March 2015

It seems as though this March isn't too different from the last after reading through my March 2014 post. A rather slow month with not much going on apart from looming deadlines, exams and a dissertation proposal all due in less than two months. I do have three weeks off now though to crack on with it all so I can't complain too much.

Other than that March has thankfully involved some nice occurrences such as a lunch date with my mam and grandma, a rarity now that I work every Sunday which was previously our day to catch up. Me, Lee and friends spent a night at our usual country pub and restaurant (The Snowy Owl) which seems to have been mentioned so many times on this blog, the chicken pie is just too good, not to mention the peanut butter cheesecake. I also visited a friend at her uni town of Stockton which involved my first experience of bingo (we didn't win a penny), cocktails and rather good full English breakfast. I celebrated a friend's birthday at Prezzo with a pulled pork pizza, moving swiftly onto the pub for drinks and lastly, the month ended with a reunion night out now that some of my friends are now finally home for Easter.

More good things in March include; sorting out my wardrobe and actually managing to get rid of some unloved items for once (I like to hold onto things), eating too much pizza and too many creme eggs/mini eggs (you know it's a problem when you're eating mini eggs for breakfast), buying myself some bright yellow tulips, the movie 'Begin Again' (such a feel good movie), light mornings and sunshine, starting Pretty Little Liars, 20% student discount on ASOS, ordering Instagram prints for my scrapbook and finishing an assignment in good time for once.

A bit of a short one this month! I hope you've had a lovely March.

Rachael x

25 Facts About Me

1.  I'm Nineteen and a summer baby - 13th of July '95.
2.  Currently a second year psychology undergraduate student.
3.  My middle name is Sian.
4.  I am not a morning person AT ALL, I do however, love the snooze button.
5.  I am SO bad at making decisions, even the most simple ones.
6.  I'm not a fan of change.
7.  I've always wanted my own doggy friend, although I am unfortunately allergic to most breeds.
8.  I LOVE to make lists.
9.  I am a major daydreamer.
10.  I'm pretty small, around 5' 2" I believe.
11.  I've been with Lee over 4 years now, making us only 15 when we got together.
12.  I'm not very good at having conversations, or making friends. I secretly don't really mind though.
13.  Similarly, I really dislike answering the phone or talking on the phone at all.
14.  I love stars, a clear sky is my favourite.
15.  I have no concept of time. Consequently, I am THE worst at being on time.
16.  I'm scared of spiders, so scared that I often dream about them being around me.
17.  Nothing is complete without mayonnaise or garlic mayo.
18.  Pizza is my favourite food, I'm talking big fat greasy takeaway pizzas.
19.  On the other hand, I HATE mushrooms, tomatoes and strawberries.
20.  I have never broken a bone  *touch wood*.
21.  Heart radio station is my guilty pleasure.
22.  Lazy days are the best. Pyjamas, no makeup, snacks and movies.
23.  I'm an only child, but have always wanted a sister.
24.  I love the infinity symbol and quite fancy it as my first, and probably my only, tattoo.
25.  I also really love long journeys.

Rachael x

My Reasons For Blogging

Although I have only been blogging on this blog for almost a year, blogging has been in my life a hell of a lot longer with the many blogs I have owned previously. I seem to have a habit of creating something, loving it, hating it, and deleting it. Recently there has been a shift in blogging with more of a focus on producing a brand and a business rather than a hobby which I think is totally amazing, no ones going to say no to making a career out of something they love. I do feel like I've lost my place a bit though, I don't want to build a business from my blog, definitely not yet anyway so I've been thinking about why it is that I blog, I'm not an aspiring journalist and don't have one particular passion.

You've probably noticed my blogging is rather sporadic, a post here and there, I don't take the best photographs and don't have the most captivating writing style. Truth is, I blog because I hate the thought of, at some point in the future, forgetting memories no matter how small they are. It's a bit of a strange paranoia of mine and I do record my whole day, every day, in a draft blog post, picking out the highlight's and piling them into one monthly roundup post. I feel the need to take photos in every slightly significant moment and will always be disappointed if I don't take enough. In reality, I'm not very good at living in the moment and as Chrissy put it, there's a good chance that I'm documenting my life away. On the other hand, it certainly is nice having something to reflect on and a place where all my achievements and memories are documented, which is why my monthly roundup posts are often my most consistent and I love being able to look back on those. They help me live with more intention, reflecting on what I should do more of and identifying my goals, hopefully inspiring any readers to have a similar mindset. I think blogging is perfect for introverts like myself, we may not be all that great at real life conversations so it's nice to have your own space to escape to and write. I think I just need to focus on enjoying moments in whole rather than thinking about how I'm going to document or talk about them.

In terms of my other posts, I love putting them together and having a chat about things outside of my 'online diary' type posts. I enjoy it. That's why I've decided to expand this blog a bit, I have my Project Life scrapbook now, enabling me to match experiences with photos of friends and family which I don't do on here as I don't want to be plastering their faces online without their permission (as very few know about this blog). Not going to lie, I do get caught up in the whole modern world of blogging which unfortunately has brought with it a lot of self comparison and a constant need for improvement, causing myself to question whether to keep blogging at all. I do want to though, for now, and I'm going to throw a little more lifestyle into What Rachael Wrote with new posts (involving lots of lists) documenting other things in life and I may try and split my monthly roundup posts into smaller posts throughout the month. To be honest, I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, so I'll leave it here. I'd love to hear your stories about why you blog.

Rachael x

February 2015

February 2015 was a little quieter compared to the craziness of February of 2014, marking one year since passing my driving test and getting two jobs, one voluntary. I've come a long way since then and one year on from beginning my voluntary role as a peer mentor I was lucky enough to be nominated and one of three shortlisted for volunteer of the year at the Northumberland's Finest awards. I may not have won but I certainly feel honoured to have been shortlisted and the evening itself was so inspiring, hearing stories from young people doing great things, being acknowledged by the duchess of Northumberland and other people who seemed rather important.

Lets talk about V day, because this year was pretty lovely. Bit of background knowledge, Lee isn't one for flowers or cards. So, this year was different as I woke up to the most gorgeous delivery of roses accompanied by a lil teddy, some chocolates and not one, but two cards! Safe to say I went to work smiling, cringe. I decided to get a little more creative this year and bake him some vanilla cupcakes using my trusty Mary Berry recipe book and I think they went down well, note to self though; don't use those hard edible balls for decoration in future, they hurt your teeth. After work, we made last minute plans with our two friends to double date it at a popular, inexpensive Italians (Sambuca's), surprisingly getting seated and served immediately - it was lovely.

Also in February, I enjoyed learning more about happiness in a new uni module, eating the most delicious chocolate croissant paired with a hot chocolate on return from a cold day at uni, upping my weights at the gym, eating my first Sunday roast in months, finally getting round to getting the last of my Project Life supplies, making enchiladas with Lee and actually eating at the table for once and seeing The Theory of Everything with him one night (I loved it, so thought provoking). I feel as if I did a lot of catching up with friends in February which is always a good thing, I met my mamma in town for lunch during a day of uni presentation prep, caught up with two of my girls on pancake day, which of course meant going for pancakes (Nutella obvs), followed by shopping and more food and even more pancakes on my return home. There was a night out with work, drinks with a group of our friends who hadn't gotten together in a while and last but not least, a major highlight of Feb involved standing metres away from The Script at their show in Newcastle with one of my best friends, it was such a great night, I just love the atmosphere at live shows.

Overall, a very good month. I do want to acknowledge the fact that obviously it's never all perfect, we found out that one of our old friends has passed away which was pretty awful and there was that one day where absolutely everything went tits up, but it's never nice to focus on the negatives so I'll leave it at that. I hope you had a wonderful February.

Rachael x