Why and How I intend to be more creative this year!

This year I’ve made it my mission to be more creative and fill my mind with more colour and fulfilment and less despair and waste. I came to a conclusion after a discussion with a friend a few weeks ago that I use social media too much. If I’m bored, watching something casually rather than intently, can’t sleep or just a time passer I’m normally on my phone. But it’s nothing good. It’s scrolling through hours and hours of Facebook, Twitter or probably my biggest downfall... Instagram! 


Don’t get me wrong I love posting about my life and hearing about others. The idea that we can make change, discover or create things through a picture, status or hashtag is a wonderful thing. But there’s the downfall, the toxic side. Normally, the comment section, waiting for that certain person to like or comment on your picture, thinking peoples lives are perfect because they post a cute selfie and the amount of editing we think is necessary to look pretty! 


So I’ve decided to cut down and do things I enjoy! My resolution of this year is to read more. I could spend so much money buying books, but what’s the point if I don’t read them? I’m on my second book of the year and it’s already making me happier and every time I read I feel like I'm teaching my brain more and the thought that I’ve read an entire book makes me feel extremely accomplished! 

I play the wii with my siblings, sometimes we sing, sometimes we dance and sometimes we play tennis. It’s a form of exercise and it allows us to bond listen to music and just enjoy spending time together plus a baseball match makes us very competitive!

A new one for this year is colouring! It may sound childish but firstly it’s an adult colouring book and secondly who cares? A Doctor Who colouring book given to me four years ago and finally I’ve brought some crayons and started it. I can kill hours colouring bits and pieces and finishing a colouring is such a lovely achievement! I finished the first one the other day and it made me feel very happy.

My scrapbook. Christmas 2018 after some inspiration from Carrie Hope Fletcher I asked for a sprocket printer. It prints off mini photos with sticky backs as if they’re stickers. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with it but after a trip to WH Smith I decided a scrapbook would be a brilliant way to kill time. A scrapbook with black pages and two glitter pens later and I love to document events with my sticker books. From concerts and weddings to days out with family and friends. Some of my best memories and the millions of photos I take are all stored inside that books and I’m not even halfway through.

After some inspiration from my Mom who did it last year. Me and my best friend are now currently trying to decide whether to do the local mud run for Cancer Research. A charity close to our hearts as it’s effected both of our families and the lives of so many around us. So maybe I’ll start running in preparation for that. But that’s one that’s still up for debate. I’m quite lazy, health and fitness isn’t my forte and I’m not often one for exercise so maybe this could be something new and exciting for me.



Finally, this blog! Writing is a brilliant skill and being able to hopefully inspire or just entertain some people with my random thoughts brings me great joy. And if not writing the blog posts and posting the social media side makes me feel even more creative and if I’m making a better use of my time rather than doing buzz feed quizzes and looking at Disney memes.


So my overall decision isn’t to quit social media, just to distance myself. Not let it take over my life and not look back in fifty years and have no memories of good books, fun times or colourings and scrapbooks to look back on. Maybe try this detox yourself and do something you enjoy to spread your time more evenly.

- Courtney -

Don’t let the fear of starting stop you. 

Anybody else spend their life waiting for the bus? I DO! Most weekends I sit in a freezing cold bus shelter wondering when the shining lights of the bus with are finally going to come around the corner at the bottom of the high street! But NO! The timetables are often wrong, the bus stop seats are cold, my fingers and toes begin to freeze, and I sit there for sometimes up to an hour waiting for my bus to appear! And I’m always the unlucky one, my bus is always the one that doesn’t come quickly, I spend days praying to get out of work on time so my bus won’t speed past me as I run up the high street hoping it will wait! More often than not it doesn’t...

Don’t get me wrong I love the feeling of being able to sit on the bus with my headphones in, I block out the world and focus on the music and the lyrics of some of my favourite artists. I find myself feeling like I’m in a music video looking out the window when a sad song comes on and it’s raining. McFly, Queen, Panic! At The Disco and even the Frozen 2 soundtrack can sometimes be the best company after a long shift at work or a busy day at uni. But as they try to keep me cheerful while I wait in the rain or wind on a cold winter evening, I find myself becoming increasingly angrier at the bus systems! So finally, after years of these long waits I decided enough was enough.


I was never one who was going to learn to drive. The prospect of being totally in control of a moving vehicle terrified me. Common sense is not my strongest point and even though I’m clever academically some days I can be extremely stupid. All of these added together put learning to drive at the bottom of my list of things I wanted to achieve. So as 17 approached and my mom said do you want driving lessons for your birthday my answer was a firm no!


But sometimes it only takes one day to change your mind. Picture the scene. A warm day in June. Me, headphones in, McFly most likely playing, a casual walk to the bus stop at 3:49 my bus due at 3:56 and me then ready to start work at 4:30. 4:25 my bus finally arrived! The one I was waiting for had come early and the one that would come after and get me there just in time hadn’t shown up. I’d been nearly 30 minutes late for work and anybody who’s been really late knows it is just embarrassing!


So, I decided that day that I was sick of waiting for the bus, I was going to face my fear and get in contact with a driving instructor. End of August I finally plucked up the courage after a firm yet encouraging TEXT HIM NOW from my best friend. Now I was right, some take to driving like a duck to water. I am not one of them people, two attempts at my test later and I still haven’t passed. But I was wrong about one thing, I LOVE driving. Being behind the wheel brings me great joy and the thought of one day owning my own car, playing my music and taking my friends on day trips, going where I want to, driving myself to work or picking my family up brings me great excitement!


The moral of this tale is if you fear something you should still try it! You may find a new thing you love to do. Don’t let fear stop you from doing something you could learn to love! If I’d known that sooner, I wouldn’t be writing the first draft of this blog on my phone while waiting for the bus that I missed by 5 minutes.

- Courtney -

What makes a good TV Relationship?

TV is by far one of the best things ever created! I am a binger and proud and if I find that right programme, I can guarantee you I will non-stop watch and talk about it for months. Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC 1, you can guarantee I’m obsessed with a programme on all of them! But the one thing I find makes the perfect TV programme is that couple you can be obsessed with. Through the ups and downs, the make ups and break ups, the first kisses and dates, the tears and arguments, those romantic moments and finding out whether they will get their happy ending. It’s the perfect plotline whether it be the main one or a sub plot. I find myself getting very involved with these TV couples; I sit and watch deciding who I agree with in an argument, I cheer when they kiss, I sigh when they argue and if god forbid they split up I will cry so here is just a few of my favourite tv relationships. This post does contain HUGE spoilers so don’t read about a couple if you haven’t quite finished the show!

Once Upon A Time - Netflix - Emma Swan and Captain Hook

Emma and Hook are the perfect example of a couple going from hate to love. When Emma first met Captain Hook early in Series 2, I just like her wasn’t a big fan of him. He was handsome but he was evil! But quite quickly I swooned and fell in love with the man behind the Hook: Killian Jones and it wasn’t just me Emma Swan did too! The thing that makes these two so perfect is they fix one another; they both lost their first loves and felt the world had treated them cruelly. They were both desperate for love and just wanted somewhere and someone to call a home and family. The slow build from enemies to allies to friends to lovers kept me watching every episode for when they’d finally admit that they’d fallen for one another. The season 3 finale when they finally kiss romantically rather than passionately remains to be my favourite episode to date.

Doctor Who - BBC 1 - The Doctor and Rose Tyler

Now, even though it says The Doctor I think the real romance begins between these two when The Ninth Doctor regenerates into The Tenth Doctor! They travel through time and space and slowly fall in love. I am biased with these two because my earliest memories of Doctor Who are these episodes of season 2. They’re sweet, they’re happy, they have spot on banter and every episode is full of flirty glances and sweet moments of love. Every episode where The Doctor says just tell Rose and doesn’t finish the sentence frustrates me to no end. Still to this day Doomsday breaks my heart and I personally believe The Tenth Doctor is never as happy and carefree as he is with Rose. I also believe I was robbed of a spin off show with Rose Tyler and her part human Time Lord defending the parallel Earth.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Amazon Prime - Buffy Summers and Angel

This is a show I have recently started watching and have become obsessed with, I’m currently coming to the end of season six and very firmly believe that Angel was the one for the Slayer. Some say Angel, some say Spike; I’m Team Angel! There is no better love story than one of a bad boy or a vampire in love with the good girl or hero. They’re sweet and they kick ass together, they’re fight scenes where they play tag team are awesome! Buffy’s birthday in season two may be a heart wrenching episode for us Buffy and Angel fans but now all I really want in my life is to be given a Claddagh ring. It’s such a beautiful moment of true happiness.

Friends - Netflix - Chandler Bing and Monica Geller

Most pages and posts about iconic and the best tv couples pick the will they, wont they couple Ross and Rachel, but I love Chandler and Monica. Those who have read my post about my trip to Friends Fest will know that only in the past 2 - 3 years have I watched Friends so I knew that eventually Monica and Chandler would get together. So, when watching it I picked up on little romantic moments before they finally slept together where they’d hold hands or be cuddled in Central Perk. They are a brilliant example of what love should be like, they see the best in one another, they deeply care about one another, she loves his sarcasm and sense of humour and he puts with her obsession with winning and cleaning. If that isn’t true love, then I don’t know what is!

Glee - Netflix - Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry

They were destined from episode one. They’re controversial, some love them together some don’t. I do! You can see from episode one that Finn sees more in Rachel than a nerdy, Jewish girl with a loud singing voice. He sees a beautiful and deeper side to her which he falls in love with. Season one and two is full of obstacles that keep them from properly being together and so season three is my favourite season of Glee with one reason being they don’t break up until the end when she leaves for New York. Of course, this relationship is tinged with sadness due to real life passing of Cory Monteith but the sweet, beautiful, romantic moments of the first 4 seasons are made even lovelier when you know that they’re onscreen love was also happening off screen. Finn and Rachel were always meant to be together and they’re cover of Faithfully by Journey and their song Pretending are two of my favourite songs let alone two of the best romantic duets in Glee.

Riverdale - Netflix - Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper

A teen romance while solving crimes and capturing killers. What more could you ask for? From the moment Jughead climbs through Betty’s window and quotes Romeo and Juliet I was hooked. What makes these two so adorable is that neither of them are perfect, they both have crazy families and they’re a little bit messed up but they’re brilliant together, their detective skills work well together, they bring out the best in one another and they are a team in everything they do. If that doesn’t make them cute enough then the fact that real life actors Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart are also together is just the icing on the cake.

Downton Abbey - ITV - Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary Crawley

WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE? Matthew and Mary another example of a couple who didn’t exactly get along to begin with but over time fall in love (I’m sensing a theme here!). A dance and a kiss in the house, a proposal in the snow at Christmas and a beautiful traditional wedding. They were the perfect couple and I was always angry when they’d nearly get together but one of them wouldn’t be quite ready for the relationship. But that just made it all the more satisfying when they finally did get together. The time they spent together was precious and I’m glad they did eventually get their happy ending. But why did he have to die, I don’t think I’ve ever been as devastated at a TV show than when they killed Matthew, his entire drive home I felt like something bad was going to happen and I wasn’t wrong. His death was heart-breaking, and it still angers me to this day but at least George is the reminder of their beautiful relationship and he softened Mary’s heart and made her open to love.

Emmerdale - ITV - Robert Sugden and Aaron Dingle

I may be a teenager but one thing that’s always on in my house is the soaps and so I find myself watching them enjoying the storylines and very quickly getting behind the love affair turned romance of probably the best soap couple of the past ten years affectionately named ‘Robron’. Robert the overly confident, smart mouth and Aaron the moody mechanic with a heart of gold never looked like they would work. Robert seemed to be happy enough in his marriage and Aaron was getting on with life but one kiss in a layby changed everything. But it isn’t the affair I love it’s the storyline where they finally become a couple. Robert is the first person to discover Aaron’s abuse as a child and quickly becomes determined to help Aaron get the justice he rightfully deserves for his younger self. What came from this was a slow burning love story from Aaron being Robert’s biggest secret to his truest love. What followed was 3 years of love, heartbreak and two weddings! Their reunion remains to be one of my favourite Emmerdale episodes and when they were torn apart by a prison sentence, I was heartbroken. Two months and I still miss Robert Sugden.

So, there we go. Eight tv couples whose best moments I always go back and watch on YouTube, those kisses and sweet scenes fill my heart with joy and happiness even if most of them ended sadly!

- Courtney -

Recap of the past few weeks!

Happy New Year Everybody! My goodness, it seems like just yesterday I was opening Day 1 of my advent calendar and now were on the 4th January 2020. It's true what they say, time really does fly. I personally have been a very busy lady! As well as the excitement of Christmas and New Year, December also marks a very special day for me... MY BIRTHDAY! The 22nd December marked my 19th Birthday and as like every other year, I like to make a big deal and celebrate with as many different people as possible. So this included a big night out with friends, a catch up with those who abandoned me for different uni's as they returned for their Christmas break and finally a wonderful day of: food, family, alcohol and mini golf!

For my Birthday we decided to take a trip to Mr Mulligan's, a space themed Mini Golf! On arrival I was given a free shot due to it being my birthday and we were allowed a free round of golf. There are three different courses and we'd booked for two but given the third one for free. It seems to be a new area as I personally had never heard of it, but it was a wonderful way to celebrate and I love a game of Mini Golf even if I didn't win! A wonderful day was had by me and my family and being a HUGE Doctor Who fan anything space themed will always appeal to me. I would definitely recommend to anyone with kids during the daytime or anyone who just enjoys Space or Mini Golf!

Christmas for me is quite an emotional time of year. For someone who's dealt with huge losses in terms of family over the past couple of years, Christmas is a time to reflect and spend time missing them because it always feels unfair that they were taken and that they should be here laughing and spending Christmas with me. But that's apart of life, I find myself also remembering happier times and thinking that there are always people who have it way worse than I do and that Christmas is a time to be greatful for those who you have and love. It was a peaceful day of family, fun, great television and a lot of food and drink. 

New Year has never and probably never will be my favourite time of year. I find the whole day to just be a big excuse for people to charge more for drink and taxis. I also used to hate it as a child because everyone would be drunk as I sat there with a glass of coke bored out of my mind, as the battery on whatever I had to entertain me slowly died by about 11pm leaving me to conversations with drunk people as my only source of entertainment. 

But this year was different, I found myself on the lead up to New Year on a massive dilemma. Being of the legal age and not in work the next day I wanted to go out and get very drunk but the place and people were my options. It was local pub with family and family friends or a night club with my friends. I found myself tossing between the two for days. Where would I have more fun? How much money would I want to spend? How would the night end? Would I get too hot in a night club? Would I be bored surrounded by adults? I weighed up these decisions, asked a few other friends and came to the conclusion that a night with the family would be better and financially beneficial! I took forever to get there (stuck with a sister who takes longer to get ready than myself), drank more than I usually do, listened to some lovely tribute acts, took loads of photos with family friends and rang in the new year singing Auld Lang Syne surrounded by those I love more than most.

Safe to say it was probably the best New Years Eve I've had for years and I woke up New Years Day to a hangover, Singing In The Rain followed by The Sound of Music and a coffee it took me about three hours to drink. But as they say when you're young you should go out and enjoy yourself and my break is full of wonderful memories. But in all seriousness I did drink responsibly and had a lovely night. Happy New Year Everybody!

- Courtney -