I'm a Blogger Now (Again)

In a bid to avoid my horrifically boring and difficult college work, I've decided to restart my blog. I've recently come to love making YouTube videos again - a few months back it began to feel like a chore - so I've decided to give blogging a go again for a couple of reasons. I can't really say that I was into it much beforehand, but after seeing how forgetful I am for one thing (you really have no idea) and how great fellow Krank.ie contributor Vicky Kavanagh's blog is, I've realised that a blog could come in handy.

First of all, I am terribly forgetful. Anybody who knows me in real life will be able to vouch for this. Often I can't commit to plans because "that date sounds like a day where there's something on." Usually there's not, but I may double-book myself one day. Who knows. But anyway, in a bid to stop being forgetful and to start remembering things, I am now blogging. I want to actually be able to remember things in the future, such as what I've done and who I've done them with. 

Journaling wasn't for me, although I did try. I have a journaling* app called Day One on my iPad, which I even set to remind me to write in it twice a day. That didn't work. I've tried vlogging, although editing was always a pain. I have only ever completed a whole of one vlog. I did plan on putting random vlogging footage from the past year up during the summer (I was so excited for my London ones), but my external hard drive broke recently, with everything on it. Devastated is not the word. Now I'll have to restart from scratch! 

My life isn't exactly interesting enough to vlog anyway. Generally I go to college, go home or to my Nanas, go onto the internet and sleep. That's it. I might do some exercise too, but nobody wants to see the sweaty aftermath of that.

The second reason is because I like to write. I write not-so regularly on Medium, but often on my iPad. I may as well use some of that creative energy for things that I can share with the world, right? *...silence...* Well I thought it was a good idea!

So, that's why I'm here. I'm going to blog. Really this is me procrastinating. I've a lot of college work to do and probably not enough time to do it. Silly me wasted my two weeks off for Easter in the ultimate procrastination session. In fairness I did start one essay, I'm on my fourth page of a short story (sure I already had two done but whatever) and I did some work on my YouTube channel, so I'm doing well for me.

Uhm, so yeah. That's it. Bye?

*journaling probably isn't a real word.

Busy Busy Bumble Bee

To begin with, I'm sorry for having no movie night ready for this week. I've been quite busy deciding on how I will proceed with the next year (time-wise and financially). I've officially begun college you see, which has left less time for films, writing, exercise and so on. It's just dawned on me as I'm writing this that it is only Tuesday, and that I have a few half-ready movie nights prepared so I may finish one of them later. If you miss reading what I have to say, I wrote a "oh I'm trying to be funny" article for Krank.ie anseo.

College is interesting. I've met some people who I believe that I will grow to be fascinated by. It's my hope to become a fascinating individual myself by the end of my four years at DIT, but I'll allow you to be the judge of whether I accomplish that. I'm also hoping to learn more about the world, become opinionated (rather than hearing other peoples opinions and often going 'hm, I agree. Yes that's now my opinion too') and to do what is arguably the most important thing in college - get a degree!

Next week I will be joining some clubs and societies. I'm excited to say the least. I'm unsure as to which I want to join as I don't want all of my free time taken up, but it's quite difficult to choose. Meanwhile I'm searching for a job, so feel free to hire me if you wish. I'd really like to work in a pub I think. I don't know why, but I just do.

I feel like I'm whizzing around the place sometimes. All I need to do is buzz like a bumble bee and I could easily* be mistaken for one. I'm figuring out right after I've completed this post when I'm going to start making YouTube videos again. They were fun! I'll keep you posted** on that!

*by a blind person with very limited hearing

** posted, haha! Get it? Posted? Blog post? Not funny? Oh right well ehm... Bye!

Debs + College

On Thursday, the 5th of September I had my debs. This is the Irish version of a prom. I went with my lovely friend Ross, and sat with some of my best friends and their lovely dates for the night. We were dancing too, of course. ;) It was well awesome although the food wasn't the nicest! The debs was held in Vanity Nightclub in Monaghan. It was cool going out of the county for a while!

This is myself and Ross being dinosaur monstery things!

Last Monday I went to another debs. It was one of my best friend Shannon's (not as her date though, as someone elses) and it was great too. I met some truly lovely and charming people. To be honest, it was funny going to what was essentially a school reunion and not really knowing anybody!

 I have no pictures of that night at the moment, but when I do I'll stick them up here! :)

At my debs I won the award for "most likely to be famous." Although I was involved in the voting for the other categories (and may have nominated myself - which is perfectly acceptable), I can assure you that I did not choose myself to win. I got a medal. I'm so proud!

Would that achievement be acceptable for a tv/radio presenters resume? I doubt it, but maybe it would be.

Last Wednesday I 'began' college. It was just an induction day. I'm attending one of the DIT campuses to study Film & Broadcasting with Irish, which sounds exciting. Plus the following afternoon I received my student ID card, in which I look an absolute state. Oh well. Nothing I can do now! It suddenly is just like "oh wow, I'm actually in college" because I received that card. I don't feel like I'm in college, but I'm pretty sure that on Monday morning I will. I'm excited! :)

Oh I'm Tired!

Oh my gosh I've been so tired lately! Just twenty minutes ago* I awoke from an eleven hour sleep! Usually I sleep for seven to thirteen hours, so it's a bit average for me really. Anyway!

Lately I've been writing lots of blog posts but for some reason they aren't being saved (maybe I'm just silly). It gets a bit frustrating trying to write about a movie you didn't like for the third time, so often I just end up leaving it. I haven't done too much this week, but sure I'll tell you about it anyway.

On Tuesday it was my cousin's seventh birthday. I gave him Mario Kart DS and a stylus. The cakes were fantastic! He had two that my aunt made. Then there were fairy cakes (by moi) and rice krispie cakes by my other aunt. Here's one of the birthday cakes:

It had four layers of sponge! Epic!

On Wednesday myself and my friend Katelynne went into town. She had an interview for a job. After that we wandered a little bit as neither of us had any exciting ideas for things to do. A lady stopped us and after a chat we prayed (mhmm). She literally said "did you know Jesus said '__(I didn't catch what he said)__.' Well now we are going to pray. Repeat after me!" It was odd and SO hard not to laugh. I am Christian, but that kinda stuff doesn't happen to you every day!

I tried on Tuesday and Wednesday to make a new video, but I failed both times. Today I will be third time lucky! So I'll have that new video for you later on or tomorrow. :) Now to do my make up - blehhh!

*at time of writing. The post failed to publish so it was actually 12:48 yesterday when this was written.

Summer Plans

Summmmmerrrrr!

Oh how I have longed to be free. This summer I am determined not to waste a single minute (once I've recharged after a super tiring, stressful year). I've so many plans but so little time! So in order to combat this, I've decided to write an updated list of my plans for the summer. This way I will have to do them, as if I don't I'll be a failure.

So let's start off with exactly what I want to do this summer. I would like to:

 - go to Jumpzone

 - do the Croke Park skyline tour

 - cycle in the Phoenix Park

 - visit Mullingar

 - take a chocolate factory tour

 - have seen Shane Gillen's show live

But also, by the end of the summer I would like to be an amazing limbo-er*! And I will be able to run 5km and cycle loads. Plus, I want to have made a short film I'm working on (working title "Gone from the Sun") in which I'll be the lead actress (pray for me to learn to act please). Then there's other stuff too, but they're much more vague so I'll leave them out. Ooh, and I'd like to get good results in my Leaving Cert! But we'll see about that...

*if anyone knows where to buy a cheap limbo set or how to make one, please tell me!

I'd love to have lived in London for a month or so by the end of summer 2014, but let's see how this summer works out first!

Is there anything that you'd like to do by the end of this summer? Comment below to tell me if you'd like! :)

Don't Stress For Success!

From tomorrow until the twenty-first of June, many of us will be sitting the Junior or Leaving Certificate. Here's some ways to keep calm throughout the next few weeks, and a few things to avoid!

5 Ways to Keep Calm

1. Exercise! 

I know everybody says it, and usually I dismiss it thinking "I haven't got time for that!" But come on, look at the weather! Surely you'd rather be out there for half an hour walking, running, cycling or whatever than be inside stressing. Exercise helps to release the stress, and once you go out you want to go back in! So once you get back, that could motivate you to work harder until your next break!

2. Music!

Music can be used a great distraction. Just turn it on and blare it. Once you get caught up in the music, it's like you're in a different world.

3. Watch a Movie!

Movies are a great way to escape at any time, so why not go to the cinemas or throw on a DVD? You can forget about your own worries and be transported into someone else's world. It's a great way to relax and let go of your own fears. 

4. Talk to Friends!

Your friends are going through the exact same thing right now. They're likely just as worried as you are. Together you can calm each other down and just have a good aul gossip too! A problem shared is a problem halved!

5. Believe in Yourself!

You've studied for years. You'd be amazed how many things are up there that you've forgotten you know! But you won't remember them if you don't believe that you can do it. When you're stressing, you're not concentrating your mind on remembering the facts. Take a few deep breaths and breathe. It'll be okay. Just believe you can do it, and you'll get through it all. Hopefully you'll still be able to catch a bit of the sun by the end of it too!

5 Ways to Avoid Stress

1. Don't Make Yourself Even More Stressed

Sure everyone needs a bit of motivational stress, but that's enough! At this stage you should be concentrating on rejogging your memory to remind it what you know, rather than trying to fit a lot of new stuff in there. Every time you try to learn something new, you'll only scare yourself because you didn't know it already!

2. Try to Avoid Snapping

With stress levels at an all time high, it's easy to snap at everyone around you. But they're just trying to help you, and if you snap they might snap back. That'll just annoy you and stress you out more! So if your Mam asks you do you want to take a break, try to understand that she's got your best interest at heart. Everyone just wants you to do your best! 

3. Get a Good Sleep

A good sleep will do wonders for you. It allows you to relax, destress and helps the information sink into your brain. It'll also help you the next day when you're trying to recall the information, as your brain is fully rested and ready to work!

4. Do It

Instead of sitting here stressing, just work on something. Maybe reading the examiners reports on examinations.ie will help, as it'll show you where students often fall down. By going through a paper, it'll help calm you as you can see that you can do it. If there's a question you're unsure on, try it and check the marking scheme. Then you'll know how to tackle it the next time!

5. No Post-Mortems

Once you're, finished an exam - congratulations to you! The best thing to do now is not to think about how it went, especially if your friends are discussing it. It'll only remind you of things that you may have forgotten to say, and you'll worry that you did terribly. This happened in my Junior Cert History. I was convinced I failed after talking it over with friends, and I came out with a B! The exam is done, and you can't change what you wrote. You should now concentrate on exams left and forget about the ones you've done!

At the end of the day - they're just exams. I'm doing the Leaving Cert myself at the moment, and I know that it feels like the world will end if you don't do well. But here's the thing - the world will keep spinning! Your career doesn't define you, and there's plenty of ways to get to where you want to go. Maybe you want to wait to be a mature student, or do a PLC. Even if have to repeat, it's only one extra year to get there. You'll have roughly forty more years doing the job, so one extra year in school won't kill you! Once you know what you want to do, all you have to figure out how to get there.

Now Good Luck! 

Hello!

Hiya!

I'm Jessica. :) I'm known more commonly as jessiblah (seriously, check my friends phones), Jess, Spence, the Milky Bar Kid and sometimes even Jessie. Choose a name and stick with it. Except Jessie - don't pick Jessie. 

I'm 18, and I've no clue as to what I'd like to do with my life. Well, actually that's a lie. I do. I just have a million ideas, so I don't know how to do it all. 

I contribute to Krank.ie, and present a radio show on NearFM every second Saturday. It's great craic.

I've a billion blogs. This one is going to be for thoughts/rants, makeup and music I'm listening to. If you want one that follows just my life in general, here's a blog I share with my friend Ross.

I'm also on Twitter, so that's pretty useful. I'll follow you back too!

If you like YouTube, you can check out my channel. I won't have a new video until the end of June though, as I'm doing my Leaving Cert at the moment.

That's all I suppose. 

Slaaaan,
Jessica.