Life's issues...

Hey guys, today's post is about how to deal with your problems in ways that suit you as a person. Everybody has problems no matter how big or small and they should all be acknowledged and dealt with. I have learnt that keeping your problems hidden away does not help me at all. it makes me anxious and emotional and it's just not good for anyone. So I have been trying to confront my problems head on so I can put them to bed.

Year 13 has been on of the hardest years so far. I have been faced with an increased work load from school, preparing for my exams and doing coursework, having a part time job as well and then having issue with my friendship group. If you read my blog years ago you know that I was a rower and because of injuries and stress from school I have had to stop. I believe that this has caused me to have more problems in my life because I cut out exercise and didn't see my friends from the club as much. I began feeling agitated and self conscious because I wasn't training no where near as much as I was and I feared that I would gain weight.

So to tackle my problems head on, I 'reviewed' the people who I spent my valuable time with and realised that half them didn't even care. They were consistently putting me down or ignoring me and this has been going on for months. I am a confident person and I am strong minded and so realising that those people had the power to make me feel bad was not on. I was not going to let that continue anymore. After all's my life and i can choose who I share it with and who I don't. Since I spent less time with them my self esteem has increased and i feel more like myself again.

To tackle the next problem in my life, I created weekly lists of what I needed to achieve so I could cross it off and focus on the next thing. I a person who likes lists and so this seemed insane to me that I didn't do it before. Also, a little tip I have learned that flash cards are a life saver! I've never been a fan with any other exam years but this year I decided to give them a shot and I have accomplished so much because of them. I will do a blog post on how I'm revising in the next few weeks for you all.

Moving on, until I took up rowing I was never a massive fan of exercise, but now it's gone I realise how important it is for your well being and general health. Now, one of the reasons why I stopped is because I was continually getting injuries and I have severe back pain all the time which prevents me from doing sports that require running and heavy lifting. So instead, I've decided to swim so it's easier on my back and I still get the benefit of exercising.

These are my current life issues that I am dealing with but they can easily be yours. If you're being bullied or treated badly you need to realise that you are worth so much more than how they are making your feel. You need to stand up for yourself and take charge of your life. Enjoy your life now before you look back and realise how much time you wasted on people you don't even talk to too, boyfriend who've been and gone and you regret all of your life's choices. Live life to the full!

I know this post is personal but I felt like it was really important for me to write this post to try an reach out too people who feel how I've felt but need someone to tell them that they are special because you are. If you're reading this remember one thing, YOU ARE IMPORTANT!

Thanks for reading, love you all x

Quote of the day: Do more of what makes you happy! :)

Revamping This Blog!

It ha been two years since I created this blog and I am now 18 and wanting to record my memories and fun days out so I can look back and read them. I've grown up a lot since I first started this and I hope you enjoy reading my future posts. This is more a way for me to write about my life and if you guys want to read about tit then go for it! So keep your eye out for new and exciting posts about days out that I go on, tips for revision, favourite things anything you can think of, if you have any requests then comment below and I will see what I can do.

Much love

Tasha x

Fresh Start....

So this is my first post in a good few months and I think its safe to say hat I completely forgot about it, I've been super busy recently and I just hadn't had time to sit down and write what's been happening but now I've remembered I actually have a blog I really want to start using it again and almost reinvent it. I want to write about different things and interact with you guys that have taken the time to read my posts. A lot has happened since I last posted and I almost feels like I'm starting from scratch again. I don't know if the people who read my blog before will still read it now but I hope so. 

What I am asking is for you guys to help me write about content you want to read. After looking and past posts it looks like you like my book reviews so if you still want them let me know in the comments below and I'm going to try really hard to do a post once a week. 

I'm glad to be back! x 

Organizing Nail Varnish...

Good morning guys, so recently I have been trying to organize my room and one problem was my nail varnish. So I decided to get a big glass jar with a lid and put my best nail varnish's in so it looks a little better and tidier but also a little creative. I'll live the picture below, it was just a little idea that I thought you guys might like, if you have an other organization tips please leave them in the comments as I'm in need of some more!! Thanks for reading guys! Byyyeeee!! x

Healthy Breakfast Idea .....

Hey there guys, so today I thought I'd show you what I'm obsessed with eating for breakfast at the minute. It's healthy and filling, it also tastes delicious! It's really easy and quick to prepare... 

So I have in my bowl Greek yoghurt, Special K flakes the honey ones, strawberries, grapes and blueberries. I really love this and it makes me feel fresher and more awake after I've eaten it. It fills me up so I'm not constantly thinking of food and it's just very delicious and yummy. 

I would also recommend a smoothie to go with it or if your in a rush you could have it on the go, I've mentioned my smoothies in previous blog so you can go see that. That's all for now, thanks for reading goodbye! x

I'm so sick of school! ...

Hey guys, I'm so tired of school it's unreal! it's exhausting and today is my longest day of the week and it felt like forever. I had double art (that was good as I love art) but then it went downhill from there with English, double Biology (eugh!) and Chemistry revision. I never knew using your brain was so tiring and with me having an injury I can't train till I see the doctor next week which is very frustrating! But I've done a few drawings and watched my favorite film in the entire world.... Angus, Thongs and perfect Snogging! I absolutely love this film and always will, it cheered me right up and I just was very happy at the weekend because I made a cake with my little brothers so it was a family weekend. And then I had to go back to school which is just bleugh anyone else feel this way? It's also coming up to my exams so I'm starting to stress and feel so tired all the time I'm just fed up with it really so I had to rant somewhere and here is the place... my apologies... but I'm sure it will help me and you to know if we're in the same situation. I think that's all really thanks for listening to my rant about school, I'll see you next time goodbye x

United We Spy By Ally Carter....

Hey there guys, so as promised here is the second book review from the January books I read. Today's one is United We Spy by Ally Carter, if you read my 16th birthday post you may remember that I got this book for my birthday and yes it has taken me this long to want to read it because there are so many other books to read. But anyway, this book is the very last book in the series of The Gallagher Girls and I started the series a few years ago and thought I have to finish it and I have and I really enjoyed it! If you've never heard of the series, it's about a girl named Cammie and she goes to school at a spy academy and has lots of adventures. She lost her father when she was younger and wants to know what happened to him, she also meets a boy and lots of other things. There are six books in the series and average about 300 pages I think, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and there are lots of plot twists which shocked me and I fell in love with the characters and it's just a really good series. 

 

Thanks for reading this brief post but honestly I'd recommend you read it if you like this sort of stuff, I'll see you next time goodbye x

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider....

Hey there guys, so as promised here is the first book review for this week, I read two books in January and I shall be doing the other book review this week. But to start of with I'm doing Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A lot of people say it's like John Greens books and I can see that point especially one of the characters (Cassidy).
The basic story plot to sum it up briefly is that there's a boy named Ezra and he has a friend called Toby, they've been friends for years, since they were children but as they grow up they become distant friends and eventually just people who pass in the corridor. Unlike Toby, Ezra becomes one of the popular kids and is on the tennis team and has a girlfriend (who isn't very nice!) and life seems good till he's in an accident and is crushed. His life is turned upside down and he finds out who his true friends are (is it obvious it isn't the popular ones?). Cassidy is new to the school and Ezra finds an attraction towards her and is very curious about her.

Toby and Ezra also become friends again and the adventure really starts here. Ezra experiences so many things by being with these new friends and Cassidy. That's all I'm telling you because I don't want to spoil it for you if you haven't read it but I highly enjoyed it and would read it again. I laughed and almost, but not quite, cried and it's just a really cute heart warming book to read and it's also not very long so you could whizz through it easily. If you like John Green I'm sure you'll love this. My favorite character has to Toby even though we didn't see as much of him as I would've liked I still loved him, I have a thing with female characters they can irritate me sometimes and Cassidy did slightly but it wasn't a lot just sometimes but I think that might have been just me haha.
My favorite part it this bit:

"Her flashlight flickered again.
FORGIVE ME.
This time, I didn't hesitate.
ALWAYS, I replied."

I just think it's so cute and adorable I just melted when I read it! I'm a soppy person but hey I love a good love story.

Thanks for reading and I hope you read this book! It's awesome!! Byeeee x

I'm still alive!! ...

Hey guys, so it would seem it been a very long time since I last blogged. A lot has happened since then, I raced at Boston and Won my first won and came 3rd in my second missed 2nd place by 2 seconds!! but I was very proud. I have also read quite a few books so this week I'm hoping to review them for you so you may be getting two or three posts from me this week so hopefully that makes up from me being MIA all month.So yeah that's all really, see you next time goodbye :) x

A very busy week....

Hey there guys, so this week has been very busy indeed. I went back to school and have been faced with coursework and homework galore! I've been training hard and preparing for the upcoming race and last night I went to see Union J perform with one of my best friends. It was an amazing night, and for those of you who don't know who Union J are they are a British boy band who were in the X Factor last year and my friend loves them. One sad note is that my camera broke towards the end of the show and with a lot of patience and trial and error I have finally fixed it! I have some pictures that I'll leave below, and the next post may be a book review on the book I'm almost finished with so look out for that, thanks for reading bye xx

Elyar Fox supporting Union J

Room 94 who were really good!

Union J!!

This is when they sang Skyscraper which was really emotional and amazing!

Smoothie Time!! .....

Hey guys, so today as part of my New Years Resolutions to get healthier I have been making smoothies and oh my gosh they are so nice and delicious!! If I hadn't of had a smoothie I would've ended up eating biscuits or chocolate so it's a big improvement and it tastes amazing! 

This is mine form today and I think I'm obsessed with them, this one has fresh and frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and fresh Greek yoghurt. I don't like bananas which is why I never used to drink them or buy them from the shop because a lot of them have bananas in. This is also why I've opted to make my own so I can choose what to put in it, and it's not that expensive either which is great! So I definitely recommend you try it out if your on a health kick or just never tried them before. I also wanted to recommend a Youtube channel called TheLeanMachines they do loads of fitness videos with very good information and tips to use so definitely check them out. Thank for reading and I'll see you next time! bye x 

Looking For Alaska by John Green....

My Christmas pj's!! 

So over Christmas break I have manged to finish reading Angel Fire by L.A Weatherly I think and to read Looking For Alaska. I can absolutely say that I loved this book so much and it is incredible!! The story is thrilling and so funny, the thing about John Green is that he's not afraid to say what he wants to say so there's swearing and sexual references in there but that's what makes the book in a way. The character Alaska Young is obsessed with sex and drinking and smoking that your drawn to her and wonder why. The character Miles Halter (Pudge) who the book is written in the perspective of, is endearing and he knows he doesn't have any friends and it doesn't bother him until he chases the Great Perhaps. My favorite characters from this book was Chip (the Colonel), Alaska and Tukuni who had me in fits of laughter at one point in the book. I really love this book and would recommend to people who want a good story line and all the "feels" because there are happy parts, sad parts, romantic parts everything is in this book! But yes thank you for reading and I shall see you next time with another post Goodbye x

New Year, New Chapter....

As I can imagine many of you went out celebrating last night to see in the New Year, I on the other hand had a quiet one with my family and decided to have a little pamper night as I go back to school in a few days I wanted to savour the time I have left to relax. So I wanted to wish you all a very Happy 2014 and I wish you all the best of luck and hope good things happen to you all. I am excited at what the year will bring and ready to make some amazing memories but I'm also very nervous because I take my exams in less than around 3 months which petrifies me! But we all have to do it so I can only try my best, if your anything like me you set yourself high targets. So in most lessons I want to get an A which means if I get any less I can be pretty disappointed. My mum is so supportive and is happy at whatever result I get, by the way I usually get a C or above haha, but yeah school is a biggy this year and my form tutor just left and he was a great teacher and my form won't be the same. 

Anyway, New Year's Resolutions; I think that have a goal or something in mind that you want to achieve during the year is such a good thing to have because it keeps you focused and makes you want to do things instead of just floating along doing just enough to get by. I have decided that this year I have 5 New Years Resolutions that I want to try to achieve, 5 is quite a lot so I won't be disappointed if I don't do them all here they are...

1. Be Healthier
2. Study hard
3. Make Memories
4. Read More Books
5. Stay focused and to have a good year!

I think that they are easy enough to maintain throughout the year, it's not a dramatic change that will be difficult to do and I think that's important when making resolutions. If you make all these drastic and out of reach targets the chances are you won't do them but if you just say to yourself a few little things you maybe want to change or achieve this year I think you would be more likely to do them. 

I have also decided that I am going to set myself up to 3 targets a month of which I want to achieve for January I have....

1. Read at least 2 books
2. Train as much as possible 
3. Aim to win at Boston

Now for those of you who read my blog you may know that I go to a Rowing Club, for the last 15 months and have been competing in a few races. Well I have another competition at the end on January so which is in Boston, so I want to give my best and win it! :)  

These are just a few pictures form 2013, I have had such a good year with a few down but mainly ups and I hope you have too so thanks for reading and I hope to bring you many more posts in 2014! Also while I remember I haven't even been blogging for a year and I'm so close to 1000 page views which to me seems incredible. The thought that that many people have looked and read my blog and posts is incredible and very heart warming so a MASSIVE THANK YOU for all reading my blog and following me on Bloglovin it really does mean a lot to me. Happy New Year! x

It's Christmas Day!!! ...

Hello there guys, so it's finally Christmas and I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and take the opportunity to thank you all for reading my posts and following me on Bloglovin. I shall be doing a post on what I got for Christmas if you were interested in that, that shall be up either later today or tomorrow and I may even through a little surprise Christmas Tree tutorial in there as well. I know the posts have been lacking recently and I apologize for that again but I am really looking forward to next year! Well most of next year.... I have my exams next year so apart form that haha but I hope you all got what you wanted and have a lovely Christmas! 

BBYYEEEE!!! x

Beauty products I wish I had!! ...

Hey guys, so if you read my Christmas gift guide you'd of seen the Soap and Glory products I brought for my friends for Christmas and I've wanted these so badly since everyone has raved about them and they smell so nice but just haven't gotten round to buying them so I'm doing a post about them...

The packaging is soo cool and pretty I just can't resist it! It reminds me of a vintage kind of style which is really cute. Apart from the packaging it smells gorgeous!! and is supposed to really help your skin which is what you want in a product.

I think this is my favourite because it smelled the best and looked so cute!! 

That was just a mini post because I had taken these pictures for my Christmas gift guide but didn't use them in the end so thought I'd use them anyway. Hope you've had a lovely day thanks for reading goodbye! 

How to make a Stitch plushie.....

Hey guys, so here's a tutorial on how I made Stitch from Lilo and Stitch...  

You will need:

Felt in the colours: 
- Dark blue
-Light blue (I didn't have any so I used a turquoise colour)
-Pale pink
-White
-Black

Thread in the colours: 
-Black
-Blue
-Pale pink

Other things:
-A needle
-Stuffing  
-Pencil, paper and scissors

Cut two pieces of the body in the blue thread, using the same template cut the body piece in the lighter blue, ears in blue and pink, a nose in blue and eyes in black and white.

I am sorry I did not take a picture of the template it wasn't that hard to do though.

Sew the body piece onto the front blue piece along with the feet.

For the feet I did an under circle, a piece with "claws" and then another circle on top.

Like shown in the picture on the left.

now take the ear parts and sew them together, you can then take the blue body piece and sew the ears onto them. Add the eyes and nose also.

For the eyes, take a large white piece in the shape of a kidney bean almost, do the same in black but smaller and then a small white circle.

Once you've done that take the back piece and start to sew the two together leaving a gap for the stuffing.

Take the stuffing and place as much in as you can, the more the better.

 This is the gap I left to stuff Stitch.











Once you've stuffed as much as you can sew him up and he should look something like.....

 this. This is my first attempt at making a Stitch and he didn't turn out too bad.

Let me know what you thought of him and if you've tried it I'd love to see pictures, tag me on instagram and I'll take a look. Also if you want any tutorials that I haven't done so far leave them in the comments and I'll try and do it for you. Thanks for reading and have fun making Stitch! Byee x

Instagram: @tashadukes_97

#3 Christmas gift guide! ...

Hey guys, so today I'm going to be giving you a few ideas for gifts and what to get/make your friends and family. Let's get started... 

This type of gift is is you want to give a person something without spend a lot of money, if yo gift wrap it and put a ribbon around it makes it look like you've put more effort in. You could also buy a jar and fill it with there favorite sweets. This is just a very in expensive way of showing your appreciation towards a person.

The next item is beauty products, I got mini Soap and Glory products for each of my friends and in Boots (the shop I got them from) they had an offer of 3 for 2 so it was cheaper. Beauty products are a nice gift to give you friends especially if there girly girls and love that type of thing. If you know there favorite type of product or brand or scent then you should probably get them that, it would make it a little more personal because they know that you know their favorite beauty product. If you didn't want to buy them any body beauty product you could go for make up instead if your friends wear make up. Again gift wrapping can make it look super pretty and Christmassy so I'd advise gift wrapping everything.... I did :)

Another idea I came up with was a personalized t shirt. This is for the people who like to make very personal gifts and like to make things, like me. I much prefer giving my close friends and family gifts they want or mean something because it shows you care about them and you put more effort in to their present than just going to the shop and buying something you see (there's nothing wrong with that though don't get me wrong!) I was really stuck with what to get my friend and so I took to Youtube and searched for DIY gift ideas which really helped.

The last thing on my list is making a soft plushie, my friend asked me to make her a stitch from the film Lilo and Stitch so I attempted to do just that. It's not bad for a first attempt. I am going to be putting up a tutorial in the next few days of how to make this if you are interested. But yeah you could make their favourite Disney character or food/drink anything, this again is quite personal and can mean a lot. Also they are very cute! 

One more thing you could do which I haven't included but have done for one of my friends is buy a personalized phone case, I got mine from Mr Nutcase which cost around £15 so it's a little pricey for those on a low budget but the quality is very good! 

That's all for now thanks for reading and I hope this helps! :) bye x

Posts are coming I promise!! ...

Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that I've got blog post ideas for my mini Christmas Countdown series but I've got mock exams at the minute so I'm spending most of my time revising and concentrating on them, I'm going to do a tutorial on some Christmas plushies, like a Christmas tree, snow man e.c.t and I might to a little gift guide for last minute shoppers but this will probably be next week as I'm shopping tomorrow for the stuff and school and rowing its hard to fit everything in, so bare with me guys, I'll get there eventually!

I was also going to post about the new skin care products I've been using but the lightening isn't very good in the pictures so I'll retake them and post it soon. Thanks for reading guys, byeee! x

#2 Putting up Decorations!! ....

Hey guys, so the next installment for my Christmas Countdown series is putting up some decorations! I'm obsessed with fairy lights, they are just so pretty and christmassy! So here's some pictures of what I've done so far ....

So I've put these ones draped over some of my artwork and canvases (please excuses the blue canvas it's awful I know I forgot to take it down haha) but I think it looks really pretty and Christmassy and I love it!!

I also wanted to put some on my book shelf and it looks really nice and sparkly. I was worried that it might catch fire but I think I'll be okay haha. Since taking these I've also put another set up along my curtain pole draping down which also looks very effective and pretty.

I also brought this clay pot with starts cut out and a red candle in red berries smell, take it from me guys it smells AMAZING!! I've literally fallen in love with it!! Highly recommend it. 

Another thing I brought but didn't take a picture of was a very fluffy white blanket which is very comfy and snuggly, obviously perfect for the winter time when it gets colder.

But that's it for now, thanks for reading and I hope it gave you a little bit of inspiration.

Goodbye! x

Christmas Countdown!! #1 Putting the Christmas Tree up! ...

Hey there guys, I know it's been many months since I have posted so sorry about that... again! 

Anyway it is finally December which means it's the countdown to Christmas!! I'm very excited to say the least, so I'm going to try and do a little Christmas series leading up to Christmas, starting with the tree. 

Let get started!!

So I have a white Christmas tree and the lights are already on the tree because that's how I brought it, this is what it looks like before any decorations are on it. I've put it on my white table in front of the window this year in case you wanted to know.

 Then I put the decorations on, my theme is blues and silvers. I've these for a few years so I might change it up next year. But they're sparkly and snowflakes and spirals, so it looks pretty! 

Above are some close ups of some of my decorations, and the last one is a pretty white ball ball with a bell inside and it cost me £1.00 from Wilkinson's! It's not on the other pictures of the whole tree because I took them the other day and I brought this yesterday so it was an additional thing. 

But yes, that is the first installment of my Christmas Countdown, hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading as ever and I'll see you next time!  

Goodbye x