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

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 

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

7 days in 15 minutes

Hey everyone! The last week of my life hasn't been overly exciting but I have done a bit and I thought I would share, along with some thoughts I have (it's 12:15am as I start to write this and I should probably sleep as it is Monday aka uni day, but oh well).

The week started dull, Monday (because I don't even remember the last weekend right now). Monday = uni day. This particular Monday was test day in my IT class and group debate day in Human Resources. Worst 5 minutes of the day was when I did my speech in the debate. Yeah, public speaking ain't my thing. Anxiety levels were truly peaking today, all over a little speech, it left me feeling awful all day leading up to and after it was over. Worked out with my mum and it made me feel a little calmer. I also had to work. Bummer

Tuesday, no better. Grocery shopping, cooking and then work. Got to see my boyfriend for half an hour after work. Complete highlight of the day.

Wednesday. Ah the first day of death. Woke up with the worst cold/flu/sore throat thing in a long time. Did assignments and watched Pretty Little Liars. *side note: just tell me why 'A' is 'A'. I don't get it. I've spent so much time reading up on theories in the past years. I got the reveal and the major clue, but I still don't get it.* Oh and I also worked.

Thursday, another uni day. Long day, made worse by feeling crappy with the sickness. Home time was good, spending time with Kieran was even better. We had dinner and he slept over. Falling asleep in his arms was the best part of my week. Note- I was extra happy today because I didn't have to work! I also made jelly shots for Saturday. I regretted not making alcohol free because soon enough I craved jelly. 

Friday, TGIF am I right? Wrong. No one cares it's Friday if they know they have to work on the weekend. Spent the day again doing homework, worked out, watched Greys Anatomy. I used to be so in love with Derek and Meredith and their happiness but I just don't know anymore. She's so independent and he doesn't fit. But their characters showed me what love could do and I will ship them forever. I worked tonight again as well. 

Saturday. The absolute longest day of my week. I had to wake up early to vote (sigh, people shoving their beliefs in my face and 'encouraging' me to follow along and vote for them is not my thing either). Photoshoot was next (I will post about this probably in the next week or so). It was for uni and it was so much fun. I was basically just the boss. Not the model, not the photographer, just the boss. I am good at being the boss. Work was next (again, yes 5th time this week trust me I know). Then clubbing adventures with Kieran after work! This was a messed up night and I was sick, tired and verbally (almost physically) abused by a bunch of guys. Not fun. I left early with Kieran and cried half the way home on the train (about 30 minutes). Kieran then fell asleep on my shoulder and my little sister picked us up from the station. I fell asleep as little spoon with him so it made my night a bit better. 

The week definitely ended better than it started. Sunday. My favourite day. Not sure why, because I don't always get to be lazy. Today though, I slept in and then made myself, Kieran, my sister and her friend a big breakfast. I worked AGAIN (6 out of 7 days, solid). Went out to dinner with Kieran again and ended up laying in bed perfecting assignments and writing this post. 

Saturday night shenanigans. I think we can all appreciate just how much we clearly love each other ;)

Kieran and I spent the weekend pretending we are married (I'm not sure why, it's just funny) and I have extreme baby fever tonight (thought I would share as I'm feeling honest and now sort of tired).

I don't know if anyone cared and I'm sorry for the lame post, but thanks for reading! Also everyone keep your fingers crossed (or whatever it is that you do in this sort of situation) and hope that Kieran gets better and no more bad news. I may have to wrap this boy in bubble wrap to protect him.

Stelle xx

It's a Crazy Life

Hey everyone! So for some reason I seem to still have time to make a quick post even though I am crazy busy with everything right now (hence the title of the post).

I've noticed I have had a lot of new readers recently so I would like to quickly share a little bit about who I am and what I do for those of you out there to get to know me a bit better (my last post is so outdated and I'm not even sure I am the same person anymore!) So alas, here are some quick facts about me!

- My name is Kristelle and I am 19 years old, turning 20 in just over 6 months

- I have the sweetest boyfriend named Kieran and we have been dating for 4 and a half years (we are high school sweethearts)

- I am a uni student at Macquarie University and am studying a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Marketing & Human Resources (I enjoy both and want to keep my options open)

- I usually work about 3-4 shifts a week at work

- I love the people I work with because they are all so friendly (when I actually get to work with people and I'm not rostered on by myself lol)

- I spend approximately 5 hours on a Tuesday cooking for my boyfriend (I am his personal meal prep chef and I actually enjoy it because I love cooking so much)

- I am 100% a BBG girl! I love Kayla Itsines and I believe she has changed my lifestyle for good. I used to be really into drinking all the time, eating nasty take away several times a week (Maccas was literally my life) and I didn't really do much exercise (other then when I would play netball). Now I haven't eaten McDonalds in over 2 months, I exercise regularly and have a healthy diet. I do eat some 'unhealthy' foods but I limit my intake and choose the 'healthier option'. E.g. nights at Wenty I will still eat my chicken snitzel and chips, but I'll get the smaller meal and add a side salad. It's what works for me

- The beach will always be my go to place when I want something to do 

- I have one tattoo (hoping to make that two soon) and double piercings in each ear + my bellybutton pierced

- I love to go on adventures and I have 3 big adventures set up for this year (you'll find out the first two soon and the third is the biggest because it is overseas!)

- I love to read and write & my all time favourite book series will always be Harry Potter, all time favourite book is Looking For Alaska and my current favourite books are the Paradise series by Simone Elkeles 

That is all I can think of from the top of my head!

Here is an old photo from September 2012 of Kieran and I at my Year 12 formal (we weren't allowed +1's that's why he is only in a T-Shirt).

I just want to say that I have been kind of struggling lately trying to balance everything in my life. I know it comes super easy to some people but it is hard for others. It's hard for me to balance going to uni, studying + homework + assignments, working, exercising, spending time with my boyfriend, going out with my friends, spending time with my family, having alone time. I don't want to miss out anything and I am not happy to ever have to sacrifice one thing for the other. I can't even tell you which of these is my number 1 priority because I feel like they all are. I have a planner and I write everything down I need to do, sometimes it makes things easier! If you have any tips on balancing life, please let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

Blue Mountains, Hiking and Waterfalls

Hey everyone! I finally have another post to make and I am very excited to be writing about this because it was so much fun!

Last Saturday, true to our promise on the bucket list, Kieran and I woke up early and picked an adventure we thought we were up for that day (unfortunately it could not have anything to do with swimming because I had gotten stitches in my arm the day before and was not allowed to get them wet or do anything that would over work that arm- including working out and swimming). So we picked something 'easy' travelling to the Blue Mountains to walk some of the trails! I was extra excited that I got to cross two things off my bucket list in one go because we went on an adventure to the Mountains to go hiking and we found a waterfall (we found quite a few actually, but the bigger and better ones I wasn't coordinated, nor strong enough to climb to- especially with my weak arm). 

The first waterfall we found- small but beautiful

In the end, we ended up hiking for just over 2 hours and our legs felt like jelly by the end of it. It had recently rained, so unfortunately it was slippery and muddy but that didn't stop us. I'm not too clear on all of the names of the trails we took, but I know we started at Echo Point (where the lookout of the 3 sisters is in the Blue Mountains) and we walked around another trail towards Katoomba Falls.  

I love the things that nature can create

The day started off freezing cold, despite how hot we knew it was back home, but we were in the Mountains so it was expected. By the end of our walk, we were sweating because the temperature had jumped up about 15 degrees Celsius. 

I love this photo because we were mid-adventure, exhausted but so happy to be doing something fun together  

Doing the walk (we estimated we walked about 14km that day) left me feeling so great by the end of the day. I had been lacking in my workouts at the start of the week, so by ending the week with this exercise filled adventure, left me feeling amazing!

I am so in love with how green and lush everything was in the national park (and so in love with this boy)

Short, yet sweet post because I feel the pictures say more about the adventure than my words ever could. Keep your eyes out for more posts coming soon!

Thanks for reading, 

Stelle xxx

Liebster Award Nomination

Hey everyone!

So something a little different for this post today. Recently I was nominated by Jenny (The Travelling Donkey) for the Liebster Award! It is all about highlight small blogs (200 followers or less) that you think need more support. I feel pretty honoured to have received this nomination because I didn't think that 1. anyone other than a few of my friends and boyfriend read my blog, 2. anyone actually cared about my blog and 3. I thought I was just going on about stuff no one cared about! So I want to say thank you to Jenny for motivating me to continue to make the time to blog and for putting a smile on my face to show me that people actually do care about what I have to say (and the views actually aren't just my friends clicking over and over)

The rules for Liebster Award are simple:

1. Thank the person who nominated you

2. Answer the questions given by the nominator

3. Nominate another 11 bloggers (with 200 or less followers) and link them

4. Create 11 new questions for the nominees to answer

5. Notify all nominees by social media/blogs

Questions received from The Travelling Donkey

1. Favourite memory?

I don't think I can choose a singular favourite memory from my life! I have too many great things to remember. I will however say that my favourite memories in the last 5 years have probably all occurred with the same person- my wonderful boyfriend Kieran. I'll give you my top 3 that come to mind when I think of Kieran. First off I think of our second anniversary when he gave me my promise ring. I thought it was so sweet and special and I cried (I tried to hide the fact I cried so now I just busted myself lol hi Kieran). Secondly, I think time we decided to go camping in Kiama (the first time) and it bucketed down with rain the entire 3 days we were there and our tent started to leak water. We couldn't buy a new tent (limited $) so we drove all around trying to find a hardware store so we could 'fix' the tent. In the end Kieran bought tarps and duct tape and made a shelter over our tent. It was hilarious and it worked. Lastly in my top 3 would be the day we got our matching tattoos because they mean a lot to both of us and it's something that is going to be there forever.

2. What is the top location in the world you would like to visit?

This is tricky because there are so many places in the world I would love to go. I know I am going to sound like such a cliche right now, but ultimate goals are to be able to travel around Europe. In particular: France, Italy, Amsterdam and Greece. But less cliche for some reason (I think it just sounds so so appealing- and Kieran wants to do this with me) I would LOVE to visit Canada. I think I change that to my top location. 

3. Why did you start blogging?

Well I have had a tumblr blog for years. But I was sort of getting over reblogging pretty pictures and wanted something more personal where I could share my thoughts and feelings, adventures and experiences and any other quirky little things I found. I enjoy writing (although I am not very good at it) and I thought it would be fun to put everything out there in the open and connect with people all over the world and let people get an insight into my life. 

4. Favourite book at the moment?

Still my favourite book at the moment has to be John Green's, Looking For Alaska. I don't know how to explain why. The book just gets me. I get it. I don't know, for someone who likes to write I seem to be horrible at putting reasons for liking things into words. A close second would be Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles (highly recommend reading both of these if you never have before).

5. If you could only eat one food for the rest of you life, what would it be?

One food for the rest of my life would have to be potatoes. No clue why but they are my all time favourite food. There's just so many fun ways to enjoy potatoes. Baked, mashed, potato bake, potato salad... the list is only as limited as your imagination! 

6. Favourite song at the moment?

Favourite song would still have to be Elastic Heart- Sia. In one word, love. In multiple words, that song just makes me feel things. You know?

7. A place you go to get away from everything?

Easiest answer. My beach, my lookouts. Anywhere overlooking the ocean. Helps clear my mind and staring out into the big empty spaces lets me know that there's so much out there for me that life will always go on, no matter how bad it seems at the time. 

8. What is a weird dream you've had recently?

A lot of the time I just dream about myself eating food or my dreams are so realistic I don't know whether I'm dreaming or I'm awake and living. 

9. Who inspires you?

My mum (again a cliche agh!) but seriously she is amazing and I would be lucky to grow up (I'm sort of a grown up at the moment, 19 is still a baby in the scale of life!) and become even half the women she is. She's strong and just downright an amazing person. Love you mum

10. Who is your favourite blogger? 

I'm not sure of this one 100%, I do read lots of blogs (especially random posts I just come across in my daily internet browsing). But currently I read a lot of Kayla Itsines blog because I love all the tips and advice she gives on exercise and healthy lifestyle choices (I am a BBG girl in case anyone wanted to know!)

11. What is quote to you find inspiring?

Top two quotes that I find inspiring would have to include:

“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”~ Elbert Hubbard. This inspires me because it reminds m that people are always going to criticise what you do/say, so if you aren't being criticised than you aren't being out there doing anything, saying anything or most importantly being anything.

“Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.” ~Russell Warren. Now this inspires me to be better. That it's okay to be 'obsessed' with something, whether it be getting fit or getting good grades because it means that I am dedicated to these and it is not a bad thing. 

My Nominations:

These are the blogs that I nominate to answer my questions in a post. It took me ages to pick out these blogs because I wanted to make sure I actually enjoyed reading the posts!

Beneath the Surface

Kiss and Makeupx

Live, Laugh, Love

Adventure Tayme

Soif de Vivre

SMB-Health

Pulling Our Shit Together

Just A Girl

Be Kind

Cassidy's Blog

The Waffle Writer

My Questions for my Nominee's:

1. What is your dream career/job?

2. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

3. What is your ultimate holiday destination?

4. What is your all-time favourite book/genre?

5. Describe yourself in 10 words or less

6. What bands/artists do you love and what are your favourite songs by them?

7. If you could have one wish, what would it be?

8. What made you want to start blogging?

9. If you were trapped on a deserted island, what 3 things would you take and why?

10. Describe your favourite food without actually using the name of it

11. If you could spend the day with one person (dead or alive, famous or not) who would it be, why and what would you do together?

And again I would just like to thank all the people that do read my blog and a special thanks once again to Jenny for thinking my blog is awesome. 

Thanks for reading, 

Stelle xx