Did someone say twenty?

I have always been slightly superstitious, especially when it comes to odd numbers, there is just something I don't like about them. So being aged nineteen in the year 2013 is a predicament that has definitely been playing on my mind. Entering back into an even number, therefore, is something I welcome with open arms. Despite this I still feel my birthday this year was a landmark. For many it's the simple fact that you are no longer an irresponsible teenager, but seeing as I have lived away from home for almost a year and a half now, I feel I definitely earned my title as a responsible teenager some time ago. Twenty feel's big simply because you're entering a new decade of your life. I feel like I need to achieve great things, establish my career, pursue my interests and maybe towards the end of my twenties, even start a family. This is the prospect I find quite daunting, no longer is my life in the future, it is now. I'm living it. And, if these really are the best years of your life, then I have a lot to accomplish.

My twentieth birthday was spent exactly the way I wanted it to be, doing very little with the people I care very much for. My last day of being a teenager entitled me to a home cooked Sunday-dinner (my favourite) made by my lovely boyfriend. It also meant on the morning of my birthday, I was introduced for the first time to fried leftovers, which I highly recommend. We then went into London to meet my mum and my brother for a pub dinner, which meant them meeting my boyfriend, Jake, for the first time.

My first full day of being twenty was spent at Virginia Waters, taking a nice stroll and pestering the hell out of Jake with my camera. I love being outdoors and I can't wait for the day when I can finally get a canoe and take it out on the lake. There is something about being on the water that looks so calm and peaceful. I think it would be the perfect place to sit by myself with a book.

On the whole, turning twenty was definitely one of my better birthdays and although the prospect of adulthood seems to be looming over me, now more than ever, I am definitely embracing it.

Second year stress

Where there's a will, there's a way. That is the motto that has been getting me through each day for the last three months. A history degree is proving to be a substantial amount of work, and a continuous 'to do' list that grows longer day by day. I tick one thing off and add two more to the bottom. Sometimes I can feel myself becoming overwhelmed by the realisation that there are just not enough hours in the day. These last two weeks have been the worst part, as the end of term grew closer it seemed as though the days were getting longer. To overcome this obstacle I developed a Buddhist outlook on life. I thought of the worst thing that could possibly happen and then decided that it was not actually that bad, it could be overcome. Remain calm, I kept telling myself, Christmas will soon arrive.. and it did.

Now I can spend the next four weeks doing nothing. Well not exactly nothing, I have a tonne of work to do, but the point being, I can work through it at my own pace. I can spend Christmas with my family and New Years with my boyfriend and not have any deadlines looming over me. I have always been a summer kind of girl, but I have to admit, I never looked forward to Christmas as much as I have over the last few weeks.

Peace out. ☮