To my Nana.

Born in the year of the assassination of Michael Collins and the formation of the Irish Free State, 

my Nana lived through a time of great change and history, not only in Ireland but globally.

She viewed a rich tapestry of world history throughout her life that we now can only read of in books or view in faded black and white photographs.

Nana wouldn't have been impressed that I started this ode by mentioning the name of Michael Collins. A woman from a staunchly pro- De Valera household, the thought of the current history books teaching the praises of Collins and the flaws of de Valera was a shock to her. One particular afternoon just after my Leaving Cert, I sat with her and discussed Irish history and the change in the opinions of school history books. 

This wasn't new. My childhood conversations with my Nana revolved around conversations of 'The Emergency' as the Second World War was called in Ireland,, ration books, Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, tales of the evils of the Black and Tans and everything in between. 

As a child, history was a massive passion for me. Having a Nana that lived through what I read in the history books in school never ceased to amaze me. Having a person who lived in the eras that we learned about in school and talking to my Nana about these events was truly magical.

The opportunity to discuss events with my Nana who lived through such a time of societal change and advancement was a privilege to say the least.  

Yet, these wonderful people can't live forever. Ní bhíonn in aon rud ach seal.

 Despite our wishes, the people who experienced decades of history and life, fall ill and must depart this life. One of these people was recently my Nana who passed away on June 12th 2016. 

June 12th always was important for me, it was the day that my childhood idol, Anne Frank was born on in 1929 and it's the anniversary of my parent's wedding, this year being their 25th. With all these reminders, I highly doubt I'll ever forget the date. 

No matter how old our grandparents and other loved ones are, we never really want to let them go. Even if they are 94, we can't bear with the thought of saying goodbye. Because saying goodbye means that it is the end, that it is in essence, over. 

Yet it can never be over. A life may end in the physical sense, the heartbeat that was so strong may have ended.
But they live on in the memories of others.
Flashes of sporadic memories, picking weeds in childhood, to hospital visits and various discussions related to history. 

The thought that when I visit, Nana won't be lying on the sofa is a strange concept. That she is gone is well frankly, upsetting.

The phrase, 'an end of an era' was a phrase thrown around for days afterwards. it was quite true. 94 years was a long time, a life containing a wealth of knowledge, memories and recollections.

A myriad of memories have come back to the fore in my mind, both old and new. The oldest are just as emotionally intense as the new ones.

We must preserve these memories and keep them safe. Cherish the times you have with your loved ones, because they could be taken away from you as quickly as anything.

It is with a lump in my throat and a heavy heart that I must say goodbye to my Nana

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam
Slán. 

''Come on Skinny Love, Just Last The Year''

Hey Everyone! 

Thankfully, it's the end of another long school week. The fact that Mid Term is two weeks away is keeping me positive for the fortnight ahead. It's hard to believe that we've been back in school for this long, it's as if the summer never existed. 

I had an interesting week it must be said. I caught up on all my homework this week, except an English essay (which isn't due for more than a week) So my whiteboard of a 'To-Do list' is quite bare in comparison to other weeks. 

I went to see the comedian Tommy Tiernan in concert on Thursday night. I can honestly say I spent the entire night laughing. I won't mention any of his fantastic jokes here, mainly as they're directed for a more adult audience! It was my first Over-18's gig and I'm proud to say that I didn't get asked for ID. (Afterwards Mam said it was because I'm old, how kind) It was a hilarious night and it was nice to have a couple of hours of forgetting about Leaving Cert and stress.

I also got some t-shirts in Penneys! At the moment there are Hogwarts House's t shirts so I bought a Gryffindor tshirt and also a Slytherin one. If you look below you'll see a photo of the Gryffindor t-shirt, the Slytherin one is similar, except that it's bottle green with the Slytherin crest *makes puns about Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets, mind if I Slytherin? Joking.* 

My week has mainly consisted of homework, study and revision. I went to Spleodar and was i gceannas  of the activities again with another cinnire. It was a brilliant night and I'm definitely gaining more confidence in speaking Irish aloud to a group (That said my grammar is questionable) My Gryffindor t-shirt was a hit and received many compliments (thank you, that makes my year seriously) We're going to the cinema next Friday night to see a film which should be good.

Next week seems a little quieter on the homework and study side, yet more active in the social part of my life (for the first time ever) Some of my friends and I are going to see the school musical in the local theatre which I'm really looking forward to as many people in my classes have parts (which should be amusing to watch)

Photos from my week

Coffee + Books/Magazines + Treats = Life. 

What my life consists of when I'm not studying. 

Fantastic gig!

"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart"

Random selfie after I plaited my hair (and turned into Hermione with glasses and a Gryffindor t-shirt)

That's about it from me! Hope you all have an amazing week, I'll see you all soon! 

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!

Aveen xx

*If you're going to the Swipe Festival awards, you'll see a video of me thanking Swipe Festival for my award. Message me if you see it!* 

**Lyrics: Birdy ~ Skinny Love

Update! My Job & Summer!!

Hey Everyone! ANOTHER update on The Life Of Me! Aren't you all lucky? ;)

So, some of you may or may not know but, I'm starting my summer job tomorrow! I'm so excited and nervous at the same time, it's a huge mixture of feels in my stomach, I'm delighted that I've been given the wonderful opportunity to be employed for the summer, however at the same time I'm absolutely terrified that I'll mess up and be fired or something. (Yes, I'm worrying that much, woo)

So what does that mean to my blog? Well, it means a lot to my life and then, the blog. I'm a Life Blogger, I write updates on my life, and it's actually read by people! So this is a huge new part of my life, my first ever job, so obviously it's going to a huge part of my life until late August/early September. Don't worry, I'm not ending this blog, this star won't go out. I'm just letting you know in advance that I might be blogging a little bit less.

I still don't know my hours or days for the summer, but judging by my age it won't be full time or anything, it might be around school time hours, so basically I'll be paid to go to school, if you look at it that way. Except it won't be like school! On Saturday (yesterday) just after I updated with my Summer post, the company phoned me, giving me the shock of my life obviously, telling me that I was starting Monday. I was so excited. But I nearly burnt my hand with my hair straightener as I was straightening my hair when I got the call.

So that was just a little update on what's going to be happening here for the next little while. I'm not really allowed to blog about the company for obvious reasons, I'm not going to name the place either, and yes, these are my own views. (Had to clear all that up sorry)

* Another note, you're probably wondering why my previous post was so short, I just stayed at home on Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr. I watched Sherlock too (Johnlock 5eva as they say) and became absorbed in feels. I did some things during the week so I may post them up sometime. (ALERT PROCRASTINATOR ALERT)



Playlist for this update:
The Script ~ Science And Faith
The Coronas ~ Listen Dear
The Coronas ~ Grace Don't Wait!

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless,

Aveen xx

Yeah, I'm just afraid I'll do something like this on my first day.. 

Or this.. 

London!

Hey Everyone, 
                     So I'm sitting here in my room listening to The Coronas 'Closer to You' (They're Irish, seriously check them out, you wont regret it)I came back from London on Monday night/Tuesday morning and wow, I am definitely going back as soon as I can. It was such an enriching experience and I adored every minute of the trip. I took nearly 300 photos, nearly 100 a day! Wow. There's some photos down at the bottom. I'll tell you a little bit about the trip.

Day One: We flew to Gatwick and landed in snow at around 9am or so, subsequently we travelled to the city and had a little tour and learnt some of the background of London. We also visited the Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum. When I was a child I remember reading a ''Horrible Histories'' book about Churchill, (yes, I was/am a complete bookworm) so I knew basically the majority of the background information so I loved it.

Afterwards we went on the London Eye. I have an absurd fear of heights, and I didn't want my fear to get in the way of enjoying the Eye, (silly I know, but I'm just like that) and I loved it. I didn't even notice we were moving. An entire circle took half an hour but it was the fastest half hour of my life. 

Day Two: Next day it was still snowing, quite heavily too, so we went on the Grim Reaper walking tour and learnt about Jack the Ripper and the history of the East End. It was so fascinating and intriguing, turns out Jack the Ripper was possibly left handed, because of the way he slashed their necks, don't turn and look at me! (Yes, I'm left handed, little useless fact for you there)

We didn't get any lunch afterwards though, because one lad on the trip wanted to buy a HAT, and got lost, leaving us running all over the place and waiting in the freezing cold for a HAT. Needless to say, seeing as I missed my Starbucks, I was so not impressed.

Afterwards we went on HMS Belfast though and I loved it. I got a little creeped out though when I saw the pillars that said ''asbestos present'' and they couldn't be removed without further spreading of asbestos or other complications. Apart from that it was great and I even got an idea for my Leaving Cert History project on the boat! Woo! 

We then got the Tube (I didn't go missing!) and went to the West End for Stomp (which was UH-MAY-ZING, amazing) We then went around Piccadilly Circus, Great Britannia, fangirled outside Kensington Palace, (didn't see Will & Kate..) 

Day 3: We went to the Jewish Museum in Camden, it was so emotional and a real eye opener, it wasn't as sad as when I went to Auschwitz last year but it was high on my sadness scale. Afterwards we went to Westfield and looked at Olympic Park from John Lewis, then SHOPPING! I bought a pair of red Vans and a t shirt and hoodie in Hollister. It was my first time in Hollister, (In Dundrum the queues are endless) but in London, we just walked in! We then flew home from Gatwick and I fell asleep 'til now! (Not really but close enough) 

Siobhan and I on the London Eye (Siobhan's blog is siobhansthoughts.blogspot.ie  check it out)

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben!

Liv & I across from Buckingham Palace

Siobhan & I in the Churchill Museum 

All the TY's who went on the trip, except Billy.. 

YSI and London!

Hello Everyone!
                      As you can probably tell, I'm in a pretty good mood. For Project Smilier (links at the bottom!) we recently got our hoodies! They're lime/apple green and look amazing! 

If you're wondering what Project Smilier is, I'll tell you about it. We're a YSI (Young Social Innovators) group promoting positive mental health in our community and nationwide. We're also trying to remove the stigma towards mental health in general. I joined the group for a lot of reasons, to continue Project Smile (last years group) and also to remove the stigma towards depression and just mental health in general. To show that by speaking out you're stronger than trying to fight depression or mental health issues on you're own. It's a tough battle with support, but even worse when you tell nobody about it.

But yes, that's what we do. We've been in contact with a lot of influential people too, who have been so supportive of us. I was telling my uncle about the project just before the Speak Out and he was so proud that we were trying to make a difference, especially because mental health issues and suicide are huge in the local area.

So today (Wednesday) we travelled up to the Red Cow hotel for the YSI Speak Out, where your group speaks for two minutes about your project. We had actually achieved so much that we couldn't fit it all in! I thought our performance went well, yes, we did have some hiccups but as we re-watched the video recorded of us, we realised you could barely notice them! To be honest, I was quite happy with the performance. 

On Friday night/ Saturday morning, I'm getting a flight with 20 or so other students to London! I can't wait. The trip is a history trip, so we're going to really historical places like the Churchill War Rooms, HMS Belfast and Houses of Parliament to name but very few! We're even going shopping in one of the biggest shopping centre's in Europe, woot. 

So I'll be back on Tuesday morning, exhausted but hopefully delighted with the trip! :) I'm so excited, I can't wait to go to the London Eye and Olympic Park.

I still haven't edited my YouTube videos (argh) so I mightn't be posting anything until Easter if I'm lucky! :( 

Anyways, bye! 


Project Smilier Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProjectSmilier
Project Smilier Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ProjectSmilierGCS
Email us at projectsmilier@hotmail.co.uk 

And... YANA, You Are Never Alone