Tag: Fun

My first Gymkhana!

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I’d never done anything on a horse that could have been remotely competitive, that changed today. Gymkhana is a lot of games in which we all compete for Rosettes, I now have two thanks to horse Shadow (who I’ve never ridden before!). I’m so excited, to show you all the pictures. Not only did I get to compete, get some new skills and hang out at the stables for 2 and a half hour. I also got to spend some more time with a lovely horse, Rubey, who has now figured out how to undo my coat and likes to play! I just had to book another ride for next week, I’m not ready to let go just yet!

Playing ‘around the world’ 

One of the best days of my life.

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You know those days that are totally kick arse and at the end of it you kind of still can’t believe it. Yeah that happened today. I’d mentioned before how I had been asked to speak at the Diversity conference and to be fair I was so nervous. Last night and this morning I was so worried, what if no one turned up? What if loads of people did but they disagreed with my points? Do I really know what I’m talking about?

Turns out I shouldn’t have worried. After speaking to our Chancellor, Bonnie Greer MBE, I felt at ease. I’d watched one of her speeches before and she was absolutely incredible, I was able to watch her again before my own speech and I was just so inspired by it all.

As for my speech? It was well recieved, I got the most questions of the morning and the best thing was that I was really helping people. I had so many people come up to me after, asking my advice and if I would be involved in certain things. It was overwhelming but everything I wanted to be. I’m hoping to write a blog based on the ideas that I spoke about today.

I was also ableto be a part of a Mental Health workshop and we could really discuss how it impacted our lives, how we could help the university etc. Overall a really positive day in terms of Mental Health and I will also hopefully be participating with a member of staff on a research project on students with MH issues. How exciting!

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My wonderful tutor Sara giving her support. 

After catching up with my friend Joe, who was so supportive today and I can’t thank him enough. My next part of the day was to head to the Kingston Writing School and a talk that I had helped organise. If you haven’t read any of R.S Pateman’s novels go now! The Second Life of Amy Archer is out now and The Prophecy of Bees will be out later this month.

Rob gave a brilliant talk, honest, funny and humble. I was also pleased to find someone else who writes like me! Scattered and all over the place, not careful planning if I can help it. Hopefully I’ll be attending a book launch for The Prophecy of Bees soon which should be a lot of fun!

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Rob Pateman (R.S Pateman) and I 

Other than that general smiles, good company and some exciting news about my academic future (possibly) overall a great day and still proving you can LIVE  with depression 🙂



Giddy Up! My first time horse riding!

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I’ve never mentioned wanting to go horse riding prior to second year, to be honest I never thought it would be something I could do. So at freshers I signed up with Amy and later Dani. I didn’t hear much after submitting my paper work but suddenly rides became available and they were being snapped up really quickly! I thought about it for all of five minutes and booked my first ride, not nervous it was two weeks away, right?

Flash forward to today when my anxiety raised its ugly head, I went from being nervous to absolutely bloody terrified. How on earth was I going to do this? Horses were absolutely huge, what if I fell off? What if I made a complete idiot of myself or made no friends. I got so nervous and anxious I was nearly in tears but it was the social aspect more than anything else, then the horse. Ali made me calm down, If you don’t like it you don’t have to go back. I got the bus and hoped more than anything I wouldn’t fall off.

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Can you tell how terrified I really was?

The staff were all lovely but seeing the horses and I started to panic a little, how was I going to get on one! So I watched someone else ride for a little bit and Amy being the lovely thing she is waited to watch me. Now Amy, unlike my friend Amy from last year is so, so tall. Apparently her ride earlier in the day was in a huge horse, I thought mine was but apparently she was tiny. My horse, Jemima, was lovely, very beautiful and incredibly well behaved. According to my instructor Kate she’s a horse that calms down nervous people.

Getting on I mouthed ‘fuck’ to Amy (I’d nearly bolted myself earlier being so nervous), it took quite a long time to sort out my stirrups because I have such little legs, but at least I wasn’t put on a tiny pony which was another worry I had. I was really awkward and nervous at first but my instructor knew what to do and calmed me down, I relaxed and Jemima had me at ease. By the end of the lesson I could make her walk, trot, slow down and stop, plus I managed to get the rhythm fairly quickly too (being a musician is good for horse riding apparently).

Will I be going again? Definitely. I feel like it’s going to be hard work but I enjoy it, it’s something new and I’m loving that I’m part of a big group. The people I’ve met from society are all absolutely lovely, I have a social next week and we might all be getting jumpers! I’m part of a group that is actually a sport!

Today was followed by meeting Joe and now I’ve been invited on a night out even though I’m aching from horse riding…hmmmm do I or don’t I?

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Girls evening L.O.N.D.O.N

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I’e spent all of today around women and girls, starting with the morning with Mum and Sums and later on to meet the girl in central for drinks and dinner. A few months ago I went on my first girls night out, then girly day and now a girl night in the beautiful capital, probably my favourite place in the world. I’d bought a new dress (which had to be mended just before I left, thanks Mum!, wore heels in the Shard and although I would have been MUCH more comfortable in my jeans I had a lot of fun. 

I’m so proud of myself for going, I went on my own and came back on my own without being anxious and I managed to get through the evening with a clear head. It doesn’t sound like much but for me it’s a really huge step because it was pretty out of my comfort zone but now nobody can stop me! The girls are already talking about plans for London on my birthday and another meal (although booking ahead this time!!). The Shard, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, beautiful. 

Here are some of the best pictures from tonight, thanks girls I had a blast! 

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Top of the Shard selfie !

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Cocktail in Bella Italia, prices in the Shard were very pricey! 

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That POUT! Me and the beautiful Dani 

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Looking like the baby of the group despite being 2nd oldest! L-R Laura, Amy, Dani and me 

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Some of the beautiful decoration in the bar we sat at

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The view from floor 31! 

Cupcake Creations

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Today was cupcake day, something I’ve been both nervous and excited about for the past few weeks. My Mum and sister had been to one of these classes before, at Christmas, and so Mum asked if I wanted to come along to the next one. Now as you all know I’m not the girliest girl most of the time but I do love to bake on my own. When I’m at home I do like to just make some cakes for the sake of it and snack on them for the next few days, baking is more my thing than cooking.

Mum couldn’t come in the end she’s been really sick, some bug or something that Dad has too. So I took my sister and sat in the class, at the start I thought oh God everyone is so quick while I’m stumbling along. There were a lot of people who obviously had spent a lot of time working on cupcakes but others were as slow as me. As we tried to make bows I got more and more frustrated it just wasn’t working. I was folding and twisting and it just wouldn’t go the way I wanted it.

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Experimenting with different flowers and techniques such as the ribbon rose, traditional rose, peals and an open flower.

You all know that I’m a perfectionist, I love getting things write and get easily frustrated when I get things wrong. I get irritated like this quite a lot, especially when it takes me longer to understand things but I’m gradually accepting that it’s a part of who I am, sometimes I take a bit longer. Other times I’ll get things, just like today’s rose making, I can definitely make roses for cupcakes as well as small flowers. I’m so excited that I now have this skill! I can’t wait to make and experiment with my cakes in the new flat, maybe that will fatten Ali up a bit, everyone always say’s he’s too skinny! The best part about today though was spending time and helping my sister while she also helped me. I love being around all my family and Ali at the moment, it makes sometimes feeling down a lot easier.

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My favourite decorations I did today, they came out beautifully 

Here, There, Everywhere!

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Now that I have a set of wheels no one can stop me. I will do anyone any favour and do absolutely anything to get out and about in the car. After going out with Summer yesterday she decided she wanted to come along with me today as well so being me I headed to one of the busiest supermarkets in Basingstoke. The reason? I felt like cake and in trying to find it last night I got lost. Off to Sainsburys it was (and I nearly got lost on the way there as well!). I bought the whole family cakes and then had to try and get out of the car park, not too difficult.

Then came the real challenge of the day, the pets at home car park crawling and with tiny spaces. Long story short I’m not that good at parking, it takes me a lot of practice and longer than most at the moment but eventually I will be able to park just as easily of everyone else…I hope. Pretty much the only way you can keep me out of the car is if it has no petrol in it…which hasn’t happened yet! I cant still get to grips with town centre in the evening but drive well enough in the day.

Watch out guys my Astra can take over the world! Or you know the M3…when I get around to tackling it anyway.

Works night out!

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Adam and I, I’m sure going to miss this guy! 

Tonight I found myself in the pub again but this time with different friends and making new friends! My job as a Student Ambassador lets me do a lot of things and tonight it was a night out with my fellow KUSAs to say goodbye and goodluck to the thirds years because we’re going to lose them.

I’m really proud of myself because I was so nervous and I really threw myself into the night out and made a lot of new friends. I absolutely loved it and may have had a few more ciders than I planned with dinner but it was all in fun despite the rain! I really love some of the third years and it’s going to be so weird having them leave and being a second year ambassador, I can only hope I can do as much by the time I’m a third year.

So there we are the second night in a row of having fun and actually being out and I’m really enjoying myself! It’s unbelievable how much passing my test has boosted my confidence and made myself feel better!

Bowling and Vodka Slush Puppies

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After the excitement of yesterday and finally passing my test yesterday today was to celebrate after not having to teach tomorrow! It was kind of odd today walking around and seeing people driving around and thinking that now I could just do that now. I am legally able to just drive a car when I want now. I spent the day mooching around town, looking at gym memberships, losing my student ID and maybe spending a bit too much in Primark… Image

During slush time 

So before I went out I was close to wanting to nap but back up again and off to bowling with the boys and Sophie! Then the drinks started flowing and at first my scores were at the top tying with Dan, then I drank some more and more then the scores went down.. I ended up last but it was so much fun. Also the new discovery of Vodka Slushies was both mind blowing and incredible It was nice to laugh and joke around for an evening and just be happy and celebrate passing my test!

Then it was on to Spoons for chips and one more drink before Ali got me very drunkenly on a bus back to halls. It was one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hampton Court

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Hampton Court Palace 

I’ve been moaning on about wanting to go to Hampton Court since I moved to Kingston. After driving past countless times I decided I’d take my sister, who’s never been before. I’d been when I was at primary school, about 10 (eek!) years ago but wanted to go again because it looks so stunning. So on the train (and it was a damn long train) to Surbiton and then on to Hampton. I was worried my sister wouldn’t enjoy it, she’s not a geek like me but it turned out she enjoyed it even more than me. 

Surprisingly. she loved looking at the portraits, the painted ceilings and asking me lots of questions and listened when I explained things to her about Henry VII and his queens. It was fun although it didn’t take very long to get around and most of our time was spent getting lost in the gardens, looking for a way out and going in and out many times before coming back in. 

 

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Some of the intricate detail of the ceiling 

 

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We even managed to find a Tudor version of our dog, Lottie.Image

One of the gardens 

 

Although we were only there for a few hours, Summer really enjoyed herself and I’m already planning our next day out! There are so many things we can do and I’m wondering if she’d like the gallery seeing as she was so interested in the paintings. 

It was nice to spend some time with my sister today laughing having fun. We ended up going into central and heading to Hamley’s, so got a really cool sticker set (I’m slightly jealous and now want one too) where you make them and they’re shiney and stuff. I also took her to Carnaby Street and we took a walk around. I can’t wait to do more things like this as she gets older. All in all a lovely day but I’m shattered now, bed for me! 

 

Driving, Pictures, Friends and Reading Festival!

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It felt weird this morning, waking up and not having to get my butt across campus and head into the studio. Instead it was trying to haul my but to the car park and get driving again. I’ll take my test again at some point this year, yes it’s booked, no I’m not telling you all! After going through all the hardest parts of the test routes and being sleep deprived I started to worry, can I ever pass this test?!? I’m on my 3rd time and now I’m told that my Dyslexia makes it harder to drive in test conditions! Still onwards and upwards.

As promised on my twitter feed Sophie (Dan’s girlfriend) got some great shots of us here are some of my favourites. We’ll be heading down to Brighton at some point to get some more done.

I think this sums us up pretty well. 

My pose photo 

Duck face at it’s finest 

Something I wanted to try, it worked!! 

Was definitely not almost falling off the tree…

As you can see Sophie has done an absolutely fab job even though she was as tired as the rest of us! We’re looking at booking more time with her with the added bonus that she’s a No People Club girlfriend.

Ok so moving on tonight Jen and I went to a flat viewing and found the most beautiful, perfect, amazing flat I have ever seen. Unfortunately it was too big for Ali and I and the rent started too early but Jen might be able to take it. I haven’t mentioned Jen as much as I wanted to but honestly I could write 10 entrys in a row about her, she’s funny, understanding and only lives about 20 minutes from me at home as well as living close in halls. Surprsingly we never met at the Head Start programme but met up in the summer and lost contact…that won’t be happening again! She also has a wonderful boyfriend, Ben who is now one of my good friends and one of the only people in Seething Wells I can talk music with (thank God!). They’re the best friends I’ve got around here and constantly make me laugh by acting like and old married couple…so adorable!!

Jen was also with me when I booked my first Reading Festival ticket!! I’m beyond excited and ended up buying them on the bus, as you do as soon as I saw Paramore had been announced. I also managed to buy Ali’s ticket for his 21st birthday present (I know right how did he get so old so fast haha!). So I have so much to look forward to! I’m so excited and nervous and just everything but the most important thing, I’m looking forward again.