Becoming a teacher is okay...

So this is going to be a bit of soppy post and I apologise for that... If you're not into that feel free to look at any of my other posts and just skip this one ;)

Recently I've been talking to people that are applying to go to university for the first time and they've been telling me how scared, anxious and nervous they are. Some are even unsure if it's the path for them and I just want to let everyone know that it's okay to feel like that! To do that I want to tell you my story :) This will also give you the chance to get to know me a little better, obviously that only applies if you want to...

It all started when I was at the ripe old age of 17. For around four years I had been planning to go to university to do paediatric nursing only to find out that due to some sight problems that I have (that's a story for another time kids) I wouldn't be able to do it. I was heart broken, I felt lost, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I did what I thought was best at the time and just applied to do a uni course in the subject I was known as being one of the best in ICT. So I applied to do web systems development.

It was great, it interested me, I liked doing practical work, my ICT teacher was VERY proud to have a girl in his class go on to do the course... everything was perfect! Until.. dun dun duhhh I went.

So let's set the scene here, I'd moved into university and was two weeks into my course when I realised I couldn't do it anymore. I was feeling incredibly home sick and I thought that was just because I missed home but in actual fact it was because I wasn't happy and I just wanted to feel happy somewhere. I realised that even though I liked the course I could never do it as a job. I'm not the sit at a desk all day kind of person. So I spent a good few hours one night crying to myself worried that I had let everyone down, my parents, family, teacher etc. Everyone had been so excited for me, I was the first girl in my family to go to university I was the only girl in my year to do an ICT course and I felt as though I was going to let all of those people down. Even so I managed to bottle up the courage to phone my mum and let her know what was going on. But I wasn't going to do that without a plan.

The people I lived with at the time were all trainee teachers and I had a massive interest in their course, more so than my own and this led me to the decision that this was what I wanted to do with my life. Something I should have realised sooner as leading up to results day that year I would quite often find myself looking at teaching courses "incase I didn't get in" when in actual fact it was because I didn't want to get in.

So I phoned my mum and we had a little chat and do you know what? She wasn't feeling let down at all. Nobody was, if anything they were even prouder of me for changing my mind and following what I REALLY wanted to do. So here I am a year later sat at my computer, heaps of education books read and weeks of work experience under my belt and about to head back to university once again.

What's best of all is, it's all okay because I changed my mind. That's what I want you to take from this, don't be afraid to change your mind about anything! As long as YOU are happy nobody will mind! Your happiness is what matters really :)

Alex

xxx


A few other tips I'd like you to take into consideration:

1) Only choose to do something if you REALLY want it, not just because you feel you should or because you feel as though it's your only option.

2) Think about the career afterwards and not just the degree.

3) You're never going to let anyone down if you're doing something to make you happy.

4) It's okay to have doubts but when it comes to things like this maybe think about why you're having them.

5) And most importantly, mums are ALWAYS right! My mum had always said I should be a teacher and I never listened hahaha now look where I am!


P.S. good luck to any of you going to university in september!!!!!!

My mission

So over the past couple of months I decided to give myself a little mission. Partly because I like to give myself things to do and who doesn't want to feel like a spy ay? ;) But really, I have given myself the mission to try and step out of my comfort zone.

I wanted to try new styles, new makeup, new hair styles etc.. you get the idea. This all came about because I watched these videos. They're all about helping people come out of their comfort zone when it comes to clothes and that is what inspired me.

Now if you know me then you know I only really wear neutral coloured lipstick and am always jealous of how good everyone looks in bright colours because I always thought I didn't. So that's where my mission has started, new lip colours! I've experimented with a few, red, burgundy, bright pinks... This may seem normal to some of you but to me this is a HUGE change! What's even better is, I'm happy about it! I can totally change up my makeup I don't always look the same now :) It also means if I can't be bothered I can just do simple eyes with liner and mascara stick on a bold colour and there you have it, looking like you've made an effort!

This is only a small post I know but I thought I'd let you know and I hope it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone too :) I promise it's not as scary as it looks out there!!

I'll keep you up to date on how it's going etc :)

Let me know if you decide to do the same! If you do write a post on it so I can see how you're doing and be sure to mention who inspired you in it! :)

Alex
xxx

P.S. Sorry for the bad picture quality, I don't have my camera at the minute :( So I had to opt for my Iphone 4 camera... sad times for all of the photography geeks out there :(

My usual lipstick colours 

My new lipstick colours! Adventurous hey? ;)

I've found love..

Now when I say I've found love I don't mean I'm running off to get married or anything like that. (sorry to disappoint) What I have found however are products to be in love with. Whether it be their price or their looks. Kind of like a man I suppose then, you know, money and looks is what every girl wants really hahaha.

To start this off I'm going to give you what may possibly be my best find of all time. Maybe even the best find known to all women! Now brace yourselves... Ready? You may want to sit down for this... I found O.P.I. nail varnishes for £1!!!!! Yes that is definitely right and they are definitely real. I came across them in poundland and if I'm perfectly honest I looked at them thinking they were cheap nail polish in a similar looking bottle but it turned out to be GOOD nail polish in the RIGHT bottle. Who'd have thought it ay? Now admittedly they are only shatters and I'm fully aware that trend has been and gone but for £1 who cares?!

From left to right: Gold shatter, shatter the scales, super bass shatter

My next find is a perfume. I was just casually strolling around my local river island as you do and I spotted their perfume stand. Now I had read that they had a perfume very similar to Dior's "miss dior cherie" but was unable to find it at first. So as I was already there started to spritz a few of them and then I came across this bad boy. River Island's "paris" perfume. Admittedly I wasn't completely love struck at first but I'd sprayed it on Keeley and as we were walking around it kept sneaking up on me and asking me to buy it, so I did. The only way I can describe this perfume is if a bottle of marc jacobs daisy and a bottle of the paco rabanne lady million got together and had a baby this is what it would smell like. Only it would be a cheap baby because it's only £12 for the biggest bottle...

I also recently ventured into the river island sale and came across this beauty. My ideal little black dress. It's just simple at the front plain black dress, fitted at the bottom lose on top but the back is where the real show stopper is. This really is a "party in the back" kind of dress. I'm so funny... not. I found this little beauty for just £15!

This dress has an open back with a beaded strap running through the middle.

I've also been loving pastels and creams at the minute. When I say pastel I mostly mean pastel pink but I've also been LOVING mint green lately too. So needless to say I've stocked up on a few items in these colours.

Pink blazer: Primark. white lace panel back collared shirt: Primark. Cream lace dress: New Look. Pink makeup bag: Ted Baker. Mint, pink and gold bracelets: Primark. Nail varnish: Rimmels 60 second polish in princess pink.

My final and probably one of my more expensive purchases in life is a bike. I love this bike so much I can't even describe it! I mean, it has a basket, white wheels, leather handles and seat and looks vintage, what more could a girl want?!

This is the Victoria Pendleton Somerby bike in blue. I couldn't get a picture of it with the basket for you :( 

Needless to say my bank balance isn't looking its best at the minute but at least me and my blog are! That's all that matters ;)

Alex

xxx

The guilty pleasures tag!!!

This is a tag that was created by my friend keeley and she tagged me in it! I feel so privileged to be the first person to be tagged!! :) 

1. You must name it 'The Guilty Pleasures Tag' so we all know what is happening and the blog reading community don't feel swizzed out of anything.
2. You must tag at least one person at the bottom and as a comment on one of their posts with a link to this post in the comment
3. You must not try and be cool. The aim of this is to have fun!
4. If you could, copy and paste these rules at the top
5. Leave a link to my blog page. You can find keeley here

1. What is your beauty guilty pleasure (you can choose for this one whether to pick something which you love but you feel guilty as it is expensive, OR maybe a beauty look that isn't necessarily 'on trend' e.g. Taylor Swift Teardrops on My Guitar face diamonds)

My beauty guilty pleasure has to be expensive perfumes. Now, I swear I don't purposefully go to the expensive ones and automatically want them, but whenever I seem to smell a perfume I like I look at the price and it's usually around the £50 mark. *cry* Examples of some of my favourites are: Marc Jacobs Daisy (ALL of them) Juicy Couture, Pacco Robbanne 1 million, Laura mericer vanille gourmonde... and the list goes on... sadly. I also have a love for expensive bags... Just expensive taste I guess? I like to believe it's because I was born to be rich or a princess, or both.

2. What is your TV guilty pleasure?

Now this is going to sound really strange.. I LOVE programmes about people that have been through accidents or are suffering from weird illnesses! I just find it really interesting! Things like "extraordinary people" just draw me in! Is that weird? 

3. What is your music guilty pleasure?

Now, before I tell you this there is something I need to explain. First of all I am quite a nostalgic person. Secondly I used to compete in dance a LOT. So my guilty pleasure would be songs that myself and my friends have competed to and a few of them are with me on this one. They just bring back great memories! and lets face it, who isn't up for a bit of chav drum and bass now and again? 

4. What is your film guilty pleasure?

My film guilty pleasure would have to be mean girls and the twilight films. As awful as they are I can just watch them over and over and over again. I think it's safe to say that I know the words to mean girls off by heart now and will quite often use mean girl quotes in everyday life. 

5. What is your food guilty pleasure? (Maybe something you love that nobody else does, or perhaps something you feel guilty about eating because of the calorie amount. Either one, we're not fussy here.)

I am OBSESSED with Philadelphia cheese. It's sad but true. I love it with almost anything, pasta, on a sandwich and most of all, on cream crackers with cucumber... oh. my. god. 

6. What is your guilty pleasure read? (Let's keep this PG people, no 50 shades discussions)

I love what most people would call "easy reading" books. You know the kind where there's always a girl who has a shopping addiction and has major relationship problems? Yeah them. I don't know why I just get sucked in. For example I have read the entire series of sophie kinsella's shopahlic books. 

7. Your guilty pleasure celebrity? (Seems obscure but roll with it)

This is a hard one for me to answer. This may shock you but I'm not into celebrities at all. I don't even know who most of them are! They just don't interest me... sorry if this has meant you have lost any respect for me... 

8. Your guilty pleasure? (Something random here, like maybe you enjoy clipping your nails out the window or something)

This would have to be singing and dancing around the house when no one is in. I just have a whale of a time! And obviously I become beyonce. 

This is a really cool tag and I challenge anyone that reads this to do it! It's really fun I promise! hahaha Have fun guys!! 

Alex 
xxx