Friday, 28 October 2016

One chapter ends, another begins.

In 2011 I graduated high school and was accepted to attend the University of Wollongong in order to work towards achieving my goal of becoming a primary school teacher. Now five years later, a total of 39 subjects, an estimated 200 000 caffeine fixes, 63 000 notes, 45 000 poor study habits, 300 pens, 2 laptops, too many assignments, too many exams, 2 000 000 001 tears cried, 2 000 000 001 tears dried, 100 sleepless nights (one of which was last night), 600 panic attacks, only god knows how much alcohol and a zillion words of encouragement and support I have finally placed the last full stop at the end of my final essay and with that the end of my degree.



Im not going to lie it has been a hard five years and I am so thankful for everyone, both friends and family, who supported me through all the sleepless nights and stressful times. Without these people I would not be able to say I am a university graduate or a qualified teacher! 

The years spent at university, even though tough, were some of the best years of my life. Like most teens I made mistakes, battled anxiety, relationship breakdowns and friend loss. However, with the bad times the good times followed. I made some of the most amazing friends who I hope will remain for life and had to quickly learn how to survive on my own as I lived out of home for the first time. I put myself out of my comfort zone and tried things I wouldn't normally and every experience over the last five years has made me who I am today. Due to this, I thought I would share some of my favourite memories of my time at UOW below.

First Year - Early Childhood. 
First day of uni! So young and so naive. 
Studying early childhood meant we got to play dress ups a lot!
If kids get to learn through play, so can I! 
These girls got me through that first year with a constant smile on my face. 
Maddie and I hit it off day one. During our first year at uni we were practically inseparable spending many days at the unibar dreaming about dating the cute boys working behind the counter. Still to this day she is one of my best friends. 
Second Year - Primary Education. 

Working in schools isn't so bad, you get to have movie nights and watch kids shows without judgement! 
You also get to meet Healthy Harold! If you didn't learn about the dangers of drugs from this guy did you even learn about the dangers of drugs? 



Nothing puts a smile on my face more than working with kids. Teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. 

Third Year 
That time we were on the news!


Love these girls to bits! Not only did we come up with our own Beyonce medley but we choreographed a dance earning us a HD!!  

The drama gang.

Fourth Year 
Uni bestie! 

Social Sciences Ball 2015. 
Social Sciences Ball 2015.

Social Sciences Ball 2015.
Social Sciences Ball 2015

Friends forever. 
Fifth Year - Final Year. 
This was such a biter sweet year for me. I found myself excited to get out into the real world but I was also nostalgic for those that had passed. I did so much this year, going through it all makes me want to cry.
Friends for life. 
Road trip down the south coast with these babes for our Indigenous Education subject! To see the previous post click HERE. 



I love hanging up the kids work and seeing the pride they have in their work. 





Last day of classes celebration! 
Advice I will give to anyone currently at uni or thinking of beginning a course next year:
Don't say no to anything!
Experience everything!
Document it all!
Let go and enjoy yourself!
Don't stress the small stuff and make sure you make time for YOU!
Remember that your health, both mental and physical, is worth more than your grade.
Talk to your tutors they are there to help you achieve the best you possibly can!


Wednesday, 28 September 2016

July Revisited.

I know we are coming to the end of September (Hello October and all the festivities you bring!!), however I still feel I need to document all the chaos that unfolded throughout the past few months. It truely has been a couple of months to remember, absolutely packed to the brink with activities, accidents and responsibilities alike.


I finally finished reading The Girl in 6E series by A.R. Torre. I started this series last year and instantly fell in love with everything about it. I have recommended this book to so many people so I decided to reccomend it here too. Ladies (and gents) do yourself a favour and start reading, it won't disappoint. The series is a perfect mix of thriller and erotica with A.R. Torre creating a personal bond between the main characters and the audience, making it almost impossible to put the books down. It is important to remember though that the books are quite full on and I suggest, depending on what your personality is like, to edge on the side of caution when reading in public as the material is not exactly safe for work.
With all this in mind I give the whole series 4.5 out of 5 stars.


I went to a couple of really cool shows during July, this one being for Mood Swing and The Others. It was a strange night for me as I wasn't with my usual friends I go to shows with and it got a little overwhelming without M and P there, however, I still had such a good night. I was pretty proud of myself for getting out there and making new friends and talking to people I wouldn't normally so that was pretty cool and the show itself was rad, I even picked up a sweet $10 long sleeve. Bargain! 




Then came my boyfriends 21st birthday party, I had met most his mates pre to his party but this was where I would meet basically all his friends plus his family for the first time and that scared me immensely. I went and got my hair curled as that always makes me feel a billion times more confident and I went all out for my make up and ended up looking smokin'. He had such a good night and honestly that is all that matters. I wish I could have taken more photos of the night though we were both so busy we didn't even really have time to.

The week after his 21st was my 23rd birthday. You know the saying no one likes you when you're 23? That 110% applies to my birthday hahaha. The night of my birthday I went out to dinner with my close friends to the local tavern and was gifted some beautiful presents by everyone, unfortunately I ended up losing the present from my mum which was a beautiful pandora charm.

Then a couple of days later Nate took me on a surprise birthday dinner to the revolving restaurant in Sydney Tower and oh my goodness it was beautiful. The view was stunning and every time you looked outside there was something new to see and experience. On top of the view, there was a huge variety of food on offer through the buffet ranging from kangaroo steaks (I could never eat skippy, yuck!) to various vegetarian options. The best part of dinner though would have had to have been the cocktails, not only were they huge they were also what I consider to be a reasonable price for their size.


 The stunning views from our table at the window. If you are to book a table at Sydney Tower I would 100% reccomend ensuring that you are able to be seated next to a window. The views are just breath taking and my photos don't do it any justice.




 When we got home thats when disaster struck in the form of a phone accidentally getting thrown at my face, splitting my top lip completely open. There was blood everywhere...even all over the brand new carpet. It resulted in a 13 hour visit to the emergency room, no sleep, 7 stitches and one giant lip. I felt like Frankenstein's bride. It has taken me a while to come to terms with the new scar on my lip and even though everyone says they don't notice it, it's the first thing I see in selfies or when I look in the mirror and that sucks a fair bit.



On my bucket list for this year, I had written down "say yes to as many free things as possible" and this came into play when I was offered a ticket to see The 1975 in concert. Honestly I am not a huge fan of the bands music and I felt like a supervising mother going to the concert to ensure my make believe kids were safe, however, The 1975 did put on one hell of a show and had some seriously cool backdrops for the stage.

 This one was my favourite. The colours and design were so aesthetically pleasing.



The weekend after The 1975 was Damnation weekend, a weekend that was absolutely packed filled with shows that showcased some of Sydney's best punk and hardcore bands. On the Saturday afternoon I met up with some of my friends at Blackwire Records, a small record store that also doubles as a live music venue along Parramatta road. If you are into alternative music I would recommend giving them a follow on facebook.


The show finished fairly early so we decided we would head into Newtown to grab a feed. I ended up having the best pizza I think I have ever had in my life from _______ and it was completely cruelty free, made with vegan cheese. Cruelty free food seemed to be the theme of the night as we then made our way to Gelato Blue, which is a plant based gelato shop (Yes, that means everything is ethically made and animal product free, YAY!!!) where I had one of the biggest sundaes I've ever had in my life. 100/10 would reccomend.

Coconut, passionfruit and chocolate. Yum!

As Sunday came along I was super excited to catch up and hang out with some mates I don't get to see too often at Damnation, which was held at the Red Rattler; another great music and performance venue that supports local artists I recommend following. The show drew a sell out crowd to the venue which created an amazing atmosphere.




Sorry that posting has been so slack lately. I am currently in my final ever semester of university (oh my god!!) and I have just finished my 6 week internship leaving me with only 4 weeks left full of assignments and uni until I am a qualified teacher and will have a lot more free time on my hands to keep you all up dated with my adventures.

Until then, wish me luck!

Friday, 5 August 2016

Moovin' and Grovin'

At the beginning of the year I made a bucket list with the intension of motivating me to get out and experience all that life has to offer, especially as I was going through a really tough time. As the year has progressed a lot of things have been crossed off this list, one of which being my attendance at Groovin' the Moo 2016. Groovin' for all of those who are unaware, is an Australian music festival that takes place at the end of every summer in numerous regional locations across the country. The line up this year was incredible with acts like Alison Wonderland, Danny Brown, Boy and Bear and British India just to name a few. 


As soon as the line up dropped my best friend Mikki and I knew we had to be there and decided on road tripping north to Maitland, rather than south to Canberra, as I have family that live in Newcastle and seriously enjoyed the idea of having a bed, hot food and a shower to go home to after a long day of dancing in unpredictable weather. This turned out to be a brilliant idea as the night before the festival the weather was absolutely cyclonic.


My grandparents house is seriously so beautiful. It has such a lovely country feel to it and I feel at home instantly every time I visit.

The next morning when I woke up it was still pouring with cyclonic winds and I had this dreadful feeling that the day would be an awful mess. However, as I ate breakfast and started to get ready the rain cleared up drastically, leaving behind blue skies, sun and very strong winds.




Sunglasses: Sportsgirl.
Nose Ring: Tree of Life.
Necklaces: Just Jeans & Tree of Life.
Dress: Tree of Life.
Bracelet: Markets.
Boots: Roc.





It proved hard to get a decent outfit picture as the winds were so strong. There was hair and outfit flying everywhere.

We decided that instead of camping and/or driving we would get the bus tickets. The buses pick you up from the nearest train station in Newcastle and drops you off at the show grounds and vice versa when the night ends. I don't know if this happens around every venue but in all honesty I think this is a brilliant idea. It means everyone can drink, have a good day and not have to worry about drink driving in order to get home safely at the end of the night.






I started my day with DZ Deathrays. The pit was so rowdy and full of energy it was such a fun way to start the day and get pumped for what was to come, and didn't the rest of the day deliver.









Boogying was in full swing during Disclosure. I want to see them a billion times over. One of my favourite acts of all time. 






I had a last minute change of shoes before I left and I decided I would rock these brilliant yellow gumboots I borrowed from my best friend M's sister. They were honestly perfect, they have fur on the inside so my feet were warm throughout both the day and night as well as dry. I honestly need to invest in my own pair of these.












I honestly had the best day and I cannot wait for the next festival I can attend, if only I was able to experience Splendour this year :(