, that motivate me or that I think are just some nice things to hear (or in this case read) on occasion.

~ “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

~ “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama

~ “Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.” – Dale Carnegie

~ “Be somebody who makes everyone feel like a somebody”

~ “Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” – T.H. Thompson and John Watson

~ “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” – Ronald Reagan

~ “You must do the things you think you cannot do” – Eleanor Roosevelt

~ "Your mood should not dictate your manners."

And please, please, please remember that bringing someone else down will not make you any happier. So whenever possible be kind and encourage people, not only when things are rough but when praise and appreciate their success too. It costs nothing and it may even make you feel a little happier also!

I don't own the lovely picture above and didn't crate any of the quotes used, where I have known who did I have written that next to the quote. For a few of them I didn't know.

I hope you are well, I hope people have been kind to you and I hope to see you around this blog again!

If you have any stories of perhaps participating in an act of kindness or receiving an act of kindness that you want to share - please do below! 

x