Showing posts with label Bournemouth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bournemouth. Show all posts

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Life: Bye Bournemouth

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Tomorrow we move to Cardiff! It feels like it has taken ages to get to this point as packing has been a long a drawn out process! But it is all finally done, everything is in boxes. It's weird seeing everything packed up like that. I'm not sure I like it, it's weird not having everything around the house. I think the part that was the worst bit to do was all the the cleaning, it felt like we were having to go back over everything because we needed to use the kitchen or the bathroom or we noticed we had missed something. However I definitely think we have learnt some lessons for moving in the future as I didn't realise how much needed to be done in order to move as my parents had always done it when we had moved before. Although I think for our first real attempt we have done quite well between us!

Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly tomorrow. I hope that the weather stays dry so that we can head to the beach one last time while we wait for Clare and Dermott to arrive with the van. I think it will be quite stressful loading the van but once its done it will be okay. we will be staying at Clare's house on Friday night so there isn't a huge pressure on how long it takes to get to Cardiff.

The part I really can't wait for is to get our keys on Saturday and finally moving in to our new house.  Hopefully unpacking is a lot quicker than packing was!

- Stacey xo


Wednesday, 9 July 2014

Life: What A Year

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Looking back upon this year I can safely say that I, as a person, have come a very long way since September. In some ways I feel as though I am a different person to the one who left Bournemouth to return back to Cambridge at the beginning of last summer. I feel relaxed, comfortable in my own skin and a million times happier. I feel as though I have achieved and overcome things that I didn't think was ever even possible.I can say this year has been one hell of a roller coaster!

Some of the people who know me personally will know that since September I have battled through trying to prosecute the person who sexually abused me from the age of 6 up until I was 19 years old. As part of this I have battled exhaustion, depression and anxiety. I still have days when the anxiety and depression appear into my life but I am coming out the other side of it and learning how to deal with it. I wasn't able to hear the guilty verdict I was hoping to hear but the person who abused me did confess the things he did to me to several other people before taking his own life.

I also 'came out' to all of my friends and family after hiding the fact that I'm gay. I have also found the most amazing girlfriend, partner, fiance, best friend in Katie-Jo - who happened to be my housemate last year, that I could ever ask for. Ever since I confided in her about the sexual abuse last year she has been a rock for me. She's been supportive, encouraging, thoughtful, loving, kind, caring, everything I could have possibly needed. I really couldn't ask for anything more from her, she really is the better half of me. I really believe that without her I wouldn't have found it in me to tell my parents about the sexual abuse I had been through or gone to the police last September. I really can't wait for the rest of our future together and I know that after the year we have had and the things we have faced together we can face anything together.

It's crazy to think that my second and final year on my foundation degree course in Bournemouth is complete especially after contemplating leaving several times. It's crazy to think in a month I will be leaving the place that has been a home, an escape, and one hell of an adventure. I have learnt so much from the people I have met in Bournemouth, I know there are people I will keep in touch with for the rest of my life and there are others who will stay with this chapter of it but they have all helped to make it a very special time of my life.

While this year has quite possibly been one of the hardest I have ever faced with the video interviews, counselling, exhaustion, depression, anxiety and flashbacks I can safely say that I have come out of the other side of it all.

I am really looking forward to moving to Cardiff with my better half and starting the next chapter of our lives together. Lets hope the next year is a better one.


What a journey!

- Stacey xo

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Entering 20 Years of Life… AKA My Birthday

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Until this year I haven’t had one of those birthdays where you can look back and say ‘that was my best birthday yet.’ I was gutted on my 18th because I was ill, my other birthdays have been alright/good but nothing really happened that made them stand out… my birthday this year topped them all.

My birthday started on the 7th and didn’t finish until the 11th!

Katie-Jo surprised me on the Thursday with dinner at an Italian restaurant, then champagne on the beach and she also gave me my present. We had a really good evening and it was just really good to spend time together. – To be honest that would have been more than enough to celebrate my birthday!

On Friday me and Katie-Jo decorated the house with balloons and banners, ready for Rachael R, Annie and Amiee to arrive. Katie-Jo did more of the decorating and I did more directing. We went and picked Rachael up from the train station and went into ASDA then we tried to leave but the car park was jammed and so we ended up picking Annie & Aimee up at the same time. We all chilled out for a bit and had a few drinks.

Saturday was my actual birthday! It was a ridiculously wicked day. I started the day off by opening my card and presents from my family, then some balloons arrived from Katie-Jo and then she made me breakfast. Once the girls woke up they gave me cards and some chocolates. We all chilled out for a bit and then got ready to go and see Jessie J. We queued for Jessie J for an hour or so, which seemed like forever but was totally worth it because Jessie J was sick! We went and got McDonalds and then spent forever trying to find a taxi, when we finally found one we were basically half the way home, and the dude didn’t even take us all the way home! We met Rachael D at home and she gave me my present (a onesie and a cuddly Alien from Toy Story) we all had drinks and it ended up being a really wicked night.

On Sunday, Rachael left and we took Rachael to the train station. Me and Katie-Jo went to ASDA to get some stuff so that we could all have a roast dinner. We spent the rest of the day chilling out and I made a roast dinner for everyone… Which took a while to cook. We then finished the day off by playing Cardiff Monopoly.

Then on Monday, Annie and Aimee left and my new laptop arrived.

All in all it was a wicked weekend, and I really enjoyed it.

- Stacey xo

Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Me, Myself and I… And This Blog!

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How exciting, this is the first post on this blog... it's all shiny and new - maybe not shiny but definitely new! I thought I'd create a new blog to write about my new (not really) adult life - sharing is caring. I never considered being 18 as being an adult, I don't know why... Probably because I was still a teenager I always saw becoming 20 as becoming an adult as it’s the start of a new decade and new responsibilities.

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I am Stacey (that is my real name, in case you were wondering) and I have lived on this planet for 20 whole years - I miss being a teenager already, 20 feels old... too old. I have been 20 for 25 whole days and I already feel old - how is that even possible! I was born in Cambridge, UK and lived there for the majority of my life, well until last September - I have never really appreciated its history and why its famous until when I went back in June after being away at university for the year. I now live in Bournemouth and am currently battling to complete the second (and final) year of my foundation degree in Business and Management, I'm hoping to get on to the top up course next year. When I say I got to university people assume that I'm clever, I don't know why... I don't see myself as clever, in fact I know I'm not! Getting myself through my assignments is a massive battle, I always feel like I know absolutely nothing about the topic, I have basically zero concentration, I never know where to start and I get distracted far too easily. But I am getting there, slowly.

I have a weird obsession with star signs and horoscopes that not many people know about! I am a Scorpio it’s probably because I am so similar to my star sign and it weirds me out, it always fascinates me to see if other people have any of the attributes to their star sign. I just simply find it fascinating.

WP_20131110_023 I have a (un)healthy addiction to several things. I’m not even joking when I say I eat ridiculous amounts of chocolate, I have no idea how I haven’t put on crazy amounts of weight – can quite happily just eat chocolate all day everyday (but then who couldn’t!). I own several onesies too many – they are far too comfortable not to wear them (the giraffe one is one of my favourites)! I spend nearly all my life attached to my phone or laptop, I’m probably seen as one of the most unsociable people in the world (well at least the county) this is as a result of my unhealthy addiction to the internet. I’m nearly always wearing a hat, snapbacks are my current favourite at the moment. I have an unhealthy love for Toy Story, it’s one (probably my most) favourite film of all time and if you know me personally and don’t know that by now you should be ashamed of yourself.

I have an awesome family who I know I can turn to with anything and everything. We’re like any family we wind each other up but at the end of the day we are always there for each other. I love them all to to pieces. My Mum is literally one of my best friends – I’m really lucky to have been able to have this kind of relationship with my Mum from quite a young age and I’ve always had a lot of respect for her and have always looked up to her, I moan about her at times – but she knows me on a whole other level compared to everyone else – I can talk to her about almost anything and she is one of ‘those’ people who I know I can always count on without fail. My relationship with my Dad is quite strong, it’s definitely become stronger as I’ve gotten older, I know I can always turn to him if I need him and I don’t just scream and shout at him like I used to – he’s one of the people I respect and he can fix almost anything and everything. When I was younger I didn’t always show my dad how much I appreciated him, and I pushed him away quite a bit and as I have gotten older I have recognised this and slowly tried to fix it. My parents, are incredibly supportive and have always supported me (as well as my brother and sister) without fail, they don’t really judge us and they guide us but don’t dictate to us which is something I have always respected and appreciated (even though I might not have always shown it). My (older) sister, Natasha, and (younger) brother, Aaron, are two of the people (other than my parents) I am most protective over in the world, I would hate for anything to happen to them, I have so many memories with them growing up and they probably don’t even really know how much they mean to me. Looking at the three of us you probably wouldn’t think we are that close, but I know I can always talk to my sister and turn to her for help if I need it and my brother is just as crazy as I am and we are so similar its weird. My whole family just means so much to me and I don’t know what I’d do without them

altAlx5BKoiMbVvFqtWMEcJa9I-AdtFYVD22Zro84GlRr2q_jpg I have an incredibly awesome and beautiful girlfriend, who’s name is Kaite-Jo she happens to not only be my girlfriend but also one of my best friends which is the best combination because it means I can turn to her with everything and anything. Yes, I have a girlfriend, yes this also means I’m not ‘straight’ although no I’m not ‘gay’ – I’m somewhere in the middle probably a lot closer to being gay than being straight. But who cares! I’m ridiculously happy and really couldn’t imagine being with anyone else! We actually haven’t known each other for very long but it feels like I have known her forever and I definitely feel lucky to have her as part of my life and even luckier to be able to call her my girlfriend.

I have several really close friends, who help me through a lot and this is going to be hard because I don’t want to name every single person who has helped me out, but there are several people who I speak to regularly, know I can lean on and mean an awful lot to me. Basically what I am saying is if you actually know me and I don’t name you please don’t be offended. When I came to university I felt like I was drifting away from a lot of my friends, I was at a point in sixth form college where I was drifting in and out of friendship groups and didn’t really feel like I belonged anywhere. I’m 100 percent definitely not saying the friends I had a sixth form were rubbish, far from it – it’s just they didn’t always feel like they were the strongest friendships and ever since leaving sixth form we rarely speak.  However (back to the original point), When I came to uni I met three girls (other than Katie-Jo) who I have become really close to, Rachael, Megan, and Josie. Megan was the first person on my course that I met, and we have stayed friends ever since. Rachael, I became close to during our first assignment last year and then gradually she basically moved into our house at the end of last year. I was gutted when she quit because we became so close although I know I can always chat to her if I need to. My friendship with Josie grew at the end of last year too we just ended up talking about our lives and I know if I need a chat I can turn to her.

Two of my closest friends which I have known for quite a while (almost feels like forever) are Bethany (Betherz) and Rachael Robinson (there are loads of them in the world!).  Bethany moved to my secondary school and we clicked almost instantly, we could be dickheads together and we didn’t care, I’m almost always in stitches when we’re together – she also got me one of my jobs (what a top friend).  Rachael I met when I was playing football but really got on when we worked together, she always makes me laugh and I know she’s got my back and I’ve got hers.

There are quite a few people I want to mention here thinking about it but I’m only going to mention one other person, Annie. I met her right at the end of last year she came and stayed with us in our shared house as she’s Katie-Jo’s friend although I ended up inviting her to stay when I was drunk, and we just got on. She’s one of those people who you feel like you’ve known for a really long time. She can also make me laugh with her stories about really random stuff.

The one thing I value most about all of my friends is that I can always have a laugh with them and they all know I don’t take myself too seriously and they don’t really care about it.

I can imagine this blog is going to basically me just chatting about a whole bunch of random stuff, as well as a place for me to vent and rant about stuff.

Anyways that’s it – if you want to know more about me, come back and check this blog out soon!

- Stacey xo

Saturday, 20 July 2013

Life Badges: Crane Game

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Whilst I was in Bournemouth during my first year of university I visited the arcade on the sea front quite regularly, during these visits I managed to win on the crane game quite a few times mainly TY cuddly toys. Although I would love to win a cuddle version of the Alien from Toy Story out of one of the crane games.

- Esjae xo

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Sunday, 14 April 2013

HOME!

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Bournemouth definitely feels like home, I have been back here for more than 24 hours now and it feels ridiculously good to be here!

It took a while to unpack everything yesterday and get things sorted, I caught up with Ryan when I got back and Stefan was out. But there's only the 3 of us in our house at the moment! We have a new microwave which is pretty exciting! (the thrills of being a student)

Today I have had a pretty chilled out day, apart from the fact I woke up stupidly early as a result of still running on my work body clock, 7am is not the ideal time to be awake when you are a student! I made myself feel better about it by watching the latest Glee episode which was alright but lacking in songs.

I made the necessary trip to Iceland stopping in G&T's on the way to buy myself a new duvet cover, as you can see its a beautiful Toy Story one (my love for Toy Story will never end) plus its reversible.



I also went out and bought myself a monitor so that I can watch films and other things online while I do my work (or at least pretend to do my work). It has sort of increased my productivity levels, my assignment is now half way done - so close but yet so far!

I am ready to sleep... FOREVER now.

- Stacey xo