Preparing for Christmas

Now, I'm no Scrooge, but I am definitely one of those people that will not play Christmas music or decorate the house until December 1st. This is why I am SO excited that I am allowed to start preparing and getting excited for Christmas tomorrow!

Being a student, Christmas can be a worry, seeing as you're struggling to afford a pint on a Friday it's hard to find the money to buy presents for your loved ones - this year has been especially hard for me in this case.

As my rent and bills are more expensive than previous years I have found that I have less cash to spare. With this, I have decided to make and create most of my gifts. Now, I'm such a soppy bastard, I absolutely love homemade gifts being given to me. It makes me think that the person who gave it to me has spent so much time and effort on this for me and it's so much more special in my eyes. (I hope my family feel the same way with their presents this year!)

Just in case any of my friends or family read this (I doubt they will, but. . .) I won't be sharing too much information about what I gifts I have given. I was wanting to make videos to show what I've made to give some ideas but as I live with two YouTubers I don't want them to see what I've got them for Christmas yet!

Surviving Your Final Year of University

5 weeks in to my final year, and I still feel a bit all over the place. I guess it's normal seeing as I have so much to think about:

• Exams
• Assessments
• What am I going to do when I graduate?
• Will I graduate?
• Will I be able to even get a job?!

Shit guys, I think I just imploded.

Apparently, it's normal for final year students to feel a bit of pressure. This makes me feel normal at least, knowing that we're all in the same boat worrying about the same things. 

The key is organisation and a clear head. For anyone who knows me, you will know that I am one of the most forgetful people in the world. Luckily for me, this year has made me much more organised, I've had to me with the amount of work I've had each week and remembering when I have exams and assessment hand in dates.

Simple things help, such as. . . .

- Calendars: having a calendar right on the wall in front of my face when I am sitting at my desk is so useful so that I can see all of the key things that I have coming up to keep on top of things

- Tidy bedroom: I have found that a clean room makes for a clear mind. If my room is tidy, I sleep better and can think clearly. It's a subconscious thing but works wonders.

- Healthy diet: I feel that when I eat healthily and have done some exercise I feel good about myself and ready to attack my work, give it a try and see if it works for you :)

- Reward yourself: Eating healthily is all well and good, but there's nothing wrong with treating yourself every once in a while, the odd chocolate bar or ice cream while catching up on TV is a great way to de-stress after a massive working session

These four things have really helped me the last few weeks. If you decide to give them a go, I hope they help!

Let me know if you decide to give any of this a try and if anything worked for you! Either comment on here or send me a tweet on Twitter! (@hollylouise21)

Good luck!

h, x

Alicante Highlights

Alicante Harbour

Looking up towards the castle from the beach

So seeing as I didnt get chance to write much about my time in Alicante, I thought I would make a quick post with a few pictures to tell a few tales about my time in Spain.For those of you who don't know, Alicante is in South East Spain - hello sunshine! I chose to go here because it is an hour away from Benidorm which is where my auntie and cousins live, she moved there over 30 years ago and had my cousins there so they're all Spanish, great opportunity for me to practice my Spanish! I'm so happy I made this decision because Alicante is one of the mos amazing cities I have ever been to, and I will definitely be going again. I has everything; beach, castle, bars, restaurants, a university, amazing shops, beautiful weather and a crazy nightlife.

I took this on my first day in Alicante in January

It's been too long

Well hello there. . . anyone who is reading :)

It has been wayyyy too long since I made a blog post. 

I originally created this blog and my youtube channel to capture aspects of my year abroad and share it, but I was shit at that. Therefore, I have decided to use both of these to chat and video absolute nonsense that will hopefully put a smile on your face :)

So it looks like my last post was last November when I was living in Belgium, and I made NO POSTS in Alicante. What is wrong with me?! Alicante was amazing, Absolute party central.

Basically, this post is an apology for my shiteness.

Please feel free to have a look at my Youtube channel and laugh at my expense. The videos aren't very good but they will get better :) 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQs3boeQSpXxLTyatQGhpQ

h, x

More Vlogging

Hey everyone.

I've decided to start making videos. I will probably still be making posts on here but I've been manic busy. I think the videos might be a little more interesting too but let me know what you think. Happy watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kx_Uexvfzg&feature=plcp

h, x

Vlogging

Wassup guys :)

So I decided to try out a bit of vlogging. Check it out and let me know what you think please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOAy9ZlwaYw&feature=plcp

Thank you!

h, x

Halfway through.

7 weeks down, 7 to go

Seriously guys, where does the time go?!

It's such a shame that my first few weeks were spent stressing over university class timetables and getting forms signed (which I am still sorting out).

Seeing as I haven't traveled that much since I got here, I have decided to try and visit a new place ever week, much like a mid-life crisis. This is my mid-semester crisis.

So this weekend me and the girls went to Gent which is in the north of Belgium. It was great as it didn't take too long on the train. Only problem is, now that it's Autumn, it's freezing! Minus 1 degree or something stupid like that, so we wrapped up nice and warm.

The picture on the left is one of the first things I saw when we got out of the train station. These were everywhere. Hundreds of bikes, as if there were one for each citizen! Absolutely crazy, but made for good photography.

This is the Castle which is in the center of the city. I'd recommend it, nice little visit. It cost 4 Euros to get in and have a look around but they had all kinds of stuff like suits of armour, weapons used and even a full on guillotine! The only thing was that we were finished looking around after half an hour, but the views from the top were beautiful! As you can see from the next picture, this is one of the pictures I took from the top of the Castle.

Now I only took this because the dutch signs around the city really made me giggle. It's such a fun language to try and speak. This was also another problem I had in Gent, I have been so used to speaking French to everyone that I kept forgetting that in the Dutch region in Belgium that their second language is English and French is their third.



So back to Mons. As I have already mentioned, it's on the chilly side! I am currently sitting in my bed updating this blog as it is way too cold to sit at my desk! The fuck?! The radiator works fine, it just takes a while to heat the room up as the room is so big (nice one halls).

Hoping to visit a new city this weekend, obviously I will be sharing pics and info with you wonderful people reading.

h, x