Wednesday 29 April 2015

Friendship

I can't even explain how important friendship is to me, but I am going to use this blog post and the next 20 minutes of my evening before bed to do the best that I can. 

Today, while working, I had a lot of time to think and basically just reflect upon life. My job obviously doesn't require using my brain (normally I use this time to either a) stress over uni work or b) actually make plans in my head of what I want and what I need to do). But today I gave that a break.

I'm the kind of person who is quite content being alone for a while. There's nothing I love more than reading a good book in bed, watching some TV or even going to the beach by myself (call me weird but I find it relaxing to lay in the sun, go for a swim and drive by myself). It relaxes me and I need my 'me time'. But lately, I have realised that instead of trying to be so independent and alone all the time (don't get me wrong, being independent is a good thing) I need to keep in mind that my friendships are important. And you need those people in your life. 

Quite often I just get into moods and complain that I don't have any good friends but I've realised just how wrong I am. I was just looking in the wrong places and focusing on the wrong people. Too many negative vibes there to last me a lifetime. 

I have (and always will) my bestfriend (and boyfriend) Kieran. But I've come to realise recently just how many other kind, caring and beautiful people I do in fact have in my life. Those people who will text you to check up on you and wish you're having a nice day. The people who do make time to see you and want to do fun things together. The ones who you can talk to about anything and everything and there is never an awkward moment. Some of them may even be reading this post. And if they are I really hope you beautiful souls realise I am talking about you and that I really do appreciate you for being in my life (not matter how little or how long you've been in it). 

Focus on keeping the people who will keep it real with you around. Forget about the people who forget about you. It's what I am trying to do. I hope it works. 

I know I am not alone in having spent too many days and nights alone sad because my 'friends' didn't want to hang out with me. It's been a hard lesson and sometimes it is hard to let go and move on from people who you thought you were going to be friends with forever, but people change. Life changes. 

Positive vibes, love and happiness to all and thank you for reading my post about friendship.
Kristelle xxx

Monday 27 April 2015

South West Rocks

I am back from another crazy adventure and it is time to write up a blog post about it after a long and (extremely) sucky day back in the real work aka. uni and an 8 hour shift at work lol. 

This time, Kieran and I chose to adventure somewhere that we had never been before. I'm not really sure how this place came to my mind, but I am so happy we went there because we had an amazing 3 days. South West Rocks is a small beach town, about halfway between Brisbane and Sydney which was about a 5 and a half hour drive from my home (for all those Aussies who actually know what I am talking about, you get the picture of where it is). 

Trial Bay is beautiful
I'll give a quick list of the highlights of the trip and then I will talk more about what we did and the fun we had!

- I got attacked by a Kookaburra and it stole my food out of my hand (this isn't the first time that has happened to me when I have been camping!), I cried (mostly because the bird stole my food)
- Overnight a kangaroo got into Kieran's food and ate a box of biscuits, Kieran blamed me for eating them
- I cut my arm on nothing
- We went fishing and caught 3 fish each
- Didn't get lost the entire trip
- Kieran went to the shops and bought me female products and the cashier thought it was funny
- We saw a kangaroo and I got sad because it was dead (no it wasn't dead because it sat up and it scared the shit out of me)
- We found a nudist beach and a lady warned us about old people down there


Friday
I got up bright and early to pack my things and do some uni homework before we went on our way. It took about 5 and a half hours to get there and Kieran drove 2 and a half, then I drove the other 3. I am a lot more at peace with sitting in the car, staring out the window and singing than he is. Within 2 minutes of me driving he complained of being bored/hungry. To put it nicely, it was a long 3 hours when I drove because he complains a lot. 

When we got to our destination, we immediately got food and made lunch. During lunch was when I got attacked by the kookaburra. The irony in this story is I had just finished retelling Kieran about the one time I went camping in the Blue Mountains with friends and a kookaburra stole my sausage sizzle straight out of my hand. No more than 2 minuets later, the exact same thing happened again, same food and all. Freaky, and yes I cried. Mostly because I wanted to eat that food and well sort of because birds freak me out a little bit and I was in shock.

After lunch we had the challenge of setting up our tent and then we went and bought groceries. After all the boring bits and pieces (and they weren't even bad) were done, we got to hang out and relax for a little while. There isn't much daylight in the day anymore, so we thought we would leave any of the exploring until the next two days because we didn't want to risk getting lost in the dark (because that wouldn't be a funny story for a very long time). We had dinner and a drink each and had a chill evening. 

Saturday
It was Anzac Day and we planned on getting up at 4:30am for the Dawn Service, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. We also considered going to the local club and playing 2 up (buuut again we didn't do that either). Instead we woke up early(ish) and got ready for the day. We went for drives around town to see what was around and what we could do later. We went swimming in the amazing pool at the campground we were staying at (it has water slides!!) and that's when my elbow randomly developed a cut and blood???

Our lame couple photo from the weekend that I didn't actually mean to take but am in love with
We checked out the beach and went swimming in the ocean, it was beautiful. Calm, no winds. Just peaceful. We went for walks along the beach and then got back in the car and went for another drive. Eventually (like 15 minutes later) we found a lighthouse and an amazing view overlooking a beach. This was around the time that the 'dead' kangaroo incident occurred. I was walking ahead of Kieran down the footpath, and I pointed out the kangaroo which was laying on its back with its paw over its head, and said I was sad it was dead. For some reason we walked over to it and then it suddenly sat up and I nearly wet myself. Just after this, a lady warned us not to walk down too far because there is a nudist beach down there. Not to worry, no one was around, but we had to watch out for them old folk.

1 of 100 photos we took of kangaroos because for some reason they fascinate us (yes we have seen kangaroos many, many
times before- we are Australian after all- they are just cool)
 
Beautiful view out near the lighthouse we found (sadly we forgot to take a photo of it though)
Earlier in the day we had made several trips to the fishing store because Kieran is obsessed with fishing. He needed up buying a new fishing rod because he loved it so much so he begged me to go fishing that night. Because I have never properly been and we now had two fishing rods, I agreed to go. So after dinner we packed the esky and chairs (and warm clothes) along with the fishing gear and set out to the lake. Surprisingly we got a really nice spot that I saw when we went for a drive earlier that day. It was pitch black and the only things around were kangaroos and other small animals. I caught 3 fish and so did Kieran. When I caught my first fish, I was so shocked I screamed and danced of joy. I let Kieran pull out the hooks because I didn't want to hurt the fish (and it was kind of gross) and I threw one back in the water (all out fish had to go back because they weren't big enough to keep). It was such a beautiful night, looking at all of the stars, talking and laughing and fishing together. It was something different and it was so much fun I am 100% glad he suggested fishing. 
Kieran and I both with 1 of the fish we each caught. I was so proud as you can probably see from my goofy smile
Sunday
Sadly Sunday was home day. It had been really cold on Saturday night so I was afraid of how cold it might be on Sunday. I was right it was cold. We rugged up as we cooked breakfast and prepared ourselves for the day. Kieran and I actually worked together for once to pack up the tent and everything else (normally I go for a long shower and am lazy, but at least I admit that haha). We then played air hockey (I won) and ping pong (I also won). We went for a drive and went for a walk along the rocks and took some beautiful photos before we decided it was probably better to just get in the car and take the journey home. The weather wasn't very nice and it was too cold to spend the entire day there. 
Kieran loves the long distance couple photos, they're always his idea
Another photo I got of the beautiful landscape with a wave breaking
Instead we stopped off at Port Macquarie on the way home for lunch and went for a nice walk there. It was cold and windy too which was disappointing but it was still a lovely time. Then we took our time on the drive home and talked for hours. The most surprising part about the car trips is that even though we were stuck in the car with each other for over 5 and a half hours and then we spent 3 straight days together without anyone else around, we didn't kill each other!

The camping ground we stayed at was lovely, probably the most 'camper' ground we stayed at. All the other places we have stayed definitely haven't felt as close to nature as South West Rocks did. Probably because we had ever been there before, it is a small town and I didn't know what to expect from it. Also, it is very open, there are lots of trees and the landscape is mountainous and coastal (which we aren't used to). The fact that native animals like kookaburras and kangaroos roam so freely in the caravan park probably made it the best experience (for the most part too). It is still so surprising to me how at ease the kangaroos were. They would hop right next to you and you would be standing less than a metre away and they did not seem phased at all. 

I had a beautiful weekend and I would like to give a shoutout to my amazing boyfriend for making it all possible. I love you and look forward to many more adventures with you. My life would be dull without you in it.

Thanks to everyone for reading, I hope to write of more adventures soon. 
Kristelle xxx

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Sydney's Storm April 2015

Am I the only person who always automatically feels crappy when the weather is bad? No?

I don't know what it is, but when it's freezing cold, windy and raining or storming like crazy, it immediately puts me into a bad mood. A mood where I just want to curl up on the lounge and watch TV or read a book or basically just do nothing. Nothing productive anyway. 

So in the last few days, Sydney (NSW, Australia),  has just suffered the "wettest two days in over 13 years", accompanied by a pretty horrific storm. (Click the link for some extra information about the storm).

I tried to go and feed my pet bunny this morning. I was outside for no longer than 2 minutes and I was drenched head to toe. Then I felt bad that I can't move my rabbit cage (it's too big, bulky and heavy, plus it had made its groove in the ground) and I have no where for my bunny inside. She's okay though, her cage is 3 stories and the top story is all enclosed with walls and all surrounding. 
My back and front yards are flooded, along with everyone else's in the surrounding areas. 

Amongst all the debris the storm has picked up and things that have been ruined, Sydney has become a sea of broken umbrellas from all of the brave (crazy?) people that tried to brave the storm before we were all just told to stay inside and postpone all unnecessary travel. 
The esplanade at Manly. Funny to think 2 weeks ago I was standing where that boat is, doing a photoshoot for a uni
project. Picture- John Granger
The Northern Beaches and the areas in the Central Coast, Newcastle and Illawarra regions from what I heard have had the worst of the storm. Dams are overflowing with water, creeks and rivers overflowing causing flash floods on roads, trees crushing cars, beaches being ruined by extremely strong winds, water sweeping people and their belongings away. 
A house in Maitland, doesn't resemble much of a house at the moment. Picture- Adam Taylor
My heart goes out to all of the people affected by the storms and the flash flooding. It can not be easy to watch your house or car or belongings just get washed away. I hope the communities stand strong and when the time comes, when the storm has passed to rebuild what they once had. 
Manly Dam which is currently overflowing and somehow looks like a waterfall. Picture- John Grainger 
Police, ambulance, firefighters and the SES (state emergency services) should be applauded on their efforts at evacuating, rescuing (although we all wish that wasn't necessary) and keeping the community as safe as possible during the difficult times. 
The sand as taken over everything thanks to the strong winds at Curl Curl Beach. Picture- Patrick O'Hara
Let us all stand together and hope that the cities and small country towns (such as Dungog) can rebuild and move past this tragedy. 
Stretch of 'road' in Maitland. Picture- Adam Taylor
If you're interested in knowing more of what has happened the last few days in Sydney, here are some good news sources to check out what has been going on. And in light of this tragedy, people still seem to film and get photos of some pretty cool things (giant fish swimming in the street in front of a school???)


All of the images are credited and taken from this news source.

There's just some links, but just Google it and thousands of results will show up!

Thanks for reading this post,

Kristelle xx

Wednesday 15 April 2015

How to Save Money

Hey everyone. So today I thought I would make a post on how to effectively save money. These days I think way too many young people have no idea how to save their money. I have way too many friends and know too many people who are always complaining that they only have $20 left in their accounts and "can not wait until their next pay so they can go and spend their money". I'll give you a brief overview of my working life & savings habits and then share some of my best money saving tips I have! 

Working Life Overview
  • Pre-working life (under 14 years old): 
    • Typically got money off my mum every now and then when I asked to go to the movies or something
    • Other than that the money I got came from birthdays, christmas and doing chores for my mum or my aunty. 
    • I used to always try and go by the "save half and spend half" rule
  • First job (14-15 years old):
    • Worked at McDonald's
    • Wasn't very good at saving lots of money
    • Would save for short term goals, i.e. concert tickets
    • Mum used to make me save at least $20 each week from my pay into a savings account
    • Having a key card was a bad idea: I didn't pay attention to what I would spend
  • 16-17-start of being 18/the remainder of high school
    • Didn't do 'formal' work
    • Money came from babysitting over the years
    • Saved all of that money to spend at schoolies (didn't spend it all- bonus)
  • Post-high school/uni student life
    • Became a workaholic
    • Focused on the future
    • Saves more money than I spend
    • Got a job straight from school and have worked there ever since
    • Each summer holidays I get an extra job (e.g. Christmas casual job and a seasonal theme park job)
    • Work as much as possible during all holiday breaks so I can ease off a bit during uni time to study and focus on the uni work
So that (in very basic terms) sums up my life to do revolving around working and saving habits!

Thursday 9 April 2015

Excited about...

Hey everyone! So I've been feeling a bit down lately with some of the crappiness that uni holidays brings (so much study, assignments to complete and I seem to work extra just to make myself feel like I am doing something worthwhile).

I thought I would make a little post to remind myself about all of the exciting things that I have coming up this year so I don't get disheartened (and so I know I do have fun things to look forward to).

1. Camping trip at the end of April
probably the easiest to focus on right now because it actually is so close (but feels so far away). We are visiting somewhere up the coast that I have been dying to go and see and are planning on doing a heap of fun things (I will post more about it after we have been!)
2. End of semester- 
I know I just said holidays are stressful, but that is mid-sem break when we get 2 weeks of stress because uni is not over and there is so much work to do. Break between semesters is different because we can actually take a breath and relax. Plus my friends and I agreed that if we tried hard this semester and got good results then we may reward ourselves with a road trip
3. Snow- 
Kieran and I missed out on going to New Zealand this year to go snowboarding with his friends because it was too expensive, BUT we are still going to get to go to the snow this year. We will just be going to either Perisher or Thredbo instead but I am excited because I have never been to the snow with Kieran before and I want to get back out on the mountain and go snowboarding again
4. My anniversary-
Okay so this year is 5 years. I don't know why I am so excited but come on, it's 5 years! I think our plan was pretty much no presents but spend the money on our trip to the snow. I love that. I'm not particularly a present oriented person, I'd rather spend the money on actually doing something crazy and adventurous. I really hope this happens because I am way too excited already
5. My birthday-
This year I will be the big 20. No longer a teenager. No reason for me to be overly excited, but I love my birthday and I love my family and close friends so I know I have this to look forward to
6. Christmas- 
I like the food and enjoy the family time. Enough said
7. Bali-
Probably the biggest one of all, happening just after Christmas and over the New Years. I haven't been overseas since I was 11 or 12 and this is going to be the best. I can't wait
8. Mum's birthday-
I will be helping her throw a party because this year she is 40 and that is something to celebrate! Plus I just love my mum
9. My sister's birthday
She will be 18 this year and if that's not scary/crazy/exciting to know that my baby sister will be 18 then I don't know what is! (plus I totally called dibs on taking her out for the first time)
10. My sister's formal-
Okay so these are starting to be about other people, but I'm still 100% looking forward to these things. She has already asked me to help her look for dresses, figure out her hair and make-up, accessories, shoes, just basically all the fun things. I am so excited to help her with everything and I can not wait to see how everything turns out on the night (even though it will not be until September)
11. I should of just started with this before 9 and 10 but- watching my sister grow up!
This year is so exciting for her and as a proud big sister it is therefore exciting for me. She will finish high school, graduate, complete her HSC, formal, turn 18, and go to schoolies (I'm just keen for the stories of craziness for that one).

I know this won't be all I have to look forward to either, which is another thing that makes me excited. This is only the planned! I have totally improved my own mood by about 500% in writing this post. Thanks to anyone who actually read it!
Until next post, 
Stelle xx

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Am I Sober?

So I've been divided on this for a very, very long time. I live in Australia and I am currently 19 years old. The legal drinking age here is 18. But if I am being completely honest (and I am right now) where I lived as a teenager, the people I know and people I went to school with all started drinking around 13/14. I think I had my first drink when I was 14 (one drink, no big deal?) then when I attended parties from probably 15 and on, there was always alcohol around so I would always drink it (everyone else did so what was the big deal?).

Looking back on this now, I can not believe I did that. Sure I didn't drink much (because how much does a small 15 year old girl actually need to drink before they are drunk, answer: not much at all). It was probably the worst thing I could do for my body! Even though it might have been once or twice a month when I went to a party, it was more than it should of been. 

There are times I can remember (pretty ironic that I use that word considering I don't remember the nights at all, more so the consequences of said nights) where I didn't know what I was doing. Parties that police showed up to, times I would throw up everywhere (classy, I know) and the countless hangovers I had the next day. Not to mention that it became worse when I was 17, had many friends who were already 18 (easier access to alcohol) and the fact that I had my license and I was always too scared to drive pretty much the entire next day after a night out (so I should of been).
This was one of the worst nights I ever had out. Didn't have much to drink
but was sick enough not to remember a thing. This night my friends told me
they think my drink was spiked
Once I turned 18, the novelty of alcohol was no where near as big as I thought it would be. Everyone makes 18 out to be a big deal because you can go clubbing and legally drink, smoke, gamble etc. Sure, I went clubbing 5 months after I turned 18. I still drank regularly though (mostly still parties and "gatherings" with my friends).

I am now 19, I turn 20 is less than 6 months and I am over it. I am over the hangovers, the sickness, the drama that intoxicated people cause. I am over the stupidity of the drunk people, the desperation of drunk guys and girls in clubs and I am over the sleaziness people seem to think it is okay to bring about when they have been drinking. 

I honestly don't remember when exactly my last drink was. I remember probably 2 months ago sitting down at home after work one night and having a glass of wine while I was eating cheese (how adult of me). I went clubbing about a month ago and had one drink before I got there and I had a bouncer harass me about my alcohol intake for the night (I was probably looking bored and tired waiting to get into the club, not sloppy and drunk like everyone else). I've been out so many times and I am always the first to say I am happy to drive. My boyfriend quite enjoys that because he loves to drink beer with his mates when we are out, so I just drive. Even last Saturday I went to a gathering at my friends house for Easter and I didn't touch alcohol once. It is unappealing to me now. 

I am happy and I feel better now that I have stopped binge drinking (and yes that is exactly what I would call what I have done since I was 14). Drinking to the point where I was drunk on random nights was 'fun' at the time. But now I know better. I am trying to get back into shape as my adult metabolism already wasn't what it used to be when I was 16. I don't need the drinks to have fun anymore and I'm okay with that.

I feel like I should also add in here that my body has never been very good at processing alcohol. No matter how little or how much I consumed, I am always sick. I am sick that night and sometimes I even spend the next few days trying to recover from the one night of drinking. I get extremely bloated which leads to me feeling sad and self conscious and there's no reason I should make myself feel like that if I don't have to. But yeah, it's just not for me.

That's not to say I am going to preach about how drinking is stupid and tell everyone not to do it. I've made my choices for myself and I am extremely happy with them. I'm not going to shun my friends for drinking or anything (lol) I just don't want to be pressured or looked down upon because I say no (sometimes that happens, but I'm not overly fussed). As long as people do not put themselves or especially others in danger from their drinking (fighting, driving or anything else that is dangerous) then I say drink as much or as little as you want. 

Thanks for reading, I would love to hear anyone else's opinions on the subject. Until next blog post!
Stelle xx 

Monday 6 April 2015

Easter 2015

Hey everyone. It's been a little bit since my last post because nothing overly cool or fun has happened and I haven't been inspired. Today I thought I would take a moment out of the day to wish everyone a Happy Easter and that everyone (who celebrates) had an amazing weekend just like I did!
Honestly, I would have been over the moon with this as an Easter present. I love bunnies and I want another one (I have one currently)
Good Friday
Long weekends are my favourite. Not that they mean much to me because I don't work full time and get them as holidays, but because the people I love get the break they deserve and I can spend time with them. Friday was a lazy day to start. Kieran and I slept in until around 11am, I made breakfast and we watched the Simpsons. Best part of our day was going and watching Fast and Furious 7 (no spoilers here because I would have cried if I read spoilers before I watched it) but I loved it and I did cry. 100% recommend everyone to go and watch this movie! 
Afterwards we went and hung out at one of Kieran's friends houses and it was nice. Nothing fancy, just pizza (for them) and talking. Then I'm pretty sure we came home and went to bed #oldpeople

Easter Saturday
What a great day to go shopping- for everyone else. Bonus: holiday pay for us retail workers. I started work at 8am and worked a few hours. Then came home and watched movies with Kieran (who had only just woken up when I got back). Then I had another shift in the afternoon (split shifts kill my life, but it was a public holiday sooo who would turn down the money???).
Night time, my bestfriend was having an 'Easter' party. Whatever it was, it was fun. I cheated at Kings Cup (fake drinking) and laughed at everyone being drunken messes. 

Fun facts from Saturday night:
1. if you drink anything from a red cup, people will assume it is alcohol (I don't/can't drink anymore and I knew people would question it if they knew, so hey why not make some fun out of it by cheating at a drinking game, FYI I would say I won because I got the best laughs out of it)
2. Don't mess with Dani and her music, she will get angry
3. Apparently matching tracksuits are cool??
4. Kieran's biggest wish when he is drunk and hungry at 1am will be a steak, chips and gravy
5. He will give up on that and ask for Maccas instead
6. He will tell you that you are the best wife for getting him Maccas and paying for it
7. There is nothing better than going home to your own bed and being able to drive home because you haven't consumed any alcohol

Easter Sunday
Ugh. I am not religious. I respect it all and everything, but I don't want to hear about it. Or have it shoved in my face. And that's what Easter seems to be. People bragging about going to church and people going on about God (please see Easter Monday for more about this). I get that to many people it is a religious holiday, but to me it is literally a bunch of days that some people get off work and that other people (aka. me) get paid a lot of extra $$$ to work. Oh and you spend time with family. And most people eat a lot of chocolate (once again, not me). Easter just annoys me. That's all.

Today we went to an Easter lunch with Kieran's family. Hmm, not the most fun thing I have ever done. But hey, it makes the grown ups happy we pretend to care about Easter and spend time with them. It probably wasn't that bad, I was just super tired, hungry and felt sick all day. Night time wasn't much better, we came home to my house and watched a movie and went to bed at 9:30pm. It was a long day.
Before Easter lunch with Kieran and his family
Easter Monday
Another fun day for shopping- while I'm working. Started at 8am again but this time got to work straight until 2pm. It was alright for the first few hours, then it was insane. Why do people go crazy when the shops are shut for a day? I don't understand. Other than work, I was pretty lazy. The weather was awful today and it made me sad and reminded me how sick I feel. Kieran and I took a trip this afternoon to N2 Extreme Gelato and it was amazing (I didn't get a photo because we were both literally too keen to eat it). The night is ending (it's currently 8:46pm) with me searching for the new Grey's Anatomy episode & Teen Mom OG to watch, listening to workout playlists (without actually working out), writing this post and probably about to drink a cup of tea. I feel crappy but I think it's a hormone thing right now.

Thanks for reading about my Easter (if you managed to get to the end). I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend and I will be back with another post soon!

On a side note- it is uni holidays and I am so happy.

Stelle xx