My 2013

I think it's fair to say that 2013 has been one of the most hectic years of my life so far. So I thought I'd reflect on some of the stand-out moments of my 2013 before I welcome the new year in.

The year started off with me working towards my A-Levels in the hopes of getting into university. I'd like to think that I worked hard, especially considering that for one of my courses I didn't have any timetabled lessons so I did it all myself. I probably could have put a bit more effort into my Chemistry. As much as I love Chemistry and enjoy all the theories and equations, I just couldn't bring myself to put 100% effort into it, because I saw my two A2 written exams as battles that I could never win. But overall I feel I worked hard enough, and I even managed to read 1-2 books a week on top of all of my work and revision. Also, throughout the two thirds of Year 13 that 2013 covered, on top of all my work and reading, I managed to strengthen many of the friendships I had formed in Year 12. This would probably have to be my second best -or maybe even joint first- achievement of that academic year as I gained four true friends that I hope remain in my life for many years to come.

Thankfully by mid-July my A-Levels were a thing of the past -aside from my results. It was around this time that I began my training for my first ever job. Once I had completed all my training and handed in my availability form all I had to do was wait until August when I began my job as a Support Playworker. Sadly I was only given four days of work out of the 12 I was available to work throughout August. My four days were really good though and I felt very rewarded by the end of it. I'm looking forward to the Easter break when I'll hopefully be able to do some more work.

One of my many panoramic shots of the Devonshire coast.

Also during August I went on holiday to Devon for a week with the 'Larks'. This was the first time I'd been on holiday in years and it was also the first time I'd been on holiday with people other than my family. It was a really nice week! I would have preferred it if we hadn't of stayed in caravans. That being said though it was lovely being such a short walk from the beach, which we probably wouldn't have got if we had stayed in a hotel. It really was a great week though. There were ups and downs but that's to be expected with any holiday, especially when you're with such a large group of people. Overall the company was good, the sights were really pretty and the pools were warm; I couldn't really have asked for much more.

A week or two after every Lark holiday an award ceremony is held. My boyfriend and I were awarded 'Most Loving Couple', which is a title that I am very proud to hold.

Then after I arrived home it was time to start thinking about all the things I needed to either buy or pack up to take to uni, and deciding what were necessities and what were not. By the time I moved you could barely move in my room because there were so many bags and crates. It turns out I over prepared myself for living away from home, as much of the stuff I took with me has yet to be used. Oops, haha!

I must admit that I'm really enjoying living independently. It doesn't always go smoothly, but then again nothing ever does. Only on a few occasions have my boyfriend and I had to raid the cupboards to find something to throw together for dinner and we've only had the electricity run out once; so I think it's fair to say that we're coping quite well.

I'd say that for me the worst thing about living away from home is being away from this cutie for long periods of time.

Once October began I officially began my psychology course at the University of Bedfordshire. I was a little apprehensive at first as I didn't really know what to expect and was really nervous about meeting new people; but I'm loving it now. My course is really interesting and I'm enjoying all of my units, even Research Methods! I'm also enjoying my counselling unit. When I first saw it was one of my units I thought it rather pointless with regards to my degree and that I'd hate it. I still don't see how it links to my degree specifically, but I understand why I have to do it and I'm actually finding it really interesting. I also didn't have to worry about making friends. Although I wouldn't say I've made any strong friendships yet I have actually met and befriended a fair few people.

Then three weeks into my course it was my 20th birthday. I came home for the weekend, along with my boyfriend, and had a lovely time. I've already written a post on my birthday weekend so I won't go into too much detail here. But to summarise the weekend: I was spoilt, ate too much, found a new favourite drink and left appreciating my family more.

The aforementioned new favourite drink I discovered at the Hard Rock Café in London.

Skip ahead two months and it's Christmas. This year I didn't really feel Christmassy. It got to 5:30pm on Christmas Eve, when the Crib Service at my boyfriend's church was about to being, and even then I didn't feel in the Christmas spirit. It didn't even feel like it was going to be Christmas Day in a matter of hours.

My Christmas was pretty good overall though. I definitely got more than my fair share of lovely things! I got a lovely, cute pair of Bambi pyjamas and a pair of thick bed socks that are lined with a fluffy material; both of which are super cosy and comfortable, and are things that I never would have picked out myself but am very glad that I own. I also got a beautiful leather jacket that I intend to wear with pride whenever possible. I got a lot of shower gel and other such toiletries which is great as it saves me spending money when I run out of the stuff I am currently using. I got lots of DVDs, including many Disney classics; and I also got a number of gift cards for a range of different shops that I look forward to spending in the new year.

Wrapping presents: the best part of Christmas.

This year also saw me become a little more adventurous with my appearance. I've started wearing skirts for the hell of it, instead of for school and special occasions, which is something I haven't done since I was in primary school. I've also started to wear lipstick which is something I have never done before. I also had a full fringe at one point but that didn't last long once I saw pictures of myself and realised how terrible it looked.

So that's my 2013 in a fair-lengthed nutshell! I hope you all had a lovely 2013! Tell me about some of your 2013 highlights in the comments; I'd love to hear them!
-Hannah.

Commuting.

Now that I'm at university I am commuting a lot more than during my sixth form years. There are two reasons for this -both quite obvious if you've read any of my previous posts- which are: I no longer live in my family home, which means no more getting dropped off, and I live in one town and my university campus is in another.

At the start of this academic year I was unsure of how far my finances would stretch. Because of this I opted to travel into Luton the cheapest way possible; which resulted in me buying a month-long bus pass for £80 that let me get on any bus and commute anywhere within the county of Bedfordshire. My bus journey was the whole bus route, which was an hour give-or-take depending on the traffic. At first it was mind and bum numbing torture, but by the end of the month, although still bum numbing, I did start to enjoy the bus ride. I started to enjoy it so much that when I noticed we were getting close to my destination I used to wish that the journey had taken a little longer.

That made my change in transport at the end of the month quite bittersweet. During the time I was commuting on the bus, I had calculated that it would be possible for me to start getting the train to uni and not end up with an overdraft by the end of term. So I decided to start getting the train instead; because they came more frequently -roughly every 20 minutes as opposed to every hour- and the journey was shorter, which meant less waiting around in the cold and getting home quicker when it started to get dark earlier.

A photographic summary of my commute: platform, music and a hot beverage of some kind.

So far I've been enjoying my new commute for the most part. Coffee and hot chocolate is more readily available; I don't have to panic about missing the train I planned to get; I get home quicker; and there are more seats available. Baring all that in mind I can hardly make a valid complaint about anything else.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I also commuted the two years before I changed schools for sixth form, which coincidentally was on the same train line. I enjoyed that commute as well, aside from how crowded it would get with other school kids once we reached Radlett. Thanks to that daily commute I made myself some pretty good friends and made a lot of memories, some good, some hilarious and some quite cringe worthy.

Over all I've enjoyed all my commuting over the years. Most of all I've enjoyed my journeys on the London Underground -a.k.a. the Tube- either to go to a concert, go shopping or just randomly explore that marvellous city.

I'm not really sure why I chose to share my commuting experiences and opinions with you. It probably isn't a very good post but for some reason all I wanted to write about today was how much I love commuting -for the most part- on public transport.

November Favourites.

It's that time of the month again! The end of it, which means it's time for another favourites list. So without further ado, here's a selection of some of my favourite things from the past 30 days:

Knee-high bed socks - Optimum comfort and warm for more than just your feet and ankles; what could possibly be better than that?!

My 'Counselling and Interpersonal Psychology' unit - When I first saw that I had to take this unit during my first year I didn't really see why. I didn't think it was relevant to my course title and I didn't think I'd enjoy it at all. Thankfully I have been proved wrong on all accounts. It links to my course with regards to possible career possibilities in my future field of work, we haven't had to do any role-playing so far -I absolutely detest that sort of learning activity- and I'm actually really, really enjoying it.

Vitamin Water - In particular: 'Revive' and 'Defence.' They taste great and bump up your vitamin levels. The only down side is that compared to other drinks available they are quite pricey -especially for a cheapskate come student like me! So for me these are usually a bit of a treat, and that's usually when a supermarket is doing a deal on them, haha!

Bodycare - I had seen this shop in Bedford and in Luton, and I'd heard it was cheaper than both Boots and Superdrug. But it wasn't until Monday that I actually went into one. To be honest I wasn't expecting much. I had heard the prices were low so I assumed it was going to be like the drugstore version of Aldi and Lidl. However I was pleasantly surprised. They had a wide range and all of it was the brands you would expect, not the foreign knock-offs I was expecting to see. The two things that really sold this shop to me and will mean future purchases in there are: they had all five of Garnier's 'Moisture Match' moisturises -I read about them around my birthday and have been looking for the 'Goodbye Dry' one ever since, with no success until then- and the wide range of hair dyes they had in stock -Just looking at the Swarzkoft dyes I spotted a few I'd not see or rarely seen before and picked out three colours that I'm torn between getting.

Garnier Moisture Match - Goodbye Dry Moisturiser - I'll be honest with you, I wasn't expecting much from this moisturiser. Although Garnier is one of my go-to brands, I've had absolutely no success with moisturisers from any brand. Some have worked a treat for a while and then my skin has become accustomed to it and it stops having any effect on my dry skin. So far I am loving this moisturiser and I really, really hope it keeps up the good work in the long run! Also, it smells really nice.

Tea with sweetener - This is quite a random and somewhat boring favourite of mine this month. But to summarise why it's on my favourites list, my boyfriend made me a cup of tea and instead of putting sugar in he put some of his sweetener in it and it tasted 10 times better than the tea I make with sugar.

So those are my favourites, and in some cases pleasant discoveries, this month. What have you been enjoying this month?
-Hannah

My Tips For Keeping Cosy This Winter.

I'm currently sat in bed with a stomach ache, longing to feel a little cosier and more comfortable than I do now. And whilst I was dwelling on that thought was round about the time that the idea for this post popped into my head. So I'll cut my rambling introduction short and leave it at: here are my top tips on how to stay nice an cosy this winter!

At home:
1. Hot chocolate/tea/coffee - make whichever of the three you prefer in your favourite mug, get comfy on the sofa and use it as a hand warmer in addition to a satisfying beverage, while watching some quality TV. I would personally recommend The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, MASH or Fraiser. 

2. Hot water bottle - nothing quite tops cuddling up under a blanket or in bed with a nice, warm hot water bottle!

3. Onesie - I think this one is self explanatory. I love lounging around in my black cat kigu!

My all time favourite hot chocolate, my cosy hot water bottle and my cute slipper boots from Sainsbury's.

4. Slipper boots and/or bed socks - All my life I have been a lover of bed socks. They're just so practical in my opinion; and they're really good at keeping my feet -which are almost always cold- nice and toasty. Also, since buying my slipper boots last week I have become a huge fan of the things! They're just perfect. If you don't already own a pair I seriously recommend you invest in some!

5. Soup - Aside from when you're under the weather, winter is the perfect time to stock up on soup. I'm quite boring and tend to stick to chicken soup; although I do occasionally mix it up a bit by swopping to either tomato soup or my nan's home-made chicken noodle soup.
6. Jumpers - I could go on about my love for jumpers all day long! I won't though because I don't want to bore you. But to sum up what could potentially be paragraphs: they're super cosy, super practical and you can never, ever have too many of them!

Out and about:

1. Layers - Last winter I mastered the art of layering. I'd go out with 4-5 layers on and not complain about feeling cold or chilly once. The only thing that I don't like about layering is how many clothes end up going in the wash and how quickly my washing basket fills up. So there's a bit of a downfall to this tip unfortunately.
2. Hats, scarves and gloves - All three are obvious winter must-haves, but I felt they should be included regardless. This winter, when I'm out and about, I will definitely be rocking the burgundy wool look. I have a lovely and thick snood and a cute, little bobble hat, both of which are burgundy and super, super warm. But for a bit of variety I won't be neglecting any of my other woolly hats or my other scarf. I thought I'd leave gloves until last and mention them on there own, as although they're a winter essential I only ever seem to purchase fingerless gloves. Don't get me wrong, they're warm and lovely, but they do leave my finger tips feeling a bit neglected as my current pair don't even have one of those mitten flaps. Companies just seem to make fingerless gloves that I prefer the design or pattern of, as opposed to their normal gloves.

A pair of my cableknit tights, one of my layered outfits from last week -a vest, a t-shirt and a fairly thick jumper- and my Starbucks flask.

3. Thick cable knit tights - I am developing a little love of thick tights, specifically ones with patterns (i.e. my grey cableknit ones pictured above). They're just super handy when you feel like having a 'feminine day' as I call them; as they allow you to stick on your favourite skirt or dress without your legs turning into icicles once you leave the house.
4. Boots and doubled up socks - I have horrible circulation in my feet and I often find that my toes go numb in the winter while waiting on a train station platform. Only last year did I think to combat this by wearing two pairs of socks, and I'm going to keep up this habit for the rest of my days. What I also really like about this is that if I plan to wear leggings and my black boots, I often put my second pair of socks -either black or dark grey- over my leggings so they just poke out of the top of my boots. I think it's a really nice little detail that adds to any winter outfit.
5. Christmas Starbucks - Although I have found out that as of this year they have stopped selling praline mochas -I won't lie, I was a little heartbroken when I found that out- I will continue to sing the praises of Starbucks' Christmas coffee range and all their coffee in general to be honest.

So that's my quick-ish guide to keeping cosy this winter. I hope you enjoyed all my little ramblings! If you feel like I missed something essential off either of my lists, let me know in the comments below! :)

Potential Direction/Focus For My Blog?

As you're aware from previous posts I'm a university student. Although I don't post on here much compared to before I started uni, I often use this site, among others, as a form of procrastination.

I had the idea of potentially making my blogging procrastination more productive. I was thinking of writing posts on things that I have covered in my lectures. It sounds more fun than just rewriting my notes and it can also provide you guys with a little insight into the bits of my course that I find most interesting and also bits that I have a little trouble wrapping my head around.

Obviously I'll still chuck in a few of my usual, random posts for good measure. But how does that sound? Would those sort of posts interest you?

Thanks for any feedback,
-Hannah.

Time Flies!

I'm finding it a little hard to compute the fact that we're already over half way through November. The past 18 days have flown by! Quickly looking back over the last 18 days I think I've achieved nothing, but when I take a bit more time to think about it I realise I've actually achieved quite a lot.

I've done two assessments and begun work on my third; done a group presentation really all by myself; made more friends; applied for three jobs; I haven't as of yet gone under the limit I set myself in my bank account and I've even made a start on my Christmas shopping. Now I know that might not seem like all that much, but for a very, very unmotivated person that's quite a lot to have achieved in the space of 18 days.

Future Purchases - Part 2?

The fact that there is a hole in a pair of my black leggings, in a rather inconvenient place, and also the fact that Christmas is slowly approaching, led me to go on the New Look website this evening. It's turned out to be a bit of a financial disaster, as we all secretly knew it would be.

I currently have eight items sat in my shopping basket, that together come to nearly £64 after my student discount. One of those items is a twin pack of black leggings, two more of the items are additional non-black pairs of leggings, two items are Christmas presents for my boyfriend and the remaining three are completely unrelated to the reasons I went on the website and are for me.

I've already brought quick a few clothes this term -I got a bit trigger happy so to speak when taking advantage of my student discount- and don't have enough wardrobe space for the amount of clothes I have already, so realistically I don't need these items -bar the black leggings and Christmas presents. But that doesn't stop me from wanting all of those items.

What I think I will do when my boyfriend -a.k.a. my voice of reason- gets in from work is to show him a selection of the items in my basket -excluded the his ones obviously- and get him to try and reason with me and talk me into removing one or two of the items in order to bring the cost down a bit. Although flicking through my basket I can only see two items that I could see myself removing.

I never realised I was such a shopaholic! Damn student discount and my weakness for nice clothes!

Future Purchases?

More and more these days I am noticing items that I feel a need to purchase. Not a need in the sense that I actually need them for some aspect of my life, but a need as in a burning desire to own these items on my ever growing list.

As I haven't posted in quite some time I thought I'd do a little run down on some of the things that have caught my eye whilst window shopping. I may also explain why I want/need them to try and reason with myself into either buying them or forgetting about them.

First up is a penny board. If you don't know what a penny board is the best way I can describe it is a mini, misshaped skateboard. I've liked the idea of having one since I first heard about them and then today I saw some in a shop window. Naturally I went in. It turns out they're selling the penny boards for £25 each. I was tempted to buy one write there and then but then logic and reasoning decided to kick in. I have no idea if that's a good/reasonable price to pay for one and I don't actually know how frequently I would use a penny board if I had one.

Then we have a number of canvases that have caught my eye -they were in the same shop as the penny boards. My housemates occasionally comment on how our house could do with a bit of decoration on the walls, so this want could actually become a purchase. I mean when they're selling three adequately sized canvases for £20 who could say no? My one concern though it that the shop will disappear before I get around to buying anything from there -if I buy anything from there- as I think it's just one of those random pop-up shops that are around for a few months and then move on somewhere else. I hope it doesn't turn out to be that way, but I think it's pretty likely considering that they don't even have a shop sign.

This is quite a boring one, but I want to invest in a few more vest tops and cami tops, so I can layer up a bit more as the weather gets worse and the temperature plummets. I'm not thinking of anything fancy though. Just your bog standard Primark and New Look ones.

Finally, I've also spotted a pair of adorable slipper-boot-things in Sainsbury's on my last trip there. They are most definitely going to be a future purchase -I'm thinking of going food shopping tomorrow or Wednesday so I'll get them then- because I genuinely believe that I need them. I have bed socks that are super warm and cosy but the bottoms of them get so dirty from walking around the house. In fact my nice blue pair have black-grey bottoms no matter how many times I wash them, and with these slipper-boots I wouldn't have that problem because they have a rubber sole.

October Favourites.

1. Big and baggy jumpers: In my opinion there is nothing more cosy and perfect for autumn than jumpers. Just the thought of wearing a oversized jumper, with a vest top underneath, leggings and fluffy bed socks while lounging on the sofa watching TV with a mug of a warm drink cupped in my hands -with the sleeves of the jumper pulled over them of course- makes me feel all warm and satisfied. Those are the sort of days I really look forward to.

All I need now is a long weekend, -or the Christmas break, but that's quite a while away yet- some praline syrup to add to my mochas and a stack of DVDs!

2. My university course: I know it's still early days but so far I'm loving my BSc course and loving my uni life in general. The independence is great, the content is great and the majority of the staff are pretty great too. I'm particularly loving my courses 'specialist unit' which is 'Psychology & Criminal Behaviour'. So far it's been fascinating and the added knowledge the lectures bring is equally as interesting, if not more so sometimes.

3. Commuting: For the past month I have mainly been commuting to and from uni on the bus. At first I found the journey long and tiresome, but now I've started to really enjoy it -although it can still make me yawn a few times regardless of the time of day. The funny thing is, now that my month's bus pass has expired and I know what my timetable is like, I will no longer be getting the bus. I'll now be commuting in on the train because it's easier, quicker and the trains come more frequently. It will work out to be a little more expensive than the bus, but it'll be worth tweaking my expenses.

4. Woolly hats: Similarly to jumpers, I think that woolly hats are perfect for this weather and that they help to make an autumn day feel a little bit more perfect and complete. You may find that second part a little strange, but it's true! It's hard to explain, but I just feel that woolly hats and autumn go hand-in-hand, and that when I'm wearing one I just feel really happy and autumnal. Woolly hats just complete the 'out and about' autumn look and they make you feel content as you walk down the street in your own little autumnal world with toasty ears.

5. Dry roasted peanuts: this one is simple enough. They're just such a quick and easy snack, not to mention delicious as well!

6. Gel eyeliner: I've been wanting to try out gel eyeliner for a while now, but never been quite brave enough to invest in some. That has all changed now though! With the Boots giftcard I got for my birthday I bought myself some gel eyeliner, and I've got to say that I'm loving it so far. My first attempt wasn't great -it was okay but nothing special- which I guess is to be expected; and my second attempt went really well. So I think I'll be sticking to gel from now on instead of liquid.

7. The Hard Rock Café: Although I've only been once I just had to include the Hard Rock Café in this month's favourites list. Everything about the place is amazing! There's rock n' roll memorabilia everywhere, the music they play is great, the food is really good and the drinks are to die for -especially their Pickled Tink cocktail. The experience and the meal are both without a doubt worth the wait and worth the crowd.

"OCD" by Neil Hilborn

This is a bit of a different post for me, but I could not resist sharing this with you. 

This is my favourite poem. Every time I watch this video -which has been multiple times since I discovered it in August- I get chills. His words and performance are just so raw and full of emotion. It's incredibly moving in my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed it at lest as half as much as I did.

-Hannah.

My Birthday Weekend.

As some of you may be aware it was my 20th birthday on Sunday. I went home on Friday evening with my boyfriend in order to 1) spend my birthday with my family, and 2) go out the day before my birthday with my boyfriend for one of my birthday presents.

It was a little bit of a rush on the Friday evening to get home. I have a 4pm to 5pm lecture on Fridays, meaning I get into the bus station at 6:15pm. So in order to save a bit of time my boyfriend picked me up from the bus station and we headed straight to my house, just over an hour away, from there. The best part about that evening once I arrived home was that my cat , Jess, met me halfway up the footpath to my front door. I thought it was really sweet and I made me really happy because I've missed having her around -I think, at least I hope that, the feeling was mutual.

The next day Brandon and I were off into London -Hyde Park Corner specifically- where I was treated to lunch at the Hard Rock Café. The place was absolutely amazing! I loved looking around at all the memorabilia on the walls and telling Brandon what song was being played and who it was by. We were sat under one of John 5's guitars after our 40 minute wait for a table was up. I had the California Chicken Club sandwich, a Pickled Tink cocktail -which was delicious- a bit of a Berry Margarita and some of Brandon's chocolate brownie -this too was delicious.

After we'd finished and paid the bill we headed over to the Hard Rock shop next door. I spotted a few things I liked but didn't say I wanted them as Brandon was giving me the impression that as soon as I spotted something I wanted he'd buy it for me. I'm not one to get boyfriends to spend money on me -even when it is my birthday- and after the total cost of our meal there was no way I was letting him spend any more money on me.

From there we walking to Hamley's and then had a wander around Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street before heading home on the bus. We spent some more time with my family doing nothing in particular -I got to open one birthday present which was The Breakfast Club on DVD- and then went over to my Nan and Grandad's in order to head off to bed after having a quick chat with them about each other's day and opening my present from Brandon -a Red Sox home shirt(!!!).

The next day was my birthday and I was awoken by my boyfriend shaking my slightly and saying, "It's your birthday!" over and over again because he's just that cute, aha! Once we were washed and dressed we headed back over to my house where I opened all my cards and birthday presents. Apparently I was too slow and meticulous for everyone's liking, but oh well. Then soon after it was time for a big family dinner, a Sunday roast! As it was my birthday I got to chose what meal we had so of course I went for a roast beef Sunday lunch with plenty of Yorkshire puddings! Once that'd had a bit of time to digest it was onto the birthday cake. I opted for the same cake I had for my 16th, a chocolate dinosaur shaped cake from Waitrose; half of which ended up coming back to my uni house with me.

That pretty much sums up my 20th birthday weekend! I had a lovely time and really enjoyed it. This was probably one of the best birthdays I've had so far.

My First Official Week As A UoB Student.

So technically last week was actually my second official week as a university student. But it was my first week with proper lectures as during my first official week all four of my lectures were purely introductory. Hence why I'm counting my second official week as my first.

A lot of people have had issues with their timetables, but thankfully mine sorted itself out -with the help of the timetable team, or whatever they're called- relatively quickly. My timetable isn't the best but it could be a lot worse. I have full-ish days on Mondays and Wednesday; I get Tuesdays off; and on Thursdays and Fridays I have to go in for an hour in the afternoon.

Although I have yet to be set any work in my tutorials there has been a fair bit of talk about my certain tasks and assessments that will go towards my final grade in each unit. Some of the deadlines are in November; one of which is a literature review, which makes me a little nervous as I don't think I've ever written a lit. review before. All my other up-and-coming things don't seem quite as bad though, so that gives me some piece of mind -I'd be freaking out already otherwise.

I've met some really nice people on my course. Almost all of the people I've met are on my specific course. I find that a little amusing because there are so many students in all of my lectures from other psychology courses, so it's kind of funny how all the Psychology and Criminal Behaviour people I know have managed to find each other amongst the 200+ crowd.

That's all I can really think of to write. If you have any questions or want me to add/tell you about something else relating to my first week of uni feel free to leave a comment asking! :)

September Favourites.

I'm aware this post is a little on the late side. I apologise for that, but unfortunately my induction week at uni had me run off my feet!

• Blogger - I must admit although my blog on here is just starting up, I'm really loving the site and my general blogging experience. It is a little hard to think of stuff to write about at times, but I think I'm doing okay overall. Hopefully you like it and think that my posts are improving!
• Living away from home - I wasn't sure how much I would like living away from home, or how easy I would find it. I've got to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by my experience so far. The independence is great. There are a few little hiccups every once in a few but that's more to do with my housemates than anything else.
• Philadelphia cream cheese - I've always loved Philadelphia but rarely ever had it. My mum brought me a pot of it in the little fridge-filler shop she did for me before I moved out and our love affair has been rekindled. My particular Philly favourite is a Philly and tuna pasta sauce that I make. It's delicious!

Those are my main three favourites over the last month. I know it's a short list and therefore a short post, but I honestly can't really think of anything else I'd consider to be a favourite of mine over the last month -that I didn't already mention in my 'August Favourites' list.

October.

October is here and I couldn't be happier about it! October is by far my favourite month; so many good things happen over the course of this month.

In my opinion, October marks the official start of autumn. I love autumn -so much so I used to want to call my daughter Autumn if I ever had one. The leaves turn so many different and beautiful shades, and when they fall from the trees you get to hear that satisfying crunching noise as you walk through piles of them in your ankle boots. You get to layer up and wear cosy jumpers, woolly hats and thick scarves whenever you go out. You begin to appreciate the warmth of a Starbucks to-go cup and you also know that their Christmas coffees aren't too far away -I'm personally a die hard praline mocha fan.

There are some days in October that I consider to be both important and special. My birthday is in October, as are my Nan and Grandad's birthdays. These are obviously important days to me, and what I like is that each birthday is special but also acts like a little reminder of what's to come as we count down to our following October birthdays. Another important day for me in October is mine and my boyfriend's anniversary -I don't think I really need to elaborate on this one. And finally, the final day of October, Halloween. I absolutely adore Halloween! Not in the sense of Trick or Treating or going to fancy dress parties and getting drunk. I mean in the sense of the atmosphere and fun surrounding the day. Nothing makes me happier than carving a pumpkin or two, watching Halloweeny films, dressing up and seeing the effort some people put into their own costumes. It's just so much fun!

I hope you guys enjoy your October as much as I'm going to enjoy mine!
-Hannah.

Room Tour.

Some books of mine that I thought may come in handy with
regards to evidence and referencing.

This is one of the cute little mugs I decorated. I decided to keep
this productive looking chap to hold my stationery.

One of a few snaps from Slam Dunk South '12.
I gave this to Brandon for our anniversary last year.

A sneak peak into my wardrobe:
Part 1 - Dark & thick winter clothing.

A sneak peak into my wardrobe:
Part 2 - Pyjamas and T-shirts.

My Moving In Experience.

I'm officially all unpacked and on the road to settling into my new house. I thought I'd briefly go over my experience with you as you can compare your experiences to mine -if you've moved before- or you can have a little idea of what lies ahead of you if you have yet to move out.

Firstly I had a cheeky pamper evening the night before I left. My main reason for this being, it was the last time -excluding future visits home- that I would be using water and beauty products without having to fork out any money myself for them. Now I know that's very cheap of me, but like all students I'm a very cheap person. That was then followed by washing, drying and straightening my hair in order to save time the following morning; which in turn meant that I could stay in bed for an extra twenty minutes.

Then I went to bed relatively early as I had to wake up at the unearthly hour of 8:30am the next day. Things got off to a flying start I was dressed and had my make-up done by the time my dad had loaded all my bags and boxes into the car, and by 9:15 my parents and I were on the road.

Chillin' in the backseat, looking surprisingly awake.

As the house is a bit over an hour away the car journey was hardly long or exhausting. We ended up getting to the property 55 minutes early, so we decided to head back the way we came in order for my parents to have a quick shop and a cheeky cuppa in the Waitrose that was a few miles away. Although I hadn't had breakfast I opted to stay in the car -where I broke into a packet of pain au chocolat- as I didn't really feel safe leaving all my possessions unattended in the carpark.

At 11am I got a text from my boyfriend saying he had collected everyone's keys from the estate agents and would be at the house in 15 minutes. We arrived about half an hour after that text, due to that cheeky cuppa I mentioned my parents having.

Once we got to the house the unpacking process was relatively quick. Everyone with muscles -so everyone bar me- worked on bringing boxes and bags into the house, while I transferred their contents into the relevant rooms. While I was emptying some boxes so my parents could take them back home, the two of them got to work checking we had electricity, hot water and heating, and that the boiler, fridge, freezer and cooker were all turned on.

My parents then departed and I got to work unpacking the bags in my room and finding places to store things. There were two things that disappointed me about my room. The first was that there is not a single draw in my room so everything I unpacked is very much on display. The only things that are not fully visible are my clothes -that's my second disappointment. You would think that there would be a fair amount of wardrobe space in a double room, after all the fact it is a double room implies that there is a suitable amount of room for two people. However that's not the case with the wardrobe in my room; it's tiny. It was a bit of a struggle to get mine and Brandon's clothes in there; in fact just over a third of the clothes I brought here with me are still in my holdall at the bottom of my bed.

Other than those two little issues with my room, the lack of plug sockets, lack of storage space in the kitchen and the hour long wild goose chase we went on looking for the metres with our electricity and gas cards, everything is fine. Well it's fine so far.

Until Monday it was just Brandon and myself living here, his twin brother moved in that evening and our other two housemates moved in yesterday. It's still early days, so we have yet to go through the stages of group formation and reach the reward of a functioning household at the end of that tunnel. Although we did have our first bonding session last night. It started out as a group curry; then it moved on to a very serious game of 'the floor is lava' when one of us spotted a fairly big spider; and it ended with us watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean once the spider was disposed of.

Catfish.

My apologies to any readers I have accumulated since starting up this blog of mine. I know I've been on a bit of a mini hiatus recently and for that I am sorry. What with all the packing and organising I've been doing I've not had much time to get on here; it also doesn't help that I've had a small case of Writer's Block when I have been able to get on here. Nonetheless I am back and have a post for you!

Over the past month or two I've started to watch 'Catfish: The TV Show' and I've got to say, it's probably my new favourite programme. I kind of feel weird about liking the show so much; it's a reality show, but I cannot stand any other form of reality TV. But then again, when I say that I admit I am sort of generalising the term to programmes like Big Brother, The Hills and Jersey Shore etc. Which are hardly similar to Catfish. 

I just find the concept of a show exposing online love and 'catfishers' with an always optimistic host -and his realistic/slightly pessimistic co-host- to be so interesting. I also like it because although people are aware that there are people out there who create fake profiles -for a number of different reasons- they can still be fooled into thinking that the person they've developed feelings for is the person in their pictures, even when there are things indicating otherwise. I think the show is a good way to get people to question the identity of the people they talk to online, but do not know in person, as it provides viewers with a wide range of real life examples to learn from. 

It also shows people that there are varying 'catfish' levels. Some people are completely different people to their internet persona, others are themselves but hide certain bits of information, and then there are the non-catfish who turn out to be exactly who they say they are, with no hidden secrets -they prove to be a rare breed on the show.

Matt turned out to be who he said he was. He had put off meeting Kim and blocked her from seeing certain pictures of himself because he felt ashamed of his weight/body.

There have been a number of episodes that have warmed my heart. Such as Rico and Ja'mari's episode, where Ja'mari, although he was physically the person he claimed to be, had lied to Rico about a some aspects of his life. But Rico was able to accept the truth and their relationship continued. Kya and Dani's episode was also a bit of a heart warmer for me -it was also the first episode I ever watched. In this episode both parties had catfished one another, Kya admitted this to Dani, but Dani still held out on revealing his true self. Kya was incredibly accepting of Dani once they met and if anything the show made their relationship stronger, and it gave Dani a well deserved boost in his self-esteem.

But my personal favourite so far is the only episode I have seen where the catfish in question turned out to be exactly who they said they were. If you don't watch the show, or hadn't already guessed it, I'm talking about Lauren and Derek's episode.

Lauren and Derek's Catfish episode summarised:
When Lauren was 14 she added 16 year-old Derek on MySpace. Eight years later they've grown together as they've grown up and talk of marriage in the future. But there have been a few bumps along the road over those eight years. Lauren had a son, who at the time of filming was 4; she had also been engaged, but called it off when Derek deleted her as a result of the engagement. Her father was in the Navy which meant she'd moved around a lot within the eight years she was in contact with Derek, at one point she was five and a half hours away from him, yet they never met during this time; they had also never Skyped, and these were the two things that caused Lauren to question if Derek was really Derek.

Then Nev and Max came along. From their research Derek seemed to be legit, bar the fact his mobile number was registered to a completely different person. Lauren was still hopeful and Derek agreed -with a little hesitation- to meet Lauren, along with Nev, Max and their MTV crew. Lauren then tells her dad about the whole situation and he is nothing but a sweetheart about it all.

When it got to knocking on Derek's door Lauren seemed to be riddled with nerves; after ringing the door bell she turned to face Nev and then found it almost impossible to turn back to face the door. After a moment of waiting the door opens, but instead of seeing who comes out the door we see Nev put his hand on Lauren's shoulder and encourage her to turn around, with a smile on his face. We then see Lauren turn to see that Derek really is Derek and they head straight into each other's shaking arms, both finding it hard to believe that the moment they are sharing and experiencing is real.

After a few questions Nev and Max leave the two of them to go on a date. The next day Nev wakes up to find Lauren had sent him a text in the early hours of the morning expressing exciting news and her obvious happiness. It turns out their date went really well and that that day the plan was for Derek to meet her son, Mason. Again, this went well.

Then at the end of the episode, like all other Catfish episodes, we skip ahead a month or two to see how things are now. Nev and Max contact Lauren via Skype and are presented with a pixelated image of Lauren, Mason and Derek. They then inform Nev, Max and the viewers that everything is going better than they could have hoped for, Lauren and her son plan to move in with Derek and there is even talk of engagement within a year.

Their obvious happiness just made me feel so happy for them. I truly hope that they get the happily ever after they deserve.

So that's my take on 'Catfish: The TV Show' along with a brief-ish summary of my favourite episode. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Have a lovely weekend!
-Hannah.

My New (Academic) Years Resolutions.

This term/semester there are a lot of new things happening in my life. Because a lot of things everything is going to be so different to what I've experienced before I decided it might be a good idea to try and make some additional changes to my life/lifestyle, to help me grow as an individual, hence the title of this post.

My first resolution is to act/be more confident. In my journal I have a number of quotes written down referring to confidence. Confidence has always been something I've struggled with -I personally think that goes hand-in-hand with how socially anxious I get- and it's always been something I've wanted to change. I've always hoped that one day I would feel more confident in myself and see/feel a raise in my self-esteem; but that day has yet to come and I figured that that day isn't going to come until I start to portray a sense of confidence in myself. You know, the whole reverse psychology thing, pretend to be confident and then you'll become and feel more confident? Yeah, that sort of thing.

My second resolution is linked to my first, and it is to be happier with my appearance. A lot of different things factor into this one. The main thing being that I want to feel happier with my looks and overall appearance in order to help me feel more confident and to help to raise my self-esteem a little too. When I'm out in public I'm very much the big hoodie/jumper/coat wearing, head down, quick walking girl you occasionally spot going from A to B. I'd like to change that, I want to be able to walk down the street with my head held high -or at least higher- and not feel like an idiot or have to continually resist the urge to look at the ground in front of me while I'm doing it. 

I know this particular resolution will involve more time and effort than I usually put into my appearance, which I'm okay with -for now at least. It also means less lazy days, which is the aspect I have mixed feelings about. I like how quick and easy it is to get ready on a lazy day, which I'll miss; but I never really feel any sort of self confidence when I go out during one of my lazy days, which is the part I won't miss. The main thing I'm not looking forward to is the money side of things. I'm a student with an excel spreadsheet that's telling her she is just about going to get by if all goes well and she can stick to just having the bare necessities. So I'm hardly going to be in a position to buy things like eyeliner, mascara and body butter when they run out. Which means I'll have to rely on my hopefully specific enough birthday and Christmas lists.

My third resolution is to start swimming again and to go on a weekly run. My fitness level is shocking and I think now would be a good time to improve both my fitness and my health. My family are very much the sort of people who show they care through putting you down and making fun of you, which is why I've never even bothered going for a run before, as I know it would result in a tired and sweaty Hannah with a lower self-esteem than before she went on a run. Thankfully I've found myself a loving and supportive boyfriend who I know will encourage and motivate me to improve my health and fitness. Woo-hoo!

My fourth resolution is quite simple. I want to be tidier. I have a habit of piling things, be it clothes, books, DVDs or a mixture of them all. So I aim to locate a place for each of my possessions and always return them to that place instead of letting them pile up on a table or the floor. Another part to this resolution is tidying and cleaning, two things I tend to avoid doing. As this house is both mine and four other people's I am going to try and keep it as clean and tidy as possible by doing my fair share of the work -although I've been told that when it comes to some aspects of tidying/cleaning I'm hardly a domestic goddess, so we'll have to wait and see how this one goes.

My fifth and final resolution is to make sure I don't end up taking my boyfriend for granted now that I'll be living with him. I don't want us to get stuck in a rut and then slowly begin to drift apart -which happens to a lot of couples when they move in together- I want our flame to remain as strong and as bright as it is, I want our goofy romance to last and never falter. In order to do this I have come up with -and found through internet research- a number of ways to let him know how much I appreciate and love him, and a number of ideas to break our day-to-day routine once we've developed one without breaking the bank at the same time. All of which I'm really excited about doing. :)

So there are my five resolutions for the new academic year. Hopefully I can achieve the majority of them. *fingers crossed*

Ashridge and the Tree Chapel.

Yesterday a good friend and I went on a bit of an explore. Our first destination was Ashridge Estate, where we wondered around in the huge forest which is a National Trust protected site. Along the way though we popped into a mill where we purchased a four cheese loaf of bread -it was absolutely amazing!

One of my panoramic snaps of the Ashridge Estate.

Another of my Ashridge Estate panoramic snaps.

Once we'd finished wondering around the woods and had a spot of lunch we headed of to the Tree Chapel. Which is basically a load of trees and bushes that have been planted to created the layout of a chapel. I can't remember the name of it's location but if you fancy a visit there I'm sure it'll come up if you Google it. After all there can't be that many chapels made of trees. 

Then after taking a few pictures there we headed of to the Dunstable Downs where we watched people of all ages flying kites of all kinds, as well as the occasional glider plane. 

A quick picture of the owl bench situated within the Lady Chapel of the Tree Chapel.

A Romantic Get Away.

My boyfriend and I were considering going on a 3 night trip to Venice in December. We never really came to a firm decision on it and now we've missed the deadline for the offer; but like he said, "We have the rest of our lives to go to Venice." But I would still like to go on holiday with him either this December coming or next. I like the idea of getting in the Christmas spirit abroad and experiencing some of the build up to Christmas in another country, to see how it's similar and different to the build up to Christmas in England.

While my boyfriend is off in LA and San Francisco, with his dad and brother, I have a  lot of free time, too much to know what to do with to be honest with you. And the other night I started thinking whether or not it would be possible to go on holiday with him for a similar price to the Venice trip. That's when I had a light bulb moment and wondered how much cheaper a ticket on the Eurostar was compared to a flight to one of my dream destinations. It turns out that a St. Pancras - Gare du Nord return is around the £60 mark -a lot cheaper than any flight I could find to one of my dream destinations in Italy. I also found a hotel near the station and its cheapest double room is £301. So the total cost of a 3 night stay in Paris would come to around £210 + food and travel fares, which is £60 more than the Venice trip.

Because it'll be £210 with travel fares, three meals a day and other expenses on top I'm doubtful that we'll be able to make the trip this December. Which means I have 14 months to save up for it; that then makes me wonder if by next December we'll be able to afford a trip that's a little longer or a trip somewhere else. I like the idea of our first holiday as a couple being abroad and a week or two before Christmas. But, although I know Paris will look lovely at that time of year, I've never really wanted to visit there, especially as the destination of my first holiday with just my boyfriend, because it's just such a generic place to go for that sort of holiday. Plus I've always wanted my first trip abroad -bar the Republic of Ireland- to be Italy.

But then I think that it might be a good idea to go there or somewhere else in France as I'm able to speak a little bit of French and understand what people are saying; whereas if we went somewhere like Spain, Portugal or Holland we'd both be very lost in translation and not have a clue what was going on communication-wise most of the time. I'd even be confused in Italy because my ability to understand French is a lot better than my ability to understand Italian.

I guess all I can do for the time being is do some further research while I wait for my boyfriend to get back and discuss my ideas with him then.

"Wherever you go in this world a little piece of me will always be with you."

I always thought that was a really sweet and supportive thing to say to a person. However, last night -in a moment of pessimism- I gave it a bit of thought and realised that it's not quite as sweet as we all think.

The majority of us take it to mean, that the person who said it will always be with us in spirit every step of the way and that if you're happy with what you're doing and experiencing they'll be happy too. When in actual fact the person who said it probably means -maybe without realising they mean it like this- that while the person they said it to is away and out of contact with them, it'll feel like a piece of them is missing.

That's certainly how I view it now anyway, because a piece of me is definitely missing right now and it will be for the next two weeks.

[I know this isn't exactly my most eloquent post to date, but I just wanted to quickly get my thoughts down.]