I now pronounce you husband and wife

Hey my lovelies! This is just a super quick post to let you know what's been happening lately. So on Friday (yesterday) I had the pleasure of attending a family wedding, and I must say that it was absolutely beautiful. The whole event took place at Gibbon Bridge hotel, it began with a beautiful ceremony,held in the gardens of the hotel, and it was honestly like something from a fairytale. Following this there was a divine 3 course meal and then began the dancing and party fun.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Hogan, you both looked absolutely stunning!

Until next time 

A lovely walk along the canal

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet because, well...pictures speak louder than words.

Around a month ago my sister and I took our dog Coco for a lovely walk along the canal at the front of my mums house. I love the amazing things you can find when you really look, when you really take notice, all of the hidden places you can find that you probably wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't really looked.

I love the fact that you can still get high quality photos just from your phone...a photographers best camera is the one that they have with them.

Until next time

xo

Invincibility doesn't exist

There's one major thing that you don't notice whilst you're younger, something that you continue not to notice as you grow older. That one thing is that everyone around you is growing older too, those people that you once thought were invincible don't look so invincible anymore.

Sometimes I look back and try to pin point exactly when I first noticed it, but I really can't put my finger on it, I don't know if I ever really began to notice. Your parents and grandparents kind of base their lives around you, you're one of their sole purposes for being who they are and doing what they do, they spend so much time looking after you when you're younger, helping you to decide the person that you're destined to be that we sometimes forget to take a good look at them, we just don't realise that as we are ageing, they are ageing too. 

The older I get, the more I worry. I'm 21 and I've already lost more people in my life than I care to think about, the most agonising being my beloved Granddad. One thing that's interesting about when I lost my Granddad was that I had never really noticed that he wasn't invincible, until he was ill, that was the moment that it hit me, like a bus, the moment that I realised that he isn't going to be here forever, the moment that I wondered how I could go on without him or any of my other loved ones. 

Losing people is by far the hardest thing that I have ever had to deal with in my life, despite all of the bad things that have happened in my life. Nothing can ever soothe this pain, the next time you lose someone, it's just going to be as bad as the first time, it will never get better and that's the disastrous thing about losing people. 

Take a good long look as the people around you, the people who have looked after you since the day that you were born and just remember to love them as much as you humanly can, remember to spend as much time with them as possible and create memories that will be remembered for a lifetime. 

Family is one of the most important things to any one individual, never should it be taken for granted. 

"Family, where life begins and love never ends." 

Give what you can to those you love, especially your time, time is the most precious thing on this planet. Love like you have never loved before and create memories that will be burned into your brain for as long as you live. Show the people around you what they truly mean to you, don't for one second think that it's okay to postpone that, and most importantly, never let them forget what they mean to you.

Until next time xoxo

Life's Not A Dress Rehearsal

I've spent my entire life in education, why you might ask? The answer will always be the same, because I was pushed into it, because I was told that this was what I had to do to become successful, to get the job of my dreams. I've came to realise that this was the biggest mistake of my life. I enjoyed College and would quite happily say that it was the best time of my entire life, everything about it was perfect and at that moment in time, I had never felt the passion that I did then for Media...little did I know that was soon to take a horrifying turn. I began my degree in September of 2012, after the first few months I knew it wasn't for me and following my car accident and all of the terrible things that I encountered during these months of my life, I decided to drop out of uni and I had never felt happier, I was stress free. This was all until I decided to go back, due to the fact that I am not a quitter and that I didn't want to disappoint, I never want to disappoint. 

I'm now in my final year of University and most people would say that it would be the stupidest thing ever to give up now, but is that really so true? nothing has ever made me so stressed, this stress has caused me to get extremely behind on my work. My Final Year Project and Dissertation are due in around 2 weeks time….I've not even started it and I completely lack all motivation to do so. Naturally this is stressing me out but I am completely confused as to where I go from here, I just don't know what to do. 

I just want to skip forwards in time, I want to throw myself at the world and to start my life completely. I'm absolutely terrified of failing in life, it's my biggest fear and it's something that I need to overcome. I'm terrified of looking back in 10 years time and wondering where my life went wrong, wondering why I'm not where I want to be. I really hope that I am where I want to be. 

There's so much I want to do in life, no dream is too big for me to hope it comes true. In one of my earlier posts I created a bucket list, it was full of a wide variety of things if I do say so myself. Well in this post I'm going to give you a list of just 10 things, 10 major things that I want to achieve in my life, whether that's visiting a place or just doing something, I would also like to point out that these are in no particular order. 

1. Rome

For as long as I can remember I have always had a rather large fascination with Roman history and with this comes a great desire to explore the city. I've spent so many hours on the internet reading up and just looking up certain things about the city and I've came to realise that along with just how beautiful the city is, there's also some rather magnificent ancient Roman architecture that I would absolutely die to see. The Colosseum, like most people, is the first thing on my list, the pictures already show just how amazing this structure is, but to see it in person? Yes please! Another big thing on my list to see when visiting the city of Rome if The Pantheon, this structure was originally built during the reign of Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) but was then rebuilt around 126AD, even after 2000 years the Pantheon's dome is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome. There's so much to see in Rome, so much history to take in, I can't wait to visit this beautiful city, I can't wait to fall completely in love.

2. Paris in a weekend

Those who know me will know that I don't have a very big love for France, it's not one of my top places, I see Paris as being a little bit overrated, especially with places like Prague and Venice in the world, but there are some things in Paris that I absolutely have to see, I aim to take Paris by storm in just one short weekend. The number one thing that fascinates me when I think about Paris is The Louvre, although I'm not good at art myself, I love to see the work of others, I absolutely adore it. The Louvre is filled with many, many beautiful works of art, including the world famous Mona Lisa, I just know that I could spend hours here just standing in awe. Obviously if you go to Paris you have to see Eiffel Tower, although I don't have a huge fascination for this, I would still like to see it and get myself a few cheeky pictures. Paris is filled with beautiful monuments, that's the main reason I want to visit this city, I want to see Notre Dame Cathedral, which dates back to 1163 and The Roman catholic Basilica of Sacre Coeur. I want to visit the lock bridge, take in the culture, admire the art and take Paris by storm. 

3. Swim with Sharks

I love Sharks, I think they are one of the most wonderful, beautiful and misunderstood creatures alive today. There's not much to say about this, the title of this section pretty much speaks for itself. The only issue here is that I cannot swim and due to bad experiences with learning to swim when I was younger I have a little fear with learning to do so, but with this being such a big dream of mine, that's just something I have to overcome to that I can experience this. 

4. Have my own family

This is probably my biggest dream of all, if I can't do anything else in life but this, then I wouldn't actually care. For as long as I can remember I have always dreamed of having my own little family. When your time on this planet is up there isn't much you can leave behind that will actually matter, besides who you were and who you left behind. My family will become my legacy, when I'm gone from this world, I will live on through them. Having a family could be one of the most beautiful gifts in life, with this comes a life of adventure and a life of change. I can only imagine how wonderful this experience will be, I can't wait to make it my own experience.

5. Accept myself for who I am

Life is too short to spend another second at war with yourself, this is the motto I will continue to live by. It can often be hard to accept yourself for who you are, to understand that you are you and you are all you are ever going to be. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though! You get to decide who you are, you get to decide the kind of person you are going to be, the paths in life that you are going to take, you have the ability to change anything about your life should you wish to. I am me, I am the only me that is ever going to exist, I have countless number of freckles, heterochromia, the rosiest of rosy red cheeks ever possible, two feet, two arms, a head and a brain that makes me who I am, a brain that determines who I want to be and all that I can ever become. I've grown to accept this a little more over the past few years, I'm an awkward person, but that makes me who I am. I'm kind hearted and that's probably the most wonderful thing about me. It can take a life time to figure out who you really are and to completely accept it. That's what I hope to do, I hope to accept myself for who I truly am and to be thankful that I am me. 

6. New Zealand

New Zealand is arguably one of the most spectacular places that this world has to offer, just take a look at the breathtaking scenery if you don't believe me. Naturally, as The Lord of The Rings is one of my most favourite films, exploring the location of filming is an absolute must, especially hiking around Mordor! One of the main things I'd like to do in New Zealand is explore the the scenery because it's absolutely breathtaking in photographs, I can only imagine what it's going to be like standing right there in the middle of it. I want to visit the 'adventure capital of the world' that is Queenstown, the fun that could come from visiting this location is pretty much guaranteed, along with the views from scenery as well, what's not to like? I want to visit Milford Sound, which is often described as one of the natural wonders of the world. 

7. Japan

What can I say about Japan apart from the fact that I have had a fascination with this country for the longest time. One thing I aim to do before visiting Japan is to learn the language, or at least some of it. I want to see The Icicles of Misotsuchi which are the icicles that appear on the mountain located near the Awakawa River. Takeda Castle, although this was destroyed around 400 years ago, the stone wall still exists in it's original style. One of the main reasons I would absolutely love to visit Japan is to visit the historic landmarks, such as Shuri Catle Park, which harbours ruins from the Ryukyuan culture, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, which is the only building remained standing after the atomic bomb explosion during August 1945. I want to take in as much of the Japanese culture as humanly possible. 

8. See Taylor Swift live in concert

It's not a big surprise to anyone who knows me that this is one of my dreams. Taylor Swift has been my idol for such a long time and I fully believe she always will be. I just adore everything about her, she's just a wonderful human being. It's horrible knowing that I have still not seen her in concert, I just haven't been able to afford to when she's released tickets. I will see her, it doesn't matter which era this is in, but it will be a thing, it will happen. 

9. Prague 

The diversity of the city's architecture means there is something for everyone to enjoy. This city has so much architecture to offer, from Romanesque chapels and cellars to Cathedrals and palaces and gardens. There's so much I want to see in Prague, possibly too much to list, so I'll just talk about a few of them. Prague Castle looks absolutely breathtaking and is the largest ancient castle in the world. There's so much to see at Prague Castle that it could take days to full appreciate everything that it has to offer, from churches and gardens to Royal residences. Tyn Church is a gothic looking Church that can be viewed from all over Prague. The Church has two towers which can be admired due to their pure beauty, I've read up a lot about this church and have found that although this Church is wonderful to see during the day time, it's absolutely gobsmacking to see at night, so when I eventually get the chance to visit Prague, I aim to view it during opposing times, day and night. 

10. Berlin

One of the most important things I want to do when I visit Berlin is to explore the Jewish History, so I will visit The Judisches Museum. I want to visit the Berlin Wall and immerse myself in Berlins art scene. There's so much to take in, so much to experience. I love museums and there are so many to visit in Berlin, including the world famous 'Island of Museums' I want to visit The Brandenburg Gate, which is one of the best known landmarks that Germany has to offer. I want to visit The Holocaust Memorial, which is a memorial in Berlin that's dedicated to the Jewish victims of the holocaust. 

I could have talked about my most important and biggest dreams for hours and hours, but I had to stop myself, I haven't quite told you everything I want to see in these countries/cities, I haven't completely explained everything I  hope to achieve with my dreams because it would take far too long and this post is long enough as it is, I may take the time to take each one of these dreams and expand on the reasons why they are my dreams and why they are so important to me, so look out for those blog posts! I'm going to take a city/country a week and just tell you everything I love about it, that could make for some interesting reads.

Until next time!

Keep dreaming…

xo

Day Twelve: Christmas Before Christmas

Sorry for the late post today, I've been having so much fun spending the past couple of days with my lovely best friend that I almost forgot!

Sept 12th: Tell us about a favorite tradition. It could be a family tradition or from a holiday, university, you-name-it. What makes it so special?

"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."

- Winston Churchill

Traditions are a lovely thing to have, whether it be a common tradition or a home made tradition. 

One of my favourite traditions is a christmas tradition that my best friend and I share, Christmas before Christmas.

During Christmas day everyone spends their day celebrating with their famlilies, which means unfortunately, I don't get to see my best friend. A week or so before Christmas day, my best friend and I get together and celebrate our Christmas before Christmas, which is exactly what it sounds like.

We treat the night before like Christmas eve and then wake the following day to presents and other Christmas fun, and it's a really wonderful thing for us to share. It's one of the most special things we do together and I wouldn't change it for the world.

My best friend is my world, we celebrate many traditions together and I look forward to celebrating them with her.

I can't wait for us to celebrate our Christmas before Christmas this year, it's going to be even better than the last.

Do you have any fun traditions you'd like to share?

Until tomorrow…

xo

Day Eleven: Inspiration

Sept 11th: How do you stay inspired? Who inspires you the most?

"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."
- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Everyone should be inspired by someone or something. To have something that inspires you to work your hardest to achieve great things is a wonderful thing to have.

Something that keeps me inspired is pinterest. Whenever I am about to be doing some form of photo shoot the first thing that I do is head on over to pinterest to check out what other people have done that's similar to what I want.

Pinterest 

My Interpretation 

As you can see, pinterest really does inspire me, I got the entire idea for my fairytale themed photoshoot from pinterest, you can see more of these pictures here. 

The first collage of photos were taken from pinterest, these were the pictures I originally liked and wanted to create for myself. The collage below is my interpretation of the pinterest photographs, i took certain elements and created me own photographs with them. 

As a photographer, just looking at other photographers work can really inspire me to go out and create something worthwhile, that's all it can take.

As a videographer, watching films directed or written by those I look up to in the industry really gives me the inspiration that I need to go out and create something meaningful.

I'd be nothing without my boyfriend, friends and family though (Although they could all be considered as family). They are the biggest inspiration for me. I do everything that I do for them, to make them proud of me. These are the people who have made me who I am today the people who have stuck by me when I have needed them, they are the reason that I have done all I have and the reason I will strive to become better than I am.

When I really think about this though, when I really take a good hard look, I can honestly say that life inspires me. Everything I see, every little thing, anything can inspire me. The world inspires me.

What inspires you?

Until tomorrow…

xo

Moore Nature Reserve

Today was an absolutely beautiful day for photography.

I visited my grandmother today, I don't get to do that very often and it meant an extremely early morning. Following this my mother, sister and myself then had time to waste before picking up my brother from the train station once he had returned from work so we decided to take an adventure to Moore Nature Reserve.

The weather was absolutely divine, apart from the occasional little spit of rain, but that didn't stop us having a wonderful time. We sat on a bench, eating a little picnic enjoying the beautiful views, which was just lovely.

I hope the future brings more memories like this, it's lovely to enjoy the weather (when it's not too hot) and to take in some beautiful scenery

With weather like this, why not pick up your camera, click the shutter and see what you get?
xo