Am I doing this right?

After stressing for months on end, I have finally applied to go to university for a course which I'm pretty sure I'll love. The university that I've accepted as my first choice is located in an area that I can really see myself living in. It's not a busy city, but not in the middle of nowhere, either. For me, the area is perfect. The campus is right on the doorstep of the main town - so good riddance to all the crappy buses I currently catch just to get anywhere!

The course is centralised around writing; a hobby of mine that I've had since a child (sounds cliché but so true!) I can imagine myself now - coffee in one hand, laptop in the other, marching off into town dressed in a sophisticated outfit (okay, okay, maybe not sophisticated haha) to sit in the park and just write. I cannot wait.

I cannot wait to meet new people and find a way of living by myself. (Is going self-catered such a good idea when there is the possibility that I could find myself living off baked beans and ready-meals?) It's certainly going to be a life-changing experience. (Oh, there goes another cliché).

But I will miss home. I will miss the crappy buses that I have to catch just to get anywhere, I will miss my quiet little village and my friends. Most of all, I'll miss the family. The fact that I will probably never permanently live here after I leave in a few months time scares me. Sometimes it scares me so much that I contemplate whether this is even such a good idea. I mean, I know it is, but just for that split moment I do have doubts.

All this makes me wonder, am I doing this right?

Is all that stress over picking the right course and choosing the right university and deciding where I want to live for the next three years going to be worth it? I'm sure I'm not the only one that is just a tiny bit worried about what I'm going to do. Is my life going to be as I imagine it? The answer to that is hopefully, but probably not. I will make decisions in a couple of years time that I would never even think about making now. Decisions which will lead me to new decisions which will lead me to more decisions. This path of decision-making will take me - hopefully - to wherever I want to be at that time. The dreams that I have now may not be the same dreams that I will have when I finish university. I may end up in a job which I don't even know exists at the moment. But all I know now is, as long as I do what makes me happy, it doesn't matter where I'll be.

And that's what university, in my opinion, is all about. It's about growing and setting up the rest of my life.

So I'm taking it one step at a time and making the decisions I want to make, and going to university is definitely one of them, despite little panics about it every now and then!

Amy x

Thoughts

I sit here right now in my new pyjamas watching strictly come dancing with almost my whole family on an autumn Sunday evening after a long day of work.

I've just finished a hearty meal and I am warm and cosy.

It is in these moments - as I sit between my mum and Granddad - that I realise just how lucky I am.

There's sort of a Christmassy feel as the familiar theme tune of 'Strictly' dances its musical notes around the room.

Every Sunday there's the discussions of "what time is Downton on?" And "anyone want anymore coffee?" Then they are repeated louder for my Grandad - who is almost completely deaf. I'm grateful that, although repetitive, these conversations are happy conversations.

I love them. I love my sister - who at the moment is playing with our hyperactive dog - and the way she makes my Nanna laugh.

Amy x

Indian summer

So it's September and it's still warm in England! One may call this an Indian summer where temperatures are higher than expected. 

To make the most of the sun before the cold dreary months of winter come upon us, I decided to go for a walk with Bonnie one evening.

The sun was at that stage where it was just about to set and it lit up the grass, giving the place a kind of glow. All I could hear were birds singing their songs and the rustling of grass as Bonnie bounded through it.  It made me realise how I take these things for granted sometimes.

Speaking of Bonnie, she disappeared for a short while only to come back drenched in murky puddle water. Lovely.

Amy x

I've found Rhodes!

I've recently (and by recently I mean yesterday) found this amazing folk artist named "Rhodes"! I don't know whether you've heard of him, but I've never listened to his music before. Maybe I've been living under a rock for the past year or he's not too well known yet I'm not sure. But I know for sure he should get taken notice of more! His music is right up my street; relaxing and easy-listening. He has 3 EP's (one not yet released). Yes, I've already purchased them.

My particular favourite song at the moment (although I've not yet listened to them all) is "Your Soul" from his EP Morning. Go and have a listen!

Amy x

Holiday snaps!

Last week I went to Devon for my holiday with my mum dad and sister. We were SO lucky with the weather; sunny sunny sunny! Amazing with the unpredictable England! I took a few pictures throughout the trip. It's very boat-y, but stayin alon the river Dart doesn't give you much else! (Arpart from beautiful scenery, of course.)

I'm also editing a video which I will put up at some point this week called 'my holiday in 4 minutes' :)

It took us 7 hours to get to Devon, when normally it would take around 4. So. Much. Traffic. It was horrific!! However, so worth it once we got there.

Always time for an over-excited selfie.

We all had a lovely time, and I even got a TAN, yes a TAN from ENGLAND albeit not much but STILL a TAN!! Hahahaha!

See you soon,

Amy x

It's not the end...

This is more of a personal post, but sometimes we need to express things to get it off our minds and get some perspective. (Sorry if it's a bit deep and depressing haha.)
Sometimes in life, we get a little down. If you're anything like me, things build up on you and before you know it you're stressing about anything and everything. Just recently, I've been feeling a bit like this. Different things have happened that have turned me into a giant stress-ball. 
I think one of these things is the fact that I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what I want to do with my life. I'm seventeen years old and I'm supposed to have a 'career plan' for my future. Looking at different universities does not help the whole stressing-out situation: where I choose to go to university is going to determine where I'm going to live for the next three years. On top of this, I have to write and submit my personal statement in around four months time. I keep changing my mind on the kind of courses I want to do - at first it was film production, then media production, then media studies, then journalism, then film studies and now I'm deciding whether or not I want to do 'music and  media management' or 'events management with film production'.
AGH.
I feel like I need to write 5,000,000 different personal statements for all the different courses!
I know I'll make my mind up at some point and everything will be fine, but right now it feels like if I can't make a decision, I'll end up doing something I hate. Which I know is not the case, but sometimes it just feels that way.

Other things have also cropped up in my life recently which I won't bore you with haha! I just wanted to say what was on my mind.
Sorry this isn't an up-beat happy blog post today, but everyone has those days where you just don't feel up-beat and happy.
I heard a quote that I really liked, and has recently become my motto-

Picture - Google Images

I think this sums up just about everything, doesn't it? I find it puts things back into perspective. I'm very grateful for the life I have and for the people who are in it. I'm scared I take this for granted too often. But even the Queen probably has her off-days, so I'm guessing a little stress is okay.

Amy x

Jessie J concert

Last week I went to see Jessie J with my sister in the middle of a forest near to where I live. It was an outdoor concert and we were surprisingly lucky with the weather! 

We got so close to the front (which is always better) and had a really great time!  Jessie J is so down-to-earth on stage and it feels like you're having a conversation with her, she explains what her songs mean so you can really appreciate them!

Normally I'm more of a 'Kodaline' or 'The 1975' or 'Florence and the Machine' listener but both me and my sister loved every bit of this concert!!

Here are some photographs of the night-

Mixed Fruit Milkshake

So I chucked together this fruit smoothie/milkshake today and it turned out to actually be quite delicious! I thought I would share it on here as I have also done previous blog posts on recipes. It's so quick and easy to do and a good way to get your five a day! (But if you're anything like me, it also creates a lot of mess!)

INGREDIENTS:

Handfull of strawberries

1 Peach

1 Orange

A few chunks of pineapple

Handfull of grapes

Milk

Vanilla ice-cream

Use a juicer to squeeze the juice out of the orange

Chop up your peach and strawberries into small pieces

And then throw all the fruit ingredients into a blender and blend together

Next, scoop as much vanilla ice-cream as you want into the fruit concoction and blend together

Pour in a dash of milk and blend for the final time!

Voila! Enjoy! :)

Amy x

My year so far in photographs

Just a quick blog post to share some of my favourite photographs taken in the past year!

Yes I saw Miranda Hart live! And I was this close! *happy face*

I went on a school Geography trip to Somerset back in March, this is me and my friend Trudie looking out at Porlock Bay... Cute times!

Officially my favourite book of all time. 

Mother's Day 2014.

My birthday last year

Bruno Mars October 2013. Life complete.

Last year's holiday to Devon!

Last summer (good action shot of my friend Laura there)

And finally prom last year! Seems like a lifetime ago but miss it so much! I'm 2nd in on the right:)

Amy x