An Experimental Crafty Thursday.

So my friend Lucy and I both love arty/crafty projects, one day we were watching some DIY's on YouTube and decided we wanted to give some ago. We wanted to try and make our own crystal geodes using egg shells and also our own snazzy pillowcases because we're cool like that. Well things never really turn out how you plan do they? This is how our day went:

First of all Lucy ordered some transfer paper for the pillowcases and I ordered some Alum power in order to make the crystals. Lucy originally was going to use black pillowcases but couldn't get hold of them locally and then also realised you needed a different type of transfer paper for dark fabrics anyway. So we went into town to pick up a few bits, eggs, dye, pillow cases, essentials we needed really.

So lets start with the egg geodes, we did a bit of research into what you need and how much etc. The ingredients:

• Blown out egg shells cut in halves
• Pin/Scissors
• Glue (We used PVA)
• Alum Powder
• Food Colouring
• Hot Water
• Plastic Containers
• Tissue
• Patients (Not our forte!)

Step One

Use a pin or a small sharp object to puncture your egg on both ends, You then need to blow out the egg inside. Once you're left with the shell you need to carefully cut the shell in half, this is actually quite tricky. We found small little cuts worked best.

Step Two

You then need to paint the inside of the egg shell with glue, we also painted a little bit on the edge and outer shell as we thought it would look more natural. Now sprinkle that egg with Alum powder!!!

Step Three

Put the eggs aside to dry. It's time to prepare the solution! Boil the kettle. You want to mix the boiling water with alum powder into a container. We used roughly 50g of Alum powder to about 200 - 250ml of water. 

As you can see the water has gone a merky greeny/grey, this was not suppose to happen. From tutorials we have seen the water is suppose to be clear, I don't know what happened, maybe the powder we ordered wasn't genuine, (Thanks eBay) or it was a different type of alum powder. 

I cannot describe to you the smell this gave off, it wasn't pleasant at all and we felt like crazy scientist mixing dodgy chemicals haha. I did dare Lucy to drink some....don't know why she declined though.

Step Four

Once all the powder is mixed in and dissolved it's time to add your colouring!

We chose to do, Yellow, Blue, Green and Purple! We guesstimated how much dye to use, they look pretty saturated though so we thought it would be fine.

Step Five

Now get back those egg shells! It's time to drop them in to the solution. We fit two halves in each container. Cover with a paper towel/tissue and allow the crystals to grow.....this takes at least 12 hours, agonising I know! 

The Finished Product??

Look how amazing they turned out!!!! Haha no not really, this was how they were suppose to look but ours didn't quite turn out this well, but still we were pretty pleased with the outcome considering we weren't too sure on the powder we used. 

 To the left you have the Yellow ones, which came out the second best I think.

To the right was suppose to be green, for some reason the crystal has gone clear and the shell is yellow, not really sure what happened here.

These are the purple ones, which kinda look blue, could have down with more red colouring, but overall these seemed to work the best.

And finally we have the blue.....I really don't know what happened to these ones lol It's funny how we did everything more or less the same but we got such different results. 

Pillowcases.

Making the pillowcases is pretty simple. You just need pillowcases (Preferably cotton) a printer and transfer paper. Lucy bought polyester one's we didn't think anything of it, but when she went to iron them they melted a bit so if you do have polyester pillowcases just make sure you have the iron on low.

We knew the designs we wanted, so we got them up on the computer ready to print, It's surprising how confusing it is to try and get a printer to flip an image, but we managed it in the end. Just make sure you follow the transfer paper instructions....otherwise you will run into a few issues.

Luck wasn't on our side this day, when Lucy went to print out her design the printer decided to bleed....yes bleed, Red ink went literally everywhere, but weirdly the colour cartridge was clean so we couldn't work out where it came from. Luckily she was able to salvage her design as you don't want to be wasting transfer paper it's quite pricey! 

This was my design, I decided to cut out the letters individually so I could space them more. The first set didn't go too well, I decided to iron each letter and then peal it off which then caused them to smudg when I went over them....duh! I also managed to burn the A somehow but I quite liked the end result it made it a little more edgy and grungy. The second pillowcase turned out fine as I didn't have the iron on as hot and I waited until the end to peal the backing off.

Here are my finished pillows :

Lucy's pillow turned out amazing, I really liked her design, I wasn't sure how well it would work on the white background but it turned out really well, Hey Lucy? did you ever get round to doing your over pillow? 

Here is Lucy's design:

Incredible right? 

Well after a day of mishaps our projects didn't go too bad considering haha. I'm looking forward to another crafty day with this cool girl :)

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Life, Updates and Achievements.

Hey there, remember me? Nope I didn't think so. I haven't done a post in a very long time, and to those of you who love reading my posts and keep telling me to do more I apologise, I have been meaning to do one for some time now I just haven't got round to it. I'm lazy haha.

So what's been going on? well quite a lot actually, I didn't even realise just how far a long things had come until I read my first ever post which was January 2014, a whole year and a half away almost. Time goes so quickly now I'm older and maybe because I'm enjoying life more.

In that post I set myself goals to complete for the year, they were as follows:

Goals for 2014: 

1. Get a bus on my own (Haven't done that in 4 years) 
2. Start driving
3. Lose weight 
4. Work on going to college or getting into work
5. Say YES to more things and not let opportunities slide.

I'm actually quite surprised reading them, I mean the first goal I honestly thought there was no way in hell's chance I'd be able to get on a bus by myself again, but I did it! Not only did I accomplish that, I am now a regular bus user, I rarely get panicky or anxious getting the bus now and that's just crazy to me. Occasionally I get days where I struggle and don't feel like doing it but that's bound to happen, the difference is I don't give up, I try again another day.

I even go out on my own more, I don't mean crazy nights out, but to the shops, or appointments etc, I do it on my OWN. 

I got the train up to Lincoln on my own to meet my sister at uni once as well, (which I'm sure I will be doing again sometime soon).

I haven't started driving yet, but that's fine I have plans to start, It's just taking that first step right? I'm not sure when that will be, but It will be someday.

Losing weight, the bane of my life, *sigh*. I've lost a few pounds, nothing major, but I do eat so much better now, I use to be a huge coca-cola addict, I was drinking maybe 1L a day, and cutting that down was not easy, The headaches were awful, I was constantly tired and exhausted, I was so grumpy, It took a while, I'm still not coke free ( haha doesn't that sound dodgy) but I now drink fizzy drinks with sweeteners rather than sugar and I don't drink a whole lot of them neither, I've replaced them with, Smoothies/Juices, (Thanks nutribullet) and Water (Still and Flavoured). I've replaced all my carbs for wholemeal ones, I eat more protein, and I rarely snack now. I go on walks with my little dog, Charlie, and I do some workouts at home, I may not have lost a lot of weight but the main thing is I feel so much better in myself, mentally and physically.

I didn't go back to college as I decided it just wasn't for me, so I started a course online in veterinary nursing, which is what I've wanted to do for a while now, It's so interesting, I've almost finished and then I'll have my final test, Once I pass I'm going to ask around my local vets for voluntary work to gain practical experience, as of course the online course is only the theory side. 

Say YES to more, this has always been a difficult one, deep down I want to say Yes, I want to just not give a fuck and be happy and have fun, but sometimes the mind doesn't allow that. However I have made a bit more of an effort to not turn down opportunities, like when I get invited out I try my best to go and have fun, most of the time I do, sometimes not so much, Having a panic attack in the middle of whether spoons wasn't very nice, but everyone was so supportive and understanding. Took me a while to get back out there, but I did it, and I shall continue to do so. 

Overall I feel more positive, I try to not let negative people get in my way now, I just block them out, why should I have someone around me if they make me feel so bad, it's just not worth it. 

I still have a way to go, but i'm getting higher up on my little ladder :)

Let me know if you prefer these kind of life update posts, or do you like my beauty and random related ones more? 

I'll try not leave it so long before my next post. (No promises, I know what I'm like ha)

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It's a GlossyBox Thing - June 2014

I recently had my 22nd birthday and after receiving an email from glossybox about their current special offer (more on that later) I decided to treat myself to the monthly subscription with some of my birthday money.
So what is glossybox? Well it's a little box with 5 beauty goodies inside, skincare to fragrance, make-up to hair care, it covers a whole range of little treats.

I first heard of glossybox when my Aunt bought a couple of them as christmas presents last year for me and my sister, we were fascinated by this box, not knowing what it was, we were so excited to open them but my mum made sure we waited to christmas. I then did some research online and loved this idea of being sent beauty products for you to try before you invest and buy the full sized products, the website itself is very appealing and I was pretty much sold on the idea, but before I went ahead and became a member I wanted some feedback from actual people, who have experienced the glossybox treatment and was it even worth it?

It was pretty much mixed reviews, some people loved it while other's not so keen and thought it was/is a waste of money, the main reason for this is because you don't get to choose your products it's literally pot luck, you don't know what will be in your box each month, now to some, this idea is brilliant it's like getting a birthday present every month but to other's it's pointless because how do you know if you're going to like the product, but for me I think that's the whole idea, if you are one of those people who like to try new things and can never find or settle on just one mascara product or one moisturiser etc then it's a nice idea. Another reason why people didn't like it was because the website claims to give you "premium branded" products and this is not always the case, the company is sponsored/in partnership with many brands, some premium and some high street, you're not always going to get premium products because then there would be no profit in it for them. A lot of people also complained about the sizes of the products, once again it is a very random thing, the idea is they send you samples, enough product for you try and if you like it, you can buy the full size, but some of the sample sizes are very stingy and you barely get one use out of them, yet on the other hand they sometimes send you the full size products for you to try, I guess it depends on the deal they've made with the brand itself.

So after reading into it, I thought maybe it's not really worth it, as some months you can be really happy with what you get and other's feel like you've been ripped off big time, this made my mind up and decided not to go ahead, however I did subscribe to their newsletter as they promised to email you with upcoming limited edition boxes (one off buys) and offers/discount codes.

Now back to that offer I got! So it was friday afternoon and I was going through my emails, getting rid of spam, junk you know the usual, when I came across an email from glossybox. It promised a free box when you sign up to a subscription and I thought that was pretty good offer and I had always wanted to try them out....so I convinced myself into signing up (Didn't take much did it? ha)

When you sign up you have 4 choices:

• Monthly Plan - £10 per box, per month (+ £3.25 postage) = £13.25 every month
• 3 Month Plan - £9.50 per box per month (+ £3.25 postage) = £38.25 every 3 months
• 6 Month Plan - £9 per box, per month (+ £3.25 postage) = £73.50 every 6 months
• 12 Month Plan - £8.50 per box, per month (+ £3.25 postage) = £141 every year

Although cheaper I didn't want to commit to an upfront cost if it was going to be a one time thing for the sake of saving £1.50 so I went ahead with the monthly plan as you can unsubscribe/cancel anytime. I added my discount code which was JUNEOFFER (If any of you want to subscribe before the end of June) and was then asked a few questions about my appearance (skin type, colour, eye colour, hair colour, what products you prefer etc.) I guess so they know what you like and what colours to send and that was pretty much it, they then sent out my box, which arrived lunch time today.

When it arrived I was so excited to see what I had got, I must say the gift wrap and packaging is very posh, it's lovely (although mine was a little battered on the edge, through transmit) and the best thing is you can reuse the boxes as little gift boxes when giving a present to a friend, or use it as a photograph box, writing box, you could do all sorts with them. 

This is what the box looks like once opened: 

You get a Welcome card, a cute little magazine, another card with a list of your products, stating how much they retail at and how you use them. The products are wrapped in black tissue paper with a cute sticker keeping it together and a lovely satin ribbon bow around for decoration, It's lovely isn't it?

Here are my products on a bed of black shredded tissue paper:

So here we have, a mascara, a deodorant, a make-up brush, a nail polish and a concealer palette, oh it's so exciting :D 

Nailgirls 3-in-1 base/topcoat and nail strengthener.  

This product is a new launch (not sure if it's out yet) the full size which is 15ml retails at £13.50 and I was given a 10ml bottle, now I think that is a generous amount, it's 2/3rds of the full size and nail polishes do go quite far. I'm excited to try this as I'm always looking for a decent nail base coat and strengthener as I have quite weak brittle nails. 

Teeez Trend Cosmetics - Beautiful Flat Stiff Brush.

This is a full size product, I guess being a make-up brush you can't give sample sizes haha, it retails for around €19 (about £15) I don't think I would ever spend that amount on a make-up brush so i'm guessing it has to be a good one? or at least a good brand, I've never heard of it but I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like. 

L'oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes Black

This is a full size product, retailing at £10.99. I found it quite funny when I saw this as it's the mascara I currently use, I've tried various mascara's and never found one as good as this so I always end up going back to it. I'm almost out of my current one so I was very happy to know I didn't have to pay for another one as this is quite a pricey mascara for a high street brand! 

So Susan Cosmetics Concealer Quad.

Once again it's a full sized product, this was the only product I knew I was getting, well it was between this and a So Susan blusher but I was secretly hoping I got this one so I'm very happy. It retails at £20 which would straight away put me off because that's a lot for concealer!! I probably won't use the darkest shade either as i'm so pale but I'm curious to see if this is everything it lives up to be. 

Rituals Qi Gong Spray.

According to my card this 50ml can is a full sized product that retails for £3.50, it's a 24 hour anti-perspirant spray which to me is very small for a deodorant, maybe it's one of those new compact cans. It does smell lovely though. Let's see how well it lasts. 

And that concludes my first GlossyBox, I must admit I am actually very happy with this months box, I definitely will try every product and there is a good selection of products as well as a lot of full sizes which from what I heard was quite rare, hopefully it's not just a one off. I now have to try these products and then fill in an online survey about them (this is optional) and I will then get 50 glossy points for each product I review, once I reach 1000 I get a free box! So basically for every 4 boxes you get, providing you leave feedback about every product you will then be entitled for a free box. 

I should receive my free box (from the offer code I used) in around 2 weeks and we shall see what treasures are hidden in there . I'm thinking I will keep my subscription for July as well and see what that also holds, and if they're both as good as this months I may just keep subscribed as so far It's proven worthy for me and I think knowing I have a little beauty box coming for me each month, I'll be less inclined to spend money in boots and superdrug, we shall see ha! What are your thoughts? Have you tried GlossyBox before? 

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It's Officially Summer!

My younger sister had her last A-Level exam today, she has worked her butt of for the past 3 years and for the first time in what feels like forever she has no worries or work related problems to deal with until September when she goes off to uni. It's going to be our last proper summer together as she is leaving home and going to be a student nurse and I'll hopefully be qualified and working as a veterinary nurse by next year so we won't see each other on a daily basis which I'm going to find hard, as corny as it sounds she truly is my best friend and has always been there for me when I've needed her, it's going to be hard adjusting to life without seeing her regularly.

Sob story aside (I guess we have to grow up sometime ey?) we've come up with an awesome plan to spend (most of) the summer together, here is a list of things we want to do this summer.

• Have a 3 course meal

• Camp outside

• Have a spa day

• Roast marshmallows by a fire (It failed....they melted)

• Have a movie marathon (In Pj's of course)

• Make dreamcatchers

• Go on a night out

• Have a picnic

• Baking day

• Tie dye some t-shirts

• Go to a museum

• Go to a theme park/ zoo

• Watch the stars at night while in a jacuzzi

• Have a BBQ

• Painting day

• Trip to somewhere we haven't been before.

• Get glitter tattoo's (Because I'm too scared to get a real one) 

• Get a piercing

• Let off chinese lanterns

• Climb a tree lol

• Play pool/bowling

• Go swimming

• Go to the seaside

• Make jewelry/friendship bracelets 

• Dance in the rain (It's british summer time duh)

We might not do all these things, and there could be things we add to the list as we go along. It's about being together and having fun. What plans do you have for the summer?

P.S It's my birthday in 24 hours and 15 mins :) (Not the time I was actually born, I can't remember that.)

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A New Me?

This will probably be a fairly long blog post as I have so much to update you on. I've debated to make each subject into separate posts but I think that will take too long, so instead I'm doing one huge mass post....I hope you don't mind.

Recently my life seems to have flipped around and things have been going good for me, really good. I almost don't want to write this post as I'm scared I might be jinxing it, but I'm really happy and I want to share that.
I've always believed in fate and things will come to you when you least expect it or when the "time" is right and maybe it's my time now. (At last).

So as most of you know, I've been doing pretty well at managing my anxiety, I still have the odd blips here and there but the difference being I get back up and start again instead of letting it rule my life and decisions. It's hard to know when my luck seemed to change, a lot as happened at once.

29th March - Family Get Together.

I rarely get to see my Dad's side of the family, so it's always nice when we meet up. I always find myself getting nervous because I want to impress them, I want them to know I'm doing well, and it's hard to feel proud when you're not really doing anything at the time. So I always try to avoid conversations about "me" and what I'm up to as I never really know what to say. The difference this time was I was open and honest, I've always been ashamed to have a mental illness and I try to hide it. I had a lovely chat with my Grandad about what I want to do and where I want to be in life, we talked about his past and his family and he reassured me that I can do what I want, if I want it bad enough. I also spoke to my Aunt about how I find it hard to socialise and I don't have very high self confidence/self esteem and a part from her being a little shocked as she's always known me as a confident girl, she was very open and didn't judge me, she made me feel comfortable and It made me realise if you can be honest with anyone, it's your family because they will love you for you and that's all that matters. I was proud that I was a bit more open. It was lovely to see everyone. 

Job Hunting.

I was helping my step-dad look for jobs online, and while looking I came across a few I thought were perfect for me. Normally I would completely freak out and not even contemplate applying for them, So many things would go through my mind. "I'm not good enough" "I'm too overweight" "They won't like me" "How will I get there" "I can't get the bus, people will laugh" "It's not suitable" "It's going to make my anxiety worse" "You won't be able to even attend the interview without looking stupid" etc. This time instead of allowing myself to criticise before I'd even done anything, I just took the pressure off, I thought "There is no harm in applying, you probably won't even get an interview but if you do and you don't feel comfortable about going, then that's fine, at least you've made progress in even applying, If you do get an interview and manage to go (which is fine if you don't go) and you get the Job, if you don't want to do it or you don't feel ready for it, that is also fine." I broke it down, into 3 steps, the first being just applying for it and wait to see if even step 2 comes along; an interview. Before hand I was acting as if applying for it was saying I'm accepting the job which is silly because in most cases you don't even get an interview. 

The other thing that put me off applying is the fact I have no experience and only GCSE's, no one is going to even look twice at my CV, especially because I've been out of education and work for over 4 years. So I made the decision of putting a little bit about my mental illness on my covering letter just explaining why I haven't been active in the last few years and how I'd happily answer any questions or doubts they had, I would also be willing to work for them voluntarily to prove I am the right person for job. I know this is a huge risk, but I thought what have I got to lose, at least I'm showing I'm honest instead of them thinking I'm just lazy and haven't bothered. 

Veterinary Nursing.  

I've wanted to do an animal based course for about 4 years now, I've applied to college twice, once in 2011 and again in 2013. In 2011 I couldn't even attend the induction without having a full blown panic attack after just receiving the letter so I cancelled my application. I made progress in 2013 as I did go to the induction, I thought it was a one on one, it ended up being a whole group of us which freaked me out but in way it was good because once I got there I couldn't back out, If I knew it was a group meeting I probably wouldn't of even attended. It was a great day, I got on with the other students and the lectures were very friendly and super understanding of my anxiety, it made me feel motivated and I was convinced by September I would be going back to college. The problem was I was now classed as an adult, I wasn't eligible to use the designated college buses as they were for 16-19 years, I had to make my own way there. Which meant trying to pass my test in a couple of months when I had only started driving, or getting 3 buses. This freaked me out big time as I still hadn't manage to get the bus on my own but I thought I would be able to overcome that. I was wrong, and inevitably went down hill and shut off from the world making my anxiety worse....I've learnt not to do that now. 

My Aunt came across an online Veterinary Assistant course on Groupon a few weeks ago, at first when my Nan told me about it, I was very withdrawn, I didn't know much about the course and I couldn't get my head around how you would learn to do something fairly practical online. I had a look into the course and it sounded perfect, it was pretty much everything I've wanted to learn enabling me to work with animals. My lovely Nan said she would pay for it knowing how long I've had my heart set on a course like this, I was dubious, it was a lot of money even with the discount and I didn't want her to fork out the money if It wasn't something I was set on. I had a think about it and realised I was once again trying to talk myself out of a great opportunity, I can do this course in my own time and from the comfort of my own home, what was there to be unsure about? I eventually realised I would regret not taking the course while it was a decent price, maybe it was just meant to be? I start the course in May/June, which I'm looking forward too. 

Isle Of Wight.

Over Easter weekend I went to the Isle of Wight with my Dad, Brother, Step-Mum and Step Brother. I haven't been there since I was about 6 or 7 and I have so many childhood memories from there. I've wanted to go back for a while now, so was super excited. We had a wonderful time, I pushed myself into situations I wasn't 100% comfortable with ,which I normally wouldn't do. While everyone was on the amusements I would walk further away until I couldn't see them, I would go to the toilet by myself, I wasn't so afraid about being on my own, I knew they weren't miles away. It was a fantastic weekend and boosted my confidence.

Job Interview.

I got a phone call from a woman a few days ago who said she had read my covering letter about my mental illness and she wanted to explain a bit about what the job was before she offered me an interview, I can't believe how understanding and helpful this lady was, she was so supportive and wanted what was best for me as well as for her, after a brief chat on the phone she has arranged for us to meet this Wednesday; to see if she believes I'm suited for the job and for me to know a bit more about what I'll be doing, so I know if I'll feel comfortable with it. We shall see where this takes me. 

Shopping and Partying with Abi.

I had to get some interview clothes as I want to make a good impression. Abi also wanted to celebrate getting a new job, we decided to to go to Peterborough and have a girly shopping day. This was a test for me as.....I LOST Abi, she had my bag with my phone and purse in, I was looking at some t-shirts I turned around and she had disappeared. I spent about 15 minutes looking around the whole shop trying to find her, there was no sign, I could feel myself starting to panic, I calmed myself down and took myself to customer services (which normally I would of felt too stupid to do) and they gave an announcement, she eventually made her way back and we had a giggle over it as we actually realised we had passed each other 3 times......darn us for being small! I was proud of myself, I didn't care if people at the customer services thought I was stupid, I was worried, it was a big store and I could feel myself panicking, I'd rather people think I was silly or over sensitive than have a major panic attack in front of some strangers. 

We then decided to go out for a few drinks as she rarely gets a Friday or Saturday night off. We thought it would be a quiet night just the two of us but it was pretty adventurous, I rarely go out because I don't do well with loud drunk people, I'm normally too shy and too insecure, worried about what they think of me. I actually had a lot of fun, I never get chatted up but I was approached by 3 guys, and I was pretty funny if I do say so myself,  it was strange though because most of you have seen my sister, she is stunning she gets male attention a lot! Like flies to poop! It has boosted my confidence considering how low my self esteem is. I now sound vain hahah my bad. Overall we had a fantastic night, I couldn't do it on a regular basis but I'm going to make more of an effort to go out a bit more.

There you have it, a little bit about what I've been up to, hopefully things will continue to go on the up. Thanks for reading.

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Sibling Tag With My Sister

One of my favourite tags is the sibling tag, it's a series of questions which you and your sibling(s) answer and discuss, I wanted to do this with both my siblings but as I don't get to see my Brother that often it's hard to find time when we're all together, so I've just done it with my sister and hopefully sometime soon, if my brother agrees then there may be a part 2. It's more of a youtuber thing but as I don't have a youtube channel yet and I don't plan on getting one in the near future I've decided to write out a tag video. We just recorded ourselves answering the questions and I've typed it out.

Without further ado here is our conversation:

Q1) Who is the oldest?

Abi: Becky isss...
Me: I'm the oldest, I'm 21 and Abi is?
Abi: 18.

Q2) Any nicknames?

Abi: Yours is Boo, what, is it for each other?
Me: Yeah, do we have any nicknames that we call each other.
Abi: Bex.
Me: You've had loads of nicknames
Abi: Oh yeah.
Me: You've had Scabby....
Abi:...Gappy,
Me: Gappy. Piranha was one?
Abi: Yeah
Me: Troll..
Abi: Ginger?
Me: Yeah Ginger, erm, what else have you had? You weren't trout? You was troll.
Abi: You was trout but I didn't ever call you trout, so I'm clearly the nice sister.
Me: Have you ever called me nicknames?
Abi: I just call you Bex.
Me: Have you never called me anything else?
Abi: No *Laughs* I'm the nice one.
Me: *Laughs* Guess you are.

Q3) Funniest memories of each other?

Abi: *Laughs Hysterically* 
Me: What? Whats funny?
Abi: I know my one of you.
Me: Okay, go on then.
Abi: *Laughs* 
Me: Is it funny or bad?
Abi: You won't like it.
Me: I wont?
Abi: No. It was the time when we were walking to the bus stop...
Me: Aw yeah, thats fine.
Abi: .. and then, erm, there was this massive curb and then you tripped up the curb and you went proper slow motion until you fell down and everytime I think of it makes me laugh.
Me: Yeah but I've fallen over so many times.
Abi: but that was the funniest. *Giggles*
Me: That wasn't that long ago though.
Abi: I know.
Me: Have you got any other funny memories of me when I was younger?
Abi: Errrrm, I don't know.
Me: My funniest memory of you, it's not even funny though, it's just a memory I remember that was big, it's actually quite sad.
Abi: Ohhhh..
Me: It was when you choked on the pringle and nearly died
Abi: *Laughs*
Me: It's not even funny.
Abi: Another was when, we weren't like really young but it was when you wouldn't get off the computer and I threw a nail polish bottle at your head.
Me: That wasn't funny?
Abi: It's funny now because I was like "If you don't get off the computer now then I'm going to throw this nail polish at your head" and you were like "You wouldn't dare!" and then turned around and carried on and I was like "Wanna bet?" and I threw it and your face was hilarious.
Me: Then I pounced on you and was pounding you on the leg
Abi: and it was funny because we were in separate rooms crying....
Me: Did I make your lip bleed then?
Abi: Yeah  I had like a puffed up lip *giggles*
Me: Do you know my funniest memory of you? I remember it now. It was when we were in Tattenhoe and we got these chocolate buttons for Jazz....
Abi: Ohh I know.
Me: ...and we gave you one so that you could give to the dog and you assumed they were real chocolate buttons and you ate it, you turned around a few seconds later and went "This chocolate button tastes funny" and we all just burst out laughing and said "Your not suppose to eat it, it's for the dog. It's dog chocolate not for you." That was so funny. Actually there's been quite a few funny memories. One when I asked you where Lapland is and you thought it was in Australia.
Abi: Yeah but someone told me that Lapland was actually hot and I know Australia is hot.
Me: *Giggles* and another one, what was it to do with? the microwave and 60 seconds?
Abi: Oh yeah I was like "you're only suppose to leave it in for a minute and I left it for 60 seconds"
Me: *Laughs* and I was like "That is a minute"
Abi:  and I was like "Ohhh yeah"

Q4) Most memorable argument?

Me: *Laughs* That was the nail polish one we mentioned earlier
Abi: Yeahh, we proper got in a fight about that.
Me: That one and the one when I couldn't find my earplugs.
Abi: You woke me up and you like locked me in the bedroom, you wouldn't let me sleep and you were like "You're going to help me find these earplugs" and then I got really angry at you and you got really angry with me.
Me: I remember one argument, I don't actually know what it was actually about, but I remember we didn't speak for about 4 or 5 days. It was summer, and we were living in this house, we were in the garden and mum was trying to get us to make up. I think I was 18 at the time and you were 16 and apparently I said something really mean about you and Mum made me go for a walk, so me and Mum went for a walk and she was talking to me, trying to get me to make up with you.
Abi: I remember what you said, but I can't remember what it was about.
Me: What was it I said?
Abi: It was something like, erm, "I wish you were dead so that..." it was something like "I wish you were dead so you...I wouldn't have to be your sister" or something like that.
Me: Did I really say that?
Abi: or something like "I'd rather you die" something like that, really mean
Me: *Shocked* Realllly? Did I really say that?
Abi: It was something like that, it really really hurt me and then thats why I didn't talk to you
Me: ...Nooo?
Abi: It was something along those lines.
Me: I think I remember the argument being about a boy, I couldn't understand at your age, at sixteen you were getting so involved and upset over a boy. I remember mum was having ago at me, because we are complete opposites and mum was saying that I don't trust enough and I don't open up enough and you trust too much. I was like "Love is stupid and you shouldn't ever fall in love"
Abi: Yeah and I was like the opposite
Me: Yeah and you was like you're so cynical.
Abi: I think that was it, but you got really nasty with me and I wouldn't talk to you after that.
Me: I can't remember what I said or what you said but we didn't talks for days
Abi: Then you came into the garden and just like started a conversation with me, I think you got annoyed I wasn't talking to you.
Me: No I remember Mum made me go for a walk and her telling me off, telling me I had to make more of an effort with you
Abi: I remember not talking to you and you thinking I was gonna give in and I didn't and then eventually you started a conversation with me.
Me: Probably, because you're more stubborn than me
Abi: Yeah *Giggles*
Me: Whenever we fall out, it's always me who ends up apologising *Giggles*
Abi: Yeah I won't apologise
Me: *Laughs*

Q5) Most cherished memories?

Abi: *Laughs* We don't have cherished memories!
Me: No we do.
Abi: When we went to potter world.
Me: Yeah that was a cherished memory. I liked when we went to Sheffield together.
Abi: Yeah that was really nice.
Me: I liked sharing that experience with you.
Abi: When we use to play teddies and we use to do the crane
Me: Oh yeahhh, oh yeahhh! When we was younger, Mum would send us to bed and we would never go to bed, we would play teddies and all these other games.
Abi: You still use to threaten me though *Laughs* you were like "I'm not going to play with you unless I get this teddy"
Me: True. When we was younger, or even now, we've always stuck together like a pair, like if we ever went out to places, like a theme park we always stuck together. It was always like I'm sitting with Abi
Abi: Yeah. even like now when we go out for a meal we always sit next to each other.
Me:  Do you remember that time we went to Wimpy and I bought you that really big BBQ burger?
Abi: *Giggles* Yeah.
Me: It was the most expensive burger on the menu! Did you eat all?
Abi: I think so.
Me: I was like "You're never going to eat that" and I think you actually did.
*Few seconds later*
Me: No, I think my most cherished memory, probably, was when we went to Sheffield because I really enjoyed that.
Abi: I really enjoyed that day, it was such a good day

Q6) Do you have any old photo's together?

Abi: Yeah we do, I like the one where I'm in that velvet dress and you've got your arm around me
Me: I'll have a look, there is loads on facebook and I'll add them on.

Sorry Abi I couldn't find the one you like.

Abi and Me (Circa 1995)

Abi and Me Circa 1998

Abi and Me Circa 2000

Abi and Me on Holiday in 2008

Me, Dad and Abi at Dad's wedding in 2009

Abi and Me on Hunstanton beach in 2011

Me and Abi at our cousins wedding in Oct 2013

Q7) The last thing you talked/texted about?

Abi: Ermmmm....
Me: It was about your night at work really wasn't it? or that film you was watching?
Abi: Yeah, erm. It's hard to tell, I think that questions more for people who like don't see each other very often.
Me: Lets change it to the last thing we text about.
Abi: I don't know what that is?
Me: I'll find out.
Abi: Okay.
Me: ha, about Mcdonalds. I asked you, "If you go to Mcdonalds can you get me a Mcflurry"
Abi: *Laughs*
Me: and you said you would but then you said you weren't gonna go because Mum and Darryl look tired.
Abi: *Laughs*
Me: That was the last thing we texted about....Mcdonalds!
Abi: Mcdonalds, we've got our priorities right.

Q8) Are you close?

Abi: Yeah, we are now.
Me: Yeah we're very close now aren't we?
Abi: Yeah, we wasn't before.
Me: Well we kind of went through a phase, when we were really really young we were quite close and then when we got to about....
Abi: When I got to about 12 and you were like...really mean to me.
Me: No you were younger than that. When you was about 8 onwards, because it was kinda like you and Matt would side against me.
Abi: Mmmm
Me: Then when I got to about 17 we got on for a little bit
Abi: Yeah
Me: I'd probably say it's in the last 2 to 3 years that we get on now.
Abi: Yeah I'd say the same.
Me: but we get on really well now.
Abi: Yeah, I think because we are both older and understand each other more.
Me: Yeah
Abi: Before we didn't get on because we were so different.
Me: but we're still different.
Abi: We're still different but we've just accepted that.
Me: Like I don't try and tell you what to do anymore *Giggles* because it's just not going to work. When I was younger, I use to try and tell you what to do,
Abi: Yeah, I don't get as frustrated with you anymore.
Me: No, I just let you get on with what you wanna do now. I've given up trying. *Laughs*
Abi: *Laughs* Yeah.

Q9) What annoys you the most about each other?

Abi: Ermmmm
Me: Oh dear. Right mine with you is: your be having a conversation with Abi and she'll be listening but she'll be on her phone the whole time, texting and I'm just like "Can you just put your phone down for a few seconds"
Abi: *Laughs Hysterically*
Me: and also when I want to play a game on her phone, she won't let me play it, she is so protective over her phone.
Abi: Yeah, I'm like "NO!"
*Few seconds later*
Abi: Mine with you is that you are superrrr hyperactive sometimes...
Me: and then really grumpy?
Abi: well no, I don't mind it when you're grumpy
Me: *Laughs*
Abi: but when your super hyperactive, you just have so much to say and you go really crazy and you sometimes start poking me or stand in my way so I can't get past you.
Me: I've got ADHD man (It's a joke, I don't really)
Abi: *Giggles*
Me: Also another thing, which annoyed me about you which has stopped. You'd always come in my room and steal my dry shampoo, but I forced you to buy your own.
Abi: Yeah, I buy my own now. I always use to get scared like "Oh no Becky's going to find out"
Me: That time you lied to me, I caught you coming from my room and I said "Nicking my dry shampoo again?" and you said "Noo I was nicking.." what was it you were nicking?
Abi: No I didn't just use your dry shampoo, I used something else.
Me: yeah and I asked you and you said "Nooo" and then I came up to my room and smelt it and went "ABI YOU LIED!"
Abi: I was like "OH NO!" *Laughs*
Me: Yeah, that's all that really annoys me.
Abi: I think you can be quite... not opinionated but sometimes you can be stuck in your way of thinking. Like you sometimes struggle to see other peoples points of view, I think you find it difficult?
Me: *High Pitch* I'm working on that though.
Abi: You're a lot better than what you use to be
Me: I use to be very black and white thinking.
Abi: Yeah whereas now you're more open minded.
Me: My therapist told me that.
Abi: *Laughs*
Me: He did.

Q10) Do you hang out and do things together?

Abi: Yeah, when we can.
Me: Yeah we do when we can. I'm always like "Abi do this with me"
Abi: and I'm like "Nooo"
Me: You're really busy at the moment, you rarely have free time, you're doing A-levels....
Abi: I'm always like really tired
Me: Yeah you're always tired and ill. Or you're working all the time.
Abi: So when I do get time off, I just kinda wanna do nothing and sleep and not do stuff.
Me: I'm like the opposite. "Abi, Abi, Abi lets do something"
Abi: but when we do do things together, like when I was really down a few months ago, you made me get up and do things to the point where I was like falling asleep on the bus because I was that tired.. That was after Swimming.
Me: Oh yeah and you was like "How do you swim?" I was like "It's easy"
Abi: *Laughs* "How do you swim?"
Me: I'd thought you would do more than me because I thought you was fitter than me.
Abi: No I don't have a lot of muscle.
Me: When I got you to go to the gym with me and you couldn't do the lowest weights
Abi: Yeah and that women said I was puny.
Me: *Laughs* Yeah you never went back to the gym. We do do quite a lot together, even if it's little things, like I'll cook dinner for us both.
Abi: Sometimes we'll just sit downstairs and watch a film.
Me: We watched Frozen, didn't we?
Abi: That was well fun, I like that film

Q11) Are you competitive?

Both: No. *Laughs*

Me: Not at all. We're really not competitive at all.
Abi: We're actually more the opposite.
Me: The only thing I can think of that is slightly competitive but it's not really. I'm always like "Can you do my hair" because you always do your hair really nice.
Abi: It's more when you say "I really like your hair and your make-up I wish my hair was like that"
Me: Yeah. It's not really me being competitive, I don't try and make my hair better than yours I just always wonder how you do it so nice.
Abi: When we was younger I always got jealous because I use to think Mum liked you more and I'd become really competitive because I wanted to be the liked child. I'd get really jealous of you.
Me: That's really weird, because when I was like 16 you'd get really jealous of me and then a few years ago when you was 16 I was really jealous of you. Now we've just learnt to accept each other.
Abi: We're not competitive though.
Me: No we're not.
Abi: When it comes to games, we don't get competitive we just have fun with it.
Me: Yeah, we're just like whatever, we couldn't care less who wins or loses.
Me: I can't even think of one thing we're competitive about?
Abi: No, neither can I. We're really laid back.
Me: but to be honest, I'm not really competitive with anyone.
Abi: Neither am I.
Me: I just can't be bothered. If i'm playing a game with someone who competitive, then I will purposely try and lose just so they win.
Abi: Yeah like Matt. Matt is competitive.
Me: Yeah he's very competitive.

Q12) Have you ever fancied your siblings friends?

Abi: *Laughs* The truth comes out now.... No I don't actually know. I think I fancied....what was his name? erm Daniel Butler or something?
Me: Oh did you?
Abi: I think I did
Me: You kind of fancied Joe?
Abi: Who?
Me: Joe.
Abi: Who's that? *Giggles*
Me: Jakes friend, Joe.
Abi: Ohhhhh yeahhhh, I remember that.
Me: When I was at school, I was kind of friends with him, you fancied him a bit. Didn't you go out with him?
Abi: No.
Me: Actually I use to fancy, he wasn't really your friend though. I think he was more Amy's friend.
Abi: Ohhh. What? Rhees Smith? *Laughs* BRIGHT BLUE EYES!
Me: I never spoke to him or never met him but I just knew of him and I quite liked him.
Abi: Yeah that's about it
Me: I think because most of our friends were girls, because If I did this with Matt then I'd be like yeah I fancied nearly all your friends *Laughs*

Abi: Really?
Me: Yeah.

Q13) One thing you can do that your sibling can't?

Abi: I've got bendy thumbs.
Me: I can cook.
Abi: I CAN cook, just not as well as you.
Me:....Okay.
Abi: You can lift weights. I can't.
Me: Yeah but that's something you can learn (I meant train towards)
Abi: You can do that weird eye thing.
Me: What weird eye thing?
Abi: Where you flip your eyelids up, that's disgusting.
Me: Can you not do that?
Abi: No I can't, that's disgusting.
Me: Let's just say like a skill?
Abi: Can you do a handstand?
Me: I use to, probably can't anymore.
Abi: I've never been able to do a handstand.
Me: I haven't done one in freaking ages though.
Abi: I can read fast.
Me: Yeah I'm a really slow reader.I think this question should be more like, skills you're better at than each other. Like I'm better at cooking and you're better at.......dancing?
Abi: Not really, not like serious dancing.
Me: No but still, you're a good dancer, if you was to train you'd be really good. I'd be bad, my rhythm and timing is terrible. You're good at games, I'm rubbish at games.
Abi: Yeah I'm really good at....I'm not really good but I am good at games.
Me: Compared to me.
Abi: but you're really bad.
Me: You play xbox games, I hate xbox games.
Abi: You're like "oooo what does this do?"
Me: The only games I can play are like simulation games. I like logical games like sudoku (Even though that's not even a game Becky)
Abi: Yeah I'm not good at logic games.
Me: I like brain teasers like professor layton. 
Abi: I really liked Ace Attorney.
Me: Yeah that wasn't too bad. but you like Assassin's Creed, Fable and all of that kind
Abi: Adventure games.
Me: I'm rubbish at those.

Q14) Who is better looking?

Abi: *Laughs*
Me: Easily you! Easily!
Abi: That's a horrible question.
Me: It's true though, C'mon admit it.
Abi: You was really good looking though when you was like 16
Me: Really?
Abi: I was still like really childish looking and you had curves and big boobs and long blonde hair and you use to look so pretty all the time.
Me: Yeah but face wise, who has the better face? I think you've got the better face
Abi: but we look quite similar?
Me: I don't think we do. I've got a really round face and even though you've got chubby cheeks like me you've still got an oval face. Your structure, your nose is the right size, your chin is, like my chin is really.. like....
Abi: Your chin is the same as mine!
Me: It's not.
Abi: Yeah it is, we have like the same chin.
Me: but think of it this way, if we were to go out and ask 100 people who was better looking who would they say the most?
Abi: but that's because like......
Me: *Whispers* Don't make excuses.
Abi: but people our age prefer really skinny people don't they?
Me: but if we just took a picture of our faces?
Abi: Our faces?
Me: Yeah, It would still be you.
Abi: I don't know.
Me: You know they would! It's ok to admit you're better looking Abi, I'm not going be like "I hate you for saying that"
Abi: *Laughs* No, it's just I don't think you're not good looking.
Me: I'm not saying you think I'm not good looking, just out of the two of us, you've got the better looks.
Abi: *Mumbles* ...Okay
Me: It's true.

Q15) Who is the most creative?

Abi: Probably you.
Me: Yeah i'm gonna admit to that one.
Abi: I'm not very creative, I'm not very good at drawing, you're not good a drawing?
Me: I'm crap at drawing.
Abi: but you're good at making like Christmas cards...
Me: I'm creative because I like to be creative (I don't even know how that makes any sense?)
Abi: I'm more imaginative
Me: Yeah you're imaginative and I'm creative. 
Abi: If we put our brains together, we could be a really good Artist.
Me: Yeah we could if one of us could draw. I'm creative in the sense I like to make videos, or photoshopping; I like to edit photos and make pictures.
Abi: I'm too lazy for any of that.
Me: I also like to create crafts, like cards. I get these ideas where I get these books and write little quotes in them but because i'm so bad at drawing I wreck it so thats why I prefer using my creativity on the computer.
Abi: I don't really draw.
Me: You're a better drawer than me. Is that even a word? You're better at drawing than me.
Abi: I don't know I'm not that good at drawing.
Me: You're not great, but I remember you went through a phase at about 15 where you was drawing loads. You weren't that bad. I did art at school and whenever it came to drawing I hated it.
Abi: I tried to do art but they put me in an optional one where you had to do it all in your free time and you never got a lesson on it so I stopped doing it.
Me: I liked stuff to do with fabric and creating
Abi: You wanted to be a fashion designer at one point?
Me: Yeah I'd still like to be a fashion designer but I can't draw and you have to draw. It's weird because Nan's really good at drawing.
Abi: I know. Why haven't we got Nan's talent? Nan had to develop hers.
Me: That's what I mean, if you was to have carried on drawing and developed your skill, you'd probably be quite good now.
Abi: Yeah Probably.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say this took me hours to type out, I almost wish we just did a video instead. I'm so glad this post is over, It was fun to do, but not to type out ha! If you really enjoy it that much though I might make another one sometime in far away future! Let me know what you think?

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An Amazing Day At The Making Of Harry Potter!

So as you may or may not know, for christmas I was given tickets by my wonderful sister to go to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour London (The Making Of Harry Potter) I had mentioned to her at some point how'd i'd like to go there. I'm a big fan of the movies and I have to admit I haven't read any of the books (I know shocker!) but as I grew up with the movies I thought it would be very interesting to see how they were made. I'd seen videos, pictures and heard people talk about the tour and it sounded/looked amazing.

THIS POST IS FULL OF SPOILERS, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN OR ARE PLANNING TO VISIT THE STUDIO'S SOON AND WANT IT TO BE A SURPRISE/UNIQUE EXPERIENCE THEN I SUGGEST YOU STOP READING.

Luckily for us we had tickets for the last weekend of "Hogwarts In The Snow" which excited me even more. C'mon it's snow, snow is awesome haha. Here we are starting our day:

As we arrived at the studio our excitement was bursting, seeing the Harry Potter sign and some of the chess pieces out front with the background of the Harry Potter theme tune, it kind of felt like we were at an amusement park. The sky was so blue it kind of looked like we were in Orlando, but don't be fooled we were in London haha.
We walked through the entrance, where we joined the queue to start our tour. This took roughly 20 - 30 mins which I thought was quite a  long time considering when you buy your tickets you are given a time slot. I guess it being a weekend and the last weekend to experience the snow it was that extra bit busier I'm not 100% sure.
We were then moved into a room which we saw all the posters from every country that Harry Potter had be shown in. Afterwards we entered a plush cinema style room where we watched a 10 minute feature film which was like a trailer for all the movies smashed into one at the end the screen lifted up revealing the big golden gates which was the entrance to the great hall. The great hall was magical, it was set just like it would have been for the films, I expected it to be smaller because near enough everything you see on TV is but I was actually quite shocked at the size of the hall, it was pretty huge!
I guess you could say the tour had probably started, we entered the exhibit room to the left of the hall in which at this point onwards you go round on your own, taking as long as you like. At times it got a little crowded which didn't do well with my anxiety, but I wasn't going to let it ruin the day. The one thing I didn't like about the main exhibit room is it wasn't planned out very well, everything was kind of just jotted about everywhere, it started off as a line, going into a circle but then there was stands everywhere, I felt a little bit like I was in a Harry Potter maze. There was so much to get around and towards the end I was struggling a bit and could really need a drink and sit down to calm my nerves but we were informed that once you leave the room and enter the court yard you can't enter back in so the last bit was a little rushed but nethertheless it was still amazing.
The courtyard was probably my favourite place, it was out in the open, there was refreshments, toilets and i just felt more at ease. Every 15 mins they would make it snow, which was pretty cool. Of course we tried butterbeer but we didn't like it that much. It's very peculiar because it's fizzy with a dollop of cream so I kind of thought it would be like an ice cream float but it wasn't, I think if the actual texture of the drink was more creamy like a milkshake then it would taste a lot better, but then I guess it wouldn't look like beer. Also in the courtyard they had the triple decker bus and the car which we got pictures with.
Now on to the second exhibit room, I prefered this one more because it was a clear path which you followed round and it was just set out a lot better. Each time you entered a new room there was always something mind blowing and spectacular to see. I really enjoyed Diagon Alley, I could just picture Daniel, Emma and Rupert running around in their uniforms on set for the filming of The Philosopher's Stone.
The most jaw dropping moment is when you're looking at cardboard models of Hogwarts and then you turn the corner and see the actual model used for filming. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it's crazy to think how they made this model look like a life size castle using green screen and a few special effects.
The gift shop was any Harry Potter fan's dream, you could buy everything from souvenirs to the actual uniform for each house, the only letdown was how expensive it was, I understand places like this make a lot off the merch but this was excessive. The scarves were £25 and the jumpers £70, I honestly think if they were to knock off 25% then they would probably make more money.
Overall it was an amazing day and I'm glad I was able to do it. Thank you to my sister for this amazing gift, and now when I watch the films I will see them a different way, all the hard work and effort gone in to them is hard to even comprehend. If you're a Harry Potter fan, even slightly then I would recommend you to go there at least once as it is a very magical and mind boggling place.

I have attached a widget which shows some of the picture taken on the day. I couldn't upload them all, there is far too many.

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