''Never Forget What You Are, For Surely The World Will Not...''

Hey Everyone!

It's been a long time hasn't it? I apologise for my absence since March 29, however I fear that these lengthy absences will become a frequent feature of this blog until June 18th (When I finish my Leaving Cert) For now though, I'm going to savour each blog post I write, as I know they will sadly be a rare occurrence.

This will be a Leaving Cert update I suppose, as well as my life obviously. No I don't have a life - it's only the Leaving Cert. Last time I updated, it was the start of my Easter holidays which I very much appreciated. The two weeks were filled with study, revision, Irish sraithpictiur and German bildergeschichte. It was tiring and a long slog, yet so worth it.

The two weeks after the Easter holidays were Irish and German oral time. My Irish oral was Tuesday 14th April. It lasted twenty minutes and I was extremely happy with it. I could see such a product of study and revision. (Fyi, I read Spailpín Fánach and got sraithpictiur 20, Samhradh Iontach!) German was the following Monday and went well too, which I am thrilled about.

Grace and I met up, went to Costa and filmed some AwkwardSprinkles videos. As you can imagine, with constant time constraints, I haven't even had time to look at editing the video, let alone posting it! I can't say for definite when it'll make an appearance, it may have to wait until the end of June as study for me is going up a gear (metaphorically to fifth gear at this stage) so we'll wait and see. I don't like making promises I can't keep so I won't say for certain.

I also proof-read The Sibling's thesis (which was interesting but literally made no suggestions for corrections, yay!) I also went out with my friends for my friends 18ths on two consecutive weekends! First up was Caítlín's 18th (photo below!) It's fair to say we had a fun night and all went out and had a brilliant night. This Friday night was Maeve's 18th (photo below!) and we went out again. Conversation flowed so easily between us all. In reality, it made me sad to think that after the Leaving Cert we mightn't have such fun night outs when we're all in different places for college. Thanks to the internet however, I think it'll be a lot easier to stay in touch. So it's best to just enjoy everything while it lasts.

The 'Vote Yes' bus visited my town/school during the week! If you don't live in Ireland I should explain. On May 22, Ireland is holding a referendum on marriage equality. Here is a link if you're interested. As I was 18 last September, I'm registered to vote. As I believe every citizen of Ireland deserves equality, I am voting yes. I believe everyone in this country should be equal. I also got a badge with ''Tá'' which is the Irish for yes from the Yes Equality people which is stuck proudly to my school pencil case. If you aren't registered, get it done quickly, I think the closing date is near.

Selfie with Grace!

Costa trips are a girl's best friend. 

With the girls for Caítlín's 18th! 

Saw this on Yik Yak, I always loved this quote. (It is also the title of this weeks blog post as I'm still catching up on Season 5 after the orals)

Maeve on her birthday, we went out too but I don't have any photos!

The Yes Equality Bus in town! #VoteYes

Mam and I were glued to the news watching for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince George and their latest addition are too cute!

My brother sent me this snapchat of me, needless to say it is my favourite photo!

My Yes Equality badge! 

So that's about it from me, 

Hope you're all well, it's only as I type these last few words have I realised how much I missed blogging! Hopefully I'll be blogging more regularly, fingers crossed! 

If you're also doing the Leaving Cert, how is your study going? Let me know in the comments!

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx

''The Water Filled My Lungs, I Screamed So Loud But No One Heard A Thing''

Hey Everyone!

I realised it has been a while since I have written a detailed lifestyle post. The past couple of weeks have been utterly hectic. I had a solid week of Mocks exams, followed by a week of Midterm. I was quite tired, after the exams. It is true to say that having ten exams in five days in incredibly draining.

Overall, I am happy enough with my Mocks. At this precise moment, the week of the Mocks seemed to be a blur of cramming, anxiety and drinking lots of water during the exams. I never knew how quickly three hours and more could pass by! We'll receive our results in the coming weeks, fingers crossed I'm on the right track.

Enough about Mocks! I had an entire week off, an absolutely luxury. My teachers told us our homework was to, 'relax.' which I did. I kept a low-profile during the week, mainly staying at home and watching Game Of Thrones. I finished Season 4 last Friday morning and I still feel devoid of emotion as Season 5 isn't starting until April 13th. I will remain strong.

I also went to Dundrum to a blogger meet up! You can read about it here. The afternoon was fantastic and it was surreal meeting such lovely girls! Squad goals occurred. Apart from the trip to Dundrum, I did little else. The day we received our holidays I was interviewed by The Sunday Times about selfie sticks, it didn't appear in the newspaper but it was a hilarious phone call and interview!

I also received correspondence from some colleges/Universities that I applied to through CAO. I received an email or two, as well as a gorgeous letter from UL (where my brother goes!) I don't really plan on going to UL but it is still an option for me if I want to. All the same, the paper and the embossed logo were just stunning and the letter was so pretty.

Grace and I met up over the week and had an AwkwardSprinkles day. We were too busy chatting and laughing to actually film anything sadly so AwkwardSprinkles won't be returning just yet. I filmed another Letters to the Leaving Cert video, this time about the Mocks. It's a nice little series I think. It documents my last year in secondary school as well as the ups and downs that are an integral part of the year. I don't have as much time to brainstorm for eccentric videos but I like having the series as a way of keeping up YouTube. You can see the latest video here 

Photos from my week

AwkwardSprinkles!

Selfie with some calves. I have no regrets, they were lovely.

Starbucks in Dundrum !

I got bored on Snapchat and send a few random snaps ...

#Deep

Costa with Grace. Caramel lattes are just beautiful.

Watching Danisnotonfire's latest video about #NicerInternet. Definitely worth a watch.

I decided to clean my desk after the Mocks. 

After much hardship, my desk became extremely tidy again!

So that's about it from me, did you have an enjoyable Midterm? Let me know in the comments below!

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen 

Lyrics; Taylor Swift - Clean

'Singing I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare''

Hey Everyone!

It has been a long time to say the least since I have written here. As you may expect, the preparation for the Mocks and ultimately the Leaving Cert does leave me with little time. Time is a luxury few Leaving Cert students can afford. I should probably inform you all about the wondrous and soul-soothing things I've been up to as of late!

As a Sixth Year with Mocks starting on Monday (English Paper Two, along with Irish Paper One) time is truly of the essence so any time I get to relax, I truly savour it. I try to stop studying at around 9.30 on school nights (I need copious amounts of sleep just to function) so I do 3-4 hours of homework and study each school night. Weekends are easily 4 hours a day and then the evenings to relax.

Last Saturday I treated myself to the Divergent DVD and sadly, instead of blogging, watched it instead! I had watched the film when it was in the cinemas but really wanted to watch it again. It's such a rarity to actually sit down for two hours to watch a film and not be plagued by thoughts of the Mocks or Leaving Cert. The exams and hours of study consume your entire life for a school year. It really isn't pleasant but I'm optimistic all these hours of study will be worth it all in the end. (It's the only thing you can hope for, isn't it?)

School has been as can be expected. Talk of Mocks, Debs, Leaving Cert, CAO, all hang over every conversation at The Bench. It genuinely causes you to sit back slightly and think,
 'This is real. This is happening. It's not just my mind thinking that this is happening, it is actually happening.' It is both a source of anxiety and a mixture of reluctant excitement with shock.

We watched for years as Sixth Year groups came and went from the school, leaving us remaining, now it's our turn to leave. Soon we won't even be secondary school students, we'll be finished and moving onto ambitious and life-changing places. It does lead to your breath hitching in your throat occasionally when you think about it.

I'm studying for the Mocks, but I don't want to work so hard that I burn out before the Leaving Cert, if that makes sense. We're told to do well, BUT, not too well. Yet good grades are expected. But if you get an A you'll be marked down. I am planning to aim for a grade below what I'm planning on getting in the real LC. I  think that's reasonable and leaves a sturdy foundation to work on for June.

Down below are some photos (mainly photos I've sent on Snapchat) during the time I have been absent from my blog.

Asking the serious questions whilst wearing a cat onesie.

Watching 'Divergent' and crushing on Ansel Elgort, as you do.

Waiting for pizza when The Parents and The Sibling travel to Limerick and you have a study day.

Home alone on a Sunday. Fun, fun fun. 

The most delicious drink ever. 

Oranges look so happy. Keeping up with my Vitamin C during study. 

My 'To-Do' list last week.. Oh the joys.

I might have mentioned it, but I've been listening to Fall Out Boy non-stop lately! (Along with Taylor Swift and Hozier) This weeks title comes from the Fall Out Boy song 'Novocaine'

So that's about it for this week, tomorrow the mass cramming resumes! 

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx

''We Are Surrounded By All Of These Lies, And People Who Talk Too Much...''

Hey Everyone!

*Lyrics: Ed Sheeran ~ Tenerife Sea

Sorry that this blog post is a little late, I spent yesterday afternoon chilling with Grace of Dainty Sprinkles and also watching a GAA match which featured the Wexford (Yes I am a yellow belly!)

Grace and I met up in the afternoon and got the best creamy coolers in Costa (whilst half heartedly writing down video idea's in my blogging notebook) however we mainly spent the afternoon just chatting and catching up (mainly because I live like a hermit on the internet)

We went up ''The Pitch'' near my house. It's basically a green area with a goal post but isn't big enough to have two goals. However there was lots of pretty daisies and flowers so we took photos of them! We also took some outfit photos which made us feel extremely self-conscious as I have neighbours *shudders* Those photos will appear on Grace's blog soon.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to make any YouTube video's however we will be filming an AwkwardSprinkle's video or two very soon so keep your eyes peeled!

When Grace left, I started watching the hurling match on tv between Wexford and Clare. The previous week it led to a draw so this was a replay. Again, the match went into extra-time. Wexford isn't well known for being brilliant at GAA sports (except maybe camogie, the team won a few All-Ireland's a few years back) However the last time Wexford won an All-Ireland in hurling was in 1996. (I wasn't even born at the time! I was born like 3 weeks later)

So the match was vitally important and led to a lot of screaming and shouting and joy in my house and I'm sure a lot of other houses around the county. Well done to the lads, they were absolutely surreal and won in the end which was brilliant! I was tweeting frantically during the match so my Twitter is just a mess at the moment.

So that was about it for my week! I'm working in my summer job which is going well so I tend to do very little in the afternoons except maybe watch another series on Netflix, listen to music, read books, go on Tumblr or go on a Costa run (It's dangerous having Costa down the road I swear)

I'm also taking part in CollabSunflower!  Last week's theme was 'Questions' and you can read how we all interpreted the title, it's quite interesting! So check out the blog and give it a follow! :)

Photo's from my week!

Daisies!

Daisies 

Flowers near my house

Taking a photo of Grace taking a photo of me

Chocolate treats in the garden!

A VERY blurry photo!

One of my snapchats I sent after the match proudly wearing my jersey! 

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!
Aveen xx

Every Lesson Forms A New Scar, They Never Thought You'd Make It This Far..

Hey Everyone!

This week I finished Fifth Year and my Summer Exams! *Happy dance* So I won't be back in school until late August/early September to start Sixth Year, aka my last year in secondary school. I personally find typing that sentence both exhilarating and also quite, quite terrifying.

I finished up exams on Thursday at lunch time which was nice I have to say. Ever since I've basically stayed at home on Tumblr, tried to finish packing for my trip to the Gaeltacht (It's on Tuesday, my nerves are shot at this stage) and went to Costa two days in a row for a 'Last Supper' of a Costa drink.

I printed a map and directions to the Gaeltacht for my Mam and her first response was ''WAIT, YOU'RE ON AN ISLAND FOR THREE WEEKS?'' She also suggested that it's ''Next stop America from there'' So you can basically picture me being on an island speaking Irish, surrounded by bogs, sheep and stone walls  and being over an hour away from Galway city, this will be interesting!

If you're wondering if my blog will remain active for the duration of the trip, the answer is YES :) I have enlisted in the help of some lovely bloggers who have written guest posts on various topics which will all be posted sometime during the 3 weeks I'm away. I also have written some posts myself but I will be out of contact with the interwebs until June 25th.

Maybe an internet detox is what I need at the moment. After finishing Fifth Year I feel that I need to get away for a while, so many this will be 'killing two birds with the one stone' as it were. I feel that I'm, in a way, too connected to the internet and my thumb is on the pulse of the internet far too often. Once I wake up I check my emails, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. I check those websites continuously throughout the day. I think that a detox for three weeks would do no harm, but I will really, really miss blogging, tweeting my bloggers friends and just communicating with everyone. It's going to be hard to adjust but we're allowed to write letters over there which is good!

I honestly am not quite sure what else to say about this week. I basically spent the majority of it cramming, sleeping and panicking over exams, which is always a great way to spend your time. I subsequently spent the other half of the week just reblogging gif's of Dan & Phil and whatever else popped up on my dash.

my latest YouTube video!  Titled ''Negativity On The Internet'' If you liked it please give it a thumbs up or comment! 

Selfie with my Costa today

Sitting in The Sibling's Room 

''Aveen have you packed for the Gaeltacht?'' 

''Everything including the kitchen sink''

Sadly, this seems to be my last post until June 25th at the least. 

I can feel butterflies of nerves as I type these last few sentences as I really don't want to leave the blogging world for three weeks, but it'll be worth it and I will be coming back. 

'Till Then,

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless, I will miss all of you so much!

Slán Abhaile.

Aveen xx

**Lyrics: Taylor Swift ~ Eyes Open

As You Wait Alone, Hiding Tears Of Doubt..

Hey Everyone!

I've spent the last week or so studying like a maniac for my summer exams so apologies for being quiet here, Twitter and Tumblr. I can't honestly believe that the school year has less than two weeks left. The first day of Fifth Year seems like only yesterday. In September I'll be starting my last year of secondary school, a thought that seems just crazy and utterly surreal!

Due to the incoming exams, I haven't been doing a lot recently that is of much interest. 'The Random Life of Aveen' hasn't been that random as of late, more filled with stress, fear and doubt due to exams and teachers nicely telling us to study.

On Tuesday in Ag Science we went to a nearby field with oil seed rape, which is then turned into rape seed oil! It's a bit of a tongue twister to say out loud. Our teacher told us to take selfies with the crop so here's mine! As I'm a 'senior student' by being in Fifth Year, we're allowed to wear blazers instead of the woolly jumpers. They're actually quite comfortable and you stand out from the sea of jumpers in the school too which is strange at times.

On Thursday morning we had a fire drill in school which was eventful! The fire alarm goes off so often in our school that we just generally ignore it, like if there ever was a fire we'd probably all burn to death. The entire drill took around half an hour which was good as it was during class time!

Down below you'll see I bought a toy sheep, who I've named Claudia! The town I live in is hosting 'Golden Shears' ie the Sheep Shearing Olympics in a way. Needless to say the entire town has gone crazy with sheep related items. I love sheep so I think it's just brilliant that everywhere is covered in sheep. All the shop windows have sheep related displays and some of the election posters even have sheep related puns which I found was hilarious. Nearly all the shops are selling sheep teddies which is just adorable.

I told my Mam that I'm bringing Claudia The Sheep to the Gaeltacht, but she said I'd have to give her an Irish name when I'm over there, so she's now called 'Sive' as I recently read the play of the same name. Wow the optimism!

Saturday had brilliant weather. I went down the town to go to Costa and practically everyone was in shorts or summery clothes which is very strange for Ireland. I went into town, did a few things and bumped into my friend Nora so we spent a while chatting before I went home to study, fun.

My brother finished his third year in University on Saturday as well, which is annoying because I've become used to being the only child at home for most of the year! *Cries* At least September isn't too long away...

Photo with the field, holla. 

''Hey Aveen what have you been up to lately?''

Say hello to Claudia The Sheep!

These are the types of snapchats that I send... 

*Lyrics: Birdy ~ Shine

That's about it from me for this week!

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx

February Favourites!

Hey Everyone!

I decided to do something slightly different on my blog and discuss my favourites from February so far. This may be incredibly random but this is TRLOA after all ;) Let's begin!

I recently bought Company magazine and I have to say I loved it! I don't usually read fashion magazines but I really enjoyed this issue. I haven't been reading magazines the past couple of months because I grew out of KISS magazine (a brilliant Irish mag) as I had read the magazine since the age of 11 until 17!

My Harry Styles cardboard cut-out! I got this ''ironically'' for Christmas and Harry always makes me laugh (and scares my family when I put him in weird places ie their rooms)

Costa recently opened down the road from me, needless to say, I love it! Mam was going shopping so I went to Costa, yum. 

These books literally just arrived this morning! I'm an avid reader and obsessed with history in school (It's kind of my best subject academically too) I watched a tv series called Band Of Brothers so I got some books about it !  

A cat on the farm .. I love his/her colouring (the cat ran away when I walked up to it)

A selfie after going to the Mart (where livestock are sold) I went with the calves which were all sold so I was sad.. :(

I'm a culchie so I wear wellies. I've been wearing wellies more than my shoes this week.. 

My laptop, headphones, Costa and Wi-Fi, what more can you ask for? :) 

                             

 Source The Guardian.com
Arctic Monkeys at the BRITS awards last night. I adore their music and have been a fan for a long while. Congrats for sweeping the boards at the awards however I wasn't that impressed when Alex dropped the microphone. I felt his speech was very interesting but I thought it was slightly tasteless just dropping the mic like that. On the whole, I love their music and would love to see them when they come to Ireland in the summer! 

Source: Sugarscape.com
Again, talking about the BRIT awards, Dan Howell (danisnotonfire aka my idol) and Harry Styles of One Direction both wore the same Alexander McQueen shirt to the event last night! Dan along with Phil (amazingphil) hosted the livestream version of the awards on YouTube. I can't really decide who wore the shirt better, as they both decided to wear black blazers with the shirt! Let me know who you think wore it better and why! (I'm conflicted as I adore both Dan and Harry)

The 1975 ~ Girls
This is the song that's been stuck in my head for weeks! I have their self-titled album on repeat and I am just infatuated with their music (it started off with 'Chocolate' and subsequently escalated)

So they were my February Favourites! 

Expect another blog post at the weekend! :D

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!

Aveen xx
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