2014; A Reflection.

Hey Everyone!

As this year draws to a close, I'd like to reflect on the previous 365 days that I've lived. In my ear is 'Bad Blood' from Taylor Swift's new album '1989,' yet I don't feel that I can relate to the song nor feel resentment towards this year.

2014, in a nutshell, was a surprise. It was a year where I surprised myself and was surprised by others, in a pleasant way thankfully. My first blog post for 2014 was titled, ''Everything's Got To End Sometime, Otherwise Nothing Would Ever Get Started''  which is a quote from Doctor Who. I was silently hopeful that the year would pan out well, a stark contrast to previous years, and would lead to a positive development in my character and life experiences. 

Needless to say, I am in slight shock when I think of everything this year so far. I had to read through some blog posts to refresh my memory of the year (most of my brain has been filled with information necessary for exams, so I tend to spout out a lot of facts, particularly about animals) So it has been interesting and refreshing to read and relive past memories from throughout the year. 

One of the many things that struck me was the lack of self-confidence in myself early on in the year. I had taken quite a few knocks in the past few years and continued becoming more of myself throughout the year. Last year I didn't really like interacting with my peers in school, as I was scared of what they'd say and how they would 'judge' me. At this moment in time I don't really care any more, how we all see ourselves is a lot more important than how others see us. 

This little piece of the internet has grown too! In a blog post from January 2014, I thanked you all for having reached 12,000 page views, as of now, it's over 44,400 page views. Wow! That means the page views have trebled in a year! You guys mean so much to me. Every page view of my blog and posts means the entire world to me, so an absolutely huge and heartfelt thank you to all you lovely readers!

My 2014.

I started the year with high hopes of a happy and joyful new year, needless to say I was in for a treat. I began an obsession with Snapchat, took selfies with my new Harry Styles cut-out (who is still chilling in my room, he says hi) I cried over seanfhocal, made hot chocolate a lot and did Christmas sales hauls! Overall, January was a good month, 

February was filled with blog posts and Costa coffee. Costa had just opened down the road from my house and humorously is called 'Cost-a-fortune' by my Dad. (Ask Grace if you don't believe me) There were huge storms battering the local seaside town and the waves gushed everywhere, needless to say I was there with a camera! AwkwardSprinkles re-emerged after a break due to all the school work and we recorded videos and took copious amounts of selfies!

I got new glasses in March! According to my brother I became a hipster. I kept studying and doing my homework, wrote quotes and covered my bedroom walls with their inky words of advice. I attended Grace's birthday party and we all had a very good time. Later on, I went to the Slógadh Spleodar in Carlow and we all indulged in Supermacs! For Ag Science we travelled a local farm and towards the end, we all had to take a selfie beside the silage. I wish I was joking, but it's still funny to think about now.

In April, the John Green Book Shrine emerged from it's isolation, complete with quotes and a candle. I encountered an Audi R8 (one of my favourite cars in the world) literally outside my school and of course, got photos taken beside it, no shame. I went to my friend Caítlín's 17th but I've no photos, it was a day to experience, not capture with a camera lens. We saw The Amazing Spiderman and basically all of us cried. I started taking photos for OOTD's around this time too. AwkwardSprinkles bounced back (yay!) and I did a massive Penneys haul for the Gaeltacht! 

When I wasn't studying manically for summer exams, I went to Costa in the warm weather, took selfies with my Dad, took selfies with oil seed rape for ag science, attended a Communion, won awards in school and caused a drama llama Apocalypse over an award for a mental health speech just be mentioning it here on TRLOA (#NeverForget) I also started packing for the Gaeltacht, with hindsight in hand now, I brought far too much to Galway.

June was a definite highlight for me in 2014. I went to the Gaeltacht!I spent three majestic weeks on the other side of the country, speaking Irish, going to ceilís, the siopa and attending Rang Ardteist. We were all so lucky with the marvellous weather we had over there. I came home 22 days later with a brown face despite bringing suncream! Up above are some of my friends, I had over 120 photos so I condensed it as much as possible. Those three weeks were utterly fantastic, along with the hilarious letters Grace sent me about all the gossip back home!

July was a good month too. AwkwardSprinkles was back with a bang, I went to parties, took selfies and photos of daisies and got a new pair of Converse! I went back to my summer job and my face got even more tanned throughout the good weather. The loom bands obsession took hold at this time and I spent many happy afternoons making different designs of loom bands! I also became obsessed with Game of Thrones, a decision that was definitely a brilliant one.

Grace, Viv, Leah and I went to the bank holiday festival and saw 'White Chalk' and my favourite, The Rip Tide Movement perform! We braved some of the amusements and went to the local fashion show. It was a brilliant weekend. At a party we all got photobombed too. Grace and I were both nominated in 'The Blog Awards Ireland' which was a massive achievement for our blogs. We were even featured in our local newspaper so when I returned to school, all my teachers either congratulated me or wrote the details of the website and where to vote for me on the whiteboard for my fellow peers to take down and vote! (Genuinely happened!) A lot of voices of dissent quietened in school about my blog too which was a nice bonus. I also bought a new laptop which I adore. In late August I started my last year of school, Sixth Year *gulps*

I turned 18 in September and I still don't feel like an adult. I had a party with my friends and we all had a brilliant night. I was given an Orla Kiely handbag by my parents and bought another one later on after my birthday, I loved her designs that much! I visited MIC and went to Higher Options and ran into some friends from the Gaeltacht (with hilarious conversations and stories as a result) as well as bumping into Rachel from OhHeyThereRachel!

As a mature adult, I went to a Tommy Tiernan gig! It was a hilarious night filled with laughs and giggles as well as sore stomachs from laughing so much. Aware emailed me about their workshops for Leaving Cert students (which, coincidentally I had attended that week!) so I wrote a blog post about it. I did another Penneys haul, procrastinated on Tumblr, drank lots of tea and made cupcakes for Halloween! I also went to my friend Robyn's house for Halloween and we all had a brilliant night.

November began with a flying start, I went to see Nathan Carter in concert! I didn't know I was going until 4 hours before the concert as my aunt and uncle couldn't attend, so they very, very kindly gave my brother and I the tickets instead. We got to meet Nathan afterwards, he's a lovely lad! I also became quite sick this month, hence the shortage of photos. I received a certificate from Swipe Festival after coming joint-second in the Digital Story Telling competition. I also became a blood donor and received my blood donor card! Whilst I was sick, I mainly watched Game of Thrones, American Horror Story and The Walking Dead, as well as reading several books. In essence, I needed time off, I had such extreme fatigue I could barely do a thing. 

 

I went back to school in December, with a lot of ''Welcome Back!'''s and ''Where were you!'s said during the first couple of days. I went to Athlone to the Slógadh Spleodar but in all honesty, I was too sick to enjoy it as much as I should have. I filled out my CAO for college *terrified screams* We did Kris Kindle amongst my friends and I received the most beautiful and thoughtful present from my friend Chloe. Christmas was lovely too, I was spoiled really with the presents I received. I'm humbled and eternally grateful for the gifts. It was great to spend a few days with my family and friends just relaxing. 

So that was my 2014.

2015 looks to be a good and interesting year. I'm sitting my Mock Exams in early February and of course my Leaving Cert in June. I'm studying hard to get the results I want. In September I will, fingers crossed, be attending the college I've been dreaming of since I was young. In September I will also be 19, what?! Overall, I'm looking forward to 2015, it's going to be a tough slog through studying, but I'm always prepared to put in my very best effort, hard work and determination to achieve what I want. 

''If it's meant to be, it's up to me'' 

I wish you all the very best for 2015, I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Here's to another successful year for The Random Life of Aveen. 

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless,

Aveen xx