Real, Not Ideal

May has, by far, been the best month of the year. I think we all know that has to do with my travels this month (don't worry, I'll go back to those posts next week). However, I have a couple other things on this list that has to do with practicality. So let's get right into it! 1. Canon PowerShot SX420 IS  [source] I know nothing about cameras. I don't know what constitutes a good one. All I know is that I wanted a camera that was good enough to take travel pictures and is a step above my iPhone. I had a gift card, found a flash sale, and fate happened. I love this camera. It ended up being so much smaller than I expected. As in, it's slightly smaller than my hand. I love it. Again, I don't really know what makes a good camera, but this works for my purposes. From here on out, hopefully all of my pictures will be higher quality. Let me know what you think for the next three pictures. 2. Haworth I have written nothing about this yet because it was...

This is a full blown post about the three day trips I went on. I’m excited to share, so I’m just going full steam ahead! Eyam Eyam is what is called a plague village. It is the only place in northern England where the plague was recorded. It was spread by a cloth that came from London. Once there were a few cases, the town ended up closing itself off in order to keep the disease contained. They lost many of their citizens, but it did not spread any further than that. This is the location of a gravesite for a family. One of their relatives had to bury too many of them in one week. The surrounding area is stunning. It’s so hard to believe what happened there. There are so many stories about the plague and how the village got by. They have stories about the people who lived there and how they got supplies to their people. I’m a huge fan of history, so this was a great mini trip that took only a few hours. Spurn Point This is one of the places that Matt wor...

I’m going to start this off by saying you should be impressed that I kept up with all of my regular postings while I was gone. My original intention for these travel posts was to split things up by week. However, I had a great time. I need to dedicate more posts to match up with that amount of pictures I took! I went to so many places – some new, some old – and I am excited to share everything with you all! Most of my trip was based in Sheffield. First of all, just look at how pretty it is. I went on a lot of walks with stunning views like this. I got to meet one of Matt’s friends, and we went to a great pub and the guys played pool. One day, we had a little tourist day and went to Kelham Island. There is a cool Industrial museum there that outlines Sheffield’s history from the beginning of time (pretty much). For anyone who doesn’t know, Sheffield was a major steel city. It was heavily bombed during wars. There was actually a room that had the sounds of airplanes flyi...

Life is about change. You can't ignore it. You can't avoid it. As the saying goes, "can't go over it. Can't go under it. Have to go through it." And go through it I have. Recently, life has been a matter of setting myself up for the future. Namely, I finished applying for Teacher's College. I have applied to six different schools in two different countries. Each time I pressed the submit button, I felt like I couldn't breathe. Now my future is in the hands of people I don't know. I'm questioning everything. I've know that I wanted to be a teacher since I was eight years old, but is that enough? Does my passion come across on paper? Have my experiences been enough? Am I good enough for this? Everyone I know tells me I would be a good teacher. Even people I don't know like Aquafitters and random acquaintances have pinpointed the characteristics that would make me a good teacher. However, the people that are deciding my future don't k...

These are my favourite posts to write, and I haven’t done one since last July . This year has been a difficult one – and not just for me. I managed to pull off some pretty great marks, and I also got into some amazing schools in two different countries. Ultimately, it’s been pretty up and down. I already mentioned my weight problem , but some really great things have come out of it as well. I have no complaints here. I think my experiences have shaped me into a stronger, more mature woman. Here is what I learned this year: 1.        Bullies truly are the ones who have more insecurity – especially in adulthood. It’s another year that I’m shocked to add bullying to my list. This happened right at the beginning. It was online bullying, and it was done by someone who bases their story on being bullied. The worst part is that this individual has a large presence in my school. They are known and adored all around campus, and I had the unfortunate luck of...

If you’re following me on Twitter , you’ll know that I finished my first novel since finishing my undergrad. The last book I read was in the summer (find the review for it here ), and it was so exciting to finish another one. In fact, I stayed up until two in the morning reading it, and I was so excited that I couldn’t get back to sleep. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce was a great book to start off my summer of reading. It starts with a portrait of Harold Fry as a timid, observant, and absent man. The novel outlines the average, mundane life he leads; Harold is stuck. One day, he gets a letter from an old friend named Queenie. She is dying. With this, Harold sets off on a pilgrimage in the hopes that his faith will save her. On this walking journey from Knightsbridge to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, we see a change in Harold. His faith seeps out in every step. He becomes so sure of his purpose. Meanwhile, his wife Maureen has been left at home, and we see her struggle thr...

As a part of my health track , I decided to try hot yoga. I have always liked doing yoga in my room with Yoga With Adriene videos, but I needed to step it up. A friend of mine has been helping me out with my healthy activity, and she was considering getting a membership to a local hot yoga studio. I had my hesitations. For one, my body doesn’t handle heat very well. I’m very susceptible to heat exhaustion, and I wasn’t sure if my ability was up to snuff. I tried it, loved it, and I got my own membership. These are my suggestions for anyone considering hot yoga. 1.        Try it first. Like I said, I had hesitations about getting into hot yoga. Most workout places give potential members a chance to try it before they commit. I went with my friend and got a free class. I wanted to see if it was going to be too hot and if I could keep up with an actual class. Whatever your reason is, try a free class out first, and don’t feel obligated to buy a members...