Goodbye 2012

So it's nearly the end of 2012 now and the cringey "new year, new me" statuses and tweets have already started to appear but I thought I'd follow my tradition and do an overview of the past year. I'd be lying if I said 2012 was the best year but it hasn't been half bad either, like most years it's had ups and downs (oh the cliches). One thing I can say however, is that this year has seemed to fly past so quickly and it's strange to think that this time next year I'll hopefully be at University. Although AS levels were hard work and A2's are even more work, sixthform has definitely been one of my favourite years of school and I reckon it will be worth it in the end. I've spoken to new people this year, gotten closer to some of my friends, drifted apart from others - but that's just how it is sometimes. Twenty twelve also brought the Olympics and Paralympics during the summer and personally I was hooked, when it was on I watched more sport on television than ever before I think haha! I also got the chance to go and watch some of the Paralympic athletics which was amazing and something I won't forget. This year I also got to see Coldplay live, oh so good, especially as it was a surprise. There's definitely been a lot of memorable moments and they make up for the not so good ones.

For the past couple of years now I've used an app to put together a selection of photos from the past year because I think it makes you remember some of the good times you may have forgotten about. It also reminds me just how lucky I am to have the friends I do...
(See below)

At the beginning of the year I wrote a list of a few things I wanted to do and I managed to do quite a few of them and I'm close to completing the others. Some that I did include: Keeping in contact with friends, seeing the Hunger Games movie, doing more charity work and trying to make my blog a bit better. Another one was 'learn how to drive' and although I haven't passed my actual test yet I've done my theory and I'm not far off booking my driving test, eeep - so I'm happy with that. 'Do well at my AS exams' and 'Decide what I want to do at Uni' where another couple which I've pretty much done. I wasn't one hundred perecent happy with my results from AS but I'm resitting a Biology module so I'm hoping that will push my grade up a bit. As for deciding what to do at Uni I definitely completed that, it was weird how I choose in the end because originally I was set on English single honours. However, as you can tell from my blog posts I'm quite into philosophical things and I eventually decided in the end and applied for English Literature and Philosophy joint honours. So far I have 4 out 5 offers - so it's all good and I'm just waiting on Nottingham with low expectations... Less than 20 places for my course there doesn't sound very promising, but we'll see. One thing that I definitely didn't complete was the 50 book challenge, I always start off well and then fail after a couple of months, I think I may save this one for when I start Uni? Haha.

Anyway, because this is becoming a very long dragged out post I hope you all have a great new year! It may not be a 'new start' or a 'new beginning' but regardless it's a chance to look back on the past year and then focus on the new one.

Happy New Year.

Best wishes,

Laura.

Also, thank you for everybody who has read my blog posts this year, I appreciate it!

Song: I'm Walking On Sunshine (Cover) by Greg Holden
 

The Last One | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Day 12

So here it is, the last day of Blogmas, yay. I know it's slightly delayed but I've been spending time with family the past couple of days so I have an excuse. It's another photo post I'm afraid because I haven't had much spare time to write things. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and there will be a 2012 post up before the end of the year hopefully.

- Topshop nail vanish in 'Hidden Treasure'
- The Truth About Love by P!NK
- Resistance by Owen Sheers and Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Soap and Glory products
- Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hrs in 'Pink Gold'

Laura.

Song: Mr Brightside by The Killers

Happy Christmas | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 11

Happy Christmas Everyone!
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas with your families and get some nice presents too.

You may be thinking, 'I thought this was the twelve days of Blogmas..?' and yes, yes it is. But I'm going to make my last post some photos from today soooo that will be up later today or tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Laura.

Song: Merry Christmas Everyone by Slade

Christmas Lights | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 10
I haven't been feeling all that Christmasy in the build up to Christmas, but the one thing that's helped are the Christmas lights down my road. They're so pretty and they remind me of Christmas time as a child because we used to go in the car and look at all the lights around town. These photos don't really do them justice but yes!

"Still waiting for the snow to fall, it doesn't really feel like Christmas at all. Those Christmas lights light up the street, down where the sea and city meet. May all your troubles soon be gone. Oh, Christmas lights, keep shinin' on."

Laura.

Song: Christmas Lights by Coldplay

Procrastination | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 9

"It turns out we can't save people from themselves." - Scrubs

So instead of revising for the past couple of days I've been watching Scrubs and films instead. Oh well, it's Christmas right? I'll make up for it later.

Laura.

Song: Speed of Sound By Coldplay

December Playlist | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 8

Even though it's nearly Christmas I thought I'd be a little different and do my normal monthly playlist, which means not all of the songs are going to be Christmas related. I hope there's something for everyone, as usual I've linked all the songs - just click the numbers.

1.) Christmas Lights by Coldplay
2.) Run by Becky CJ
3.) All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey
4.) I Knew You Were Trouble (Cover) by Alex Goot
5.) 42 by Coldplay
6.) Last Christmas by Wham!
7.) Impossible by James Arthur
8.) I Feel It In My Bones by The Killers
9.) Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid
10.) Christmas Is All Around - Love Actually

Laura.

Not long left now, oolala.

Christmas Decorations | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 7
Thought I'd take few photos of some of the Christmas decorations. 

 Laura.

Song: Promises

Presents | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 6

Choosing presents for friends and family is one of the best things, especially at Christmas. I also love wrapping them, just me? Okay. Now I'm older, I think I actually enjoy picking gifts for other people more than opening my own. I've taken a few photos of some presents I've wrapped already - I also love the wrapping paper I found this year! I apologise if this is an extremely boring post but oh well...

 

 

Update: Today was a good day; I passed my Theory Test, helped put the Christmas tree up (photos tomorrow) and watched films with some of my best friends + some Ben and Jerry's = happy days. I hope your Christmas shopping is going okay, not long left now! This year has gone so quick, eep.

Laura.

Song: Lost! by Coldplay

Christmas Films | The 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 5
Thought I'd just list a few of my favourite Christmas films today as I haven't got much time to be writing a decent blog post due to revision and coursework, yay.
Anyway, one of the best Christmas films has to be The Holiday. It's just a cute film and to be honest, I watch it regardless of the time of year because it's not strictly a Christmas film. It has lovely quotes and is definitely in my top five; love the casting. Next is Love Actually, I think nearly everybody has seen this film at least once and Hugh Grant acting as the PM dancing around 10 Downing Street makes me laugh every time - always a winner, clip 'here'. Thirdly is The Greatest Store in the World, this is less known one and not as popular as the others, but I still love it. It's a TV film and is about a mother and her children who sleep in a toy shop when they have nowhere else to go. Definitely watch it if you get the chance!
 
I love some of the other popular films such as Home Alone, Elf and The Muppet Christmas Carol, so they deserve a mention too. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see most of these before Christmas. Hope you're all doing well!

Laura.

Song: Christmas Is All Around from Love Actually

Things | The 12 Days of Blogmas

 

(Hot chocolate, Christmas films, Christmas candle, chocolate brownies, Love Actually, Alfie)

Post 4

Most of these photos were taken when Melissa, Sasha and I went round Nadine's house to watch some Christmas films and eat some amazing food. I think it was a good excuse to take a break from revising and sixthform work for an evening and lets be honest, you can't beat watching a good Christmas film with some friends.

 

Laura.

 

Song: Wherever You Will Go by The Calling

 



Love Actually | 12 Days of Blogmas

Post 2

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge, they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
- Love Actually

Laura.

Song: Opposites Attract by Becky CJ

Introduction | The 12 Days of Blogmas

It's the first of December which means it's only 24 days until Christmas however this also means that it's the beginning of Blogmas, yay. You may be thinking 'What the hell in Blogmas?!' if so, I'll give you a brief explanation. Basically me and a few of my friends have decided to do 'The 12 Days of Blogmas' - which means that we are all going to be blogging a few times each week leading up to Christmas Day. There will be 12 posts in total, as the title suggests, and they will all be Christmas related in some way or other. I take no credit for coming up with this as it's inspired from the idea of 'Vlogmas' on Youtube - which is practically the same thing but video blogging opposed to normal blogging.

ANYWAY...

I'm going to link some of the people that are also taking part, so check out their blogs if you're interested in seeing some Christmassy posts!
Nadine, Melissa, Amber, Becky, Andy and Alex


Post One

Laura.

Song: The Fear by Ben Howard

Humanity

I think one of the best things about humanity is our capability to ask so many questions but also our incapability to answer them all. We try to know and understand everything, we try to work out the purpose of why we're here and explain 'the big questions' but I think sometimes it's the smaller goals and questions that count. Although each of us are seemingly insignificant by ourselves it doesn't make our aims any less important. After all, it is the smaller things that help make up the bigger one in the end.

Laura.

Song: All I Ever Wanted by The Airborne Toxic Event

Judge

Laura.

Song: Your Life Over Mine by BriBry

Good Songs

I love the fact that listening to a song can remind you things; a certain situation, time of your life or particular person. My music taste has changed and varied quite a lot over the years, but I still love some of the old songs I used to listen to. A good song isn't always because of the lyrics or the person singing it, but because of the memories that it brings back...

Laura.

Song: Lie Awake - Alison Krauss (Cover) by Becky CJ

Walking

Sometimes it annoys me how easily people can just walk in and out of your life. It's something you don't have much control over but nobody's tied to someone forever. I believe that the people you meet help make you who you are and that they play an important part in your life, even if it is for a short amount of time. It's just weird how people can make such a big impact on your life, without you even realising it at the time.

Laura.

Song: Catch My Breath (Cover) by Alex Goot & Against The Current

Day Dreamer

"At some point you've gotta stop looking up at the sky, or one of these days you'll look back and see that you floated away too." - John Green

Laura.

Song: Run Boy Run by Woodkid
Since I heard this on the 02 advert I've been addicted, weird but yes.

Chance

Recently, I've realised that so many things come down to chance. Once you start thinking about it, you start to notice just how much of your life is down to pure chance.

I guess it all started when I was thinking about Universities (inevitably) and how by picking your five choices - you are already limiting the people you'll meet in the future. It's crazy really. Even the friendships I have now are somewhat random. It's partly chance that you happened to be in the same country, in the same town, at the same time - perhaps even the same age if you're talking about friends you make at school. If I'd been in a different year group or brought up in a different county, I wouldn't have half the friends I have right now... I'd have different ones.

I think that we generally like to think we have an aspect of control over our lives, but really although we make some of the decisions - such as which five Uni's to put down, many things are just chance and we have little say in them. We can't possibly know for certain what the future will hold and in a way, I kinda like that.

Laura.

Song: Just Give Me A Reason by Pink

Try

"Where there is desire there is gonna be a flame, where there is a flame someones bound to get burned. But just because it burns doesn't mean you're gonna die - you gotta get up and try, try, try."
- Pink.

You can't just wait for what you want to come to you without no effort or your part - you have to work for some things yourself...

Laura.

Fate

"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." - Lemony Snicket

Laura.

Song: Stronger by Kelly Clarkson

Photos & Quotes

 

"We live with the objective of being happy, our lives are all different yet the same." - Anne Frank 

 

 

 

"You never lose by loving, you always lose by holding back." 

 

 

 

"There is no certainty - only opportunity."

 

 

 
 
Laura.
 
Song: OneRepublic Medley by The Royal Sons
(2.15 - 2.30mins) Oh so good.

'If'

This is one of my favourite poems...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
 
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!     

- Rudyard Kipling 

Laura.

Song: It's My Life by Bon Jovi

Also, a shoutout to my friend Tom who wanted to be mentioned in one of my blog posts :') (What a loser) Just kidding, he's lovely.

The Human Heart

"Sometimes I think the human heart is just a simple shelf. There is only so much you can pile onto it before something falls off an edge and you are left to pick up the pieces."
- Jodi Picoult

Laura.

Song: Titanium (Cover) by Christina Grimmie

Things.

So I got my AS results last week, I was quite pleased with them. It's crazy though because one of the exams I thought went badly was my best grade and the one I thought went best was my lowest grade. I guess it just shows you can't judge what you'll get. I'm glad I'll be able to drop to three subjects now though because four was pretty hard going, in my opinion. I will be resiting a couple of modules in January to get my grades up a little bit but other than that it's all good.

Next thing, driving. This is most definitely something that does not come naturally to me. But my driving lessons so far have gone okay and although it isn't coming to be automatically it's not as bad as I thought it would be initally. Need to get learning the theory soon, fun times.

Hope you're all having lovely summers.

Laura.

Song: The Show Must Go On by Queen

Late night ramblings.

Even though it's kind of late right now I felt like writing a new blog post, so here I am.
There's several things bothering me at the moment, the first being results day. I promised myself I wouldn't stress about results day this year but now it's less than a week away I'm nervous already. I still find it so weird that a whole years worth of work is judged in such a short space of time. I don't think it shows understanding at all - just your memory basically. Also my exam timetable was horrific, looking back now I'm not quite sure how I survived. The night before my History exam I was drinking coffee with two teaspoons of coffee in and extra sugar to make sure I finished going through my notes - purely because over half of my exams were over in a period of four days and I still stick by going over stuff last minute.
The next thing; University. I'm only ever in two mindsets when thinking about it - I'm either mega positive taking the "I can do it" approach or have the pessimistic point of view, "I'm never going to make it" at the moment I'm the latter one but it changes continuously.

Forever worrying about everything.

Also, I've been loving watching the Olympics. I'm one of the least sporty people ever but I've definitely been drawn into it. I thought the Opening Ceremony was amazing - ah just so good. I'm looking forward so seeing the Closing one.

Anyway that's enough from me.

Laura.

Song: This Kiss (Cover) by Alex Day & Carrie Fletcher

Quotes | Some favourites

Some of my favourite quotes:

"I'm trying to live my life with a Sharpie marker approach. You can't erase the strokes you've made but each step is much bolder and more deliberate."

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things but vice versa - the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant." - Doctor Who

"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." - Roald Dahl

"Just remember that sometimes, the way you think about someone isn't the way they actually are." - John Green

"Be brave and fearless to know that even if you make a bad decision, you're making it for a good reason." - Adele

"We have come so far and gone nowhere. We have lived so long and hardly at all" - Charles Bukowski

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird)

Laura.

Song: Alex Goot's most recent cover (Link 'here')

Videos From Places | Brighton

The other day, after a lot of planning, I went to Brighton with some of my friends. Despite the rainy start, it turned out to be a great day with some lovely people. I could ramble on but I put together a video of the day so I'll leave you with that instead - I think it sums it up pretty well.

Laura.

Song: Kings of the World by Purple Melon

Scrapbooks

I have a few scrapbooks and I love all of them. Scrapbooking is something that I've done for a few years now and it's a great way to keep memories together in one place (or three). In a way they compliment my blog; the scrapbooks are the images and photos to my life and my blog posts are the words.

As you can see from the photo I have three main ones, each with slightly different content. None of them are finished yet though so they are on going projects. The silver coloured one at the back was my first one and is probably the most random. I brought it in WHSmiths a while back but I think they still do them if you're interested. It has tickets, scraps from magazines, quotes and whatever else I find that I think is interesting in it. I definitely think this one takes the longest to put together because I'm a perfectionist when it comes to doing collages - the one thing I actually liked doing in my Art GCSE course. A double page collage can take me an hour or two to do in there. Although sometimes I just wait to collect something that will fit in the gap that's left - which can take quite a while haha.

But I also have some of my favourite quotes written in this one, but it won't surprise you to know I have a separate book for writing quotes in as well... yep. The tickets vary from train travelcards to concert tickets to theatre and art galleries entry tickets. The next scrapbook in the photo (the one with butterflies on) is from Paperchase and was a Christmas present from my Nana and Grandad - this one doesn't have anything in it yet. I'm planning to get some photos printed off properly and they will go in this one - mainly because the pages in it are pretty thick & good quality. I'd feel bad just sticking magazine scraps in it! I also don't have any photo albums apart from ones when I was little so it seemed like a good idea.

Last of all is the thickest one entitled "Laura's Life & Times". This was made for my by my friends (Alex and Leanne) for my 16th Birthday and it's probably my favourite one out of the three. It's filled with pictures of all my friends along with messages from most of them too. I dread to think how many hours it took them to make it. They left pages at the back for me to complete but with exams, school work and busy times I never got round to completing it. But as I've had some spare time now that it's the summer holidays I got quite a few more pages done. I could have photographed all the pages - but I wouldn't want to bore you, so I've just included a couple... (One of mine & one of theirs).

Although scrapbooks are sometimes time consuming and easy to get behind on they are definitely worth while. They're one of the first things I'd grab if I could only take a small number of items with me. As I've said in the past, some things don't last forever but at least this way I have a record of things I've done and most importantly - the people I've met.

Hope you liked this slightly different post to normal!

Laura.

Song: Patience by Take That

Summer Times

Pretty glad that it's the summer holidays, it seemed like a long wait between AS exams finishing and the end of term - it's crazy to think that one week has already flown past!
I've got quite a few things already planned for this summer including driving lessons, work and school work I have to do but I'll be seeing friends too though, so it's all good. It's so hard arranging stuff when people are all away and busy doing things at different times, that's summer for you I guess haha. Obviously there's also exam results coming up too, which I'm trying not to think about too much because what's done is done and nobody can change it now.

I don't know how many posts I'll be putting up on here in the next few weeks but hopefully it will be at least one per week. I hope you all have lovely summers even if the weather isn't all that great and make sure you keep in touch with all your friends over the 5 weeks even if it is just a text or facebook message. 

Twitter: lauraskelton_ 

Laura.

Song: Hometown Glory by Adele

Make You Love Me

"I can't make you love me if you don't..."

(Based on the song 'I Can't Make You Love Me' by Bonnie Raitt cover by Adele)

One of the worst feelings is when you like someone that doesn't like you back. I think nearly everybody has been there at some point and it isn't an enviable position to be in. You can easily fall into the trap of trying to make them like you because, at the time, that seems like the logical thing to do. In reality however, all it really does is push you further away from them. You may think that helping them with their relationship problems and being such a good 'friend' will mean that they'll suddenly realise what a 'nice' and reliable person you are and that they will end up liking you back. This rarely happens. After all they don't want to be in a relationship with an obsessive & clingy person. The reality is that people who are friends are the ones who end up getting together because they have mutual respect for each other. Whereas the 'try and make you like me' approach doesn't earn you any respect. They can take advantage of you because they know you'd do almost anything for them to like you - that isn't a good base for any relationship or friendship. Nobody deserves to be taken of advantage of or to be drowned in a weird 'obsessive' kind of love.

There is a way out  and that is to walk away from the so called 'relationship' you have with that person and leave them alone for a while. It's easier said than done but it's some of the best advice. They might, after some time, realise that they miss having you around and get back to you. On the other hand they might not, but you never known unless you give it a go. Friendships and relationships can't be one sided because it defeats the concept of them. Unfortunately you can't make some body's heart feel something that it won't but time can be such a wonderful thing...

"Morning will come and I'll do what's right, just give me till then to give up this fight - and I will give up this fight."

Laura.

Song: The Scientist by Coldplay

The Maze

Life is like a maze. You'll come across times where there are several choices and you have to decide which way to go - sometimes it will lead you to another choice or opportunity, other times you'll end up at what seems like a dead end. But the thing is, although you can't change your initial decision you can turn around and go a different way afterwards. There's never a right and a wrong way because you'll get to the end eventually even if it wasn't quite the easiest route or the way you planned it to be in the first place. There are things that block the way in the maze and restrictions on what you can actually do but you still have choices. Two things are guaranteed - there is a beginning and there will be an end; the rest is down to you...

Laura.

Song: Mr Brightside by The Killers

Wide Awake

"Yeah I was in the dark, I was falling hard with an open heart, I'm wide awake. How did I read the stars so wrong? I'm wide awake and now it's clear to me that everything you see ain't always what it seems. I'm wide awake, yeah I was dreaming for so long. I wish I knew then what I know now, wouldn't dive in, wouldn't bow down..."

Laura.

Song: Wide Awake by Katy Perry (Alex Goot Cover)

Realisation?

That feeling when you know something's indefinitely going to happen, but you refuse to believe it because you don't want it to be true. Then it actually happens and you wonder why you didn't prepare yourself for it in the first place. 

"We live a lie to make us see the truth."

Laura.

Song: The Fear by Ben Howard

Passing By

"I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time."

I feel like it's easy to let things pass you by sometimes - but try to keep hold of the people that make you happy and take the opportunities that come your way because you never know if you'll get a second chance.  

Laura.

Song: Every Teardrop is a Waterfall by Coldplay
- One of my favourite songs, ever.

Steve Jobs

"For most of my life, I've felt that there must be more to our existence than meets the eye." He admitted that, as he faced death, he might be overestimating the odds out of desire to believe in an afterlife. "I like to think that something survives after you die," he said. "It's strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and maybe a little wisdom, and it just goes away. So I really want to believe something survives, that maybe your consciousness endures... But on the other hand, perhaps it's like an on-off switch" he said. "Click! and then you're gone..." Then he paused again and smiled slightly. "Maybe that's why I never liked to put on-off switches on Apple devices."

- Steve Jobs

(From 'Steve Jobs' by Walter Isaacson)

Laura.

Song: How to Save a Life by The Fray

Here I Go

"I'd say I miss you, but think I'd choke on the words.
Dreamt a picture and you don't know how it hurts
and I've been thinking just how to tell you so here I go,
so here I go..."

I hate it when you don't know what to say or when you have so much you want to say, but just can't say it because it's the wrong time, in the wrong situation and the wrong circumstances.

Laura.

Song: Wherever You Go by Ron Pope

Life is unfair?

The phrase 'Life is unfair' is commonly heard but is life actually 'unfair' or is it just how we view different situations and react to them?

During life we are given opportunities; to travel, to gain experiences and do various things. Some people maybe given more opportunities than others; through being wealthy, more intelligent or even through pure popularity. However it's not always about quantity, but what you do with what you're given. Perhaps having an optimistic view of life will bring more good fortune than being pessimistic? Some of the poorest people can be the happiest. Not getting what you want all the time doesn't necessarily mean life is unfair.

However the divide between people is becoming increasingly noticeable. Why is it fair that one family can live in a large house and another family of the same size, a cramped flat? Why do the first family deserve a better life? There are so many situations in which somebody loses out or is worse off. Amongst younger people possessions are a key element of this, especially when it comes to new technology - if you haven't got the newest phone does that automatically make life unfair? I'd argue it doesn't. Most divisions between us come down to money and social issues, suggesting we are responsible for the 'unfairness'. Generally, everybody deserves to be equal, but in the real world it isn't always possible - at least not at the moment. Life can seem unfair sometimes but it isn't all the time and after all, life never promised to be 'fair'.

Laura.

Song: Euphoria - Loreen cover by Katie Sky link: here.

Mitch Albom

"All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

"Each affects the other, and the other the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."

"The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone."

"Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves." 

- 'The Five People You Meet in Heaven' by Mitch Albom

These quotes come from one of my favourite ever books, in fact I think it's possibly my favourite. I thought I'd share some quotes from it with you because we all know how much I love quotes haha!

Laura.

Song: Picking Up The Pieces by Paloma Faith

Rambled Update

As an AS student who finished my exams last Tuesday, I have come to realise just how much time school work takes up of my life. It's been really odd not having revision to do or an essay to write over the past few days. I guess it is mainly because my exams were within a two week period and quite squashed together - so the end of the constant revision came as a shock to me. However, most of my friends have their last couple of exams this week, which makes me happy because now I can actually go out and see them. It seems such a long time since I last saw them all together and not in waiting in a line for an exam to begin. I have some things planned already for the end of this week though, so it should be good.

The other thing that hit me after the 'not knowing what to do with myself' days was the fact that I have to start thinking about Universities again, which also reminds me of my AS exams. I know for a fact that I mucked up my English exam, which annoys me because that's what I really want to study at University. But, what's done is done and there's no point in worrying about it at the moment because I can't change it now. Regardless, I started looking at entry requirements for English and as I've said in the past the majority of them are so high. It's hard to judge what I should be aiming for with no predicted grades or AS results to base it on. Do I aim high to be disappointed? Or should I go with a safer bet, knowing I'll probably get in. Who knows. It's a question that only I can decide the answer to. My main problem is that I'm not amazing at one particular subject like most people are. I sort of get by in my subjects because I like them, rather than because I have a natural talent for them. I have to revise a lot to get the grades I want to get - unlike some people who can just do the exams without any extra effort required.

Anyway, other than the whole AS results looming and University becoming ever more significant, every thing's going okay. I'm looking forward to starting A2 with new topics and then the summer holidays. I know some people still have exams in the next month or so - so again, good luck.

Sorry for the long post but I think an update was needed haha!

Laura.

Song: We Are Young by Fun

Pressure & Friends

"No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river." - Mitch Albom

The pressure is on now. My AS Exams are in a matter of days and for the first time I'm actually really worried about my exams. When I sat my GCSE's I wasn't that worried, partly because they were modular and I had already secured a large percentage of the overall grades and partly because they weren't such a big deal. This time however, some of the exams are one hundred percent my overall AS grade which is daunting. Mind you the worse thing that can happen is that I have to resit the year - which isn't that tragic when you think about it.
But the great thing is, no matter what I get in my exams I know I'll still have my friends. They'll still be there even if I failed every single exam and I love that about them. The photos above remind me that although these exams are definitely important - they're not everything. 

I probably won't be posting very much from now until the 23rd of May due to my exams, so in case I don't get a chance to post again... Good luck if you're sitting exams in the next couple of months!

Laura.

Song: Beggin' (Cover) By Bill Downs and Max Milner 

Time

"You should see yourself, you think that you won't stumble like everybody else, but I got time just watch this space yeah, you just wait."

It's easy to jump straight into something without thinking just because you get the opportunity. If you wait you get to see the whole picture of the situation. Sometimes it is best to just go for it, but you have to think before you do. Time can be such a great thing, but also one of the worst.

Laura.

Song: Up With the Birds by Coldplay

Actions not words...

"You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's always their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter."

Laura.

Song: I Can't Make You Love Me (Cover) by Adele
It's probably one of my all time favourite covers, link 'here'

Dreams and Nightmares

"They've promised that dreams can come true, but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams too..."
- Oscar Wilde

Laura.

Song: Science and Faith by The Script

Changing Advice

It's easy to give out cheesy advice to somebody when they're facing a problem, anybody can do it - I have in the past. I've realised now though that just giving cliched advice to somebody doesn't make much difference to them. Sure, the message you're trying to put across may have some value - but right at that moment, that person's mind is just lost in the problem or situation they're in and it's the last thing they want to hear. Although words are one of the most powerful things we have they don't always help solve a problem. If they want your advice or opinion on something they'll ask you. Sometimes it's enough to just be there for somebody when they're going through a bad time because the chances are you can't fix their problem anyway. Listening, in my opinion, is usually more important than speaking. There's a difference between being a good friend, listening and being there for somebody, and just spewing out pointless words that don't really help anybody - it's just something you have to realise. Now I leave my cheesy advice and cliches to my blog posts rather than using it to 'solve' other people's problems.

Laura.

Song: Hell and Back by Greg Holden
Video: I think everybody should watch this, I've seen it happen so many times - 'Exiting the Friendzone' link 'here'.

Fire Away

With my AS exams looming, I've been feeling a bit down recently - worrying about what I'll get in my exams. It feels like I don't have enough time to revise everything well enough. But realistically worrying about not having enough time isn't going to give me anymore time, so I'm just going to do what I can in the time I have left. If the exams don't go so well, it certainly isn't the end of the world. Things always seem more important and potentially life changing when you're living through them, but afterwards you realise although they probably were important, they weren't life or death situations. I'll go into my exams hoping to do well but what happens, happens and as with so many things, only time will tell. Roll on the exams... and the best of luck to anybody revising for exams in the next few months.

"Take your aim, fire away, fire away. You shoot me down, but I won't fall..."


Laura.

Song: Titanium - Covered by Carrie Fletcher, the link is 'here'
Film: The Hunger Games - I saw it yesterday and it was amazing, I loved it.

Rise to the heights...

Everybody has their bad days but some people don't help themselves when things aren't going so well. It's definitely hard to be optimistic when things aren't going your way but some people seem to wallow in self pity instead of doing something about it. Some things can't be helped like a family member being ill or something similar. However, other things can be changed. I think changing your attitude slightly and bouncing back from the things that go wrong is always going to be the better option, rather than waiting for somebody to come along and magically make things better - because that person won't always be there to help. People who keep going regardless of what they go through are usually the ones who tend to succeed. It's easy to sit there feeling sorry for yourself because it is the easier option, and we've all done it including me, but it simply doesn't make whats happened any better.

'Because one must sink to the depths in order to rise to the heights.' - I Capture the Castle

Laura.

Song: The End Where I Begin by The Script
"Sometimes we don't learn from our mistakes and sometimes we've no choice but to walk away."