The Blog-tember Challenge: Day 1 | Meet Ashleigh

The Blog-tember Challenge: Day 1 - Meet Ashleigh

Hello lovelies! Happy September to all and what better way is there to spend September than participating in the Blog-tember challenge. Unfortunately I managed to completely miss the challenge last year and I was absolutely gutted! From that moment I made sure to leave a memo in my diary to ensure I would not miss it this year! 

Thursday, Sept. 1: Introduce yourself however you like! Pics, vlog, collage, your choice :)

I'm Ashleigh. I'm 22 and live in a not so big town in the North West of England with my sweet lovely Mike, and I'm very proud of the bricks and water that have came together to create our lovely little home. This has been my first real year without those lovely summer holidays, and it's awful! I've been a working girl for the last year of my life, not doing something I completely enjoy, but it pays the bills. I studied a BSc in Broadcast and Media Production at Liverpool John Moores University and it was the worst 3 years of my life. 

I have MANY dreams, most of which include me being on a place travelling to beautiful places. I'm a blogger (obviously) when I remember. I love reading, I love being transported into new worlds. I'm in the process of writing my own book, it's a working progress that's for sure, but I hope to one day be a published author. I have a MASSIVE love for cameras and love running around taking pictures of everything and anything, I'm quite the creative person. Have I mentioned reading? I love reading. I also love watching films, I could never watch too many films, and I'm quite the gamer too I must admit. 

These are a few of my favourite things... 

Reading. Pizza. Doctor Who. Tattoos. Gaming. Writing. Supernatural. 

Boyfriend.Blogging. Make-up. Bones. Candles. Travelling. Movies. Clothes. 

Stephen King. Horror. Journals. Cameras. Autumn.

Tell me about yourself...

What are your favourite things?

My Bucket List - 2016 Update

My Bucket List - 2016 Update 

Around this time last year I shared my bucket list with the world for the very first time, this is a list of truly amazing things, i'd be extremely lucky to complete even a 10th of this list. Today I bring to you the first update on this list, I'd like to share what I have done, what I hope to have completed by the end of the year.

"Become friends with people who aren't your age. Hang out with people whose first language isn't the same as yours. Get to know someone who doesn't come from your social class. This is how you see the world, this is how you grow."

Bucket List

1. Experience The Northern Lights from a glass igloo in Finnish Lapland.

2. Abseil off The Story Bridge in Brisbane, Queensland.

3. Visit The Grand Canyon.

4. Visit Niagara Falls.

5. Zip lining at Penthyn Quarry, Bethesda. 

6. Visit the base camp of Everest.

7. Visit The Louvre.

8. Visit Rome to see the Coliseum.

9. Visit the Eiffel Tower.

10. Visit Egypt to see The Pyramids of Giza.

11. Visit the 7 wonders of the ancient world, or the locations where they once stood.

12. Visit The Great Barrier Reef.

13. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

14. Walk along The Great Wall of China.

15. Visit all 7 continents. 

16. Explore an underground cenotes in Mexico.

17. Explore Venice

18. Visit an extinct Volcano.

19. Visit a live Volcano.

20. Visit New Zealand.

21. Swim with Sharks.

22. Put a lock onto the Lock Bridge in Paris. 

23. Climb The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

24. Visit all 52 States.

25. Visit Antarctica.

26. Explore the area around Area 51.

27. Visit Prague.

28. Visit The Sistine Chappell.

29. Visit Stonehenge.

30. Skydive.

31. Go on an African Safari.

32. Backpack Europe.

33. Go on an American road trip.

34. Visit the Taj Mahal.

35. Visit the Pink Lake located in Western Australia. 

36. Swim with Whale Sharks in Cancun.

37. Visit The Amazon Rainforest. 

38. Visit The Catacombs of Paris.

39. Visit The Anne Frank House.

40. Visit Gedenkstatte Berliner Mauer. 

41. Learn Japanese.

42.  Visit Shakespeare's Birthplace. 

43. Visit The Statue of Liberty.

44. Visit Australia Zoo. 

45. Write a book.  

46. Visit The Memorial and Museum Auschwitz - Birkenau.

47. Get Married.

48. Have Children.

49. Visit Sydney Harbour.

50. Visit Yellowstone National Park.

51. Dance in the rain.

52. Meet an idol.

53. Adopt an abandoned animal.

54. Experience the Superbowl in person. 

55. Attend San Diego Comic-Con.

56. Stand under the Hollywood sign.

57. Visit the Dead Sea.

58. Take a photo everyday for a year.

59. Give to charity.

60. Cage dive with Great White Sharks.

61. See Taylor Swift Live.

62. Buy a house.

63. Learn to drive.

64. Learn to swim.

65. Learn how to take a compliment.

66. Time Travel?

67. Plant a tree.

68. Fall deeply in love - helplessly and unconditionally. 

69. Spend a night in a haunted house, alone.

70. Perform infront of an audience.

71. Learn to play the banjo.

72. Attend a festival.

73. Understand that you can't please everyone.

74. Learn to shoot a gun.

75. Sleep under the stars.

76. Travel for a whole year.

78. Overcome my fears.

79. Visit the location where Lord of The Rings was set.

80. Visit Tour Patagonia.

81. Visit The Himalayas. 

82. Explore the temples and gardens of Kyoto.

83. Live in a different country.

84. Disconnect for a week.

85. Bury a time capsule.

86. Create a treasure map that directs them to nothing.

87. Graduate from University.

88. Study to become a Teacher.

89. Do a Masters degree.

90. Donate Blood.

91. Throw someone a surprise party.

92. Read 100 books in a year.

93. Say "Yes" for a whole day.

94. Write 365 letters to someone, one every day.

95. Take in as much culture as possible.

96. Do 50 random acts of kindness.

97. Shoot a bow and arrow.

98. Identify 10 constellations.

99. Follow my dreams. 

100. Accept yourself for who you are.

I'm looking forward to scratching off a few more things from my bucket list this year! Whats on your bucket list? 

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22!

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22

Hey friends! How are you all doing? How has January been treating you? We haven't spoken since the first half of January. I've not officially moved in with my gorgeous partner, celebrated my 22nd Birthday, and life is just amazing at the moment, I am so blessed.

The greatest thing to happen this month, probably this year, is moving in with my handsome man, mainly because I've never been so in love, I've never felt to happy around someone, never been myself so much around someone, and it's perfect. I'm getting a little soppy over here, but it's allowed, I'm completely happy with my life...and not stressed! WOOHOO!

I have literally had the most perfect Birthday ever! I've always loved Birthdays, whether it's mine or yours, that's irrelevant, I just think that they can become something so incredibly magical. 

This year I felt completely loved, I was surrounded by so many people whom I love and admire.

I don't often get to see my Mother and Sister all too much, what with them living in a different county and them and I working ALL the time, but they took the time to visit me for my Birthday in my new home. We were lavished with the most divine foods, courtesy of my wonderful man.

As for the gifts I received? I have never felt so spoilt. I am literally one of the biggest camera geeks that you will ever come across, and guess what? I GOT A NEW CAMERA! Not just any camera, a beautifully pink polaroid camera, and it's absolutely perfect.

Today to complete the Birthday celebrations, we visited a local restaurant called Larkins, another lovely gift, this time from Mike's mother, Carol. We had a wonderful time, it was a new experience, I tried new foods and we just had a lovely time.

Naturally I took plenty of pictures to share with you all, so here you go!

Until next time my lovelies, enjoy the rest of January!

Currently in January 2016...

…reading  The newest book by Stephen King called 'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. It's a series of short stories, naturally some of the stories are better than others but the book is absolutely fantastic, Bravo. I love short stories, I think it's wonderful to see how a writer can make even the shortest story seem like the longest, seem like you've been reading it for a lifetime, and how they can ensure that so much happens in that story. Following the end of this book I'll be starting on Time Lord Fairytales, a book published by Penguin and I'm just ecstatic to read this book, seriously.

…watching  So my partner and I have been watching Babylon 5 for awhile now, we're on the 5th season though. I'm really enjoying it as a series, it's everything that I've always been interested in, I think it's just taking us awhile because I feel like I have to be in the mood to watch it. We've just finished watching the 4th season of American Horror Story, Freak Show, which was a slight disappointment. Don't get me wrong when I say that, I mean it was still okay, it's just probably one of the more weaker seasons unfortunately, Asylum is my favourite. We've also just started the 5th Season of The Walking Dead, which has started off pretty good, we're not too far into it though so I can't really comment on it yet haha! I've ALSO just started rewatching One Tree Hill, mainly because I received the whole collection as a Christmas gift from my mother, and after all, it is one of my FAVOURITE TV shows. 

…trying To move home, which it proving to be an incredibly time consuming task, but it doesn't take away from my excitement. I honestly cannot wait to be completely settled in my new home with my gorgeous partner, at the moment it's just a lot of work, but it will all be worth it when it's done. I'm also trying to find a new job because my contract ends soon, I'm hoping to find a job that has nothing to do with what I'm doing now because to be honest I despise it with my every being. I want to find a reason to enjoy getting up in the morning, I will get there, it might take awhile, but I'll get there. 

…eating Much healthier than Christmas time haha! I say that but we've been trying to rid ourselves of the masses amount of chocolate that we've received over the Christmas period. I mean, we could have threw it all out or donated it or something, but no, we've chosen to mass eat all of the chocolate in the house. Aside from this though, healthier eating is what we are doing. 

…pinning  Nothing actually, I've only just found the time to start up blogging again, I haven't quite got around to finding the time to pin yet, but I will.

…tweeting Mainly about my blog. I've been trying to connect with more bloggers this year, I think it would be great. I'm also tweeting just general life tweets, hating my job, being tired, the usual haha.

…going To be productive today by sorting out my old house a little more, and sorting things out in my new house, there's absolutely so much to do, I don't get how people can enjoy moving home. 

…loving My partner. He's just wonderful, everything about him. It's sometimes hard to show people how much you love them, but I think he knows, I think it would be hard for him to miss. 

…discovering That I don't have to stress about everything. That life will be funner if I just take it as it comes rather than planning every single aspect of it, rather than worrying about EVERYTHING. 

…enjoying  Trying new things and becoming a better person. I've been a fussy eater for my ENTIRE life, but I'm trying to change that, I'm trying a lot of new things at the moment, hoping to break away from the fussiness. 

...thinking About what my life will be like a month from now. In a months time I may not have a job, or I may have a new job, it could be one I love, and it could be one i hate. I'll be living with my partner completely, and I'm excited to see what that's like. 

…feeling  Loved. This last year I have honestly felt so lucky to have the people in my life that I do. 

…hoping That the whole 'moving house' thing goes smoothly. I don't want to hit any obstacles on the way and if I do I hope they are easy to overcome. 

...listening To Rihanna. I haven't listened to her in a long time, which is a surprise because she's most certainly one of my favourite artists. 

…thanking  My Partner. It could honestly take me forever to sit here and thank him for everything about him that I'm grateful for, but he knows, or I hope he knows, how much i appreciate everything he does for me. 

…starting To be happy with my life. Everything it beginning to fall into place and I love it, I've been so happy lately. 

What are you currently doing?

Making January happen

January Goals

Hey again, it's me! Yes, I'm back again, how amazing is that? I hope you've all had a fantastic start to January so far. I've spent the last couple of days hanging with dear friends and preparing to move home, it's been quite marvellous, until I fell ill last night anyway, but I'm sure I can power through that as always.

I've already shared a good few posts with you this year and we're only on day 4, and I know I shared my overall goals for this year with you, but continuing with last years tradition, sharing monthly goals.

Monthly Goals: 

1. Prepare for the big move. At the end of this month I'm actually moving in with my partner ( I'm saying that as if I haven't mentioned it before haha!) and I have ALOT to do, including packing, tidying and just a lot of stuff. I'm going to write a check list of things that I need to do for this, I imagine the list will me longer that I am tall. 

2. Enjoy working. Find a job that I truly enjoy. I know now more than most that I'm really not going to be able to work to my truest potential in a career that I just don't enjoy, I need to find a reason to look forward to getting up for work in the morning.

3. Celebrate my Birthday in style. I'm incredibly excited for my Birthday this year, I have so many great friends that I'll hopefully spend a little bit of time with over this period. I'm especially looking forward to spending the actual day of my birth with my love. 

4. Attend Thomas' 2nd Birthday Party. My partners nephew turns 2 towards the beginning of next month and will be having a party towards the end of this month, children's parties are the best kinds of parties...cake. Yay! 

5. Read 2 books. I'm hoping to read at least 24 books this year, that's two a month, although I would love to surprise myself by completely annihilating that goal. 

6. Watch at least 25 films. I love movies, but I want to make sure I watch as many as humanly possible, so this year I'm aiming to watch AT LEAST 300 films, hopefully a lot more. 

I'm starting off a little lighter with my goals this month, especially considering how many goals I've already set myself this year. Following the end of this month I will post a recap of January, which will include my progression with the above goals and my goal setting for the month of February. 

I now need to go and sit in a dark room for awhile in the hope that this migraine disappears. 

New Year: Chapter One

Something about a brand new year just fills me with an overwhelming amount of excitement, ahh, I can smell the opportunities in the air. It fills me with complete joy to know that so much may happen this year, so much will happen this year, and I literally have no idea what the world has in store for me. 

The one thing i struggle with every year is setting my goals for the new year, mainly because they actually mean something to me,. I want each of my goals to be something I truly want to accomplish. 

So before I throw my goals of 2016 out there for all to see, I would just like to wish every one of you a Happy New Year, I hope you managed to bring in the New Year in the most magical way possible, I know that I sure did.

A new year can mean only one thing; new beginnings. This is the year, this is my year! This is the year I make things happen, make my wildest dreams come true, and I wish everyone the greatest of luck with whatever they have planned for the year ahead. 

I love the beginning of a new year, it's a whole 365 blank pages in the book of our life, a whole 365 pages that we can do anything with.

So without further ado, let's welcome in January! I hope that January is truly kind to you all, and you are to it. We're only going to get one January 2016, let's make it amazing! 

2016 Goals

1. Be fearless. Be in control of my own life. Make decisions without being afraid of the consequences. Stop imagining who I want to be and just become that person. Believe in me, if I can't do this then how can I expect someone else to? Stop being afraid of life. 

2. Stay motivated. Surround myself with people who inspire me and rid myself of those who don't. 

3. Do more things that make me happy. Find a reason to be happy. Live life how I want to, it's the only life I'm going to get, there's no point being unhappy. Travel. Meet new people. Explore. Find new passions. 

4. Cross something off my bucket list. NO EXCUSES!

5. Blog more. I'll be thankful of it when time has passed by, I'll be able to reread the experiences I have documented. 

6. Commit to kindness. Being good to people will be more rewarding than most other things in this world. Making other people happy will make me happy. Don't judge. 

7. Change something about my life that matters. Although I don't know what this is just yet, I'm sure I will know when the time is right. 

8. Take one picture everyday. The world is beautiful and wonderful things happen every day. It's time to make sure I remember them. 

9. Write a book. This is something I have been meaning to do for the longest time and this is the year I will make it happen. 

10. Dream it. Wish it. Do it. 

Other Things to do during 2016 

Move in with my gorgeous partner. 

Be more of a positive person.Be happy.Learn to love me.

Travel. Photograph EVERYTHING.

                                                                       Read many books.                                                                                           

I really hope that January is kind to you all, I hope many new doors open for you as every old door closes.

All the best!