Sun, in England?

As I write this, I am sprawled out on my bed in a vest-top and shorts trying to avoid the sweltering heat. But you live in the UK, you say, it's never warm in the UK! Well, this year, for reasons unknown, there has been quite a few seriously warm days. Most people enjoy this weather, but since I am blessed with the skin of a ghost which turns tomato-red after fifteen minutes in the sun, I don't really like it. I do try to make the most of it because it's fairly rare here, especially in rainy Yorkshire, but the only hot day where I've properly ventured out was when my Dad took me to a Medieval Fair at Harewood House in Leeds. I have to admit it was seriously cool. The grounds of the house are beautiful, as you can see below. The people who were putting on the stalls and displays looked really authentic and were super-knowledgeable about Medieval times.

 This is one of many pictures from a jousting event which I really enjoyed!

 This picture shows a battle recreation with real cannons and everything! I wanted a fake wooden sword but all the kids got to them first, damn it. xD

I'm very pleased to announce that I finished my last exam on the 24th June and have now left school! It's pretty good but I was bored on the first day because I had nothing to do, but I've stocked up on a few boxsets and I've been writing a bit of fic so it hasn't been too bad. :) Anyway, that Friday, it was prom. I have to say that I wasn't overly excited about it as I'm not keen on getting dressed up and my high heels were sooooo painful but it turned out to be a better night than I expected. Everyone had made an effort and the hotel was really nice. I requested that the DJ play my all-time favourite jams, Toxic by Britney Spears and SexyBack by Justin Timberlake. Then he played Mr Brightside :D

Also, a piece of advice- don't attempt to do the Cha Cha Slide in high heels under any circumstances. It does not work and causes extreme pain. ;)

 This is the professional photo we had taken. Emily is on the far left, then Sasha, Gemma (weird hand person!), Ella and me.

And one of me looking super-awkward in my dress. Me in an actual dress is a sight you may never see again...

Also, see that sexy chica in the darker blue dress in the group photo? That's Ella and her blog is amazing, have a gander at it here: ellaumbrellax.blogspot.co.uk

That's about all for now, my next post will probably be some TV/film/book reviews as all I'm doing these days is watching TV and reading!

Eden x

The Wanderer Returns

I must admit, I feel slightly awkward writing this post, sort of like when you meet your great-aunt who you haven't seen since you were five years old. I realise that it's been a few months since I last posted on here because it was starting to feel like a chore. I've almost finished school completely now which on one hand feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders but also scares me senseless. Being there for five years means that I'm (almost) completely in my comfort zone, so being the new kid again is making me nervous. Another thing is that my school wasn't exactly the most pressurising of environments (basically I did most of my GCSEs on my own, with the help of CGP revision guides), so moving to a grammar school will be a steep learning curve, literally! On the plus side, though, lots of other people are coming from different schools too and I'm really looking forward to meeting some new faces. Also it is a great excuse to buy lots of new stationery, which is always a bonus! :-)

After my last exam on Monday, I have a 9 week long holiday. I should be glad about this but I've been off school for almost two weeks now and I'm already bored. I've been out with friends and I'm going away for a couple of days at the weekend but I don't have the money to go out everyday. So far, this has given me a good opportunity to do a bit of writing, which I think has suddenly improved for some reason. I'm also thinking of redesigning my blog to keep me occupied. It's been quiet around the house for the past few days as my sister has been away on a residential trip with school, which has been nice, to be honest, but I'm glad she's back now. :)

I will try my best to post soon-ish! Enjoy the sunny weather while it lasts!

Eden x

Food, films and the future.

Readers: if I ever claim to be busy again, ignore me because it will be nothing compared to this month. I'll start by taking you on a magical mystery tour back to the beginning of January...

It was Ella's birthday on the 10th but we had a two and a quarter hour long English Language exam on the same day. I'm not a believer in revising for English, I don't understand how you can other than past papers to be honest. I went into the exam feeling fairly prepared and the questions weren't bad but I don't have a good feeling about it at all as I struggle to write creatively under pressure. Anyway, Ella opened her presents after the exam which took my mind off it, luckily she liked mine!

The day after to properly celebrate her birthday we went to Red Hot buffet in Leeds, it's basically a huge buffet with food from all over the world- India, China, America, Thailand....They even did desserts too! I tried sushi for the first time so I can actually say that I don't like it, I found that it doesn't really taste of anything to be honest. I can't say I'd eat it again but at least I've tried it! Anyway, the rest of the food was lovely, especially the creme brulee!

After stuffing our faces (we each went back four times for more food) we went back to Ella's to watch some horror films. The first was called Psych 9 and if I could describe it in three words it would be enjoyable but strange. We still didn't understand what had happened even after googling it in the morning! The second film we watched was Case 39 with Renee Zellweger, which I really enjoyed.

Since then I've been revising for the Physics exam which was last Friday, I couldn't believe how easy it seemed! I'm just hoping they don't mark it harshly to compensate...

Probably the most important thing which has happened this month is that I've applied to college! I had my first interview out of three today and I've been offered a place which I'm really happy about, although I'll have to see how the other interviews go before I accept anywhere. My next interview is on the 14th February so fingers crossed it goes well as I can't wait to have a new start, study the subjects I love and be in a class with people who actually want to learn.

In the meantime I have to learn two pages of French for my speaking test and revise basically everything I've ever done in Maths so I can get an A and be allowed to concentrate on other subjects rather than Maths. Tomorrow I'm going to Manchester on the train with Sasha, Ella, Gemma and Emily for a shopping trip which I've been looking forward to for weeks!

Eden x

Goodbye 2012...Hello 2013!

Happy New Year to my lovely readers and Happy Birthday to me! I'm feeling incredibly lucky at the moment because I've got money to spend on a new iPod touch and a prom dress, plus some amazing presents from the girls. I realise I sound spoiled but I've never had this amount of money and cool stuff before so a massive thank you to my family and friends in in order!

There's only 5 hours left of 2012 as I'm writing this, which feels strange as it's all been a bit of a blur. So much has happened this year and I know this sounds cringingly cheesy but I really do feel like I've grown as a person and I've gone on a mini voyage of self-discovery in a way. I haven't had the chance to be as creative as I'd like this year so my new year's resolution is to take some time out for myself, mainly to further my creative writing skills and to stop myself moaning on here that I feel like an exam robot. I know that 2013 will be even more stressful than 2012 in terms of exams but I'm really looking forward to September when I start college/sixth form purely because it's a new start.

Anyway, enough of the deep thinking, yesterday I went to see The Hobbit with Ella, Sasha and Emily for my birthday. I have to say I was a little unsure at first but it got better and better and the riddle scene with Golumn and Bilbo really impressed me, it was the perfect mix of humour and suspense. Afterwards we went to Maccy D's for a catch-up even though we only saw each other a week ago!

I've been thinking how much the BBC has killed me this year...first the Reichenbach Fall then Rory and Amy leaving Doctor Who and then Merlin ending. Seriously.

Also thank you to everyone who has left me birthday messages on Twitter, you are the best! :-)

Eden x

Forget Christmas...it's my bloggiversary!

Hello all! The 21st was (what I call) my bloggiversary- the one year anniversary of my lovely blog! I've written a grand total of 64 posts and I think all of them have actually been read by at least one real person rather than some kind of spam bot, which is great! Thank you if you are one of those people :-)

Christmas is in under 3 days now, which is pretty scary, this year has been a blur! I'm a bit disappointed with the weather as it's too warm to snow so instead it's been raining non-stop all day and it just doesn't look festive at all. But there's still presents and food so it's all gooood.

Speaking of presents, the girls got me some brilliant stuff including a huge box of Milk Tray, a Deathly Hallows symbol necklace and transferable Dark Mark tattoo, lip crayons, jewellery and a Doctor Who book! It's my birthday on New Year's Eve and we're going to see The Hobbit so I'm looking forward to that (and more presents of course!)

Last weekend I went to York with my mum and auntie (who have decided to have a massive argument just before Christmas and make Christmas dinner extremely awkward) and I got a new Cath Kidston bag, it's so purty! It's dark red with little beige polka dots :-)

I can't think of much else to say except from have a wonderful Christmas and don't hold back on the food and drink!!

Eden x

Christmas, History and the Royal Baby.

Happy December- less than a month until Christmas! This morning I realised how fast this year has gone- it's almost a year since my first post on this blog! CUTE.

There is still a lot to do though- in a weeks time I have a History mock and a Geography mock. I started to revise for History on Saturday morning but I was constantly being distracted because Time Team's Greatest Finds was on TV and they found a really well-preserved Anglo-Saxon golden coin and it was so shiny and I just couldn't deal with the excitement. Plus my sister was sat upstairs watching Miranda and I was jealous. I've managed to create a mindmap of the first few topics we covered with key points which will hopefully jog my memory...hopefully.

My sister and I have put the little Christmas tree up and our room and we've hung some really cute ribbon with little stockings on it in the window, we have a red-themed room anyway so it looks extra festive! The big tree in the living room is going up tomorrow too, I can't wait! It makes the room look so cosy with all the
lights, I love it.

I found out today that I got an A* in the mock English exam that I thought I'd failed, but I just wish that could have been the real exam. The grade boundaries were super strange- the paper was out of 80 but you only needed 61 to get an A*- very weird! Knowing me, I'll probably fall to pieces when it comes to the real thing.

Also-congratulations to Kate and William- that child will be the best looking child ever to grace this Earth. I'm hoping it's a girl purely to make use of this new law. Also- do we get a bank holiday? *pleasepleaseplease* I've just heard about the receptionist who forwarded the hoax call to Kate's bedside- sometimes mistakes like that can be the final straw for people who are already depressed. So sad.

Band discovery of the week- The xx. Wow. Angels is beautiful.

Eden x

(Apologies for this being a bit random, I wrote it over a number of days to confuse my little mind further!)

The Calm Before the Storm

It's been a while! I'll start with the positives and end with a good old rant in an attempt to expel my frustration (not in that way, in an annoyed sense)

Anyway, The Killers concert was brilliant! I'm now the proud owner of a TK t-shirt which set me back £25, but hey ho. It's worth it in the long run! The show itself was brilliant, the lighting and everything looked so cool and the guys were on great form, I've no idea how they managed to sing so well for such a long time with only a two-minute break! I took my sister's iPod to get some photos (as mine is so old it doesn't have a camera) but of course it decided to run out of memory after I'd taken one video. Grr.

The concert was on a Thursday night and I got home at about half eleven, which wasn't too bad, but I went into school the next day and then got sent home 15 minutes later due to a power cut- back to sleep for me! I found out that the power had come back on about 20 minutes after we'd been sent home, just in time for the first lesson of the day. Awkward! So, yeah, all in all it was a good couple of days!

And now for my scheduled rant: I'm so indecisive about my A level choices and which sixth form/college to pick, it feels like there's a problem with everything I choose. My aim is to do a degree in History after college, but I'm not sure what A Levels to choose. Ideally, I want to do English Lit, History, Economics and either Geography or Politics. The best sixth form in the area doesn't offer Economics or Politics. The best college in the area is far away from my house and I'm unlikely to be offered a place anyway as my Maths and Science grades are too low. The sixth form nearest to my house belongs to the seventh best school in the country and offers the subjects I want, but everything I've heard about it is negative- the teachers make life hard for students who haven't attended the school previously and the other students are already in the friendship groups as they've been there for five years. Plus, as it's amongst the best schools, the students are so bright that sun shines out of their arses and I would look like a prize idiot compared to them. There's another sixth form not that far away but it has quite a bad reputation, not to mention Ofsted report. See my problem?

I know I'm not going to get into Oxbridge, but I'd like a decent degree from a decent university. It's panicked me a bit that most people on forums and the like take Maths and Science A Levels then progress to a History degree. I'm absolutely shit at everything related to those two subjects, I've had to work my arse off to even get B's, why are they so necessary? I feel like I'm classified as a bad student because I can only do Humanities and Arts-based subjects.

As if researching non-stop about all this on the internet isn't time-consuming enough (believe me, it is), I've recently found out that there's a week in December where I have a History mock, a Geography mock and a French speaking test on three consecutive days. Plus an English mock next week and a Physics mock at some point. The grades I achieve in these exams are my predicted grades- they're what I can expect to get for my final grade and what I give college/sixth forms when I apply. Bloody brilliant.

Eden x