If you're still here, hi :)
My stats/followers/comments have recently pointed out to me that some people still read here, which is pretty impressive (on the part of you guys) considering I haven't blogged here since April.
Anyway, I'm just checking in very briefly to direct you all to my new (fully functioning) blog: http://rachel-ec.blogspot.co.uk/ - I've been writing on there pretty much since I stopped writing on here and I'd like to think it's a tad more interesting than nothing ;)
See you over there :)
R x
Monday 25 June 2012
Wednesday 4 April 2012
You know you're not an average student when...
...you get more excited about the fact that people are speaking French/Spanish at a party than the alcohol available
...nothing makes you happier than testing a box of scented pens (thanks for that, Sophie)
...you own 35+ notebooks/notepads and only about 7 of them are in use
...you drink a Smirnoff Ice against your will and can't understand why, when they taste exactly like lemonade, people are so obsessed with them
...you go to Ryman's purely to buy plastic wallets and end up buying half of the shop (Sophie again)
...you have your own special seat in a college computer room
...you look forward to open evenings purely for the flattering* languages t-shirts (Sophie... *not so flattering after all)
...you never have, and never will, set foot in Big Fellas or any other scummy 'nightclub' (Sophie)
...you show somebody a document wallet and it appears to revolutionise their life
...there is a system for changing the paper in a printer at your college and you are one of only about three people who understand it
...you are the slightly strange person listening to foreign music on the bus
...leopard print, but especially the leggings, makes you feel physically ill (Sophie)
...fake tan will forever be ''too Wotsit-ish'' to ever grace your legs
...you take photographs of badly spelt signs (Fugde Corner of Blackpool, I'm talking to you)
...the top 10 on iTunes makes your ears bleed
OK, so maybe this is just a not so thinly veiled rant about people my age. Still, it was fun to write. Feel free to add your own in the comments :)
...nothing makes you happier than testing a box of scented pens (thanks for that, Sophie)
...you own 35+ notebooks/notepads and only about 7 of them are in use
...you drink a Smirnoff Ice against your will and can't understand why, when they taste exactly like lemonade, people are so obsessed with them
...you go to Ryman's purely to buy plastic wallets and end up buying half of the shop (Sophie again)
...you have your own special seat in a college computer room
...you look forward to open evenings purely for the flattering* languages t-shirts (Sophie... *not so flattering after all)
...you never have, and never will, set foot in Big Fellas or any other scummy 'nightclub' (Sophie)
...you show somebody a document wallet and it appears to revolutionise their life
...there is a system for changing the paper in a printer at your college and you are one of only about three people who understand it
...you are the slightly strange person listening to foreign music on the bus
...leopard print, but especially the leggings, makes you feel physically ill (Sophie)
...fake tan will forever be ''too Wotsit-ish'' to ever grace your legs
...you take photographs of badly spelt signs (Fugde Corner of Blackpool, I'm talking to you)
...the top 10 on iTunes makes your ears bleed
OK, so maybe this is just a not so thinly veiled rant about people my age. Still, it was fun to write. Feel free to add your own in the comments :)
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Thoughts...
- The unexpected sun we've been experiencing round here recently has done me good. Getting out of the house and spending Sunday afternoon clearing leaves up at my Grandma's house has also done me good. I felt that I was clearing away more than just leaves...
- Can somebody remind me to never moan about friends? Seriously? Because there's something really stupid about moaning about friends when you have friends who do things like go out and buy you a present to cheer you up (the mug) and then bring you a special bun. The adjective I would choose to describe a friendship such as this is rich. It's the sort of friendship that feels satisfying, and the more you put into it the more you get back in return. There is something wonderful about a friendship formed under such odd circumstances - it was a moment where two people are thrown together by the way life seems to be working in that one, single, tiny period of time... yet they stick together. It was a moment where you can feel there is something different occurring, something that will stay with you.
- I should probably stop reading It's Not Me, It's You for the second time in three months and carry on reading the two books I haven't touched since January. But I just can't.
- I needed some sort of artistic release last night. Seriously, if anybody happens to need a bookmark, let me know. I have a ton of card and craft paper specifically for the purpose of making them.
(You don't need to know that the primary reason for making them last night was because I couldn't find a bookmark for the book mentioned in point 3...)
- I only have one lesson tomorrow, the other two have been cancelled due to trips. It seems entirely pointless going in to register then go away and work on coursework. Sigh. Never mind.
- My next door neighbour is awesome. Just throwing that one out there.
Besos ♥
- I should probably stop reading It's Not Me, It's You for the second time in three months and carry on reading the two books I haven't touched since January. But I just can't.
(You don't need to know that the primary reason for making them last night was because I couldn't find a bookmark for the book mentioned in point 3...)
- I only have one lesson tomorrow, the other two have been cancelled due to trips. It seems entirely pointless going in to register then go away and work on coursework. Sigh. Never mind.
- My next door neighbour is awesome. Just throwing that one out there.
Besos ♥
Rachel
"When your hope has been denied you, I will walk beside you, carry on."
Monday 26 March 2012
Wash it away
If you know me (or even if you don't), you might know how much of an obsession I have about the book 'It's Not Me, It's You'. If you're my friend Liz in particular, you'll know this...
Anyway, when I flicked the light off last night and sat in bed, unable to sleep and with a whole host of thoughts bombarding my head, I stopped for a minute. I couldn't stop thinking about one thing: a quote I had been reading prior to going to bed.
As with every other quote I'm likely to be mentioning at the moment, this one comes from 'It's Not Me, It's You' (my favourite book at the moment). I texted it to my friend Jess this morning after reading something she wrote about being nervous about something she had to do today. But aside from spreading the sense those words make (to me, at least) about a bit, the quote really spoke to me.
Priorities, and so worries, will change with time. It was weird, because it was suddenly like everything in life made sense. Weeks and weeks of paranoia and depression and confusion, and suddenly everything seemed clear. Why? Because it's true. If we were to travel forwards in time and find me sitting on my bed, worrying about the same mundane burdens that my life is filled with now, I would be highly surprised.
There's something comforting in knowing that this is true - that this time next year I could be sitting in the same place, but with the worries that haunt my mind now non-existant. And it had some sort of unconscious yet profound impact on my day today, because nothing about it was bad. It was sunny, and warm, and nice. Liz and I sat outside the common room and had a picnic after giving a talk to some Y11s and discussed love and life and everything in between. I saw my English teacher, who reassured me about my coursework. I had a hilarious conversation with Ester that resulted in a strange feeling of motivation. And, just to add in a bit of weirdness, Jade spent Psychology quacking at me and Helen.
How can I complain about all of that? I can't. Not really. The metaphorical relentless waters constantly washing over my life have appear to have cleared the debris from the sand and the surface is neater now. There's really nothing to complain about in that...
Besos ♥
Anyway, when I flicked the light off last night and sat in bed, unable to sleep and with a whole host of thoughts bombarding my head, I stopped for a minute. I couldn't stop thinking about one thing: a quote I had been reading prior to going to bed.
"Eventually entire landscapes will be formed and re-formed by the relentless waters. In centuries to come, the spot on which I am sitting won’t even exist, never mind the problems which occupy my mind as I sit here."
As with every other quote I'm likely to be mentioning at the moment, this one comes from 'It's Not Me, It's You' (my favourite book at the moment). I texted it to my friend Jess this morning after reading something she wrote about being nervous about something she had to do today. But aside from spreading the sense those words make (to me, at least) about a bit, the quote really spoke to me.
Priorities, and so worries, will change with time. It was weird, because it was suddenly like everything in life made sense. Weeks and weeks of paranoia and depression and confusion, and suddenly everything seemed clear. Why? Because it's true. If we were to travel forwards in time and find me sitting on my bed, worrying about the same mundane burdens that my life is filled with now, I would be highly surprised.
There's something comforting in knowing that this is true - that this time next year I could be sitting in the same place, but with the worries that haunt my mind now non-existant. And it had some sort of unconscious yet profound impact on my day today, because nothing about it was bad. It was sunny, and warm, and nice. Liz and I sat outside the common room and had a picnic after giving a talk to some Y11s and discussed love and life and everything in between. I saw my English teacher, who reassured me about my coursework. I had a hilarious conversation with Ester that resulted in a strange feeling of motivation. And, just to add in a bit of weirdness, Jade spent Psychology quacking at me and Helen.
How can I complain about all of that? I can't. Not really. The metaphorical relentless waters constantly washing over my life have appear to have cleared the debris from the sand and the surface is neater now. There's really nothing to complain about in that...
Besos ♥
Rachel
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Panic
 |
| Jaume Plensa at the YSP, 2011 |
pan·ic
n.
1. A sudden, overpowering terror, often affecting many people at once.
2. A sudden widespread alarm concerning finances, often resulting in a rush to sell property: a stock-market panic.
3. Slang One that is uproariously funny.
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or resulting from sudden, overwhelming terror: panic flight.
2. Of or resulting from a financial panic: panic selling of securities.
3. often Panic Mythology Of or relating to Pan.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/panic
'Often affecting many people at once' is the part of this definition that concerns me. It's been an interesting couple of weeks - last week was one of those weeks where you're wandering around in a stressed-out sort of manner all week. It was also the sort of week where you find yourself having to leave a building because you think you're going to have some sort of nervous breakdown in front of random tutor groups and a couple of NHS reps.
A friend texted me twice within the hour today asking ''what's up?'', followed by ''are you okay?''. I couldn't reply. I didn't know how to. I'm not OK, but I'm not not OK either. I'm in a weird in-between state of mind where I just feel panicked all of the time. And I know people are just caring, but when I'm faced with ''are you OK?'', I don't know what I'm supposed to say. 'Yes', probably, but then I'd be lying.
And then there are so many people who are there, but in some moments it just feels like I need my space and I'm being crowded.
It's odd, though, because life at the moment is a constant juxtaposition of happiness and sadness. Like, for instance...
I spent half of Tuesday afternoon crying, then Tuesday evening seeing this wonderful man in Leeds with Sophie and Poppy. I mean, it overtakes the rubbish bits, but still, what an odd day... (I also now have a new favourite song that I embarrassed myself asking him about, worth it though.) I think it's possible that he's my favourite person ever. Anybody who stands on a stage and makes jokes about the pronunciation of 'an onion' is a winner in my book...
Everything just feels weird and it feels like something major is about to happen, but that we're not quite there yet. And I'm not sure how much more of this weird cycle I can endure before I'm just going to snap. There's nowhere to write it all, and there's nobody who will understand it all. I'm just tired of feeling awful and I'm tired of thinking about everything.
So to go back to those questions, I don't know. I really don't.
Besos ♥
Besos ♥
Rachel
Thursday 8 March 2012
Thinking...
(This was written last Saturday and I never got chance to finish it. I didn't want to just leave it unpublished so here it is...)
Today's post is fuelled mainly by the lingering happiness following an evening spent with Jess yesterday.
It was the sort of evening that did not need to be captured in photographs and Facebook updates - it wasn't earth-movingly brilliant, nor was it the sort of evening that anybody would be jealous of. But that's the point.
It's easy to look at (literally, taking the Facebook example a little further) what everybody else is doing and feel disillusioned. They're all out, having a great time, and you're at home, in your pyjamas, wondering what happened to 'being young'. It's easy to feel like you need more from your life.
What I realised yesterday, while driving alone in the dark having dropped Jess of at home, was that the 'more' factor in life doesn't need to come from something so big, but rather from something so ordinary. Like sitting on my bed and talking for hours, or flicking through holiday photos again.
People seem to make a big deal out of being eighteen here in the UK - it's like because 18 is the legal age for drinking alcohol, everybody feels the urge to go out and get drunk every single weekend. And for what? A hangover and fuzzy memories of being in a dingy club in your local town (any local folks will probably be thinking of one place in particular while reading this)? Thanks, but I'll pass.
I'm happy with the sitting in and doing nothing with a friend feeling that comes from doing just that. There's something equally as exciting about being able to do that. There's so much good in the fact that you don't need any other ingredients adding to the delicate mixture that is your friendship.
[Unless that other ingredient is a Josh Groban CD, which is always welcome, and especially when driving through a sleepy village in the dark]
But you know that pure, unaffected, untouched feeling of happiness? I found it yesterday. The sort of happiness that has you driving alone with a welcome, but very missed, smile upon your face that speaks of your day and the experiences you've had. And I think it was mainly because of Jess.
Love you, JOA.
Besos ♥
Today's post is fuelled mainly by the lingering happiness following an evening spent with Jess yesterday.
It was the sort of evening that did not need to be captured in photographs and Facebook updates - it wasn't earth-movingly brilliant, nor was it the sort of evening that anybody would be jealous of. But that's the point.
It's easy to look at (literally, taking the Facebook example a little further) what everybody else is doing and feel disillusioned. They're all out, having a great time, and you're at home, in your pyjamas, wondering what happened to 'being young'. It's easy to feel like you need more from your life.
What I realised yesterday, while driving alone in the dark having dropped Jess of at home, was that the 'more' factor in life doesn't need to come from something so big, but rather from something so ordinary. Like sitting on my bed and talking for hours, or flicking through holiday photos again.
People seem to make a big deal out of being eighteen here in the UK - it's like because 18 is the legal age for drinking alcohol, everybody feels the urge to go out and get drunk every single weekend. And for what? A hangover and fuzzy memories of being in a dingy club in your local town (any local folks will probably be thinking of one place in particular while reading this)? Thanks, but I'll pass.
I'm happy with the sitting in and doing nothing with a friend feeling that comes from doing just that. There's something equally as exciting about being able to do that. There's so much good in the fact that you don't need any other ingredients adding to the delicate mixture that is your friendship.
[Unless that other ingredient is a Josh Groban CD, which is always welcome, and especially when driving through a sleepy village in the dark]
But you know that pure, unaffected, untouched feeling of happiness? I found it yesterday. The sort of happiness that has you driving alone with a welcome, but very missed, smile upon your face that speaks of your day and the experiences you've had. And I think it was mainly because of Jess.
Love you, JOA.
Besos ♥
Rachel
Friday 24 February 2012
Product Review - MindSnacks French for iPhone
It cannot be denied that the loading screen is ridiculously cute - the little 'bean' character appears on all of the language apps in seemingly traditional dress (my favourite is the Spanish bean). As a loading screen goes, this is by far my favourite - so many language apps are stuffed full of advertisements or the loading screens don't work properly. I'm pleased to report that this one, thankfully, works.
The next screen you'll see is this screen (I think, it's a while since mine was new). To begin with, you only have one or two games, but you can unlock more as your language skills progress and improve. Basically, the more words learnt, the more games unlocked. 
I love the fact that this app actually uses games. So many apps claim to use games when, in actual fact, they're just not, so it's great that MindSnacks have created genuine mini games to help you learn the vocab. In fact, speaking of the vocab... The review screen allows you to, well, review the vocab. Oddly, it took me a while to find this. I'd perhaps have preferred this screen to come before the games screen, but it's no big deal. Here, you can also see how far you have progressed with each word, if the purple bar reaches the star, it goes yellow and you've learned the word (in terms of the game app, of course). 
Word Birds (pictured to the left) helps with writing/spelling skills. You are given the letters and have to make the French translation of the English vocab given. So, in this example, the correct word to type would be 'amusant'.
Finally, Mystery Crate is a game where you have to tap the 'crates' with incorrect spellings written on them. I suppose this one also helps with spelling and writing skills, as well as recognition skills as this game also speeds up with more words the further into it you get.
In terms of actually learning the words, I think Word Birds is my favourite. My main language strength is writing, so I think I'm used to learning in this way a lot. Plus, here you actually have to think about what you're learning rather than just recognising the correct word.
The game also provides you with an overview of your progress so far, a list of completed and/or outstanding challenges that the app itself will set you throughout your learning, and a community screen that contains features such as ''More MindSnacks Apps''. I love the fact that this is contained within one screen/tab on the app - again, over-promotion of other products is all too common with apps, and when its function is educational it really annoys me.
The app is initially free to download (I told you I'd get back to this...), however only comes with a numbers level. If you want more levels, you can download them from within the app for £2.99. I was initially very reluctant to pay this, and the fact that the app only gave me numbers to begin with did put me off. I just thought that out of all of the categories, there were many that were much more interesting than numbers. However, I decided to give the app a proper try and I'm glad to say that I've really been enjoying using it. If I have a spare moment, I have found myself opening it up and playing a game - to me, that speaks volumes about how good it is, not just as a language app but also as an app that can be lightly enjoyed.
In addition to French, the app is also available in German, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English (presumably American, as the US flag appears behind it), and SAT Vocab. If your desired language is currently unavailable, you can also 'cast your vote' for which subject should be built next (http://www.mindsnacks.com/vote/). Apparently, Japanese is currently being built. I'd be very interested to try the Russian (161 votes to go) app, I've never found an app that works for me with languages that don't have Latin alphabets.
Anyway, I think I've rambled enough. In short: great concept, variety of learning techniques within the games, although the paying/downloading system is a little annoying, you can see that the money is spent developing a well thought out application.
What do you think to the MindSnacks apps? Have you ever tried them? Leave a comment below :)
Merci beaucoup for reading! :)
Monday 6 February 2012
Growth
I put off writing this for a while. And by a while, I mean a few months. And by a few months, I mean since November time.
It's difficult to talk and write about moving on, especially when you never chose to do so. Yesterday, I wrote about the 'hostility of G block'. G block is the building in which my friends and I have based ourselves during the college day for a good year and a half now. We started off on the floor next to the automatic doors in B block, an idea that was cut drastically short one day for reasons that are still unknown to me.
So we moved to G. It was our comfort zone. It became the place we hid in, the place we cried in when things were too much, the place we laughed in, and the place we did nothing in. It was familiar and it was nice.
And then year thirteen arrived, bringing a bucket load of fresh pressures and expectations that, for those of us applying to university, we had to meet and exceed. Some people rise to that challenge, some do not. That's OK, it's down to personal preference and I am certainly not saying that some are right, while some are wrong. But, when people are making conflicting decisions and acting differently, conflict starts to appear. At first, it's slow and almost lazy in formation. It establishes itself in snide comments and pointless arguments. But, like anything bad, if left untouched, untreated or unnoticed, it gets worse.
Because, you see, much like with a family, a partner, or anybody else you spend most of your life around, you start to notice all of the irritating little details that you could really do without the presence of in your life. Somebody's too 'attention-seeking', another person 'needs to watch what they say', other people 'feel like they can't speak anymore', and others 'have no consideration for the fact that we were here first'. And I'm going to admit something...
I can't deal with it anymore. So I'm moving on.
I still love my friends. Of course I do. But I've reached that point where the atmosphere on a lunchtime or a breaktime is too damaging to me for it to be worth spending large amounts of time in G block anymore.
Everybody seems to have split off into little sub-groups, and I seem to have drifted away from all of them. I'm kind of OK with this, though. I spend most of my free time in the language lab now, and I've found that I work better and my grades have improved just by being in there more. This does, however, come with the downside that I rarely see my friends anymore. It's true that there are the lab folks - namely Sophie, Billie, Wallis, Liz, Jess, Cory, etc etc - and they are all awesome people in their own rights. Some (Sophie and Jess), I have known for longer than others (Billie, Wallis, Liz, Cory), but our lab chats and our general shared interests mean that there is something to focus on. Jess and I: N, S, Starbucks Tuesdays, Josh and Josh, Poland, etc etc. Sophie and I: People who DD (cringe!), favourite woman, the face-eaters, etc etc.
Yet, with the G block friends, I've found that only a few of the friendships tend to keep afloat. Fern and I share car journeys on a daily basis, Eliza and Sarah usually join us on the way home. I see Katie quite a lot as we share a few free periods together, and I see Will more than most people (which is odd, because we never knew each other before this college year).
I can't lie, it's hard to strike the balance between two groups. It's hard to view it objectively, in terms of my grades and general emotional wellbeing, rather than subjectively. It's easy to let the guilt about 'not being present enough anymore' consume me. I wonder if it's my own fault that I don't belong there anymore. I wonder if my involvement in Amnesty, SOS, college magazine, etc etc, has stopped my friendships from growing. But, then, these things have all helped new friendships to grow.
So, I'm muddling through at the moment. There is only one person who knows how I truly feel about all of this, and she knows how much I love her for sticking by me through all of this confusion. I don't really have a conclusion or a happy ending to this post, only that I know this is just the beginning. Of what? I don't know, but I'm sure I'm going to find out...
Besos ♥
It's difficult to talk and write about moving on, especially when you never chose to do so. Yesterday, I wrote about the 'hostility of G block'. G block is the building in which my friends and I have based ourselves during the college day for a good year and a half now. We started off on the floor next to the automatic doors in B block, an idea that was cut drastically short one day for reasons that are still unknown to me.
So we moved to G. It was our comfort zone. It became the place we hid in, the place we cried in when things were too much, the place we laughed in, and the place we did nothing in. It was familiar and it was nice.
And then year thirteen arrived, bringing a bucket load of fresh pressures and expectations that, for those of us applying to university, we had to meet and exceed. Some people rise to that challenge, some do not. That's OK, it's down to personal preference and I am certainly not saying that some are right, while some are wrong. But, when people are making conflicting decisions and acting differently, conflict starts to appear. At first, it's slow and almost lazy in formation. It establishes itself in snide comments and pointless arguments. But, like anything bad, if left untouched, untreated or unnoticed, it gets worse.
Because, you see, much like with a family, a partner, or anybody else you spend most of your life around, you start to notice all of the irritating little details that you could really do without the presence of in your life. Somebody's too 'attention-seeking', another person 'needs to watch what they say', other people 'feel like they can't speak anymore', and others 'have no consideration for the fact that we were here first'. And I'm going to admit something...
I can't deal with it anymore. So I'm moving on.
I still love my friends. Of course I do. But I've reached that point where the atmosphere on a lunchtime or a breaktime is too damaging to me for it to be worth spending large amounts of time in G block anymore.
Everybody seems to have split off into little sub-groups, and I seem to have drifted away from all of them. I'm kind of OK with this, though. I spend most of my free time in the language lab now, and I've found that I work better and my grades have improved just by being in there more. This does, however, come with the downside that I rarely see my friends anymore. It's true that there are the lab folks - namely Sophie, Billie, Wallis, Liz, Jess, Cory, etc etc - and they are all awesome people in their own rights. Some (Sophie and Jess), I have known for longer than others (Billie, Wallis, Liz, Cory), but our lab chats and our general shared interests mean that there is something to focus on. Jess and I: N, S, Starbucks Tuesdays, Josh and Josh, Poland, etc etc. Sophie and I: People who DD (cringe!), favourite woman, the face-eaters, etc etc.
Yet, with the G block friends, I've found that only a few of the friendships tend to keep afloat. Fern and I share car journeys on a daily basis, Eliza and Sarah usually join us on the way home. I see Katie quite a lot as we share a few free periods together, and I see Will more than most people (which is odd, because we never knew each other before this college year).
I can't lie, it's hard to strike the balance between two groups. It's hard to view it objectively, in terms of my grades and general emotional wellbeing, rather than subjectively. It's easy to let the guilt about 'not being present enough anymore' consume me. I wonder if it's my own fault that I don't belong there anymore. I wonder if my involvement in Amnesty, SOS, college magazine, etc etc, has stopped my friendships from growing. But, then, these things have all helped new friendships to grow.
So, I'm muddling through at the moment. There is only one person who knows how I truly feel about all of this, and she knows how much I love her for sticking by me through all of this confusion. I don't really have a conclusion or a happy ending to this post, only that I know this is just the beginning. Of what? I don't know, but I'm sure I'm going to find out...
Besos ♥
Rachel
Sunday 5 February 2012
Sunday Catch-Up #3
How is it already Sunday again? Seriously, how? This week has been nothing special and dragged on a lot. Highlights have definitely come at the end of the week...
I spent most of Friday in the lab catching up with Jess (sort of). Apparently, I'm the 'focus' of her and Natalie's joint art project, so she followed me around taking photos of me for a few hours. The photo to the left is one of the photos she took.
I also spent a lot of Friday, as I do every Friday, with the lab people. It's fair to say that they are quickly becoming some of my favourite people. It's nice to escape the hostility of G block (seriously, whenever I'm there everybody seems to just be hating everybody else [sorry, but that needed saying]) and spend time with like-minded people. Liz and I did our usual Friday music quiz and Beckie (Jess' cousin, ironically) joined in as she sometimes does. We also escaped to the LRC for English, which was an hour spent doing nothing worth mentioning for me.
Here's also a video of Miss Dusty experiencing a walk in the snow for the first time in her 2(ish) years of life. We were a little shocked, but she enjoyed it rather a lot.
The voices you can hear are mine and my mum's - she was very concerned about my cardigan getting all snowy.
That's pretty much it for this week. It's half term starting on the 10th so hopefully I'll have more time to write - I have a lot to say at the moment, my only problem is finding enough time to sit down and make the thoughts make sense.
Besos ♥
I spent most of Friday in the lab catching up with Jess (sort of). Apparently, I'm the 'focus' of her and Natalie's joint art project, so she followed me around taking photos of me for a few hours. The photo to the left is one of the photos she took.
I also spent a lot of Friday, as I do every Friday, with the lab people. It's fair to say that they are quickly becoming some of my favourite people. It's nice to escape the hostility of G block (seriously, whenever I'm there everybody seems to just be hating everybody else [sorry, but that needed saying]) and spend time with like-minded people. Liz and I did our usual Friday music quiz and Beckie (Jess' cousin, ironically) joined in as she sometimes does. We also escaped to the LRC for English, which was an hour spent doing nothing worth mentioning for me.
Here's also a video of Miss Dusty experiencing a walk in the snow for the first time in her 2(ish) years of life. We were a little shocked, but she enjoyed it rather a lot.
The voices you can hear are mine and my mum's - she was very concerned about my cardigan getting all snowy.
That's pretty much it for this week. It's half term starting on the 10th so hopefully I'll have more time to write - I have a lot to say at the moment, my only problem is finding enough time to sit down and make the thoughts make sense.
Besos ♥
Rachel
Sunday 29 January 2012
Sunday Catch-Up #2
So, it's been two weeks since my last blog post. I took a proper break from it for a while in the run up to my two exams this week but they're over now and I'm back and blogging :)
Other than revision, there are only two events worth mentioning this week...
Tuesday 24th January - Wakefield Mayor's Awards :)
One of my English teachers from last year, Jonathan, nominated me for this. I won a Community Silver award for the work I do with the Amnesty group, college magazine and the charity fundraising I've done in college. It was a lovely night and the stories of some of the 'Individual' award winners were so touching. It was so thoughtful of Jonathan to nominate me and did mean a lot. I plan on finding him this week to thank him. I also thought it was very appropriate that Wakefield's coat of arms (seen in the photo) was on display everywhere and the motto was ''persevere and prosper'' considering some of the stories we heard.
Saturday 28th January - Jess' 18th Party :)
It was my lovely friend Jess' 18th birthday on Thursday and she had arather large house party ;) small gathering at her house last night to celebrate. Below are a few photos... But, firstly, a few highlights: Sophie deciding she needed to slide off the sofa and onto the floor; Matt wondering if he might have put his pizza into his pocket; the great language debate held by a bunch of languages students.
Besos ♥
Other than revision, there are only two events worth mentioning this week...
One of my English teachers from last year, Jonathan, nominated me for this. I won a Community Silver award for the work I do with the Amnesty group, college magazine and the charity fundraising I've done in college. It was a lovely night and the stories of some of the 'Individual' award winners were so touching. It was so thoughtful of Jonathan to nominate me and did mean a lot. I plan on finding him this week to thank him. I also thought it was very appropriate that Wakefield's coat of arms (seen in the photo) was on display everywhere and the motto was ''persevere and prosper'' considering some of the stories we heard.
Saturday 28th January - Jess' 18th Party :)It was my lovely friend Jess' 18th birthday on Thursday and she had a
Besos ♥
Rachel
Sunday 15 January 2012
Mid-January Favourites & Sunday Catch-Up
Happy Sunday :) I thought today I'd try something different and blog about my favourite mid-January things. I've also put together a collage of recent photos for something that I intend to make a recurring feature called 'Sunday Catch-Up'. I don't have much time to write during the week, so I thought that if I don't, I can do something regular on a Sunday to compensate for it.
So, here are my mid-January favourites...
Make-up products
1. The Body Shop Colourglide Lip Colour in shade 48, Soft Peony. I picked this up just after Christmas when I was looking for a nice pink lipstick that wasn't too bright but was still very obviously pink. I trailed around all of the stores that sell lipsticks in Wakefield and found nothing that I liked enough to warrant spending money on, then tried out The Body Shop at the last minute. I found many pink shades in here and took a liking to this one, shade 48/Soft Peony. It's not *too* bright and its staying power is quite good. I think it was £8.
2. Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin. This is my favourite shade in the Naked palette, and has gone straight in as my number one eyeshadow shade. The only shadow I own that I could potentially see becoming just as favourable is MAC Patina. I find that Sin is a good base for any colour-combination that I'm likely to use on an everyday basis. I got this single shadow for Christmas because I hit pan on it in the palette :(
3. The Body Shop Lip Balm in Pink Grapefruit. I owned this several years ago, and I also had the shower gel, but the lip balm lived in my school bag and I never seemed to use it. It ended up with things stuck in it and it just became unusable. I repurchased at the same time as buying the lipstick, and have been using it a lot during the day since. I absolutely adore the smell and it's not too greasy.
4. Nails Inc polishes in Madison Avenue (full) and Holland Park Road (mini). I also received these for Christmas and am in love with both shades. Madison Avenue is definitely my current favourite polish, with Holland Park Road taking second place. Madison Avenue is the perfect deep green, and Holland Park Road is what I would describe as 'alternative purple' - it's not fully purple, but purple with undertones of maroons and pinks. Both of these take two coats on my nails.
Randoms
1. Books. The first book I've been loving this month is Jon Richardson's 'It's Not Me, It's You!'. The book itself had me laughing hysterically (and several people can vouch for this) in public, but also contemplating life and love and everything in between. It's also made me even more excited to see him live in March (woo!). I've also been reading The Complete Winnie the Pooh. My mum bought me the latest film for Christmas and after watching, I dug out the book. Winnie the Pooh will never get old. Ever.
2. Jewellery. The necklace in the top-right corner is one of my favourite ever purchases. I bought it in the autumn at some point and it has become one of my everyday pieces. I love the different colours in it and how it changes colour in the light. The second necklace, the black butterfly, is another piece that has become one of my 'everyday wears'. Both necklaces came from Accessorize and I bought them at the same time. The butterfly actually has a proper butterfly print on the other side, but I wear mine backwards because I just like the black silhouette of the butterfly. I often pair up both necklaces too. The pink rose ring is handmade. I've been enjoying wearing it as a 'statement' piece recently. I bought the ring backs from Hobbycraft, and the rose itself came from Yum Yum Beads in Leeds.
3. Stationery. A bit of an odd one, but still, we'll go with it. I've been loving using my document holders from Artbox this month a lot. I have three with Rilakkuma designs on them. I bought the first one years ago when I visited the Covent Garden store with my family, and I'm currently using it to house all of my spare lined paper. The one pictured is my Spanish oral exam notes folder. The second picture is of my neon pink (my camera washed the colour out no matter which settings I used) heart stickers from Paperchase. The pack cost £1.99 (I believe, don't quote me on that though) and there are several sheets of the small stickers. I just thought they were quite cute and they seem to come in handy for random things - like sticking down an envelope that wouldn't close yesterday :) The third photo is of Sharpie highlighters. I'm mainly mentioning these because I've been without proper highlighters since starting college again in September and my one green highlighter was driving me insane. These have small tips, so if you're highlighting small text (like I do because my handwriting is very small) it's all nice and neat, unlike if using a highlighter with a thick tip. I use these everyday without fail.
And here is my Sunday catch-up...
1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14 & 15 Last night was my friend Katie's 18th party (Katie is the girl I'm with in #1). Pretty much everybody stayed right until the end and had a good time :) Highlights included 'the balloon game' (everybody's played that, right? Where you have to keep the balloon off the floor?) and watching Eliza completely fail at the Macarena.
2 We spent a bit of time checking over Miss Peanut yesterday afternoon after I thought she didn't look herself. My mum decided to make her stand on her feet (kind of).
3 Delivery of Artbox goodies. The I <3 Artbox badge was free.
8 While taking photos of Peanut, I couldn't help but get this shot of Miss Dusty, who was very intrigued as to what was going on and why she was not receiving much attention.
9 Nails Inc Electric Avenue. My party nails for last night.
10 Delivery of Mark Watson's 'Bullet Points'. VERY excited to read this when I finish Winnie the Pooh.
11 Speaking of Winnie the Pooh...
12 An odd drive to college with Fern. The sky was striped and just completely unique. I took this when we stopped at traffic lights and Fern, who was driving, thought I was insane.
Besos ♥
So, here are my mid-January favourites...
Make-up products
1. The Body Shop Colourglide Lip Colour in shade 48, Soft Peony. I picked this up just after Christmas when I was looking for a nice pink lipstick that wasn't too bright but was still very obviously pink. I trailed around all of the stores that sell lipsticks in Wakefield and found nothing that I liked enough to warrant spending money on, then tried out The Body Shop at the last minute. I found many pink shades in here and took a liking to this one, shade 48/Soft Peony. It's not *too* bright and its staying power is quite good. I think it was £8.
2. Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin. This is my favourite shade in the Naked palette, and has gone straight in as my number one eyeshadow shade. The only shadow I own that I could potentially see becoming just as favourable is MAC Patina. I find that Sin is a good base for any colour-combination that I'm likely to use on an everyday basis. I got this single shadow for Christmas because I hit pan on it in the palette :(
3. The Body Shop Lip Balm in Pink Grapefruit. I owned this several years ago, and I also had the shower gel, but the lip balm lived in my school bag and I never seemed to use it. It ended up with things stuck in it and it just became unusable. I repurchased at the same time as buying the lipstick, and have been using it a lot during the day since. I absolutely adore the smell and it's not too greasy.
4. Nails Inc polishes in Madison Avenue (full) and Holland Park Road (mini). I also received these for Christmas and am in love with both shades. Madison Avenue is definitely my current favourite polish, with Holland Park Road taking second place. Madison Avenue is the perfect deep green, and Holland Park Road is what I would describe as 'alternative purple' - it's not fully purple, but purple with undertones of maroons and pinks. Both of these take two coats on my nails.
Randoms
1. Books. The first book I've been loving this month is Jon Richardson's 'It's Not Me, It's You!'. The book itself had me laughing hysterically (and several people can vouch for this) in public, but also contemplating life and love and everything in between. It's also made me even more excited to see him live in March (woo!). I've also been reading The Complete Winnie the Pooh. My mum bought me the latest film for Christmas and after watching, I dug out the book. Winnie the Pooh will never get old. Ever.
2. Jewellery. The necklace in the top-right corner is one of my favourite ever purchases. I bought it in the autumn at some point and it has become one of my everyday pieces. I love the different colours in it and how it changes colour in the light. The second necklace, the black butterfly, is another piece that has become one of my 'everyday wears'. Both necklaces came from Accessorize and I bought them at the same time. The butterfly actually has a proper butterfly print on the other side, but I wear mine backwards because I just like the black silhouette of the butterfly. I often pair up both necklaces too. The pink rose ring is handmade. I've been enjoying wearing it as a 'statement' piece recently. I bought the ring backs from Hobbycraft, and the rose itself came from Yum Yum Beads in Leeds.
3. Stationery. A bit of an odd one, but still, we'll go with it. I've been loving using my document holders from Artbox this month a lot. I have three with Rilakkuma designs on them. I bought the first one years ago when I visited the Covent Garden store with my family, and I'm currently using it to house all of my spare lined paper. The one pictured is my Spanish oral exam notes folder. The second picture is of my neon pink (my camera washed the colour out no matter which settings I used) heart stickers from Paperchase. The pack cost £1.99 (I believe, don't quote me on that though) and there are several sheets of the small stickers. I just thought they were quite cute and they seem to come in handy for random things - like sticking down an envelope that wouldn't close yesterday :) The third photo is of Sharpie highlighters. I'm mainly mentioning these because I've been without proper highlighters since starting college again in September and my one green highlighter was driving me insane. These have small tips, so if you're highlighting small text (like I do because my handwriting is very small) it's all nice and neat, unlike if using a highlighter with a thick tip. I use these everyday without fail.
And here is my Sunday catch-up...
1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14 & 15 Last night was my friend Katie's 18th party (Katie is the girl I'm with in #1). Pretty much everybody stayed right until the end and had a good time :) Highlights included 'the balloon game' (everybody's played that, right? Where you have to keep the balloon off the floor?) and watching Eliza completely fail at the Macarena.
2 We spent a bit of time checking over Miss Peanut yesterday afternoon after I thought she didn't look herself. My mum decided to make her stand on her feet (kind of).
3 Delivery of Artbox goodies. The I <3 Artbox badge was free.
8 While taking photos of Peanut, I couldn't help but get this shot of Miss Dusty, who was very intrigued as to what was going on and why she was not receiving much attention.
9 Nails Inc Electric Avenue. My party nails for last night.
10 Delivery of Mark Watson's 'Bullet Points'. VERY excited to read this when I finish Winnie the Pooh.
11 Speaking of Winnie the Pooh...
12 An odd drive to college with Fern. The sky was striped and just completely unique. I took this when we stopped at traffic lights and Fern, who was driving, thought I was insane.
Besos ♥
Rachel
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Magic
They say that Disney's magic, right? Today's been a giving up kind of day.
Here is my new motto: "If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. I'll always be with you."
As I sat and sobbed all the way through Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin last night, I thought about the past and all of its challenges, and the future and how those challenges never seem to go away. It (the film) taught me two lessons: 1) never stop believing in the magic of Pooh, 2) there's nothing wrong with regressing a little when you need somewhere to escape to, and the Hundred Acre Wood isn't a bad place...
Besos ♥
Here is my new motto: "If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. I'll always be with you."
As I sat and sobbed all the way through Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin last night, I thought about the past and all of its challenges, and the future and how those challenges never seem to go away. It (the film) taught me two lessons: 1) never stop believing in the magic of Pooh, 2) there's nothing wrong with regressing a little when you need somewhere to escape to, and the Hundred Acre Wood isn't a bad place...
Besos ♥
Rachel
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