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. 

Shopping is the greatest kind of therapy

So after spending yesterday packing, tidying, and basically causing myself physical damage, I decided to take myself on a little shopping trip with one of my loveliest friends. 

After a spot of dinner that cost way to much for me to even talk about, I decided to treat myself to a few little things...

Of course one thing you absolutely have to do when you're in Liverpool is take yourself on a little trip to Lush, which I absolutely adore, I love the overwhelming amount of scents that hit you as soon as you walk through the door. Today I found myself purchasing the Christmas Edition Shower Gel, Snow Fairy, which smells absolutely divine, and was on offer at HALF PRICE!  Apparently this shower gel is candy floss scented, but if you ask me it smells an awful lot like bananas...Mmmm. I also purchased a little robot bath bomb, mainly because it was a robot. haha. 

It's the start of 2016 and one thing I find myself doing at the beginning of EVERY year is buying myself loads of pads, journals, diaries, etc. I like to be organised at the beginning of the new year, I like to give myself the best possible chance of continuing this throughout the year, and what better way? So this is a new little book that I purchased today from Paperchase, and I think it's just the cutest. 

I love Doctor Who, period. I saw this and I just absolutely had to throw myself at that till and make that purchase. I can't wait to read this, it looks amazing...how exciting! 

I must have spent around £30 on all of this, but I'm thrilled with my little purchases. I managed to show an incredible amount of self control which I'm impressed with, I could have bought so much today.

Anyway, the world awaits...

The journey starts here!

HAPPY JANUARY 2ND 

Aloha friends! Just a quick post to let you know what I've been getting up to and to find out how 2016 is going for you? We're now two days into the year and I'm already feeling slightly stressed! haha. I guess stress is one of the more normal feelings that one has to deal with when moving house, but I am incredibly excited! 

So late in 2015 my partner and I decided that it was time to move in together, decided the best way to start off a new year and an amazing life together is to live together. 

Today I found myself in my 'current' house surrounded by boxes, boxes, and you guessed it...more boxes. All I've found whilst packing is that I'm actually making the house a lot messier than it originally was, a lot messier than I intended for it to be, but that's okay. 

I'm always, always excited as to what the future holds for me, but as of lately I have found myself more excited than ever, I've found out what it's like to be truly happy with life without even trying, and I'm loving it!

I'm hoping to find myself blogging more frequently now that some of the past stresses in my life have disappeared (yes, I am talking about towering piles of assignments). It's a new year and I'm leaving all of the the stress, hatred, and upset from the year before in the past, it really is a brand new start for me.

I hope this year turns out to be magical for each and ever one of us.

Until next time...

(Has no relation to -A from Pretty Little Liars)

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!

    

2015: A review!

I'm back! I hope that you all had a magical Christmas! Mine was full of family, food, and wonderful gifts from those I love, I've never been so thankful for the people that I have in my life. Are you looking forward to the New Year? I must admit that after having such a hard year, I've never been so excited to reach the end of one and the beginning of another. 

I know that I've been gone for awhile. I often come back to check on blogs I follow or just to see if I have any inspiration or motivation to create a post myself and although I haven't in past weeks, alas, here I am. 

I'm looking forward to 2016, I really am. I'm looking forward to becoming completely content with my life, I'm so close to being there.I plan to love harder than I have ever loved before, live happier than I have ever dreamed of, travel to many places, read many books, and become the person I have always believedI was. 

2015 was magical in it's own right

I fell hopelessly and unconditionally in love.

I completed my journey in the education system.

I became a fully fledged adult with an actual job.

I photographed my first same sex marriage and it was wonderful.

I began to accept myself for who I am.

I learned to save.

I began to do many things for charity and learned what It was truly like to give to those in need.

2015 was far from perfect, I lost one of the people who meant more to me than anyone else, but that doesn't mean that it was a terrible year.

What did you get up to in 2015?

I want to be a writer

THE DREAM:

I WANT TO BE A WRITER.

THE REALITY:

I AM GOING TO BECOME A WRITER

Hey guys, do you remember me? I know I've been gone for awhile, life happened.

Life can sometimes get in the way of who you want to be, you have bills to pay for, mouths to feed, it makes following your dreams something much harder than you ever expected. Since leaving University and starting work I've pretty much stopped doing most of the things I love, the things that I'm truly passionate about, it's something I shouldn't have let happen, something that I intend to change. I can't help but look at my life an feel incredibly lucky for what I do have, it's something I'll never take for granted, I just never thought that I would find myself in a position that I wouldn't be able to follow my dreams. 

Everything's going to change, those things that have always been important to me will take first priority in my life.

Life can be hard, it throws obstacles into your life that you never expect, sometimes it can be hard to fight your way through this, but these are the things that make you a stronger person, these are the things that ultimately make you who you are.

I have a dream. I mean I have a lot of dreams, but this one is the most important, this is the one that will become a reality, whether it works out the way I want it to or not. 

At the end of 2014/beginning of 2015 I lost myself a little bit, I forgot who I was, I didn't quite know who I wanted to become and which paths in life I wanted to take, but all of that has changed.

I want to become a writer.

I started studying my degree during September of 2012, I always thought that this was the right path for  my life, I always though this was how I was going to become who I wanted to be. I soon noticed that wasn't the case, but I chose to stick at it anyway because I didn't know where to go from there, I'm still a little uncertain. 

I haven't gave my degree the full dedication that I probably should have, this was the first sign that I had made a big mistake. During my final year at University I lost my motivation completely, I found it hard to continue.

One thing in life I hate more than anything is having a lack of motivation, which is something that I have nothing for when it comes to media, but when I think about writing and becoming a writer, well that's a completely different story.

I have began writing a book, it might seem a little random, but it's something I have wanted to do for the longest time. It's still in the REALLY early stages, but I am feeling quite hopeful with the direction in which it's going. 

Where do I go from here?

• Just sit down and write.
• Have a target of 1500 words a day.
• Writing doesn't stop when I leave the house, use my iPhone/iPad to write whilst I am out and about.
• When writing, disconnect from the world, the less distractions the better. 
• Make a drink before I start, the less reasons to procrastinate the better. 
• Spend each day re-reading what I have written the day before.
• 
  

I haven't felt this motivated about something in such a long time, this is the greatest feeling. I'm taking some really big risks with my life right now, although I am not much of a risk taker, this seems necessary. 

This is hopefully going to change who I am as a person, hopefully I will become more driven than I am at the moment, hopefully I will procrastinate less and strive to be the greatest that I can be.

I'll keep you updated.

All the best, Ashleigh

xo