CHRISTMAS HAUL 2014

Some new, very comfy, PJs

A ring that I had asked for quite a while ago in preparation and then completely forgot about it (nice work mum!)
find it here

An adorable door stop

  

A case for my beautiful new baby

A onesie! 

An oversized blanket/cardigan

Some of my stocking fillers 

All of my yummy chocolate 

I did pretty well for Christmas presents this year so here are a few things that I received!

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy new year :)

(p.s This is in no way a bragging post, I am just very,very happy with what I received this year)

Natasha

CONSTRUCTION WORK AND LIFE CHANGES

How long does construction work really take? Seriously, why has it taken three months to dig a hole in the ground? If it takes that long and nothing but humungous piles of dirt are what you have to show for months of work maybe a carer change is in order?

Now obviously I do not know how long it actually takes to dig the foundations for a fairly large building but it is absolutely ridiculous. My only saviour to this problem in my life at the moment is that in just under a month I will no longer be working in the same part of town.

This is quite bitter sweet for me because I will no longer be working with the majority of the people that I met in 2014 but I will be doing something I am going to really enjoy, maybe even more than what I have been doing over the past year.

With all of the construction that is going on around my place of work, It is making it very hard for me to be excited to come into work when I have to trek a diverted route that goes UP hill before I have fully woken up!

In all seriousness though, I really have enjoyed what I have been doing over 2014 and am very proud to call myself a 'college drop out'. The amount I have grown and have achieved has baffled me and only makes me want to aim higher.

This then brings me back to construction.

Why would you not try to build a building before Christmas and all the shitty weather starts? Maybe I should get into brick laying to find out the answer...

Natasha

RECENT NETFLIX WATCHES

Recently I have had a LOT of spare time that I wasn't sure how to fill. So I decided that I would look around on Netflix to see if there was anything that tickled my fancy.

I started out with Heroes, I think I am still at around episode 19 in season one. I didn't mind it, at the start it was interesting but it got a bit too samey for me and so I started looking around again. 

I then came across The Office (US) and couldn't stop watching it! It was dangerous that Netflix had almost all of the nine series because the first and only thing I wanted to do (and did do) when I got home from work was watch another episode - and I would continue to watch up until I was tired enough to go to sleep!

- I have seen all episodes in the eight series twice! - 

Netflix then recommended for me Life Unexpected. Which again, I fell in love with and couldn't stop watching. It has really made me appreciate the people that I do have in my life!

So after TV shows that I never actually watched on TV I had a quick look through the (awful) movie selection that Netflix has to offer and came across Black Fish. I had heard about this maybe about a year ago but couldn't find any channel in the UK that showed it so Black Fish was the first movie of the night. I don’t really agree with the whole concept of teaching sea animals (and all animals in general) tricks. so seeing that there was a documentary out there with some many credible people in it was really impressive to me and I would recommend it to anyone who likes documentaries. 

The second movie was Lovelace. I’m a sucker for any Amanda Seyfried film so I chose to watch it. Learning that the film was based on true events was quite distressing but it was interesting to see the early days of such a taboo industry.

And lastly was Afternoon Delight. Again I watched this because of the actress’ in the film who are Juno Temple and Kathryn Hahn. I didn't really know, even after the film had ended, what it really was about. Im not really sure why anyone would take a sex worker in to their house thinking that they are going to change their ways purely because of the person who took them in.

Overall I wasted around six hours on three films I will never have to watch again.

Have you watched anything on Netflix that you would recommend?

Natasha 

DRY FACE

I had the brilliant (<sarcasm) idea of changing up my daily face routine a few weeks ago which coincided with a doctors visit. I was prescribed a new acne pill and a new acid based cream for my face. 

A few days after I started on this new pill I noticed that my face both looked and felt dry, it would also react whenever I sprayed tea tree water on my face, which was odd because it had never done that before. After a week of being on the pill and using the cream, I decided to test out what it was that was making my skin so dry and decided that I would start with the pill.

The pill itself was supposed to stop my face from producing the oily build-up however I did not realise that it would take away every single drop of it! 

My skin wasn't really making any improvements that I could see, however I was still using tea tree water to cleanse my face in the morning and evening - not making the connection that it too was striping away the oiliness I needed back in my face. Once this had snapped in my mind (another week later) I cut that out of my routine as well. 

My routine now consisted of patting my face with cold water, drying it and applying a heavy duty moisturiser. It was tight and painful and made me miserable. 

This was only a few weeks ago and I am still having to use the same routine as my face is still not back to normal! However I do have a bit more movement in my face.

If anyone out there has painfully dry skin I would recommend you try honey face packs and try not to worry about how "greasy' your face looks as feeling good is better than looking it!

Another life lesson learned the hard way!!

Natasha

MY ANIMALS

I would like to introduce you to my family's animals, They have been a big part of my life for as far as I can remember. 

So first off we have Harley, a black and ginger tabby cat that is ALWAYS hungry for food. I believe that she is around 12-13 years old now and, when she was around one years old, she had four kittens - two fully black and two fully ginger. 
One of her favourite things to do is to hold a staring contest until the opponent gives her food.

Secondly we have Holly, a tortoiseshell who has a skin condition. She is a happy cat who could still pass off as a kitten with her bursts of playfulness. She is also around 12-13 years old.
One of her favourite things to do is to curl up on the seat that you want to sit in.

And lastly, but by no means least, we have Ali. Ali is a collie crossed with a breed we have been unable to distinguish! We got her when she was nine months old which was around 11 years ago now. Her back left leg was broken when she was a very young puppy and healed awkwardly so generally distributes her weight over the three fully-functioning legs. She is very easily excitable and an enormous fidget! 
One of her favourite things to do is to whine as loud as she can until she can get to the cat's food.

Natasha

HOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS TREE

Now I know it is still November, However I am very, very, VERY excited for the Christmas season! So I decided it was time to start decorating.

Here is how I turn magazines in to Christmas Trees:




First off I start with the front page of the magazine, I make a fold that allows the top edge to align with the glued edge.










I then make another fold in the same way, I align the previously folded edge with the glued edge.







Finally I fold the bottom corner up of the page.









I continue to do this until I have folded all of the pages in the magazine.




















I have found it best if you use two magazines for every tree, unless it will be on display in front of a wall. 

You could go a step further and spray paint them once they are finished however I choose to keep the magazines how they are as I feel it adds a bit more colour.

I hope you enjoyed this simple craft. What is your favorite Christmas decoration?

Natasha

THE PAST YEAR - A COLLABORATION PROJECT [PART 3]

The past year... Well, I guess I could say it's so so. 2014 has actually been very good to me, way better than 2012 and 2013. I guess you could say that "Every year gets better". I hope that's true.

My first year at college seems like a blur but I know great things happened. I found my now best friends while still keeping close to the old (although we drift apart, I will always love you all), became a part of a friendship group that could accept me for who I was. I tried my hardest to pass with decent grades (I take BTEC Extended Level 3 Art and Design Diploma & Media) and I averaged out with DDM (Distinction, distinction, merit AKA approx. A, A, B) in my Art course and an overall grade of a B in Media, however I managed to achieve the highest AS grade in my coursework across all Media AS students, getting an A* (98/100) which made me super happy. 

Summer came around and I saw an opportunity to read a lot of books and fall in love with TV shows. I moved out of my house in order for it to be renovated, and moved in with my lovely Aunt, which is where I am still (been here for 3 months ~ish~) I saw my friends, earned money, relaxed for the first time in ages. College came around again too fast, and put me down a lot. I couldn't settle back in and ended up not attending very often at all, my depression and anxiety took over. My attendance fell below 60% and now I'm under a form of "probation" if you like. I'm not pleased, but I didn't see any other option at the time, it was literally unbearable to deal with. (You can read about this more here.)

So talk after talk after lecture after talk, I've tried to pick myself up. I think about the positives in life like my amazing friends, and my lovely lovely boyfriend of whom I've loved and waited for, for a year  (I'm cheesy I'm sorry), and how help is always available for when things get tough. I turned 18 and spent it with my favourite people, made new friends, got closer to family, lost my phone (and a few other things). I've kicked old habits out the picture, like my self harm, but acquired  new ones, like smoking... Which again has disappointed a few people. But I can say I'm getting there, and I think that's a big step from where I was over 2 years ago... (link).

Here's to a not so bad 2014 and a hopefully better 2015... 

Catherine x

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