Life Lately #3

So the past two weeks has been a whirlwind. It's not been crazy, I have just been in different places constantly. But here is to a few weeks back, where I was finishing the last few weeks of term. It is crazy how fast University goes, and this will be my final autumn semester! Although most of these photos seem to consist of home, I guess I do return home more than I should still...

Brighton during Christmas is really beautiful, at any time of the year in fact. North Laine and the Laines in general is quite pretty, these pictures do not quite do the place justice. When the shops are opening and people everywhere, shops and cafes with their little displays outside, it makes it look that much better.

The most and possibly only annoying thing about Brighton is the one-way roads. It makes me sad seeing one way signs. I have lived here for so many years, and I yet sometimes I still fall into the trap of accidentally going down or up a one way road. That is what happens when the Green Party controls the area!

Back at home, some parts of Medway really do stand out from the rest. In my attempt to find bouldering locations, it led me to Arethusa (that supposedly has climbing walls and facilites, however there is no actual access.) So that failed, however it did lead us to this lovely little view.

Rochester High Street, during the Christmas with it's Christmas Markets and various little boutiques it gets quite busy, and actually looks quite pretty. The rest of the year it still looks okay, but it has a certain charm about it during the winter months.  

Home with my family consists of a lot of eating. A lot of eating out. On this occasion it was no exception. Here is my not so tiny little cousin attempting to stick a LARGE chinese spoon inside her nose. Classy little girl, I know.

 She's an eater, can you tell?

Again, what did I mention about eating? At the restaurant if it is not busy, I do a lot of eating. A little special concoction conjured up by the chef which is not on the menu. The perks of being in a restaurant huh (which I guess you can also see as disadvantages to somebody on a diet, oh the hard life)

To finish off here is a picture of the bi 

100th Post

"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more, and all good things will be yours." - Swedish Proverb
Since this year has begun, I have tried to live a more simple more. One where I am content with fewer things, fewer people, the only thing I have picked up on is more responsibilities. 
The thing I began to realise was having more didn't necessarily do anything for me, and people do say that all the time. Having more does not necessarily mean having more, and more is not always good. 
We have been blessed with more food than we can consume, is this a good thing?
We have been blessed with more choices and paths in life than we could ever have imagined, is this a good thing?
We are blessed with so many people in our life, connections, acquaintances, is this a good thing? 
Admittedly, some things that are good for some may not be good for others. Having more for some, may actually feel like more. For me, it just became more of a burden.
I felt the need to constantly have more. I used to always want more of everything. More money, more attention, more connections, more clothes, just in general I wanted more. It didn't necessarily make me unhappy, it was just putting me in cycles of losing time doing things that were a waste. Wasting time online shopping, spending time on places like Tinder etc. 

When I came across this quote it just spoke volumes, because you can have and want more of something, but just choose the right things to want more of. I think for anybody it is okay to want more, just choose wisely the things you want more of. 

On a side note: Winter has finally come. It is beginning to get really cold during the days and freezing cold at night. It is just nice to be inside nice and toasty and just enjoying being in peoples company without being around crowds of people. It makes me so excited to return home for the holidays and just spend several weeks enjoying the food and company of my family and friends from home!

Learning to Love University

There are times when University gets tough. Being in a completely different place to home is daunting and frightening, learning to navigate the town, the people. The people may not be the type of people you've known back home, and they sure as hell will differ from the array of international students you will meet. University isn't all it's made up to be all the time, there will be boring days sat by yourself watching Dexter on repeat, days you'll be doing this with your housemates, days you will be stuck in the library doing work, pointless days walking around campus laughing with your friends, eating dinner out every night can even be a bit much.
But there is also a bright side to the very different experiences you will get from University.

• Those times when you are so bored in your room whilst everybody else seems to be frantically trying to meet their deadlines. Cherish these times because it might be the only alone time you'll get, the other nights they might be trying to persuade you out, or eat dinner with them, or just to simply entertain them. 
• Times when you yourself are bombarded with deadlines. It might be the only time you actually feel busy at University, make the most of it, because it most likely counts, and that £9000 you're paying, you'll be glad you had something to answer for it.
• Those horrible people you meet. That you can also forget and never see again if you don't want to, sure you might bump into them, but a little hello never hurt anybody. You'll realise how much you can tolerate people, and how good your temper actually is. Good practice for the working world I hear.
• The dirty kitchen, toilets and rooms. You'll finally learn to take care of yourself, after days of not having cutlery to use, after the bins are so filled you are having to move around THEM. The dishes you or your housemate didn't wash start to smell, this when you learn and start to appreciate home comforts and looking forward to moving out, and the only time you are looking to University to finish.
• So many people and opinions. You learn to take criticism like a real boss, you also learn to give it to. A little bit of constructive criticism goes a long way, even if sometimes you have to mentally re-word their harsh words into becoming "constructive". 
• Never ending invitations to society events/fundraising events/house parties/club nights. You learn what things to prioritise and which things are just a load of b***. You're major sense of FOMO also decreases by miles! Lord knows it is tiering if you are still suffering from FOMO during your final year of University.

All of these things can be seen as a negative, but actually things are pretty sweet when you're a student. All this extra time to either sleep, study, watch television, exercise, eat, or actually be productive with your life. It is endless. At the start it can be difficult missing familiar people, places, foods and smells, but it definitely gets better. Change is good. 

Blogtober #19

Blogtober #19 What Makes You Happy

As corny as it sounds being with my family makes me happy. There just is never a dull moment with them, even if there is you can annoy them until they become annoyed enough that it is entertaining. Being entertained = happy me. 

In all seriousness though it is one of the many things that I find difficult hearing, when people aren't close to their family, don't have good relations or just don't have a big enough family to always have somebody to speak to. With my family it's a never ending conversation, over whatsapp, message, calls, just anything. A family consisting of 4 siblings, and around 50+ cousins, this family isn't small and I am constantly in touch with one of them. 

It makes me happy when I am in their company, because they know me, don't judge me and I know that they will always have my back. Even when we quarrel somehow it ends happy and always does. 

Blogtober #17

Blogtober #17: I'm an expert at...

Hiding my feelings. I find it very difficult to speak to people about my feelings, not because I am afraid but more because my problems are never big, we all suffer from sadness sometimes, and sometimes I just find it hard to comprehend that mine should be put before anybody elses. 

The other thing is, when I am around somebody I just feel instantly a little happier, no matter how bad my day has been, I can always forget about it for that instance I am with another person. 

My mind just gets taken off it, and I remember how lucky I am, to have these people and my life.

It is so simple.

But to be honest I am actually not an expert at anything.

Here's a little reminder for the middle of the month. Remember you are lucky.