Family Fun - Mothers Day

Hello everyone,

So as I mentioned earlier today that while it isn't technically mothers day here in Australia just yet, my family did happen to celebrate it today. Today I spent the day with mum cooking up a storm for dinner with the family. We had pork ribs marinated in a smokey barbecue marinade with coleslaw and jacket potatoes and then for dessert we whipped up some little meringue's served with freshly whipped cream, strawberries, passion fruit and chocolate flakes. Yummy. My mouth is still watering and I am aching for more.

After dinner we decided to play some family games, which to be honest is a bit of a risk considering they always, I mean always, end up in a fight. Tonight wasn't much different. Firstly we played 'Heads Up', a game developed by Ellen DeGeneres. I loved it. It's pretty similar to 'Celebrity' but sometimes you have to act out things, like 'Charades', so it's kind of a mix of a couple of games. It's available in the iTunes store if anyone is interested. After playing 'Heads Up' we moved onto the 'Logo Game'. My favourite. It is the board game version of the iPhone and iPad application where you have to guess the logos except when playing the board game they ask questions about the brand, like when it was founded? So it is pretty much a history lesson as well.

All in all it was an amazing day and great time spent with the mother and family. Tomorrow we are heading up to Gatton (a little town just outside of Toowoomba, yes in the country side) to see my grandmother and celebrate the day with her. I am just oh so excited. I will try and get some nice pictures to share with you all of the two hour car journey.

Well I hope you enjoyed the second post for today and I look forward to many more. Hope you have a magnificent day/night wherever you are.

ps. Sorry for the late night blogging. Once I am up and awake past 11pm I literally won't be able to sleep. 

30 days of Thanks - Day 3 & 4

Hello,

I am so sorry that I didn't post anything yesterday. I had my 2nd last assignment to complete and hand in, so I was rather pre-occupied. Anyway, as I missed yesterdays '30 Days of Thanks post' I thought I would just add it on to todays.

Day 3: Today I am thankful for the fact that I get to go to university. I am thankful for this because I see some of my friends who don't have a job, or go to university and I literally just think how?. How can they not be doing something with their lives. I understand that it is completely that persons choice but I am someone that needs to be moving forward, working towards something great. Currently I am studying a Bachelor of Communications Majoring in Public Relations and most likely Journalism at Griffith University, Brisbane. I couldn't be happier. When I graduated high school I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life so I headed straight to TAFE to complete an Advanced Diploma in Hospitality which would eventually lead me to University to study a Bachelor of Business. I completed the Advanced Diploma and started the Business Degree before I realised that what I really wanted to do was have a career in Fashion. In the next year I intend to continue working towards my Bachelor of Communication while also completing little courses on the side which will enhance my education. I am very thankful for the fact that I get this great opportunity to study and work in a great country and sometimes we forget how fortunate we are to be able to study towards a degree that will push us in the right direction.

Day 4: Today I am thankful for my mother. I know I have already said that I am thankful for my friends and family but being that it is mothers day (actually tomorrow, but were celebrating it today) I thought what a better way to celebrate mothers day then to express how thankful I am for her. She is my hero, my best friend and everything in between. My mother had four kids and gave up her life for us. She was studying to be a successful hair dresser when her life was ruined by her children. My siblings and I are very close, not in that we tell each other everything, in the way that we were born very close together. We were all born a year apart. Thinking about it, I couldn't think of anything worse the having four babies crying, then four toddlers, and then worse, four teenagers all at the same time. Anyways, mum gave up her life for us and I couldn't be more thankful for everything she has done. My father was a busy businessmen so he was always working and mum took care of us. She supported us in everything we did, she helped us to be kind and compassionate to others and taught us how to be great people. We weren't the smartest of children, or the best signers, or the best athletes but she still tried her hardest to be everything for us and I couldn't tell her enough how grateful and thankful I am of her. Thank-you Mother.

Wow. That was some long writing for one day. I hope you enjoyed :)
Hope you have a magnificent day/night

Day 4 down - 26 to go.

30 Days of Thanks - Day 2

Hello,

So it's the second day of '30 Days of Thanks'.

I know this is going to sound corny and obvious but I truly am thankful for having a home. I live in Brisbane City and it's amazing. I look out of my bedroom window at night and see the beautiful city lit up and it's just amazing. But what I am mostly thankful is that I actually have a home, somewhere to live. Someone once told me that if you have a house you are richer then 75% of the world. I think this is an amazing statistic and really puts into perspective that many people aren't as fortunate as we are and I sometimes forget that. So it is really important for me to stop and give thanks for the things I have.

2 days day. 28 to go.

Hope you have a magnificent day/night
:)

30 Days of Thanks - Day 1

Hello lovelies,

I know this is my 2nd post today but I do have a couple of months to make up for. I thought this was a post that needed to be done. I have decided I am going to partake in '30 Days of Thanks'. I believe in life that it is important to give thanks. I have a great life that I sometimes take for granted and I don't think anyone should take their life for granted. So, I have decided to partake in this campaign to give thanks to all of the things I take for granted. So from today, the 8th of May, until the 6th of June I am going to do a post a day about something I am grateful for. Just a simple sentence and why I am grateful for whatever it may be.

Day 1 - Friends and Family
I am extremely grateful for the friends and family that I have. I may not see or talk to my friends as much I used to in the past but I am so grateful to have them in my life. They are the family I choose. My friends are very supportive of everything I do. I can laugh and cry with them and tell them everything. I am like the baby of the group so they all look out for me all the time. I am so thankful for them.
And as for my family. Well where to start. They have been supporting me my entire life. My parents are so supportive and everything I choose. I had a wonderful life as a child. I got the opportunity to attend a private school, which I took for granted and deeply regret not trying as hard. I got the opportunity to play any sport or join any team with the support of my family. I choose to compete in gymnastics and my family was there at every competition. My father is an accountant and because mum had four kids in four years she just didn't have time for a job, so my dad worked long long hours to give us the best life he possibly could and I am truly grateful for that. My parents did everything they could for my siblings and I and It makes me proud to be their daughter. As for my siblings, well we may have fought all of our lives but I would not be who I am without them.
So, in short, I am truly, truly grateful for my friends and family and I wouldn't be who I am with out them. They are my everything.

Well, I'm not one for emotions so I'm glad to have gotten the emotional thanks out of the way first.

1 day down. 29 to go.

19 Minutes

"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennessee Titans to sell out of tickets to the play-offs. It's the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials. It's the driving distance from the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, new Hampshire. In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk a mile. You can sew a hem. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge." (Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes, pg. 5)

What you have just read is the first paragraph of the powerful novel written by Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes. I have just finished reading this novel and honestly, it has a jaw dropping end. I'm someone who always reads the last chapter, so I somewhat thought I knew the ending the entire time, but once I got to the final chapters I realise I had been incorrect. The last chapter of any book or novel generally isn't where you will find the ending of the story. It may literally be the end of the book but it is more of a cool down chapter. Like when your short distance running. You should never full speed run and then just stop instantly, you need to slowly decrease in speed to help your body and heart rate to recuperate. That is like the last chapter of a book. Anyways, I have just finished reading this novel and it was amazing. I usually regret reading books because as soon as I start them I cannot put them down until I have finished them. I can't do anything else. So, when I started it I, of course, had assignments and other work to complete but I just couldn't put the book down. I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult's style of writing. Most of her novels include some sort of a crime and that interests me. I highly recommend it to everyone. I may be a fan of Jodi Picoult novels but I still encourage everyone to read it. I had to stop an questions what I would have done in the same situation, would I have acted the same way as the characters. It really makes you stop and think about justice and what you believe to be right and wrong and to think about revenge and consequences. 

To finish of this review I will leave you with the blurb of the novel. 

Nineteen Minutes Blurb:

Intricately textured and rich with psychological and social insight, Jodi Picoult's novels grab the readers by the throat from page one and never let go. As emotionally charged as any she has written, Nineteen Minutes is one of her most powerful works to date. 

Set in a small town in the wake of a horrific school shooting, Nineteen Minutes features the return of two beloved Picoult characters -- Jordan McAfee, the lawyer from The Pact and Salem Falls, who once again finds himself representing a boy who desperately needs someone on his side; and Patrick Ducharme, the intrepid detective introduces in Perfect Match, whose best witness is the daughter of the superior curt judge assigned to the case. As the story unfolds, layer after layer is peeled back to reveal some hard-hitting questions about the nature of justice, the balance of power and what it means to be different. 

Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, thought-provoking tale with a jaw-dropping finale. 

All in all I would recommend this book to anyone, so please please give it a go. 

Hope you enjoyed my review. 

Hope you have a magnificent night/day :)

Winter is coming!

Hello Everyone :)

I'd like to start of by saying how fast this year has gone! We are already in the 5th month. More then a quarter of the way through. Wow. In saying that Winter is just around the corner. Literally, only 1 month left and I am unbelievably excited. Winter is obviously my favourite season out of them all. Theres something about the cold, crisp air that I love. It just seems so much fresher in the winter time. And not to mention the fashion. Is it just me, or is fashion just better in the winter? The trench coats, the gloves and beanies, the boots. It is all just a thousand times better then summer. One of the things that sucks about Queensland winters is obviously we get no snow. Which sucks. I absolutely love the snow. I go skiing with my family every year down in Perisher, NSW and it is honestly the best week of the year. I look forward to it from the moment we get back the year before. Unfortunately, we aren't going this year as my parents and I are going to Europe instead. Which I am just so so so excited about. I've been to Europe once before and it was absolutely the most incredible month ever. I went with some friends of mine from school just after we graduated. It was the perfect alternative to attending 'Schoolies'*.

One of the downsides of knowing winter is coming is knowing that finals for the semester are also approaching. I have been really naughty this semester with getting assignments done. I just seem to be procrastinating a lot. And to make matters worse I have just started reading another book and once I start a book I can't do anything else until it is finished. I have two assignments due next Friday (May 10th), then another due May 31st and then to finish the semester off on the 13th of June with two Exams. I am really looking forward to the 13th of June. It could not come soon enough. Once the semester is over I will be getting stuck into work to earn as much money possible, hopefully getting a second job, So that when it's time to head to europe for 6 months-1 year I will actually have money to spend.


Sorry I haven't been active lately. University and work is taking up most of my time as I decided to stupidly do more subjects then necessary. Hopefully it'll help out in the long run. Only 1 month and 11 days until the end of the semester. BRING IT ON!!!

Thanks for reading.
Hope you have a magnificent day/night.
Much love.

*'Schoolies' refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates having a week long holiday, usually to the Gold Coast to celebrate the end of their schooling life. It is literally one week full of parties, sex, drugs, alcohol and rock 'n' roll. (Not my cup of tea)

It's been a while and with that I have some very EXCITING news!

I have been so busy lately with studying UNI over the holidays and straight back into it for semester one that I haven't been blogging much, well at all! But now I'm back and with some very exciting news!

Since I went on my first trip to Europe I have been unbelievably in love with England. Like it is starting to scare some of my friends, every time they mention England, or Britain I just smile and think of my future. Of how I'm going to marry a very rich englishman and live in Chelsea or Paris and have a lavish wedding and go on our honey moon to the Maldives and then have 2 kids, a boy first named Harry and then a girl a couple of years later names Harriet and then we will grow old together and live happily ever after. As you can tell by the ending of that statement it is most definitely a fantasy that I know will probably never happen, but hey, I can dream. Well anyways my exciting news is that I have successfully passed the first 2 stages of the Study Abroad process. I have applied for 3 Universities; University of Leeds, Oxford Brooks University and Leeds Metropolitan University. I tried to get a University closer to London but those three where the only Universities that taught the subjects I needed to take. I'm hoping that I get accepted to University of Leeds as it was my first preference as it has the best Student Union in the country and I think that will be something thats important if you are going to move away for 6 months. You would want to move somewhere that has things to keep you busy. Of course the fact that it's a major party school was in my mind as well. HaHa. Anyways that's my amazing news. Ahhh soooo excited!

Thanks for reading.
Hope you have a magnificent day/night :)