February Goodies!

It's nearing the end of February, it's been a horrible month with one day of sunshine and lots of work. So I decide after a long day at university, that I would buy something nice for myself. I started looking for foundation; I normally purchase high end for foundation, I'm not too snobby about make-up but I always think you get what you pay for with foundation, as normally if I buy one from a boots brand; they end up not lasting very long so I have to re-apply in the day, and therefore, they don't last a month. So I buy normally from MAC or Illamasqua. But I saw Wayne from Gossmakeupartist talking about a boujois foundation that is half the price I normally pay, so I thought hey might try it out. Love it! Yes I've only bought it today, but it feels so soft, and really reminds me of a Chanel foundation I had as a sample but refused to buy because it was too expensive. Whoop love me some cheap dupes!

Boujois Healthy Mix Serum - £10.99; Maybelline Colossal Mascara - £7.19, Revlon Balm Stain in Honey- £7.99 & Revlon Lipstick in Pink Pearl - £3.99 (Boots offer - Buy One Get One Half Price)

I also picked up a couple things that almost cost the difference between what I normally pay for foundation and the cost of the boujois one! :) so I got two lip products and a mascara! I repurchased the Maybelline Colossal Mascara as I've tried it before and loved it in the waterproof version. It has a lovely bristle brush, I have a weird hate for plastic brushes as my water line is very sensitive :). I also bought two lip products from Revlon; a balm stain  in Honey, it's a lovely rose shade, very much your lips but better! I have a dark plum version in Crush which is a great texture, but it fades to a bright pink which scares me so I thought I'd try a more neutral colour :). I also got the lipstick in Pink Pearl which is a similar shade, but with more golden brown undertones, making it a tad more bronzy! I love doing darker, brown eyes during the day lately, and really need a nice neutral lip product to go with them :)

I am aware that Maybelline and Revlon are listed on my previous post as using animal testing in their product testing; after further research, I found that they only use animal testing when the law requires; this is similar with a lot of brands owned by Estee Lauder. So I will continue to buy products from there, but in the future I'm going to try to buy the bulk amount of my make-up from the brands listed as not using animal testing :) as I said it is difficult to ignore all brands! 

Hope you enjoyed this post :)

xoxoxox

25 Random Questions Tag :)

I have been in major work mode this morning, so I thought whilst my lunch is cooking, I'll do some procrastination & write a blog post all in one! I love tag posts & I saw this one floating around years ago, so felt like I'd fill it out! 

Question 1: Do you have any pets ? Yes I do! I have two puppies; Ella is 10 months old & she is a Carpathian Shepherd, and Lincoln is 9 months old (still very much has a baby mentality!) & he is a golden labrador & german shepherd mix :)

Question 2: Name three things that are physically close to you: A textbook on Child Psychology, my Iphone which is dead because I'm too lazy to find a charger and my vase of fake teal flowers :)

Question 3: What's the weather like right now ? It is not very nice...it is quite windy, very cold and there's a chance there may be snow as I keep seeing small flakes floating around.

Questions 4: Do you drive ? If so, have you crashed? I do drive, I passed my test when I was 18, the day before I moved to University, very fluky. I have never crashed funnily enough, had a few near death moments where lorries have veered into my lane though!

Question 5: What time did you wake up this morning ? I woke up at 9am. Quite late but its Sunday & I've been very productive this morning :) 

Question 6: When was the last time you showered ? I showed straight after I woke up for some reason. I had a very strange dream and felt like I needed to be refreshed before I did anything so I let Russ deal with the puppy morning mayhem whilst I had a relaxing shower :)

Question 7: What was the last movie that you saw ? I think the last movie I saw in the cinema was Les Miserables which was amazing. But as I mentioned the other day, Legally Blonde is my go-to favourite movie of all time, sadly. So I watched Legally Blonde 2 last night :) 

Question 8: What does you last text message say? I have no idea because my phone is dead :( 

Question 9: What is your ringtone ? You know I used to love using songs for my ringtone but now I just use the standard ones on the iphone & I think it's a piano theme or something?

Question 10: Have you ever been to a different country? Yes :) I've been to France, Belgium, Spain, Greece, USA - Florida & New York. I'm not sure if I've been anywhere else but they're the main ones I remember :)

*Just got distracted by a weird sound - Lincoln is upside down snoring away in the cage. (he was having a MAJOR hyper moment, and would not listen to me, he knocked the ironing board over, so I put him in Ella's cage for a time out, and he fell asleep, perfect!*

Question 11: Do you like sushi? No I weirdly don't! I really wish I did, but when I go to Yo Sushi all I have is Katsu Chicken. That is delicious, but I can't really get to grips with raw fish. 

Question 12: Where do you buy your groceries? I usually get them from Sainsbury's because I like collecting nectar points hehe!

13: Have you ever taken any medication to help you fall asleep faster? Nope, my mum made me take something for back pain once that was like 'hospital strength' that she used after an operation and I snored like a baby after that!

Question 14: How many siblings do you have ? I have an older brother called Nico :)

Question 15: Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop? I have a laptop :) A mac book to be precise, but I am looking to get a desk top for when I start my masters, purely because I don't think my macbook functions well having all my documents on it. & I miss desktops and having the sims! 

Question 16: How old will you be turning on your next birthday? I will be 21! My birthday is actually on the day of my graduation..awkward.

Question 17: Do you wear contacts or glasses ? Neither.

Question 18: Do you colour your hair ? Yes I do :) right now it's a sort of very dark blonde/light brown.

Question 19: Tell me something you are planing to do today: I am planning on finishing off my introduction for my dissertation which has been a nightmare and I have already cleaned most of the house, but finish that & I aim to walk both dogs separately on my own wah :( 

Question 20: When was the last time you cried? Lord I don't know, I'm really emotional so I cry all the time :')

Question 21: What is your perfect pizza topping? Pepperoni hands down! 

Question 22: Which do you prefer, hamburger or cheeseburger ? I'm not a huge burger fan, but when I do have them, It's always with a strong cheese like Stilton :) Don't think I've ever had a hamburger..

Question 23: Have you ever had an all-nighter ? Yeah I used to have insomnia during my first year at University and throughout that summer, so I'd stay up all night and go to the gym really early like 5am, and do my food shopping before anyone was awake. Very refreshing and beautiful mornings, but bad for you! 

Question 24: What is your eye colour ? They're green but they sometimes vary as some days they have more gold in the inner ring. 

Question 25: Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? Hell yes people who say there is no difference, clearly have not been addicted to diet coke haha. Pepsi has a lot more sweetener in, so it takes bleugh always leaves a coating on my teeth. furry! 

So that's all the questions! Feel free to copy this template and write your own response maybe on your blog? :) 

Thanks for reading & I hope you're having a fabulous weekend! 

xoxoxox

Beauty Without Bunnies!

This is a campaign by Peta in regards to the use of animal testing by cosmetics companies.

As the mama of two beautiful puppies, I feel very open saying I do not understand why in today's day and age, cosmetic companies feel the need to use animals to test the safety of their products. A vast amount of companies have already begun using alternative methods that bypass the use of animals in their testing. It truly baffles me why others can't take their lead considering the extreme implications it has on the lives of animals. Animals do not even have the same reactions to products that we do, so why do we think testing products on them will ensure we do not have bad reactions? - simply ridiculous!

I mean look into their eyes...

Feeling the love yet?? 

So I thought I'd provide you with a list of the cosmetics companies that do and some that don't use animal testing! You can provide your support to the Peta campaign by boycotting companies that condone animal testing and supporting the companies that are against it :) 

Make-up brands that use animal testing:

♥ Bobbi Brown
♥ Bumble & Bumble
♥ Caudelie 
♥ Clearasil
♥Clairol
♥ Clean & Clear
♥ Clinique
♥ Dolce & Gabbana
♥ Dove
♥ Elizabeth Arden
♥ Estee Lauder
♥ Garnier
♥ Gilette
♥ Georgio Armani
♥ Gucci Fragrances
♥ Herbal Essences
♥ Jo Malone
♥ L'Occitane
♥ La Mer
♥ Lancome

♥ L' Oreal

♥ M.A.C Cosmetics

♥ Max Factor

♥ Maybelline 

♥ Neutrogena

♥ Nice 'N' Easy

♥ Olay

♥ Pantene

♥ Ralph Lauren Fragrances

♥ Redken

♥ Revlon

♥ Shu Uemura

♥ Tom Ford

♥ Vidal Sassoon

Yes I know that may seem like alot. Unfortunately it really is a majority of beauty companies out there that still use animals in their research. This is because most beauty brands are owned by a few big corporations, including L' Oreal and Estee Lauder. Just think when you next walk into MAC, is that £14 lipstick worth the pain that animals go through? In my opinion, it really isn't, so here's a list of beauty brands that do not test on animals :).

♥ Anastasia Beverly Hills - perfect eyebrow products.

♥ Aveda (Owned by Estee Lauder but independently use alternative testing)

♥ Barefaced mineral cosmetics

♥ Burt's Bees - alternative to vaseline ;)

♥ Dermalogica - great skin care.

♥ E.L.F Cosmetics - cheap and cheerful, yet still able to avoid animal testing? hmm.

♥ Essie - nail varnish in an array of rainbow colours anyone?

♥ Gosh Cosmetics - Provide me with my favourite liquid eye liner

♥ Illamasqua - Amazing british brand

♥ Laura Mercier - silk creme foundation anyone?

♥ Liz Earle - My favourite skin care brand who test on human volunteers to avoid animal testing!

♥ Lush Cosmetics

♥ NYX Cosmetics

♥ Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

♥ OPI

♥ Origins - brilliant skincare

♥ Palmer's - thank god we can still use body butter.

♥ Philosophy

♥ Sally Hansen 

♥ Stila - the in the light palette can stay!

♥ Smashbox

♥ Tarte Cosmetics

♥ Too Faced Cosmetics 

♥ Urban Decay -  Hallelujah, I do not know what I would have done with all my palettes...

♥ Wet 'N' Wild.

So there are still a lot of brands that do not test on animals! Yay guilt free make-up and skincare! I did read another blog post on this topic and they list certain brands as 'not testing on animals unless required by law'. These brands include; MAC, Estee Lauder, Avon, Bobbi Brown. Please note that Peta still marks these companies as using animal testing in their research.

Here's the link to the blog for further schmoozing: 

http://beautyfool.com/animal-testing-beauty-brands-that-do-not-test-on-animals/

I try not to do deep posts but I watched Legally Blonde 2, where Elle Woods goes on a campaign to ban cosmetics companies from testing on animals and I got slightly passionate as my puppies napped around my feet. I know there is little that we can do to change the law regarding animal testing, but what we can do is avoid the brands that openly use animal testing, and support those that have chosen to use alternative methods to avoid harming the beautiful animals of the world :) 

I hope this post opened some of your minds regarding animal testing, and perhaps you feel as passionate about it as I do and will join me in my change!

Thank you for reading!

xoxoxoxo

Mid Month Mumble - February 2013 :)

So this month has been full of trials and tribulations! 

Our little family have gone through a variation of stressful events, including Lincoln developing a skin condition, Ella getting a bladder infection and peeing all over the shop, trying to find a house and keep up the hard work on our degrees. 

This month I realised my university discriminates against small people! This is the bathroom mirror in one of the buildings. I mean I cant see beyond my forehead, trying to fix make-up halfway through a  full university day is a bloody nightmare. But I have finally finished my research in my schools, it was exhausting but so rewarding! And I've started analysing the data for my dissertation! Such a relief to be on the way to getting it finished but my deadline is in two weeks so still lots of stress on the way. But it's okay because I have my favourite movie to get me through it;

Speaking of University! I have big news - I applied for a Masters course at my University and was offered a place the very next day! I was so proud - and accepted the offer! So beginning September this year, I'll be studying for a Masters in Applied Child Psychology :) SO EXCITING! 

I know it's a fun loving film, but her hard work comforts me that being geeky and working my ass off is  worth while and possible whilst still remaining fabulous! 

This month also saw me buy my first Yankee Candle Tumbler! I've always been a jar girl, because I think they're meant to last longer, but I do like that this one burns and doesn't stick to the sides, which is such a waste in my book! This smells absolutely beautiful, I keep in the kitchen to trick people into thinking I bake...

I also had to pick up this birthday card, which I will never be giving to anyone and may in fact get it framed! I love Marilyn Monroe, I know she's a famed beauty icon, and it's very cheesy! But I just love that she's a curvy woman that is recognised as truly beautiful by all. 

I do hate this month for weather, although it's a lovey dovey month the weather has been awful and really gets me down. Constantly cold, mostly foggy and/or rainy, plus the weird amount of snow we've had is just unusual. It really annoys me that every I walk out the front door I'm slapped in the face by freezing cold wind. Nightmare! 

So tonight I am having a lovely Friday night in watching Legally Blonde and writing on my blog! I love writing posts for here, and love that people have actually started commenting! This is exactly why I started writing my blog, to find a new way to speak to people and write about my life. Gave me major butterflies :) 

p.s. I have also been majorly obsessed with wearing my hair in chopsticks. Tad overdone. I also tried to dye my hair a dark blonde, and it went light brown. Fail, packet dyes are absolutely rubbish. Haters gonna hate. 

xoxoxoxo

I've found a house...finally!!

I know I haven't posted in a week or so, it's been a hectic time! Well it has been a long hard journey, but I have finally found a house for myself and my partner, plus our little family. Now having one dog makes it difficult to get a house, you sometimes have to pay double the deposit and pay for professional cleaning, which is understandable but infuriating when you have a well behaved dog. Alas, our circumstances are slightly more difficult, because we have two...puppies. The number of houses we have visited that say 'they won't let you in the door if you have a dog' or the ones that allow pets, are definitely not what we're after. I have looked in about 4 cities for houses, purely because we're so desperate to move out of our house. Our current estate agents are dreadful, yes Platinum Estates - Derby, I'm looking right at you. We have no insulation in our bedroom windows, so yes when the weather is minus 2 outside, it also is in our bedroom. They said someone would come fix it...5 months ago. After repeated harassment, there's still nothing and considering that 60% of the fittings in this house are broken or have issues, I'm hoping to god they don't attempt to take any of my £1000 deposit, or I will drive down to their offices and not act very ladylike. 

But anyway, we have found a lovely house with a lovely land lord and a lovely estate agents in Loughborough! Now I wanted to go to university in Loughborough originally, but the course didn't have my desired approach to Psychology so I decided on Nottingham. But, I loved the area, how it was close to country and still close to big cities like Nottingham & Leicester. It's a perfect compromise, and I think the best part was that we had to meet the landlord to see the house. I fell in love immediately, and am so happy with the property compared to what we're living in at the moment that I applied straight away. The house is pretty much perfect, besides the garden. Thats basically a patio area, for two dogs it's quite annoying, it would be bigger but there's a massive shed. So what made me not run for the hills, was the amount of dog walking ideas I had when I looked at the area; there's a lake down the road surrounded by greenland, there's 2 parks within walking distance, there's an old railroad that people use as a dog walking route - my new landlord mentioned as he is such a kind fellow, and finally there's a river that runs adjacent to our house about a 5 minute walk away which is also nice to walk down. Beyond that river, is a mass amount of fields. So I'm not too worried about the lack of a garden now! 

I think the best part about viewing the property was I got a feeling of, I feel comfortable here, and I started imaging my furniture and wondering how we could decorate it and make it our own. It was weird because I viewed it without Russ because he was visiting home at the time, but I knew we would be happy here, and I think thats really important when looking at a property. Realising what both of you want from a property, but also being able to imagine yourself there. Even when we've applied for other properties, looking back I've thought thank god we didn't get it because I can't imagine us living there no matter how many boxes it ticked! 

So as you can see, it's been decorated beautifully & the landlord has been living in the house for 5 years doing it up so he could rent it. Plus he is only moving 2 streets away, so any issues we have can be dealt with personally, opposed to being ignored by letting agents. Luckily through that door ^^ there's an extension, which the landlord has been using as a workshop, which we will use as a puppy room! It has patio doors that lead to the cough patio which will be perfecto for them, especially in summer. Obviously they'll be allowed in the house, but as people with multiple dogs may know, it gets slightly overwhelming when they're up in yo grill 24/7. It will be their room to go and sleep, where all their beds are, we're stopping allowing them on the sofa. It's difficult at the moment because they are still babies and try to eat every bed we give them! Hopefully after a year, they might calm down, Ella definitely has :) 

I'm so excited for this new journey of our lives! My boyfriend and I are so happy & we'll be looking to move the end of March, so not too much time left spent in this hell hole :)! I have lots of new updates to tell you all about so I'll be writing a separate post on that because I thought this deserved it's own update!

xoxoxoxo

You Deserve More Than YOU Think!

I really adore this quote from Perks of Being A Wallflower; it's so powerful, simple and honest. I think it is something everyone should be aware of and it probably holds true to most of us. We always think other people are better than us, that we could never have the things we truly want or the people we love. It's quite sad really and disheartening. I think especially women, put themselves down further than other people do, as we put so much pressure on ourselves with these ridiculously high expectations that are probably not even applicable to us or even realistic! I myself am an example of this, I keep thinking right I should diet and be slim like Victoria Secret models, well I hate what they eat, I would never be able to live off of that quantity and I really just wouldn't enjoy life without a bit of pasta or potato. So now I'm trying to incorporate more realistic goals into my life and try and just be a better me, not trying to be like them. 

So for all you ladies out there who may be reading this, just think, there is someone in your life that loves you, who appreciates just how beautiful and intelligent and witty you really are. If you have friends, then it means you are surrounded by people who care and like you for who you are, not who you are trying to be. So please, try to make yourself believe that you deserve to be loved more than you do, because as women, we are our own worst enemy, the media comes in a close 2nd with all their photoshopping! 

Another side note - I saw a video by an Australian Beauty Guru also called Lauren, and she said 'that if you can't walk out of a room knowing that your 'friends' won't talk about you behind your back, they're not your friends'. This is definitely something I agree with & I implemented a 'cutting out' system last year, where all the people I thought would be negative about me to me, or to others, I ceased communication with. Obviously, if I see them around I'm cheerful and friendly, because who needs more animosity in their lives?!  Placing trust and effort in people who value you less than you do yourself, is in the long term damaging and wasteful. It will be difficult at first, feel very weird to not be speaking to them, but soon you realise that a weight has been lifted and a tiny bit of negativity has left your life. I know that I'm happier, why not give it a try!

Thank you for reading!

xoxoxoxo

Psychology 101

What is Psychology?

I thought I would do a quick post on the main areas of study within Psychology so you can all get an idea of what Psychology students actually end up learning about! Trust me it's not all about 'figuring you out' and 'analysing you'! 

Well, Psychology is the study of the mind and of human behaviour. This can involve the very namby famby aspect of psychology such as the question "Who am I?" or our thinking processes. This could also involve looking at how children first realise that they are different from everyone else, that they are an individual <-- as you can tell from my previous post, this is more the area of Psychology I get drawn to & the only way I enjoy any of this area of Psychology! To this day, the 'only based on theory, non in reality' side of Psychology has never been attractive to me, I very much struggled to learn this stuff and I barely believed it! Sounds awful to say! 

But Psychology is actually a very scientific subject, you can also learn about topics such as Neuropsychology which is from the branch 'Biological Psychology' - basically brain structure, how areas the brain of involved in the production of different forms of behaviour, senses, memory etc, simply trying to answer the question "What does the brain actually do?" Very very interesting, and very difficult! I think to me, when I studied this module it was more 'real' biology than I had actually learnt during my whole A-Level in Biology, too much plants. 

There's also Cognitive Psychology which is more involved in mental processing, so looking into the process of memory, sensation, perception and attention. These are obviously linked to biological psychology, but come from a Cognitive perspective that focuses on the interaction of neural circuits and the transfer of information! Again very very interesting when you read about them, but my experience, I used to get a headache after about 1 hour of study & would have to switch to something lighter to ease my own neural circuit activity! 

Then you have Social Psychology which is another area I find fascinating as it involves the study of Social groups and looks at how we interact with one another. I think this area of study stood out to me so much, because it was so intricately involved in our day-to-day lives! So topics that are discussed within Social Psychology involve as I said, how we behave in groups, our ability to 'deindividuate' ourselves - which means to sought of relinquish responsibility for our behaviour if acting in a group, they also look at behaviour between groups, such as prejudice and discrimination, finally, a topic I found very interesting, was Pro-Social behaviour, it's always a topic that is taught in Psychology, always came up in exams, and involves discussing whether truly Altruistic behaviour exists, so can you carry out a completely un-selfish act without gaining and form of reinforcement for doing so, as many people think giving to charity is un-selfish, but psychologists found it actually makes us feel better about ourselves to give money to those in need, so not necessarily doing it just for them! Very interesting as I said!

Developmental Psychology is again one of my favourite areas of study! This looks at how we develop from infants up to adults. I love this area of Psychology, because this can involve, biological development, cognitive, our social development, and also we study atypical development - so when children's development does not follow the most common routes, for example genetic disorders etc. From infancy, we look at infants relationships with their parents in the form of Attachment studies, when they begin to go to Nursery and eventually Primary School, we look at their interaction with their Peers, how they mould into the person they are going to be as an adult, what factors might affect this growth? We also look at their social reasoning and the development of morals! It is very exciting field of study, as it would sort of be comparable to Paediatrics of the Medicine world, where you specialise in little people, but study everything you would for adults and just relate it back to them. 

These are the four main schools of thought in Psychology, but one other topics that is very interesting and important to mention is the study of Individual Differences. Now as we all individuals, we are all different, we might react to things differently to everyone around us, we have different thoughts which result in different actions. Therefore, in the study of Individual Differences, they take into account the  Personality of Individuals, they also look at Intelligence and how we can actually measure it - IQ is not an accurate measure, apparently. Also they look at the Self - how we perceive ourselves could affect how others look at us, and this all links back to Social Psychology and the development of a Social Identity - so where we think we fit in within Society, what groups do we hang out in? Who do we pick to be our friends? Who do we dislike and so on! 

I hope you have enjoyed this post! I tried to make it as short as possible whilst actually explaining everything and giving you a taster of what Psychology has to offer! :)

xoxoxoxo

Career Decided!

So it's been a long and tedious journey, but hopefully the confusion and depression is over now that this decision has been made...

As you may know, I study Psychology at University and I'm currently in my final year. My dissertation is based on an area of study I find fascinating and really enjoy - Children's Social Development. What is this you may ask? Basically, it looks at everything to do with a child's environment and how that interacts with their social development - mainly focusing on family and relationships in school. I have no idea why but I've always loved research involving children.. sounds a bit iffy but ignore that! I just love that you get to look at where we all start from, how influences in our early childhood affect us later in life, how those relationships we form as infants lay the building blocks for all future relationships. It is absolutely fascinating and thus why I chose to research it for my dissertation. 

Now early this academic year, my boyfriend & I realised we needed to discuss with a careers counsellor where we were going in life. I asked about becoming a lecturer and the idea of it did not scare me like I think the lady meant it to, but it inspired me. I felt excited, as if that's something I would absolutely love to do. I love my lecturers and the enthusiasm they have for their subjects, even the really annoying ones - I can't knock that they are more committed to that boring subject than anyone else! 

So I looked more into the idea, but decided to pursue other avenues so as not to limit myself. The availability of contacts in the Recruitment industry blurred my vision slightly. I was drawn in by the money and the excitement of an actual career opportunity being so easy that I lost sight of my original dream. My boyfriend was following his dream of heading into the world of tackling organised crime, and there's me thinking 'maybe I would love life working in an office' NO NO NO. 

So tonight, whilst I found myself browsing courses for Dental Hygienists I had to stop, slap myself and realise that if I was willing to look for a course that lasts 3 years to just get another bachelors degree in something I don't even understand, then I can bloody well do another 3 years studying something I love. And that's what has happened, I've now found a course that looks great back in my hometown where me & my partner recently decided to move back to. I'm finally accepting that I can live my dream, I can do what is interesting and actually make a career out of it. How do I know this? Because I've met my lecturers at University. I have to say, they do not seem like the most confident socialite bunch, but they have managed to speak in front of hundreds of students about something they love, so why can't I? I have a panic disorder, and I always get nervous public speaking. But more recently, when I know a topic like the back of my hand, I suffer no difficulty in speaking about it for twenty minutes at ease, with a bit of finesse and cracking a few jokes here & there - if I do say so myself. I finally feel comfortable doing something, I actually realised last year that I learn by pretending to teach people, apparently it helps you to understand better - who knew?? 

So yes, my chosen career is to be a lecturer of Children's Social Development. My action plan? As application dates have already passed this year, I'm going to take a year out & work my booty off to save money, perhaps do some work experience (something I need to ask my dissertation leader about) and relax and enjoy life for the first time in so many years. I think before I commit myself to another 3 years studying and working part time, I need to save some dollar, buy myself pretty things and actually sit and read my Psychology textbooks because I enjoy reading them, not because it's a chore! 

The future's looking bright & exciting!

:) 

xoxoxoxo

P.s. Now I've written this down & released it to the real world I feel like I definitely have to accomplish this now, thank the lord, some real motivation.