Life Of A Blogger: 'Astrology'.

I have always found the idea of Astrology fascinating. Nine times out of ten, when I read 'Daily' or 'Monthly' horoscopes I laugh because I don't really believe in it. But the history and theory behind it all is really interesting. As I'm a Taurus, I'll quote a little on what Wikipedia told me about the history of this particular sign of the Zodiac.

"Taurus was the first sign of the zodiac established among the ancient Mesopotamians—who knew it as the Bull of Heaven—because it was the sign through which the sun rose on the vernal equinox. Due to the procession of the equinox, it now follows Aries. The Bull represents a strong-willed character with great perseverance and determination. In Egypt, Taurus was seen as the cow goddess Hathor. Hathor was the goddess of beauty, love, and happiness, and she represented all of the riches seen in cattle as the providers of nourishment. Roman astrologers considered Taurus ruled by Venus, the goddess of beauty. The symbol of the bull is based on the Cretan Bull, the white bull that fathered the Minotaur and was killed by Theseus."

The chart above is apparently my birth chart. I'm not entirely sure what it all means so any interpretations would be greatly appreciated! Also as it's the start of  the month,, I'll throw in my monthly Horoscope just for fun!

"The Full Moon weekend of April 4 is custom made for fun in the sunshine. You could find romance in the moonlight, too. Keep it casual, be popular, and have little competition in the world of love. Everyone may be super secretive on the New Moon of April 18, but they'll all still have a lot to say. Be entertained, but believe little of what you hear and don't automatically act on any of it. Romance may flare again on the weekend of April 25. Feel glamorous and bask in the attention. People want to treat you well, so let them get the tab."

That was a lot of fun! I can't wait to find out next week's topic!

Life Of A Blogger: Dreams (The Sleeping Kind).

Dreams are an interesting one for me. I actually have quite a lot of them and they are normally very vivid, so much so that I have woken up thinking that they have happened before. Some of them have been so good that I haven't wanted to wake up, but some have had me wake up crying my eyes out. And don't even get me started on what happens if I watch a Horror movie before I go to bed. 

I don't sleep walk, though my parents have told me that they have had conversations with me in my sleep before, and in the past Mat has told me that I mumble things in my sleep. One of the strangest dream experiences I have had was that I was walking through the Desert, and as I did I began to have a really bad headache. When I woke up I was actually sat up on my bed banging my head against the wall. Nothing like that has ever really happened to me since. I also dream that I am falling a lot, and the 'impact of hitting the ground' wakes me up. Other times, it's a sudden yelling in my ear that wakes me up. I guess I'm one of those people who tries to fall too deeply into sleep far too often. 

I enjoy telling people about some of the strange dreams I've had, and a lot of them involve fictional characters (which is heaven if you are a book lover and avid movie watcher like me). I bought a Dream Dictionary once to see if I could make any sense of some of the weirder ones, but alas I was a little skeptical over the results. I am still interested in the theory behind it all though!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Nature'.

Ahh the great outdoors! On this subject I am a girl of two halves. Half of me is one of those people who finds nature absolutely wonderful in theory. Waterfalls, forests, hills, wildlife, all of it truly fascinates me and I like looking at pictures and reading about it. I have favourite animals, favourite plants and when I go on holiday my favourite thing to do is to admire the view and surroundings of a place I've never been to before. Our world is truly a big one and it is so nice to take the time to remember that, after spending so much just getting on with life and ignoring it.

The other half of me however is not a huge fan of outdoor life. Don't get me wrong, the idea of a lovely walk through the forest listening only to atmospheric music and admiring the scenery while pretending I just saw a fairy dart off into the trees sounds wonderful. But I unfortunately have very painful feet a lot, so get tired easily. I suffer with quite severe allergies to pollen too, so spending a lot of time among the flowerbeds is a big no. Not to mention my huge phobia of bugs and spiders that makes me think I have something in my hair every other step. I can take nature in very small amounts but after a while, life just gets in the way! At the end of the day, I'm an indoor kind of girl who likes to sit and read books with a nice cup of tea, chocolate and blankets. Sorry Mother Nature!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Favourite Quotes'.

This is such a good topic! The thing is, when it comes to day to day quotes they've hardly ever really got to me. Things that famous authors, poets, artists, politicians or historical figures have said just never seem to stick in my mind, no matter how inspiring they are. But quotes from books? An entirely different story (pardon the pun)! So here are a few of my favourite bookish quotes. Enjoy!

“Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion.” 

From 'Pride & Prejudice' by Jane Austen.

“A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.”

From 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak.

“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”

From 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” 

From 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee.

“I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn't get--and never would get.”

From 'Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe' by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

“Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous possessive love that grabs at what it can.”

From 'Life Of Pi' by Yann Martel.

There are so many more and I wish I could include one for every book I read but alas, this post would be far too long. A fun topic though and I look forward to next week!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Video Games'.

I thought I would use this week's Freebie to talk about something I also enjoy doing, as well as not talking a lot about. I would also be really interested to see if there's some fellow gamers out there too!

Ever since I was younger and owned my first ever Gameboy Advance, I've loved computer games. Pokemon (Red & Silver) is the first one I can remember playing and loving, and I played it almost all of the time. As well as that, I used to have a Joystick that had a ton of games on it, and I used to play it all of the time! A lot of my happy memories come from going round my friend's houses and playing on their consoles with them. Games like 'Timesplitters: Future Perfect' and 'Left 4 Dead' remain firm favourites even now. They're great multi-player games! I used to play a lot of computer games with my Dad too, such as car racing games and the Harry Potter games.

As soon as I got my own Xbox 360 and PS3, I got into a lot more games. I'm a huge fan of open world games such as 'The Elder Scrolls' franchise, the 'Batman' games and 'Fable'. Also, I love simulation games too. 'The Sims' is one of my favourite franchises to play. The inner sadist in me loves to play with other people's lives,even if they are virtual!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Routine'.

The only routine that I have that definitely springs to mind is my work routine. As it stands (though it looks set to change soon), I work the same days and same hours every week. I try to work the rest of my life around that as a result. I do also have my getting ready for work routine, which is basically the same everyday: Have breakfast, get dressed, clean teeth, apply make-up and pack lunch. Other than that, I feel like it would be quite nice to not have so much routine.

As a person, I feel like it's important to take every day as it comes: try new things, go out and see more. So apart from work, I don't go to bed at the same time every day, nor do I get up at the same time every morning. I don't have a set reading time or set dinner time, and I fit my schedule around plans I make rather than the other way round. That being said, it has proven to be my downfall in some ways. It means I don't always finish the number of books I want to read. I don't always get blog posts done on time either, and I believe that I'm going to have to start getting into a routine if I want to do those things more efficiently.

For me, routine is about finding a balance. It needs to be there in order to organise your mind and time efficiently, but it's important not to let it rule your life to the point that you don't get to experience new things because you're meant to be washing your hair that day. 

Life Of A Blogger: Organisation.

This topic is an interesting one for me because I love the idea of it. I like the thought of all my books arranged into Fiction & Non-Fiction sections, and alphabetical order within those. I love the idea of sorting my eye shadows into colour order. I also love the idea of my clothes being sorted properly so that I can easily find a dress or a skirt of I want to. 

The problem is, I'm not very good at it. I am a pretty lazy person, ask anyone who knows me and they will agree (especially my poor, organisation crazy boyfriend who despairs over my lack of motivation). I take ages to get things done, so often I'll have a pile of clothes on the floor that still needs putting away, or books strewn over my bedside table that I read three weeks ago. Another part of the problem is that my Flat just doesn't have the room. I don't have a library full of shelves for all my books so most are in boxes. I also don't have a room just for clothes that I can easily sort so mostly for me, clothes go where there is space. When I become a billionaire (HA!) and can afford a mansion, I'm hoping the organisational skills will get better!

I'm pretty good at organising on the computer and when it comes to writing though. Pinterest is a great example of where I have become freakishly OCD about organising my pins and labeling them correctly. Also when I used to do revision notes or plan essays, it always had to be done in a certain way. I'm even decent at organising this blog! It just goes to prove that I can do it when I try, I just need to apply this skill in the real world. I can do that, right?

Life Of A Blogger: Favourite Websites.

Wow, okay. So I thought this would be easy but actually it's quite difficult to think of my favourite websites! There are some obvious picks, so I'll go from there!

• My Blog: I spend crazy amounts of time on this website. It is literally the first thing I go to when loading up the internet, and the last thing I shut down. Sometimes, I don't actually need to be on there for any reason I just load it up to...well sort of look at it I guess. What can I say? My blog is my baby!
• Goodreads: Yet another site that I always load up. I always find lots to do on here, whether it's entering giveaways, playing on the never-ending quiz, browsing books (a personal favourite), updating my reading status, or seeing what everyone else is doing, I'm there!
• Netgalley: I say this one in particular because while I am a member of Edelweiss, I've never managed to like it quite as much. Netgalley however, I check every few days at least. I love finding good books on there and I am constantly bowled over by the number of approvals I get!
• Facebook: I spend a pretty decent amount of time on here, though I don't regularly update like I used to. I mainly use it to see how everyone else is doing (yes, I am one of those people).
• Twitter: I update this one more regularly, though I think I should get into using it a little more. I try to (when I remember) tweet about new posts and things that interest me (bookish or otherwise) but I am a little forgetful. I promise to make better use of this site in the future though!
• Tumblr: I mostly use this to re-blog GIFs and posts that make me smile or laugh rather than as an actual blog. It still takes up a pretty hefty portion of my day though! Long may I continue with this site, the people on there are some of the funniest and nicest that I have met.
• Pinterest: This one might not come up on too many other posts, but I love it! For those of you who don't know, it's a form of picture sharing/organising that allows me to collect together pictures that I love into folders (fashion, make-up, art, photography, etc.) and I use it to do just that. It's pretty good for making mood boards as well and I used it a lot at Uni!
• Amazon: I think it's safe to say that I browse this site a lot. There's so much to look at, especially books! I love seeing if the book I've been wanting to buy for ages suddenly lowers it's price (or even becomes free on Kindle) so that I can nab it quick!
• Youtube: My video/music go to website. I've found out that if I look hard enough I can find pretty much anything that I want to find. I mostly use it to find songs, bu I do like to watch Let's Play videos for games too, so I watch a lot of those!

Life Of A Blogger: 'What Superpower Would I Choose'?

The thing is (if I wanted to) I could probably write quite the essay on this. I've had many a lengthy debate on the best superpower and those kinds of conversations usually last hours. This is definitely going to be my favourite topic in weeks because I love the whole idea of superheros and powers etc. In fact, just last night I was watching 'Misfits'! However, having thought about it long and hard I have settled on: Telekinesis.

My love for this type of superpower didn't come from any kind of superhero movie at all! It actually came from my favourite book (and consequently, film) of all time: 'Matilda'! When I was a young girl, I always thought that the scene where she makes herself breakfast without moving from the table was cool, and the scene where she tries to show Miss Honey her powers by moving the jug was particularly funny. But most of all, it was the first time that I fully saw a 'heroine' using her powers to defeat a 'villain'. In this case, Miss Trunchbull. Forget about Thanos, Sauron, the Sherrif Of Nottingham, Voldemort, Dracula and all other great villains for a second. Because for me, Miss Trunchbull will always be the epitome of evil and so that makes Matilda the most awesome of all heroines.

Telekinesis opens up a lot of possibilities too! Not only could I just move things with my mind (I would never have to get out of bed again?!) but I could also fly (by moving myself) and maybe even become invisible (by bending the light waves around me...am I milking this enough yet?). Telekinesis allows me to do a whole range of things I always thought were cool (why just control one 'element' when you can make all of them move with your mind?). So yes, Telekinesis is definitely my choice for a superpower!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Goals & Dreams'.

So last week I got to reflect on my achievements so far, and this week I'm looking to the future! I have a large number of things I want to achieve in my life (sort of like a Bucket List) and here is a portion of them!

• Becoming a successful Author/Playwright.
• Running my own Book Club.
• Continuing with this Blog for as long as I can!
• Travelling to Japan.
• Touring the USA.
• Visiting many more countries generally!
• Learning another language.
• To own a beautiful house (with a Library)!
• Get married.
• Have children.
• Spend my life being happy.

I hope that I manage to achieve at least some of these!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Achievements'.

Okay so I have talked about this before, but I have actually achieved quite a lot recently. Especially in the last year!

• I have passed my Driving Test.
• I have a First Class BA Hons Degree in Performing Arts.
• I have moved to London.
• I have a full time job.
• I set up this Blog properly.
• I read 64 books last year, that's more than I've ever read in a year!

There are many more but I did talk a lot about this in my Life Of A Blogger 'New Years' post, so I feel like I'm repeating myself!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Bad Habits'.

Oooooh dear. I have quite a lot of these! I'll just do a bullet point list, it will be much easier.

• Twitching. I'm quite restless and can't stop fidgeting most of the time.
• Being forgetful. In absolutely everything.
• Eating too much chocolate.
• Not drinking enough water.
• Not eating enough fruit.
• I don't bite my nails. I pick at them instead.
• Twirling my hair.
• Zoning out.
• Messing my body clock up by not going to bed early.
• Getting distracted!
• I'm ridiculously lazy.
• Being a little disorganised.
• Promising myself I'll get something done...and then not.
• Interrupting people! Yet I get so annoyed when other people do it.
• Not putting things away properly.

I could definitely go on. Oh boy.

Life Of A Blogger: 'Scars I Have'.

I think the answer to this week's post is that actually, I have none. None that I have noticed anyway,other than a recent graze mark that is still healing. It's strange actually because I bruise like a peach, so you would think I'd be covered in scars, I'm pretty fragile. I guess I'm just pretty good at not hurting myself so much that it would leave a mark. I do have a few small birthmarks here and there. Oh wait! I guess you could count the fact that I used to have pretty bad acne, and it left a few small acne scars on my face! There you go, I guess I do have some scars to talk about after all, though I'm sure you guys don't want to hear about my acne issues so I'll leave it at that.

Life Of A Blogger: 'New Years'.

I'm going to be honest with you, I didn't do a whole lot for New Years. I had just finished work so I was pretty tired, and had a lot of Blog stuff to do too. Mat and I mostly just relaxed on the sofa and watched TV. We did stay up until Midnight of course (and fulfilled the mandatory kiss requirement, duh!) but we didn't do anything very exciting. Initially we were going to watch the famous London fireworks but the event was ticketed and they sold out before we could buy any! Still, we had a lovely evening in and it gave me a chance to reflect on my 2014.

• I moved to London.
• I went on holiday to Wales.
• I passed my Driving test and owned my first car.
• I celebrated my 21st birthday!
• I also celebrated my 5th year of being together with Mat!
• I completed my Degree and got a First!
• I started this blog.
• I read 64 books.

Phew, that's a lot actually! I can't wait to see what 2015 brings!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Christmas'.

So this post about Christmas is due to go up on Christmas Day! Of course, due to it being that time of year, I will be rather busy so have had to write this one in advance (probably something that sensible Bloggers do with basically every post that they write). What will I be doing you ask? Well Christmas has always been a pretty special time of year that I look forward to every time it's coming soon. I was convinced that Christmas would be different this year because I have now moved out of my Family home and into the flat but I managed to book some time off work and I'm back in Ashford for this one!

On Christmas Eve I'll be spending the day with Family, particularly in the evening because I'm going to visit my Grandparents! I'm ridiculously excited about this visit because I have not seen them in a very long time (thanks to living in London). I'm looking forward to a nice catch up with them both before returning home ready for Christmas Day! On the day itself, we will probably be up quite early to open presents (as we are every year) and I'm really looking forward to seeing the reactions of those I have bought for this year. The second part of the day will be spent with Mat's family where we'll be having Christmas dinner and even more present opening. After that, we'll be with his family for Boxing Day too and I'm excited about it.

Sorry about this sort of short post but as I'm currently in Ashford, I want to spend all of the time I have here with my family! All that's left to say is Merry Christmas, and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Before 2014 Ends'.

This is going to be a pretty tough subject! The end of 2014 is so close! I do have a few things I'd like to do before it ends however, and I'll list them here.

• See My Family. I know I'll definitely be doing this one because I have booked some holiday to go and see them over Christmas! Hooray! It's been such a while since I last saw them I'm glad I'll get to at such a special time of the year.
• Finish my December TBR. This I'm not so sure I'll do. I would really love to, it would make my day! But I'm barely into my challenge reads and I haven't got long left to go. Still, I have a bit of free time coming my way...maybe?
• Spend time with Mat. Now that I live with him I do this a lot, but it will be nice to be able to do that more without work/Uni constantly getting in the way. I'm looking forward to it!

I wish I could make this list longer. I guess all that's left is to have a merry Christmas!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Non-Bookish Hobbies'.

So this week is yet another Freebie and this week I have decided to go for 'Non-Bookish Hobbies'. I do an awful lot of reading of course, but I thought it might be nice to talk about other things I enjoy doing!

• Singing/Drama. Singing is (much to some people's annoyance) one of my favourite things to do when I get spare time/when I'm in the shower. I studied it for two years at University and really loved it. My favourite thing to sing is Musical Theatre, though I'm a big fan of soul music too. Drama for me goes hand in hand with this. Despite it not being my chosen career path, I would love to do it on the side, if I could.
• Writing. While at University one of the things that I really discovered about myself is that I enjoy writing more than anything. I always knew that I was a fan of making up plot ideas/characters and even put a few of them to paper but I never made it an ambition of mine until I had finished University. It's part of the reason that I set up this blog! Writing for this is just as much fun as writing stories!
• Listening To Music. I know this isn't much of a hobby, but it is something I do a lot. I have mentioned quite a lot that I'm a fan of Film Scores and they are my favourite things to listen to in all honesty. I have even been known to totally plot-spoil films/TV shows for myself by recognising a certain theme or element of music in the background score. I guess they just touch my imagination more than popular songs do. I am however a fan of many bands and artists too!
• Appreciating Art/Photography. I am not very good at actually putting either of those things into practice. However, an activity that I really enjoy is browsing DeviantArt or Pinterest to see what pictures make me smile that day. I'm a pretty visual person, I like seeing ideas come to life. Whenever I get a new character or story idea I immediately have the urge to draw them. I don't though because I know it would come out terribly and I would end up more frustrated than previously.
• Watching Films/Theatre. As I said, I'm a visual person. Films therefore are a favourite medium of mine. I know that many people that read this will probably much prefer books, and so do I for the most part. However, I try to view them as seperate things and appreciate both of their pros, rather than constantly comparing one to the other. As for the Theatre, that goes without saying. It just has so much power and I love nothing better than watching performances.

I didn't realise that my chosen hobbies were so creative and cultural. Here I was thinking I was pretty boring! 

Life Of A Blogger: 'Where I Live'.

Well, if this topic had come up a few months or so ago, I would have been talking about my home town Ashford! However, you all probably know that right now I'm living in London! It's pretty difficult for me to talk about it in specifics because I have not really explored it in it's entirety. However, there is so much to do in this fantastic city and I'll give a brief overview of some of my favourite things I have done over the years:

• Shopping. There are so many shops in London! I have come up for day trips so many times and it is always a lot of fun. My favourite places to go are Oxford Street (best high street shopping ever) and Covent Garden (there are some really cute shops here)! Also since I've moved here, I've gone to Westfield Shopping Centre a lot!
• The Theatre. I have watched so many good things at the Theatre in London. Musicals like Billy Elliot, The Phantom Of The Opera, Wicked, Les Miserables, The Lion King etc. I also got to watch Tom Hiddleston as Coriolanus, Lenny Henry as Othello and Martin Freeman as Richard III. I have a very large amount of Theatre programmes in my possession.
• Waterstones, Piccadilly. This one gets it's own section because I love this Waterstones. Why this one in particular? Because it has five floors of course! Mat and I went for a day out and I adored going to this place. I want so badly to go again!
• One time Exhibitions/Events. It is so interesting to go and see things that you know will only be here once. One of my favourites were the poppies at the Tower Of London, but I have gone to see sculptures, photography/art displays and even fantastic museum exhibitions.

As well as those, there are always events that take you by surprise! For example, a couple of weeks ago the whole of Oxford Street was closed off for half an hour to make way for a Bicycle protest. Tube journeys can be interesting just because a certain event is happening over one weekend (Comic-Con is a great example)! There are so many great things about London and I feel so lucky to be a part of it!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Thanksgiving Traditions'.

Well this is going to end up being a short post because the truth is, I don't have any Thanksgiving Traditions! I'm British! For most people living in the United Kingdom, Thanksgiving is not really a special time for us. However, my lovely boyfriend and flatmates have some American friends, and so last year did actually have a big Thanksgiving Dinner! We hope to recreate something similar this year, so I'm excited for that!

All that's really left to say is:

Life Of A Blogger: 'Ten Things I'll Never Do'.

This was actually a pretty difficult to list to come up with as there are so many things that despite the fact that I will probably never do them, there's still a chance I will.

1. Leave Mat. This may well seem to be a bit of an obvious one, and slightly cheesy, but I will never leave him. What can I say? He's the love of my life and I can't imagine life without him.
2. Take drugs. This one was a bit of a no-brainer for me. I can never imagine getting myself into a situation where I would do this. 
3. Smoke. My thoughts on this are pretty much the same. I don't understand why anyone would want to fill their lungs with the awful things found in cigarettes.
4. Completely read my TBR pile. We all know I love reading. We all know I will never stop. However, every time I finish one book, another six appear on my list of books need to read. 
5. Stop trying to be a better person. I know I have a lot of flaws, and I am always trying to improve upon myself and become a nicer, better person to be around. I will never stop trying to be there.
6. Learn to swim. If you read my post on phobias, you'll know I am terrified of water and so learning to swim is a definite no go activity for me. I know it will never happen too. Many a swim instructor, family member and friend have tried. All have failed.
7. Have a pet spider. I am very scared of spiders. Even if you paid me £1,000,000 I would not be in the same room as a spider, if I can possibly help it. Sorry.
8. Give up on my dreams of writing a book. I don't get a lot of time to myself these days, but I absolutely haven't stopped thinking about this, and wanting to do it. 
9. Stop listening to music. Music makes me feel very happy. I always manage to find a track that suits my mood and if I'm sad or angry, it has the power to make me feel better.
10. This list. I seriously couldn't think of something to put for number ten. However, by choosing this option I actually wrote ten things, thus rendering this list paradoxical and enter a theoretical state whereby no task is entered into this realm of impossibility. For want of a better phrase: never say never. Man, I sound like Doctor Who.