Weekends

I love the weekend as much as anyone else. Not because it means days off uni and days off work (it never usually means days off work) but because in between everything, I get to spend time with the people who mean the most to me. This weekend was no exception of course (except that I didn't have to work at all- yay)

Friday 

Started the day at 6am to get myself up and ready for an exam. It was 39 degrees Celsius on Friday and my exam room didn't have air con... I sat in there for 3 hours and wrote 16 pages in total for 4 essays. This is definately not part of my weekend. But my weekend started early at about 1pm when I had finished my exam and driven to the beach. It was a beautiful day and I'm so happy I got to be out there at my favourite place. 

Typical Friday night fashion I hung out with Kieran and we fell asleep curled up on the lounge together at about 10:30pm. Oh well. 

Saturday

Finally the day Kieran got to do his present I bought for his 18th birthday. The V8 Race Car Driving experience at Wakefield. Again, I woke up at 6am to get everything ready and drive the 2 and a half hours to be there for his 9:30 session. It was nice spending time together on the car trip and he loved driving the V8, he wanted to go again right after he was done. I'm glad he enjoyed it and it made me so happy knowing I gave him something he wanted (without him ever asking for it, becaue I'm a great present giver lol). It was a beautiful day out there and he was definitely the youngest person there to drive. The lady also mistook us for a young married couple, which was funny. 

Afternoon called for a nap after I drove almost 5 hours for him that day :( 

Night time we had plans at my best friends place because she was having a BBQ/ spa and drinks night. I was exhausted but had a wonderful night. Again got told by the family friends mum (do not know how to explain this link) that Kieran and I are basically married (I never know whether people mean it as a compliment or insult, but I take it as a compliment because love him). I ate donuts, I soaked in the spa and I watched my drunken friends run around naked and have to force them to get dressed. It was a fun night. I love them. 

Sunday 

Sleepovers= maccas breaky run. I was the sober, responsible adult who drove and we honestly bought about $70 worth of McDonalds for 7 people. Kieran and I left not long after because he was supposed to go out with a friend and I had to study. 

Of course that didn't happen, it reached 43 degrees Celsius according to my phone today and by 10:30 this morning the heat was already unbearable. We went straight to Kieran's house and went swimming. Chill mornings and then layed around in the cool house watching movies and talking and just hanging out. Even though it was so hot, today was perfect (oh and even though he kept trying to drown me lol). 

The boat is always there with us in the pool. I had a good weekend with my favourite people. But now, I am tired. It's just after 10:40pm and I have an exam tomorrow afternoon (last one!!). It's also my little sisters birthday and we are going to the movies tomorrow night with our bf's to see Mockingjay Pt 1. (finally) and I'm pretty excited. 

Thanks for reading my quick (and probably horrible looking) post (because I'm on my phone about to fall asleep). 

I had to share my happiness with you all! :)

Stressed

It's officially that time of the semester that every single University student dreads... exam period. It's different at all universities, but at mine it lasts for 3 weeks and exams are held at 3 different times each day (9am, 1:30pm and 5pm), 6 days a week (Monday- Saturday).

I understand that exams are meant to test the knowledge that you have accumulated through attending lectures and tutorials and sometimes extra classes throughout the semester, but I personally believe there is way too much emphasis on some of these final exams. Especially exams that are worth 60% of your course mark and are 'you must pass this exam to pass this course'. Because honestly what a waste all of the assessments and tests and quizzes you've done over the last 13 weeks if you can fail in one 3 hour make or break exam.

Exams stress me out. I've never been the best at dealing with stress that exams bring (or any kind of stress really) but here are my top ways to manage stress and take care of your health. 
*side note: I do all of these things when it gets to stressful times during exam period but it doesn't make me stress free, I've still had my share of nervous breakdowns when combinations of things have pushed me over the edge (exams and personal issues etc.)*

1. Make a schedule and stick to it as much as possible- This one is my number one tip and to me it really is make or break. I like to be organised and I really need a schedule and to write everything down because otherwise I seem to forget everything. Schedule in your work hours, time to study, time to relax, time to hang out with friends. Then sticking to that is probably the hardest part but it is very rewarding
2. Set yourself achievable goals- Depending on my classes and how I find them, I set myself different goals for each class (i.e. Microeconomics- pass, Consumer Behaviour- High credit/low distinction). But more than that I make the goals realistic. If I told myself I am aiming for a HD in economics I would drive myself crazy and go completely overboard on the amount of time I try and study for the one subject, while I would probably forget about everything else and stress myself out like crazy in between all that. Set goals and make them SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound)
3. Make sure you have time for yourself- I always need to do this to ensure I don't lose my sanity. Whether time for yourself is catching up on your favourite TV shows, writing a blog post or taking an extra long bath while you read a book- you need something to relax you and put aside the thoughts of study for an hour or so. 
4. If you're going to procrastinate, at least do something useful- Okay, so some people might not think this is the 'best' advice. But I am being realistic, the majority of us will procrastinate studying for our exams. This can be for any number of reasons (for me it is usually because I don't like the unknown and put it off for waaaaaay too long). When I am procrastinating study, I take the time to do something that needs to be done around the house (e.g. I'll do three loads of washing, clean my room, mow the yard, clean the entire house...) I feel better knowing that if I'm not studying at least I am doing useful things instead of watching an entire season of greys anatomy that day instead. 
5. Make sure you keep on top of your health! If you're feeling physically ill because of the stress of exams, it is always important to remind yourself that you need to be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner (healthy meals too), drinking your fluids and getting some exercise each day. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I like to take a step away from my books and put on my running shoes and go for a jog and listen to some music. By the time I get back home, although I feel tired from the run, I feel better within myself and am ready to get back to the books. 
1. Mental health is important too! Issues with this for me occurred in the first semester this year, I was overwhelmed and wanted to give up so many times. I had a lot of personal things going on which didn't in any way help my stress but I knew that I needed to take care of myself. Failing a class is not the end of the world. It's unfortunate but it happens to many people. I took a step back from overloading myself to the point where I was having panic attacks and couldn't do anything. I failed a class, but I managed to get myself better. And it is the most important thing any of us can do!

I know not everyone will find what I've suggested helpful, but if you struggle and nothing so far has worked for you, I suggest you give these a go!

Some info about my uni and my classes (because they are different everywhere)
Grading system at my uni:
Fail- Below 49
Pass- 50-64
Credit- 65-74
Distinction- 75-84
High Distinction- 85-100

My classes this semester: (and goal marks)
Accounting for Decision-Making: Credit
Principles of Microeconomics: Pass (stupid 60% exam)
Consumer Behaviour: Credit-Distinction
Marketing Research: Credit-Distinction

Classes last semester: (and actual marks)
Marketing Fundamentals: Credit
Introductory Statistics: Credit (stupid 60% exam)
Principles of Management: Credit
Techniques and Elements of Finance: Fail (stupid 60% exam and stupid subject haha)

Thanks for reading!

4 Years

I made a post previously about my anniversary, but it was incomplete to say the least. I talked more about why love was important and then briefly about how I went out to dinner at my favourite restaurant with my boyfriend for our four year anniversary. We planned to do other things for our anniversary, but due to it being on a Wednesday, both of us working completely different schedules, bad weather and just overall busy lives, not everything we wanted to do had been done until now.

All we wanted for our anniversary was:

1. Dinner on the night at our favourite place to eat
2. A day away at one of our favourite places 
3. A special gift that would last forever

I'm happy to say we finally did all of those things (yay). I already spoke about number one here, so now I'm going to write about number 2 and 3. 

A day away at one of our favourite places
A few weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday morning we drove down to the South Coast to go to Kiama. Nothing beats a Maccas breakie and car trips with loud music and awful singing (mostly on my part anyway). We explored Kiama (who knows how many times we have actually done this now, but it's such a beautiful place so it doesn't matter).

Kiama Lighthouse

Kiama Blow Hole

One of the first things we had to do when we got to Kiama was go and visit the Kiama Blow Hole. First of all because it's really cool (duh), secondly because we had something we had to leave on the fence surrounding the area out towards the ocean. I'm sure everyone has heard of this which even though ruined the bridge, is still super cute. Something similar was started near the Blow Hole in Kiama, so Kieran and I thought we should join in on the couples fun. We bought the biggest lock we could find and engraved (extremely messily because it is so much harder than it looks) our names, our anniversary and some random heart. 

The padlock we left at the Blow Hole, Kiama

I put it on the fence and then I let Kieran have the honours of throwing the keys as far as he could into the ocean around the Blow Hole. We were feeling super cute after this and also hungry so we ate hot chips and sat in the sun at the park breathing in the fresh air, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying each others company. 

A bit later we ended up going for a walk around (again) and bought ice-cream from the best ice-cream shop and then went to the rock pool to again lay in the sun and this time swim. 

The Ice-Creamery, Kiama

The water was absolutely freezing, but we gave it a go and then sat in the sun to warm back up. We walked around town holding hands, talking, laughing and it was the perfect day I had imagined. In typical fashion I fell asleep in the car on the way home (he drove) and we got home without getting lost in the dark (first time yay) and had a BBQ at my house with family for dinner. Perfect day.

A special gift that would last forever
Originally this was an idea Kieran suggested about 6 months ago. We came up with more of an idea together but were always a bit hesitant (well I was the hesitant one because I am a little chicken and scared of anything that will hurt). But eventually we found the time and worked up the courage (well that part was only affecting me) and we went and got our matching tattoos. 

Our couple tattoo

Permanent. Yep they are there forever. Just how we will be together forever. Something small and simple to symbolise our love for each other. Some people have literally thought we were crazy to get matching tattoos, but it's not each others names, only a symbol. We thought the tattoos through for a long time, discussing "what if's?" such as what if we break up? But we came to the conclusion, he is my first love and I am his, even if we did go our separate ways in the future we would both clearly have a spot in each other's hearts forever :-)

Moving on to my next point, I was so scared to get this done. I think the pain was greatly exaggerated by everyone though. I cried for at least 10 minutes before the tattoo artist even touched me. Yes, I will admit that made me look incredibly stupid. Once he started, I could feel a lot of pressure and I will be honest it only hurt on the boniest possible part of my wrist.  I didn't cry when it was being done. Only before. I don't know why, but Kieran found it funny. I went first so I wouldn't chicken out. I'm happy we did it. Now for the 3 weeks without the beach or pool so it can properly heal :(

Bottom line, I love Kieran and am extremely happy we celebrated our 4 year anniversary this way.

Thank you for reading guys!

Friendship

If there's anything that I've learnt in my 19 years of life, it's that friendships are important. If anyone else out there is like me, you'll go through phases where you think 'who cares I don't need friends, I'm quite content being alone blah blah blah' but at the end of the day, you do need friends. And you need fabulous ones at that. 

I've struggled a lot over the years (especially in high school) to either make friends or maintain friendships. There's so many reasons why and here are the main ones:

1. I would always choose the wrong people to be friends with. There's clearly plenty of reasons that define the phrase 'choosing the wrong friends' but a main one for me is that some of the people I was friends with on/off throughout high school were just genuinely uncaring, nasty people. 
2. I give people second (and third and fourth and twenty fifth) chances when they don't deserve them. I'm too forgiving. Someone was mean to me or said something nasty that I didn't deserve? I'd forgive them and keep being friends and telling them secrets simply because I'm too forgiving (and naive). I'm not saying there's anything wrong with forgiving people and giving them another chance, but I've learnt I need to be extremely careful with who I give those chances too. Oh and if they make the same 'mistake' twice (spreading lies about you, saying nasty things behind your back), odds are they don't deserve a third chance. 
3. I look for the good in people. Pretty self explanatory but allowed me to overlook the awful qualities that some friends I chose possessed. 
4. Lack of things in common. One thing I've learnt from being out of high school and being an adult, is you can't be friends with someone who you don't have things in common with. Sure you can be superficial friends for a while but you'll get bored with each other and move on pretty fast. 
5. People who don't put the same effort into the friendship as you do aren't worth it. If you're always the one calling, texting or trying to make plans with people who just don't seem interested or never do he same back, forget them. Same goes for in a relationship. You deserve people around you who put 100% into a friendship just the way you do. 
6. You only get back what you give. Same as above it works the other way around. If you can't put effort into a friendship, don't expect them to either. And if the other person is the one always making plans and trying and you don't, you need to either: be a better person and make the effort or gently let the person know you don't think you're compatible friends. 
7. Never choose friends for convenience. It's stupid and it's not real friendship. In high school most people will become friends with each other because they are in the same class, or they saw each other in the playground and want someone to sit with. High school friendships don't often last after you graduate unless you have developed real friendships for reasons other than convenience. Believe me when I left and started my 'new' life I stopped talking to all but (maybe) 10 people. 

I'm lucky that I've found some extremely good friends in my life after high school. It's okay not to have many friends, because I believe the more friends you have, the harder it can be to keep up with them in a realistic world and the friendships can become superficial. I'm still getting to the point where I discover all of the bad friends I have and get rid of them for good like I've done to so many others (see seven reasons above). I want to be able to say you're either my bestfriends or we are acquaintances. It's hard to have a middle ground. Some people won't agree with this but it's MY way of seeing friendships. 

Thanks for reading! 

                                                      

                                  

                                       

                             

                               

                               

P.s there's more pictures I wanted to include but of course I can't find them on my phone when I need them!