Bucket List

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all well :) I was adding to my Bucket List the other day and thought it would be interesting to see what was on your lists and also to share some of what is on mine. Some of them are dull and un-exciting but they are things I want to do so they're on there. Please share what's at the top of your list in the comments or through Twitter and we'll see what's a popular one for people to do!

My (shortened) Bucket List

1. Ride in a hot air balloon
2. Go skydiving
3. Do a parachute jump
4. Walk along the Great Wall of China
5. Sleep in a hammock
6. Go to a festival
7. See the pyramids in Egypt
8. Go inter-railing
9. Visit Trinidad (the place where my Granddad was born)
10. Fly first class
11. Visit Russia
12. See the Northern Lights
13. Go in a helicopter
14. See a sunrise
15. Watch a sunset
16. Live in a different country
17. Go from Land's End to John O'Groates
18. Go to more than 70 countries (currently on 19!)
19. Ride the Stelvio Pass
20. Graduate university

.... and many more!

Please do let me know what is at the top of your bucket list and share your stories too - I'd love to hear them :)

Until next time
xx

A Letter to my 9 Year Old Self

Hey Charly,

So you’re about 2 months into being 9 now! I know it’s been a tough, long old stretch for you, despite the fact it’s been Christmas. I’m 2 months into 19 now so it’s a big reflection time for us now too. 10 years since Grandma died, it does get easier I promise. You’ve been so brave and you know that little bit of regret you feel, you make up for it. Well, I feel we have. We’re a lot stronger than people think kid, don’t you forget that.

Few spoilers now, we’ve stayed best friends with Ellen and Caitlin - that’s right, it’s been 12 years now and we’re all still going strong. Go us! You also get to have some absolutely incredible experiences that you’ll never ever forget for as long as you live but I’m not going to spoil the excitement for you by telling you what they are ‘cause I know you’ll hate me for it in the long run. We do know how to hold a bit of a grudge, don’t we?

Music is still a massive part of your life, but with our dad, was that ever in doubt? MotoGP? Yup that’s still around too. Along with netball of course, we love it and do you know what? I think we always will.

In 5 years time, you’ll surprise yourself with some choices that you make but follow your gut because it’s never led us astray. Keep your opinions strong too, you may annoy some people along the way but if they’re truly our friends, they’ll understand. That’s not to say you go mouthing off at every chance because then we’ll really make some enemies. We’ve got some good common sense between us so use it and always think first.

You’ll be pleased to hear, you’re not quite as hot headed as you are now in the future. We’ve got that under control. Or perhaps we just got over it and matured; either way, it’s a good thing. You are still as stubborn as an old horse though but that’s just us. We get it off Mum and Dad.

We’re pretty sure we know what we’re doing most of the time but don’t forget you’ve got a great set of friends and family around you if you ever are unsure. Maybe we don’t use that enough. Don’t keep it all bottled up all the time either, it’s not particularly healthy for us. I had to learn that the hard way so I thought I owed it to you to give you that little nugget of advice

All in all, we’re doing well, we’re happy. Even with ourselves! Well not entirely but you’re too young to be bogged down with that rubbish. Keep smiling, keep laughing, and keep going even when it gets tough. You’ve done alright on your own so far so just keep going! Set your sights high and work hard to get there. I promise you can do it. You can do anything you set your mind to. Keep a clear head too, make your voice heard when it needs to be heard, try your best to help people and don’t be afraid (not that you’re scared of anything anyway) of rejection.

We’ll keep our skin tough and our minds tougher and we’ll get through anything that life throws at us. Got it? Good. Have an amazing time!

Love,

Your Future Self

xxx

p.s Super Ted says hi too!

Liebster Award Nomination

Hey everyone!


So I haven't been blogging for a while as you can probably all see but I've had two emails recently from people following Life As I Know It on bloglovin' (the link is over there, click it you know you want to! -->) and also a couple of comments one of which was from 2 Peas In A Pod Blog (Jade and Stephanie) saying they'd nominated me for the Liebster Award!! The Liebster Award is an award which lets people know about the smaller blogs that are out there with 200 followers/subscribers or less. So I'd like to say an absolutely massive THANK YOU to them for that.

The rules are simple:
1. Thank the person who nominated you
2. Answer the questions given by the nominator
3. Nominate another 11 bloggers (with 200 or less followers) and link them
4. Create 11 new questions for the nominees to answer
5. Notify all nominees by social media/blogs

Questions from 2 Peas In A Pod Blog:

Q: What inspired you to start a blog?
A: I honestly have absolutely no idea! I think I was originally procrastinating from doing GCSE work and it was cold outside because it had been snowing. I always thought it'd be an interesting thing to do but never thought anything would come of it - I'm just not interesting enough I think!

Q: How did you feel about being nominated by us?
A: Absolutely gobsmacked. I didn't think people really saw my blog and I haven't been on for a while either. Although it turns out people have been looking at my blog because my page views count is now over 900!!

Q: What's your favourite animal?
A: It's got to be a giraffe. It was acceptable to have them as pets, I definitely would have one. Also the way they run is so fabulous

Q: What's your natural hair colour?
A: Dark brown, same as my picture - I've never actually died my hair!

Q: Skinny jeans or skirts?
A: Ooh that's tricky - I wear skirts and jumpers a lot but there's just something about wearing a pair of skinnies that just make you feel good

Q: Dream job?
A: I'd love to work for a motorsport, I think it would be so interesting and you'd get to travel around the world with the team. I also love motorbikes so that job sounds pretty perfect to me! (She says doing Chemistry at university)

Q: Favourite celebrity?
A: I have no idea! There's loads of people I like but I don't know if I would count them as celebrities or not. Hmm.. I'll have to get back to you on that one!

Q: How do you spend your Sunday evenings?
A: When I'm at uni, chilling in college with all my friends, possibly at the bar for a social drink or occasionally catching up on telly. At home, I slob on the sofa with my parents after Sunday dinner and we watch TV or a film. I love both options

Q: Eye colour?
A: Blue. With a bit of grey and a tiny bit of green

Q: Where have you travelled in the World?
A: Quite a lot of places in Europe but definitely not enough of the world. I would love to go to America, travel around Asia, visit Australia and New Zealand. And I would go back to Africa in a heartbeat

Q: Will you be following us as a thank-you?
A: Hell yeah! I need some more blogs on my feed to keep me inspired to keep on blogging. Plus your blog looks fab :)

My 11 nominees for the Liebster Award are... (drum roll please!)
Catherine's Corner
All Things Rosy
Don't Burst My Bubble
Professional Daydreamer
Books n Biscuits
That Geek With Glasses
The Faraway Bee
Casual Book Review
Nothing to say
What's Up Buttercup?
Isabel's Insight

Ooh time to think of my 11 questions now... here goes!
1. One place you would absolutely love to visit?
2. Current favourite song?
3. Favourite word?
4. How long have you been blogging?
5. Top way to procrastinate? (Other than blogging!)
6. Sweet or savoury?
7.If you could go on a date with any celebrity, who would it be and why?
8. Favourite season?
9. Apple or Windows?
10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
11. Favourite memory?

Thanks again to Jade and Stephanie!

I will now (try to) be a more pro-active blogger, promise!

Charly
xx

I'm a tad obsessed...

Hi all!

Hope you are well :)

So recently I've been doing lots of work for university (of course) but I have become hooked on one thing in particular. Now don't worry, it's nothing bad. I have become obsessed with Pinterest.

I think it's great and I love seeing all the creative ideas people come up with for different things and it's great for saving ideas which is especially handy when you're a student watching your money like me!

I have all sorts of boards that I am adding to; from furniture to Christmas to fancy dress costumes and more. I have some great Creme Egg recipes saved up for Easter which I am looking forward to using along with some hot chocolate ideas for winter (or now when it's stupidly cold up North)

I will have a look through and decide on my favourite pins and share them with you - there's some great gift ideas around!

My time was not wasted because I thoroughly enjoyed wasting it!

Speak soon
xx

Failings of School

I was thinking today when faced with a job application form how little about life school actually taught us. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed school hence why I've decided to further my education by coming to university to study Chemistry for 4 years but one thing I was never taught how to do was to write a CV.

I would like to get a part time job whilst I'm here to gain a bit of extra cash but I have no idea what I write on a CV, having never been told how to at school. School also never taught you things like how to do your taxes, they told you that you should vote but never showed us how to register to and other things related on how to actually just live your life. The menial tasks that our parents and guardians just do were never explained to us by the schooling system; they taught us how to learn, remember and regurgitate facts to pass an exam.

In many ways, it's similar to learning how to drive a car. The instructors will teach you how to pass the driving test, not actually how to drive. Obviously the basics of making the car move, but your road sense and general awareness and the instinctiveness of driving is almost self-taught. But from school, learning from your mistakes is not a good way to go. You should be getting it right first time, every time pretty much.

There is no provision for different abilities of people and the different skills people possess. In a world where we are all unique and different from each other, why will they test us all in the same way to see how much of one skill we all possess? That isn't a fair representation of the population.

It's like testing every single animal on the planet on their ability to climb a tree. A fish is not going to be able to climb that tree because it was not designed to do so but a monkey would pass the test with flying colours. Humans are the same, we don't all have the same abilities and I think it's absolutely fantastic that we don't. It gives us opportunities to marvel at somebody else's expertise.

School is a useful tool but I think you can't judge everyone by their ability to perform academically in exams because not everyone is hardwired to be able to do that.

They were just some thoughts from today..

xx

Freshers!

In a few hours, I have a formal ceremony called matriculation at the Cathedral here in Durham. It is a welcoming ceremony, a bit like graduaton but for entering rather than leaving the university. Then I feel as if I will officially be a member of Durham University!

I am half way through my Freshers Week now and I have to say, it really is such a great experience and the way ours is set up here makes it so easy to make friends and socialise. I have 5 'landing' mates who I share a bathroom with etc. and there are 24 other rooms in my block so when we all squeeze into one place and have a block party, it's a little cramped! I  also have people who I have met at our events during the week and people who are also doing Chemistry in my college so a wide circle already!

We had our societies fair yesterday too which was our chance to sign up to do all sorts of things from Chamber Choir to Debating to Lacrosse to Quidditch. To say there was a massive range and the place was total chaos would probably be an understatement.

I will post again soon, I have the pictures from my IKEA Haul but never got around to formulating a post for them as trying to get organised to move out took up a lot of my time.

Speak soon
x

Holidays :)

(So long since my last post - I'm so sorry guys but its been a bit hectic recently with uni planning!)

This summer, I have been incredibly lucky and have had the opportunity to go on 2 holidays with my some of my closest friends before we all go our separate ways for university.

The first was quite a while ago now as it was straight after our exams had finished which was the end of June and I spent a week in Zante with 2 of my best girl friends, Ellen and Katie. It was so much fun as it was our first ever Girl's Holiday and we had such a great time and made lots of memories! 

The second was a trip to Edale in the Peak District at the start of September with 15 friends where we spent four days in a rented barn conversion where we all ate together and slept in 3 dorms and spent the days playing baseball/rounders, frisbee, football and the occasional bit of volleyball over the washing line outside not to mention twister and other board and card games.

The scenery was beautiful in the Peak District and it was such a chilled 4 days with some of my favourite people just spending time together before we all start to go our separate ways - the first of our group actually moved last Saturday and then the majority of the rest all leave this Saturday to go to their various universities around the country.

I hope that you have all also had a good summer and I promise that there will be less of a gap between this and the next post - it may be an IKEA Haul post :)

xx

So many forms...

As I said in my last post, I got into University and yesterday my Freshers Pack came through. Exciting stuff..

BUT.. there are soooo many forms to fill out, it's ridiculous. I've written my name, email address and course out so many times for various different forms from a Room Allocation Questionnaire to Mentor Forms to Emergency Contacts.

I've also got to get 8 passport sized photos too which should be fun.

Despite all the tedious form filling out, I am excited for uni and hopefully soon I'll be doing an IKEA trip! Which are always a fab day out. I am currently doing some online shopping too so if I get a decent haul I might put up a Uni Wardrobe type post.

Speak soon!
xx

I'm Going to University!

Hi!

So at the moment I am extremely happy because it is Results Day here and I have got into my first choice university which is Durham University! I am going to be studying Chemistry and I would like to do a year in industry in my final year.

I was so nervous this morning that I woke up at 6:30 panicking that I had failed completely but as 8 o'clock came around, the time when UCAS Track opened, I was feeling a little calm. I managed to log on early at 7:45 and was thrilled when this message came up:

I went in to collect my results from school and chatted with my friends and some teachers (who are now insisting I call them by their first names which is really weird for me) and then I had to have my photo taken for the local newspaper which was interesting.. Not to mention totally embarrassing.

4 of us walked up to Tesco and got a chocolate Swiss roll to share which we ate on the park and it was lovely. We chatted a bit more then all headed home as we are all meeting up later to celebrate the end of A-Levels and our results which have landed us in universities all over the place.

I will be moving into Trevelyan College at Durham at the end of September and I will be sure to give you some updates on that.

I will post again soon but for now it is goodbye :)

Keep smiling
x

Summer Nights Film Festival

Hi!

I should've posted this almost a week ago but I've been really busy with work and things so I have only just got around to it. So here's what happened on Saturday at the Derby Summer Nights Film Festival..

First things first, a bit of context. One afternoon, I was really bored so due to a lack of better things to do, I decided to Google my home town (Derby, East Midlands) and it pulled up a load of websites as Google does and I saw one that caught my eye. It was a festivals page and I saw on it one for the Summer Nights Film Festival (SNFF from now).
I clicked onto the page and found that this was basically a festival where they showed different films at various country houses in Derbyshire. I saw that at Kedleston Hall they were showing Gravity so I spoke to my friends and 4 of us got together and decided to go.

When the SNFF finally came around (our date to go anyway), we packed my tiny car with picnic stuff and chairs and set off to Kedleston Hall, really strugglling up any hills due to the distinct lack of power Peugeot 107s have. But we eventually got there at around 7:40 and we handed our tickets in and found a spot to set up.
The film was not due to start until the sun had set giving us 2 hours to sit, chat, eat and take some photos. After a few angry mutterings when a large family decided to plonk themselves right in front of us and shifting around so we could all see, we had some of our food (we had all bought far too much) and settled in to our chairs ready for the film to start.

Compulsory selfie before the film started

We had an introduction to the film from 2 radio DJs off Smooth Radio (clearly this festival is not particularly aimed at youth although we were perfectly welcome) and then Gravity started.
About half an hour into the film, a few big spots of rain fell causing everybody to start panicking and putting their rain macs on and the odd brolley even went up. After the kafuffle had died down, it stopped raining. As none of us had rain macs with us, we were very glad it stopped and found it hilarious because everyone had gotten so panicked over about 10 spots of rain.

Gravity was a really good film but shorter than I expected it to be although looking back, you could see that if they had dragged it out for much longer it would've been boring and same-y so it was good that they ended it when they did.
With what seemed like a grand total cast of 3 plus the odd extra, it was well held together with the plot and was generally scientifically correct with the exception of the end which obviously had to be done as it was for dramatic effect but it irritated the scientist in me because in real life, it couldn't have happened.
But other than that, the plot was excellent, the characters were well thought out if a little thin on the ground and the effects on the film were ace so all in all I would definitely recommend it.

If there is something similar to SNFF in your area, I would definitely go to it because it is something different and something you will remember because of that.

Speak soon :)
x