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Thursday 31 October 2013

NaNoWriMo 2013

Tomorrow is the big day, the day that will start one of the busiest months I have ever had, NaNoWriMo begins! If you have stumbled upon this blog and have no idea what I am going on about NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Every November people of the Internet are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in a single month (and not even one with 31 days in it either!).

 As I am currently in my final year at University and have a dissertation to write this is probably a stupid thing to do but on the other hand next year I have to get a proper job so that won’t be a good time to do it either! This may be my first attempt at it but there is no way I will be using that as an excuse to fail.

To add to my already busy month I thought I would add more pressure on myself and also write blogs and make video blogs to chart my progress so here is my November Schedule:

Monday: NaNo Blog
Tuesday: NaNo Vlog - YouTube
Wednesday: No content but super long writing day!
Thursday: NaNo Blog
Friday: NaNo Vlog - YouTube
Saturday: Lifestyle/ Student advice Blog Post
Sunday: Weekly Video (Non-NaNo) – Youtube

So that means there will be plenty on stuff for you to read and watch if you so wish. To keep track of when I upload content you can:

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/eyezedzedwhy
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eyezedzedwhy
Follow this blog on BlogLovin: http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10971939

If you are taking part I wish you the best of luck!

x

Monday 28 October 2013

A Windy Sunday!



So it’s Sunday and at 9am there was beautiful blue skies, so I thought I would go for a lovely little walk. At 9:05am it felt more like I was in the northern most part of Scotland than south Wales. I was having a lovely walk along the prom when suddenly the wind was blowing my hair into my face and the rain was stinging my skin. Safe to say I got VERY wet. I just had to share some of the best pictures, even though they are not exactly flattering!


When I came to Wales for University I was promised dreadful weather, yet since arriving here over two years ago the weather has been nothing but tropical compared to home on the Isle of Man. It’s a small Island in the Irish Sea, and that being so it can get very windy and wet so nothing south Wales can throw at me can shock me at all. Saying that the weather I experienced this morning actually came close to what you might expect in the Isle of Man on one of our calmer days.


On this nice morning walk I found myself drenched with an umbrella with closer resemblance to a bunch of flimsy metal rods than something that would keep me dry. I also found myself being blown all over the place, although I was only actually blown over twice which isn’t even trying compared to home.


Attractive!

So this leads me to now, sitting at my laptop writing this blog in PJ bottoms. My trousers got so wet and all my clothes are in the wash so it was my only option. Normally I hate wearing PJ’s in the day time so I have to admit I have put fresh ones on because then they almost feel like clothes! I have to say though, they are more comfy for a day at home than jeans, so I can see why people do it.

Good luck in the storm!



Monday 14 October 2013

Animal Socks!


There is something about have pictures of animals on my feet that makes me a little bit over excited! Whenever I look at my feet it makes me smile, they are just so cute.

Up until about a month ago I only wore black socks, they are cheap and easy to pair, but during my trip to London (hyperlink it) all my socks got so wet that I had to buy more or I would have had to endure soaking wet feet all weekend (one of the worst things ever!). I couldn’t find any of my normal black socks and, as I was in a rush, I picked up a pair with owls on, a pair with dogs on and a pair with koalas on purely because they were on offer, well that and because they were very cute of course!

These socks were three pairs for £4 which I think is quite a good deal. Since then I have also bought some from Tesco which are even cheaper at two pairs for £2.

So over all a low price for a product that brings me so much joy.

Buying those socks was a brilliant decision, they made a wet weekend much happier because not only did I now have dry feet but I also had animals on them. A cute picture never fails to put a smile on my face.


 As you are reading this just imagine me writing this whilst taking regular breaks to just stare at my own feet because that is exactly what I have been doing!


x

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Lists, Lists and More Lists!




Hello, my name’s Izzy and I am a listaholic! I have never had a productive day that hasn’t involved one. There is something about a series of words stacked on top of each other that helps me actually achieve stuff in my day. My brain is such a jumble of different thoughts and ideas that in order to remember what I need to do a list is accentual. My days without such a tool normally involve me randomly bumbling between different things that I never actually finish. The number of times I have found myself lying on the ground trying to work out what I should be doing with my life is ridiculous.



I make lists for everything, obviously the normal ones like shopping lists, to do lists and lists of chocolate bars I need to try but I also find myself making lists of strange pets I want to own or types of notepads that I enjoy. The most worrying thing I have found myself doing is writing a list of lists. For one day I might have several lists of things to do from my cleaning list to my Uni work list. All of these lists go onto the day’s main list so that I know what lists I need to complete that day. Ok now I sound mental! I would like to back that up by saying that I don’t do it all the time, just on the days I need to be really productive.



I may have made this sound like a strange hobby for sad people but list making is an amazingly useful tool. It allows you to have a clear plan of what you need to achieve. The satisfaction I feel when I can tick off an item on a list is massive motivation for me to get that thing done. Even writing this blog is contained within a list and so I am currently typing away so I can get that magical tick (as well as for the enjoyment of it too of course)!

I would love to know that I am not the only one in the world with this obsession so if you share my love of lists please comment below so I don’t feel quite as silly!

Happy list making

x

Saturday 5 October 2013

Books for Free!





Imagine walking into a shop full of books and them all being completely free. How would you feel if this actually existed? IT ACTUALLY EXISTS! Honestly there is a shop on the high-street which gives books away for free. To be honest I think it is actually my idea of heaven, I was so excited when I found it!

Healthy Planet have a shop in the city I live in and their sole purpose on the high-street is to give books away for free. Although I have been in there once before it had only just opened so it only had a few books. Today when I went in though, I was full of books, bookshelves and boxes groaning with them. I spent half an hour just browsing all the shelves and I will tell you about the books I chose in a minute but first how on earth can they give books away for free?



The aim of this shop is to reduce the amount of books going to landfill by encouraging people to donate them. This allows other people to enjoy the books as well and also benefits the environment by reducing landfill. So it’s a win win situation really! Each person is allowed to take three books for free, the limit is put on to ensure it is fair for everyone. They do not ask for any money for the books but there is a collection tin on the counter to raise money for the upkeep I imagine. You are also encouraged to bring your old books in, in order to keep the system going.

As I said I ended up spending quite a while in there browsing but in the end I chose two books, both of which I am very excited to read.



First of all I picked up Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. I adore the TV series, it is just fantastic! It is about a group of midwifes based in a nunnery in 1950’s London and it tells the story of Jenny the author of the book. The first series was based on this book, her autobiography, and so after enjoying the programme so much I knew I had to read it!



The second book I picked up is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Now I have to admit I have no idea what it is about but after reading Of Mice and Men at school and falling in love with it I am really looking forward to reading another novel by Steinbeck.

After spending so long in that shop and getting two books I am so excited about reading I couldn’t leave without giving a donation (it was my own choice I might add, I wasn’t even asked for one!). I am such a big fan of Healthy Planet and I urge you all to give it a go. They have 36 shops throughout the UK so if you live in the UK there is a good chance there is one near you so keep an eye out!

Here is there website if you want to check them out: https://healthyplanet.org/

Bye
x



Thursday 3 October 2013

STUDENT ADVICE: Dealing with Homesickenss

Hi!

During my time at university I have struggled with homesickness A LOT! This is not really the side of being a student you hear about much so most people end up going to university with the idea that is it all happy times. I made a YouTube video the other day about it and how it is totally normal, which you can watch here:


In this post I want to tell you about some of the methods I have used to combat home sickness myself in the hope that you will also find them useful:


  1. DO THINGS - When you are feeling down it is very easy to just sit in your room and feel sorry for you self but that is not going to make you feel any better. By going into the outside world, perhaps meeting up with some friends, it will help you forget about missing home and perhaps make you enjoy your time at University a bit more. Strangely, I always find food shopping good because it calms me down and gets me out into the world.                                                                                                                                                                   
  2. PHONE HOME - When I say phone home I don't mean spend all day on the phone to your mum or your friend. What I mean is perhaps phone them once a day (or twice if it is really bad) and they can encourage you and make you feel better.Talking to someone familiar whilst being at University will make you realise you are not completely alone in this place, there is always someone at the end of a phone.                                                                                                                                                                          
  3. VISIT HOME - Again this is something to do in moderation but if you are feeling really down, go home for a weekend, not long enough to get settled there again but long enough to spend time with family/friends. In my first term I visited relatives every other week so that I would also have time to get used to being at university and now I only visit them a couple of times a term. It calms you down enough to be ready for a new start the next week but make sure you don't go home too often or you will never get comfortable in your new place. Also if you are really struggling, schedule it so you can look at the calender and see that in say 8 days time you are going home again.                                                                                                                                                                  
  4. JOIN CLUBS - All universities have clubs and the bigger the university the more they have, so find a club that interests you and join it. You will find like minded people and get to do something you enjoy which will distract you from missing home and make university more enjoyable.                                                                                                                  
  5. TALK TO PEOPLE - You will be surprised how many people feel exactly the same as you. So many of my friends felt exactly the same as I did and I found by talking to them I didn't feel as odd because I realised it was normal. I also spoke to my cousin who felt the same way as me about university while she was there and she helped me get through my first year. She made me realise that if see could finish her degree feeling like this so could I!
I hope these tips help if you ever feel homesick at all and even if you don't get homesick it they are still good things to do to make university an enjoyable experience. 

Enjoy you time away from home because over the summer you will be back to getting annoyed with your parents nagging again :P

Bye 
x