Liebster Award

Wow thanks to the beautiful Helen Davis for nominating me! Go check out her blog here she does really interesting lovely posts! 

So when I got nominated I had a tiny idea of what the award is about because of other posts I have seen but not a whole idea and Helen talks all about it on her post which was a huge help. 

The rules are as follows:

1) Write 11 facts about yourself

2) Answer the questions set by the person who nominated you

3)Choose 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers

4)Think of 11 new questions for them to answer.

So here we go!

11 Facts about myself

1) Ariel is my favourite Disney princess

2) The first ever Halo is what got me into the Xbox

3) I still own a Gameboy Colour

4) I support Arsenal

5) I am repeating a year of college

6) I used to be obsessed with WOW

7) I love all Kawaii things

8) I cosplay alot and have been to MCM London Expo

9) My favourite Sandra Bullock movie is The Lakehouse

10) I never liked watching kids cartoons like Teletubbies when I was little so I played army with my brother and went on the Playstation and Gamecube

11) I have an unhealthy obsession with brownies in cups

Helens Questions:

1) Winter or Summer Olympics? Which sport is your favourite to watch?

Winter Olympics because SNOW and Snowboarding.

2) If you had to make an entire cooked meal with just five ingredients what would it be?

Vegetable soup! Normally I just chuck in whatever is leftover but I guess it would be carrots, kale, cabbage, vegetable stock, cream and spices.

3) What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Would you recommend it?

Star Trek Into Darkness and HELL YES! 

4) What's your favourite book?

Inheritance Series, so Eragon by Christopher Paolini

5) When on holiday do you prefer exploring or relaxing? 

Depends on what mood I'm in to be honest but generally exploring

6) What's your favourite thing to do in your home city?

Mine is a bit boring and small but saying that it is going to the leisure centre to swim which I haven't done for ages because it has been freezing.

7) If someone gave you £100 to live without your phone for a month could you do it? 

Yes, but my parents would not like that idea haha.

8) What's your earliest memory? 

Oh god I have no idea I have an awful memory! I think it is going to Disney Land Paris and seeing the Star Wars exhibit with the giant AT-AT. Oh and the barn dance with Minnie Mouse, can't forget that! 

9) When you feel like spending money where is the first place you go?

New Look or Internationale

10) Which animal would your patronus be?

Hmmm probably a Dolphin or Seal 

11) Why/when did you decide to start blogging?

I started this January and I did it to be more proactive in my life and do something fun and interesting.

Here are my nominees!

Amber at Bambi Bell (www.bambi-bell.com) 

Ellie Mae at EllieMae's Beauty Blog (www.elliemae636.blogspot.co.uk) 

Tessa at Holly Sparkle (www.hollysparkle.blogspot.com)

Vintage Grey (www.vintagegreyhandmade.blogspot.com)

Imogens Typerwriter (www.imogenstypewriter.blogspot.com)

Unfortunately as I have been so busy I havent had time to follow lots of blogs and have more blogs that have many followers than blogs with less than 200 followers! Sorry!  

My Questions

1) What is your favourite childhood movie?

2) If you had to have a superpower what would it be?

3) Do you colour your hair? If so what colour has been your favourite?

4) Favourite ready meal?

5) If you could live in any fictional world what would it be and why?

6) What is your dream job?

7) Most recent pair of shoes you have bought?

8) If you could live in any city in any country where would it be?

9) If you could make your own nail polish mix what would it be and what would you call it?

10) Morning person?

11) Favourite non alcoholic drink?

Tadah! Done! Finito! Again thankyou Helen for nominating me!   

Revision:Tips and Tricks!

Hello there!

Wow it has been a while and I apologise profusely as I have been super busy with revision, my novel, revision oh and MORE REVISION! Ugh I hate it and recently it has been getting me down as the stress of my May exams is starting to press in on my brain like someone force choking my mind!

Uh okay weird analogy but anyway... 

After being inspired to really get my head in the right place with my work load I have been revising better and my mental health has improved, Huzzah! 
So listen in close because I am about to give away some revision/motivation secrets!

First, make or print off a yearly calendar with each day of each month shown. Then taking your favourite colour pen put a smiley face or a heart, whatever shape you want, on a day that you have achieved something. It can be anything you want such as writing a bit more of a novel, doing some of a chemistry essay blah blah blah. And whenever you catch a glimpse of your calendar you can see the smiley faces and clearly see how you are achieving something everyday! It sounds really obvious but trust me. It works! I feel much more uplifted and ready to do revision seeing how I am achieving something consistently.
Here is a picture of my calendar which I have some pictures on to make me smile or encourage me! The lack of smiley faces is because I only started it on the 14th of February :P

Second, when doing revision I find the best method for a visual learner like myself is to have cue cards. On one side of the card write a question such as "What is the definition of differential gene expression?" and then on the other side in bright colours and add pictures if you wish, write the answer! These cards are great because if you get the small ones you have to write condensed notes to fit it in one card and you can take them around with you! I wrap two elastic bands around the pile which I colour code for each topic and voila I can read them on the train, in the car, at lunch in college.

Third, always start revising for an exam as soon as you start learning material. This means you have more free time if you do revision notes after each lesson and you wont have to cram the night before (I highly recommend that you DO NOT cram the night before.) 

Fourth, do as many past papers as you possibly can! This I cannot emphasise enough as it lets you get into the examiners head and evaluate what answers they want for a specific question. I try and do at least one of each subject a week. Once you have done one mark it straight away and highlight the questions you got wrong so you can see if there is a pattern to indicate a part you are not strong on. Also, be VERY harsh when marking, do not give yourself pity or meh marks as I call them as you will get a grade that isn't reflective of your abilities.  

Fifth, get a good nights sleep before the exam! Especially if you have more than one in a day (we all feel the pain of those) and have a nutritious breakfast. The best things to eat are foods with glucose as your brain uses glucose as its power source. I like to have a mixed berry smoothie with oats and some toast. I will also have a Aero bar as not only is it yummy and makes me feel better, you have sources of natural sugar in the fruit. 

Sixth, don't just rely on your textbooks and teachers to have all the information you need. Go and find the specification on the examiners website for your subject so you know exactly what they want from you. This is especially useful if you want to learn the specification and mark schemes off by heart and will boost your performance. If you want those high grades take responsibility for your learning.

Well that's a wrap folks, I hope these tips help you like they help me and I wish you all success in your summer exams!

-Tasha 

A little Lush review

Hello again! 

Whilst drinking my cup of macha green tea this morning I thought that I would do a review on my new spot treatment from Lush! 

I have acne and it can be a real pain in the ass and for the past three years I have been taking some pills for it. They work on and off and aren't a real solution for me, I hate taking pills anyway.

I went into the Lush shop near me after hearing about their wonderful stuff from some friends in the Black Milk Clothing group I am a member of. So I went inside and I instantly love it! The layout of the shop was amazing and the range of products were huge. 

I chatted to the lovely shop assistant and she recommended Grease Lightning to me.

Grease Lightning is a dab on gel made with tea tree oil and witch hazel. I thought I would give it a go and bought it for only £5.95 which is a reasonable price in my opinion for its amazing effects.

Now I use it everyday before I go to bed as the gel leaves a shine on your skin that I personally don't want in the daytime. It is very easy to apply and smells fresh and wonderful. Massaging it in is easy aswell and after washing it off your hands it leaves them feeling soft and smooth. 

I have been using it for a week and oh my god! It works well and I haven't had any breakouts since! 

I have oily and sensitive skin and definitely recommend it to anyone with this skin type.

It also reduces the redness of my spots and works wonders!I only put it on small areas where I think spots will break out or where spots are.

I think I am going to become a Lush addict!

Thank you Lush!

My Spanish Adventure!

Hola! 

Sorry that is all the Spanish I know...oh well I won't need to speak Spanish on this trip of mine! Why? Because I am volunteering for Diverbo an organisation that runs the Pueblo Inglés program. 

The program is for Spanish people who want to improve their English in a social, friendly, comfortable environment with English speaking people all around the world and Diverbo operates around the world in countries such as Germany, France and China. 

I first heard about the program from a friend of my mothers who previously volunteered and said it was a great experience. I am very happy to travel to expand my horizons and experience new cultures and languages, it also has the added benefit of looking great on my CV which I really need for Marine Biology and University. So I thought I would apply for a week in the summer holidays after up break up from college on the 17th and thus my adventure began to turn its wheels. 

I had applied about a week ago for Spain, my first option La Alberca and my second option Aldeaduero. They are both situated near Salamanca in the central west of Spain so I decided a bit of research was in order.  

After looking at Salamanca which is a beautiful place I thought it would be better to look at the place(s) I will be staying at as apparently you don't go too far out of the compound. But have a picture of Salamanca anyway, it's too pretty not too. I hope we go at least once so I can take some pictures! 

 Here is an extract from their website (www.diverbo.com) about La Alberca one of the places you can choose to volunteer at:

"La Alberca is situated in the south-west corner of the Castile and Leon region. La Alberca is the name of one of the most important villages in the area - well known for its traditions and customs that date back to the 15th Century. It was also the first village in Spain to be declared a National Heritage Site in 1940. It is located only 70 km from Salamanca with a population of a little less than 1,200 and attracts tourists from all over. Surrounded by four mountain ranges: the Sierra de Bejar from the east, La Peña de Francia from the west, and both the Sierra de Francia and the Sierra de Kilama to the north; La Alberca's landscape is quite a spectacle. The medieval village still preserves its architecture, especially in its town centre where to this day expert blacksmiths and other traditional artisan crafts people can be found." 

The accommodation looks fantastic and the weather in the summer which is when I am going, is said to be ranging from 17-35 degrees Celsius with warm sunny days. Perfect. 

The only con I can see to this is that there are no shops on site which is fine but visits to the nearby village are limited to our free time. Not much of a con to me to be honest.   

Aldeaduero looks equally wonderful with more on site activities than La Alberca like basketball, handball, tennis, padel courts and a pool. Here is an extract from their website about the area:

"The thousand year-old village of Aldeaduero is situated in the Salto de Saucelle, a beautiful area on the banks of the river Duero that runs along the borders of Spain and Portugal. Although its history goes back to Arabic occupation, the 20th century saw it converted into a hydroelectric plant powered by the Duero river. The village of Aldeaduero was established to house and provide leisure for the plant’s workers and their families for a period of over 40 years. The site has been renovated to modern day standards and is well-known as the premier hospitality and leisure complex in the area. The village has plenty of green areas to enjoy games and activities and a fantastic pool for those lovely warm days!"

I am certainly looking forward to going as this will be very independent as my parents will not be there though I am hoping my friend get her application accepted too so we can go together.

As for helping teach English I think that will be something I will very much enjoy and I can see myself being very social and participating in alot of the activities. I hope to make some good friends and just have a great time before I get those dreaded exam results back in August!

What do you think? Have any of you been on such an experience like this? If you have please tell me in the comments below and share your experience!

Sources:

http://www.diverbo.com/en/volunteer-abroad/teens/venues-calendar/alberca-abadia-templarios 

http://www.diverbo.com/en/volunteer-abroad/teens/venues-calendar/aldeaduero

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g187493-Salamanca_Province_of_Salamanca_Castile_and_Leon-Vacations.html

   

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! I have been aching to do a blog for a while now as I love letting people know about my own experiences and my lifestyle and things. This is a totally new experience for me (apart from Tumblr) so bear with me for a few days as I get used to the inner workings of things.

My blog is called 'All in the 'verse' because I am a Firefly fan and this is about my own little universe and the one I am apart of with you guys so it seemed fitting.

Quite soon I will be doing a post about myself so you can get to know me and understand my mad mind.

Hope you all enjoy my rambling and such and I look forward to sharing things with you!

-Tasha

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