Thursday 31 October 2013

My House At Halloween!

Hey Everyone!

First of all, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Due to my obsession with Halloween, I've been posting a lot about Halloween! Perhaps in this blog post we will discover the roots of my obsession!

Basically ever since I was a child, my Mam has been obsessed with Halloween and always decorates the house. When I was younger, we even grew pumpkins in the back garden. Believe it or not, growing pumpkins took up practically the entire garden. We would harvest the pumpkins in early October and keep them in the garage so inside the garage nearly had an orange glow!

And now, I love Halloween even more. I help decorate and even decorate my own room with streamers and little witches and pumpkins! Yesterday we were carving the pumpkins and it was so fun.

Here's some photos of my house at Halloween! I hope you enjoy it!
If you have any questions or want a chat, just email me, tweet me or leave a comment below! xx
This post will be VERY photo heavy!

I didn't get photos of the trick or treat bags however, but they look UH-MAY-ZING. (Amazing!)

A Halloween Mask!

The table in the hall 

















The doorbell!










Playlist for this blog:
Panic! At The Disco ~ This Is Halloween
Kodaline ~ All I Want
The Strypes ~ Blue Collar Jane 
Paramore ~ Last Hope
Have fun trick or treating! 
Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!
Aveen xx





Wednesday 30 October 2013

Baking! Halloween Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Hey Everyone!

So today I was preparing for Halloween and I decided to bake special Halloween themed chocolate chip muffins! Literally my favourite thing to bake! Here's my recipe and method for baking these delicious and spooky muffins.

You will need: (To make a dozen)
25g sugar
75g butter or margarine 
150ml milk
225g self-raising flour
150 chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of baking powder
A drop of vanilla essence 
1 medium sized egg

METHOD!  :)
** Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius
1. Cream the butter and sugar together
2. Whisk the egg, milk and essence in a separate jug
3. Put into mixing bowl
4. Sieve in flour, baking powder and coca powder
5. ''Fold in'' gently eg stir until it's all soft, chocolatey and yummy
6. Pour in the chocolate chips!
7. Place mixture into cupcake cases in a cupcake baking tray
8. Place in oven and allow to cook for exactly 22 minutes!
9. Once baked, place on a wire tray and allow to cool.
10. DECORATE!

To decorate my cupcakes I used chocolate butter icing and various sprinkles (see below!) 


One of the finished cupcakes!

The Sprinkles I used 


I also bought a Halloween themed cupcake stand to add more effect!









Mmmm! I hope you all enjoyed this and bake your own Halloween themed cupcakes! 
Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless! (BOO!)
Aveen xx

PS! I still have to post my Penneys/Primark Haul from last week and ''My House at Halloween'' Stay tuned! I'll be tweeting HERE when those will be posted! xx

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Now Is The Most Interesting Time Of All

Hey Everyone!

Apologies for being late with my blog post this week. It's Mid Term this week thankfully, however I was given simply tonnes of homework for the week! Thank you very much teachers, you're all far too kind. But on the bright side, I've finished most of the work already, all I have left is my public speaking speech, like 2 maths questions and revision, woop!

So how was my week you ask? Well...
It was a somewhat stressful start to the week. On Monday I had like three tests in the first few classes. First up was Irish, where I had to write two 2 A4 pages about why Lisín was the main character of Hurlamaboc (I came up with a far more accurate term for this short story, which I probably shouldn't mention, seeing as it's quite rude) The test went really well for me and I got a mark I wasn't expecting (An A, first time ever in Irish) Afterwards it was a history essay test given to both history classes, to decide who will be in which class. I had studied Lenin and Stalin in lots of detail and briefly revised Mussolini. You can guess which person the question was about.. Mussolini! Wahey!

To add to the stresses of exams that day. I walked up to my locker and discovered I had forgotten my locker keys! Yay! So I had to phone my Mam and ask her to bring them down (which she did, 5 minutes before class) Usually when I'm on the phone to my Mam I'm very panicky and anxious because, well, I call her when it's an emergency! This time however, I think I probably fractured my motivation and I was ''so done'' with Monday and it was only 8.30 in the morning. Fun times.

The rest of the week was much calmer, some teachers were absent but left work, which I didn't mind to be honest. The week was fairly quiet, I visited my Nana twice during the week (Best grandchild ever) Soon Friday rolled around, time seems to go by slowly when I'm wishing for the opposite. I had free double Maths and I wrote a small blog post about a quote in my journal. Ironically the last thing I've written as I think I have Writer's Block again. Marvellous.

''Last night I was flicking through my school journal, every week there is a quote on the top of the page. As you may know, I am positively obsessed with quotes and their advice and meanings. There was one quote in particular that had a profound effect on me.

''Now is the most interesting time of all''

It is a simple sentence, with a powerful and effective meaning. Perhaps that's what startled me so much. My interpretation of the quote is reflective of my life path at the moment.

''Now'' for me is from this minute, until I sit my last Leaving Cert exam in June 2015. It feels like a marathon of hurdles I must overcome to reach my goal, my dreams and my ambitions for my future. My future, what I want, what I desire. 

''Now'' is when I make the possibly life altering decisions. What I'm afraid of most is, that I will not achieve those goals. That all these years of work will be in vain. It's a terrifying and panic inducing thought. What terrified me most however is, NOW, is the time that decides this. I'm plagued by fear and a crippling anxiety that, something's going to happen, that I'm going to slip up somewhere between now and my Leaving Cert year (2015)

It is all focused on Now, and how I play my cards. This, supposedly is the most interesting time of all. It doesn't feel like it. Walking around school like a zombie, bags under my eyes from a lack of sleep that no make-up could ever cover. See there was an exam or two to study for.. I don't find that interesting. A nicer term to describe a generation of people with tired, lifeless and prematurely aged eyes and stress and anxiety levels higher than Mt Everest is just, sad.

A generation of genius' yes, but also a generation plagued by fear in our hearts. A fear of not ''living up to our potential'', that we will be the person who had it all, had a bright future.. but messed up. I promise you all, and myself, I don't want to be that person. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. I guess now is a time to start doing something, because, now is the most interesting time of all apparently. 

Hope you enjoyed that and aren't filled with too much guilt over not doing homework (like me)
Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless,
Aveen xx

PS. I will be doing a bonus blog post about HALLOWEEN!! Stay tuned! xx

Saturday 19 October 2013

OOTD, YouTube Collabs, Public Speaking & Taking Selfies In The Rain!


Hey Everyone!

You may have noticed I didn't post on my blog, to which I say, my most sincere and genuine apologies. Last weekend and week was just crazily busy, I didn't have enough time to blink! So I decided not to post for a week. However I'm back now, I've another week of school, then it's MIDTERM! There is a god. 

Last week I was really busy with school work and study. Last weekend I had to write a 4 page English essay about Sylvia Plath, an Irish essay about under-age drinking (yes, I had to actually write it in Irish!) I also had to write a two minute speech about how ''Hope has the audacity to reach a hand into darkness and come out with a handful of light'' along with study for tests and all sorts. So I was very busy!

I wrote the English essay on Friday evening before I went to Irish club. The result was that I kept thinking in English and not Irish which really annoyed me. I stayed up late that night doing maths homework. The next morning I woke up at 7.30 am to start writing the Irish essay, which I finished by 9 and went to badminton at 10 am till 12. I rushed home, had lunch and went to my friend Tara's house for a party for her 17 th birthday! 

We all had a great time at Tara's. It was a relaxing, enjoyable party, we all sat in the sitting room eating ''crap'' as we call it (crisps, chocolate and drinking fizzy drinks) and watched 3 movies in all. (The Lovely Bones, The Woman in Black and Taken) I had a great time so thank you Tara and again, happy belated birthday! 

Sunday was more of a sombre day. A neighbour/one of my primary school teachers passed away so my family and I paid our respects at the wake in her house. R.I.P You will be sorely missed. Afterwards, shedding some tears, I had to start writing my speech about how ''Hope has the audacity to reach a hand into darkness and come out with a handful of light'' Which was for a ''speak off' between myself and 8 other classmates for 4 places on the school public speaking team.

We had to speak for two minutes in front of the teachers who were judging and of course, our fellow peers. Along with the two minute speech, we were subsequently asked to speak for another 30 seconds, WITHOUT our notes. I got up nervously and spoke about my experiences during TY and of my own mental health issues, and how hope was/is always there. Like Emily Dickinson wrote ''Hope is the thing with feathers, that sings the tune without the words, and never stops -at all-'' and embarrassingly, I started crying. Smooth move. However I recovered within seconds and continued with extra passion. 

The next day we were told who was chosen to be on the public speaking team. To my immense shock, I was picked! Me! That socially awkward girl with the blog and YouTube. It felt like a huge breakthrough for me. I always loved the debates in English class however, I felt confident now. I could now speak out loud for the first time without fear. I hate speaking out in class or wherever as I feel so open to insults and I was never quite a fan of the limelight, preferring to stay in the shadows. 

This week wasn't as hectic as last week thankfully. I didn't get as much written homework (which I've now finished) I have a lot of study however, Irish, Ag Science, History and more, due to midterm tests. Fun. I've studied already for Irish and Business which is a good sign. Tomorrow I'll study History, Ag Science and Irish and perhaps German if I have the time. 

But today was a great day! (Saturday) I went to badminton, then rushed home in the pouring rain to have lunch. I subsequently went down town to meet up with my friends Grace and Vivien. We hung out down town for a while, taking photos for their English project and complaining about the rain. Vivien had to go home so Grace and I went to my house, drank from Starbucks mugs (minus the actual Starbucks) and ate Oreo's. We also made a really random YouTube video which I'll let you know when is posted! It was my first ever collab video for YouTube and was so funny to make! (Photos from the day are below!)

So, next week is the last school week before midterm. It only seems like yesterday I was shaking in the assembly on the first day of Fifth Year when the guidance counsellor told us we had to do at least three hours of work and study a night! (I usually end up doing 4 or so!) So I will have a week off, thankfully!
You might not know but my Mum and I are obsessed with Halloween! The house looks epic at Halloween, I often compare it to Hogwarts at Halloween! So I'm going to try fit in a special blog post dedicated to Halloween! 


Playlist for this blog post:
The entire Paramore album (their latest self-titled album) I haven't listened to the album in nearly a month, it's probably why I'm feeling really happy and calm!


LINK! This is a recent collab video I made with the lovely Grace from Dainty Sprinkles! 



My Week In Photos!
The photo my friend Grace of Dainty Sprinkles posted on Instagram !

I don't like rain..


Smile!

Viv and I sheltering from the rain..

Selfies in the rain, only in Ireland. 

Grace's OOTD!

My OOTD! (The reason for my very ''optimistic'' face is the rain, it was POURING down!)
I'm wearing navy jeans from Penneys (Primark) 
Pink Converse,
 handbag ~ Roxy,
 hoody ~ Diesel, 
top ~ Roxy 

also posted a YouTube video today! I will trying to post more during the midterm, subscribe to find out when I post more! Here's the LINK 

That's about it from me this week!
Hope you're all doing well and not too tired from the stresses of school!
Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless,
Aveen xx


Saturday 5 October 2013

Tayto Park, Zip Wires, Slushies and Shouting at Maths Equations!

Hey Everyone!

So it's been another rather bonkers week in The Life Of Me. I posted a VERY brief  update on Thursday during a free study class (when I should have been doing maths homework but priorities) So I'll be telling you about what's been happening and how at this moment in time I'm buzzing with adrenaline, excitement and happiness, a rarity indeed.

So on Friday, I had my usual classes, double maths followed by Irish, break, German, Business, English, lunch, History and finally Ag Science. A fun Friday (sarcasm is dripping in this sentence) No I must admit I like my teachers and they're all brilliant so the classes are fine. However I get many comments because I'm studying Ag Science, which is supposedly for ''farmers sons'' and nobody else. However, my uncle has a farm and I have a genuine interest in the subject, I never knew learning about sheep would be interesting (lambs need to be fed at least 1 litre of colostrum within 24 hours of being born, random fact of the day there for you!)

Enough about Ag Science for now, I've over 20 pages of notes to learn so you might hear more about the subject in the future. In English we had a free class (substituted by my maths teacher funnily enough) and my English teacher had already told us what work to do. Suddenly my maths teacher says to us in this monotone voice that we also had a four page essay. My jaw literally dropped and I thought the class was going to riot, thankfully he was only joking. I nearly cried though, I need a few days notice to mentally prepare myself for an essay!

When I got home on Friday I was doing my maths homework which was simultaneous equations, which are easy, but with three variables! DUN DUN DUN, my OCD was showing. I got so irritated with one of the questions that I literally started shouting at it. To be honest, it's not the first time I've started shouting at a maths question, every day since Third Year it's practically happened! Don't judge me!

After school on Friday I went to Spleodar, or in other words, Irish Club. I go every week for a couple of hours on a Friday where we all speak Irish, play games and basically have '' a bit of craic!'' and every year each club in the country meets up somewhere, this year we went to Tayto Park!

I had actually never been to Tayto Park until today, but it was brilliant. Our club was split into smaller groups and I was with seven other girls who I knew. We were allowed to go on two activities, we chose the Zip Wire and The Sky Walk.

This all seems fine until I realised something, I'M SCARED OF HEIGHTS. I have an insane fear of heights, the dark, claustrophobia, failure, dogs (yes really) and more. So I was walking up the building (below is a photo) and I was thinking, in Irish, I'm scared of heights! Tá eagla orm faoi airde! Oh mo Dhiaidh. (Oh my God) but the girls were great and I did it! I went on the Zip Wire with Saoirse and I loved every second of it! We landed and I was literally shaking from the adrenaline!

Afterwards we went for lunch and went back to the Sky Walk. We were given the option of going high, medium or low. I decided, ''Oh everyone else is going on the high one, I might as well too!'' Oh Aveen, you're scared of heights haven't you realised this? So I went on that, and it was literally like in a movie, the ropes started shaking and at times I couldn't reach them, but I got through it, with a lot of deep breaths and reassurances.

I finally believed the phrase I read in Divergent by Veronica Roth, "Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it." 
I can't become fearless, what is the point of life if there's nothing to frighten you or make you reflect differently on life events? Life is boring if we did not have any emotions, including fear, it's what makes us possess our shreds of humanity. I can't be fearless, nobody is perfect, we have to appreciate our flaws and not less them posses us and destroy our inner selves. Having fears makes us unique beings and who we truly are. 

However, in short seconds of life, we can become fearless. It is in these moments we keep our fears under control and are no longer oppressed by them. I think we should live for these fleeting moments, let them consume us and possibly, maybe, actually become truly fearless, should being fearless in every minute of our lives be possible. 

So I'm going to stick with saying ''Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless'' in every blog post, I'll be referring to not letting your fears hinder or oppress you from achieving your dreams. If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough, you aren't dreaming big enough, or allowing yourself achieve your utmost potential. 

Be fearless in the smallest moments of life, and you will feel invincible. 



Some Photos From My Week! 


Aoileann and I at Tayto Park! 


More selfies


Aoileann, Kate and I at Tayto Park :)

Slushies ! 

The Sky Walk! 

Part of the Zip Wire and the Slide

Zip Wire! *Wheeee*

Height of the Zip Wire from the ground (Looks distorted as I  was sitting down on the grass!)


So, that's about it for this week!
Hope you all had a brilliant week and an amazing week ahead! Let me know what you're up to in the comments below! 
Stay Strong, Happy and FEARLESS,
Aveen xx