Casey's Blog

Instead of having a catch up and trying to explain some of the things that I have been going through recently, I am going to discuss why I have always been a bit different, especially in the ways it has been affecting me recently. This is something that is very sensitive to me and please respect that I have no profession in this and I am just speaking on my behalf.  When I was young, I was always a difficult child. I remember being hell for my mum when things went wrong, being extra sensitive and being unable to deal with things. It evidently lead to me being diagnosed with traits of Asperger Syndrome (which is a developmental disorder that impacts an individuals social interactions, sometimes non-verbal communication and individuals are affected by restricted and repetitive behaviour or interest - taken from Wikipedia). While only being diagnosed with traits, it was never really taken seriously but also I never wanted to use it as an excuse or label myself, which is ironic bec...

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!  Okay, I might be slightly late to the party but the thought and sentiment is there... I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and ate as much party food as me (Sausage Rolls and Brie for me). 2017 was a brilliant year for me; with university, Cuba and new friendships. I thought that today I would talk about some resolutions that I want to focus on in 2018.  1) Keeping fit and healthy Something that I really struggled with in 2017 (still are now) is my weight and although physically it is not an issue, mentally for me it is. Therefore I want to spend 2018 making myself healthier through exercise and decrease the amount of junk food that I am eating.  I want to increase the amount of fruit and vegetable that I eat; maybe even achieving my 5 a day (I know I am terrible, its surprising that I love them)!  It is fair to say that we are less than 2 weeks into 2018 and these are going fairly well. I have been swimming a lot and have not eaten ...

Honestly, I haven't written in a long time. I mean I've written about 10,000 words at least for university but I haven't written personally in forever. Have I missed it? Yes. Have I known what to say? No. Do I have a lot to say? Yes (apologies in advance, probably best to grab a cuppa before reading this).  If I said I have had anything but a turbulent 6 months then I would be lying. Too much has happened and mentally I am not in a great place. In fact, probably at one of my lowest points for many reasons; body confidence, family issues and university stress.  Body Confidence  Over the summer I lost a stone, I didn't need to lose that stone but I felt I needed to. I really wasn't happy with how I looked. I didn't actively lose the weight just constantly worked and from stress (will explain later). I was happy to know I had lost the weight and I felt so much better with myself. When I returned to university, instead of being complimented, people complained...

70 miles seems like nothing when we live in a world of nearly 8000 miles but to me 70 miles is far as its the distance between me and my boyfriend. You might be thinking well that is also the distance between me and my family, it is which is difficult but this is completely different. When leaving your family, you have to get used to living without them but I have never lived with my boyfriend. I thought that I would start a new series of blog posts about relationships because I would love to know about other people's opinions on relationships. So why not put everything into 5 ways to make a long-term relationship work. 1) Talking!!! It is so important to make sure that all lines of communication are open with your partner. By this I mean that, you should always feel open to talk to them about anything because you are there to support each other. Anything that you are going through, can be simply be helped by talking to them about it. Within a long distance relationship it is no...

Independence, something that everyone wants from the day that they turn 13. You think right, I am finally a teenager, I'm basically an adult so I am all grown up. Evidently, we realise that we are wrong and we have so much to learn. This partially applies to every situation in life, we always have something to learn and we are never really fully grown up. I guess that I am saying this because I need to keep this in mind as I write this.  Since being home from university for the last month and a bit, I have experienced so many different situations and it all comes down to the word 'independence'. Since I have come home from university, a place where I pretty much had full independence, I have been battling with an alternative situation where I have limited independence. This really takes a lot to get my head around because it is a large change again from September. The main thing is trying to understand being under someones control again, by control I only mean its my mum...

So I thought that I would try something a  little different, tell me what you think.  Introduction:  I could write loads here but all I am going to say is GO AND BUY IT!!! Well I am also going too say, I was not expecting to read this book as it was not something I had heard about it. It was something I just picked up at the airport and I will remember it.  Blurb:   When Emma Montague left the strict confines of upper-crust British life for New York, she felt sure it would make her happy. Away from her parents and expectations, she felt liberated, throwing herself into Manhattan life replete with a high-paying job, a gorgeous apartment, and a string of successful boyfriends. But the cutthroat world of finance and relentless pursuit of more began to take its toll. This wasn't the life she wanted either.  On the move again, Emma settles in the picturesque waterfront town of Westport, Connecticut, a world apart from both England and Manhattan. It is h...

Okay, now this blog post is not going to be for everyone, and probably for the select few that enjoy and love this as much as me. This is something that is very much new to my interests but it is something that I would like to share with you. I feel like it has been influenced by my flatmates at university but has always been something that I have liked but never really been that invested. Well now I am invested, and if I wasn't I would be stupid because of the amount that I just spent on it. So I have probably left you guessing for long enough now... It is MAKE-UP! I love to talk about it, so today I am going to share my recent purchases with you, explaining each purchase and my thoughts so far. So if anyone is signed up to Cult Beauty you will know that every now and again they do a free goody bag when you spend a certain amount. I saw this and thought this is brilliant to try lots of different things, seeing as makeup and skincare has become more important to me. This lead to ...

This probably is not the best time to write this because of the jet lag and the lack of sleep; however there is too much I want to say about my holiday to not let you know now. This morning me and my boyfriend Liam landed back in the United Kingdom after a week in the beautiful Caribbean Island of Cuba. This was not a place that I had ever imagined myself going but yet we had an amazing week exploring and relaxing. A week of soaking up the sun and enjoying each others company as a birthday treat to ourselves (we have the same birthday). Right before I go into anymore detail, it is probably best to give you a brief background of Cuba itself  to explain why its culture is so vibrant and different from anything I have ever known. I would say that Cuba is stuck making decades behind, it may have modern hotels but everything else is on a delayed reaction. This is because of its separation from the rest of the world both physically and politically which have lead to a lack of impo...

WOW!!! Where the hell has this year gone? I literally have no clue. Although you are always counting down dates, when you have coursework to hand it (believe me there is a lot), when you are going home for breaks or when you have exams (they are scary but you can do it). I passed my first year of university with a 2:1. I am so happy and relieved that the first year went as well as it did. I have learnt so much and have been through so much but I am a better person for it. Firstly, I owe everything to the close people around me, my friends, my new friends, my family and my boyfriend. I love coming home to my friends and getting to send time with my friends. The people that have known me for a long long time, these always know how to bring me back down to earth and make me look at the better picture. My new university friends, well there is a lot to tell here. I am getting emotional just thinking about them, the truth is without them I would not have made it through the year as well as...

There is nothing that I love more than travelling. As a geography student, you would expect another less. I would never say that I am well travelled because there is always someone that has travelled more and seen more. However I have been very lucky in my adventures that I have taken and I can't wait to have more. I see travelling as a way of trying to get a better understanding of the world as well as experiences different cultures and respecting the differences. I love that I am able to see the diversity around the world, it also provides more perspective on my own life and the values that I want. There is so much to discover around the world and I believe that it is very important to do so.  Where I have been? Florida  My mum took me and sisters to Florida Disney World in 2007 for a treat. We were out there for three weeks and they were probably the best three weeks of my life because it was so magical. I was nine at the time and it could not have completed a nin...

Something that I have previously spoken about but yet something so important to me is my weight and body confidence. This is something that is constantly bringing me down on a day to day basis. Since coming to university I guess that it has been triggered even more because I am surrounded by people that I would see as looking attractive and having bodies that make me very jealous. This I would say has not helped my body confidence at all as well as the university standard of living not helping my case. It is not something that I love to talk about with anyone because of how low it makes me feel but I guess I am sharing it with you. This is not because I want to make others feel bad about themselves, but to help others know that they are not the only ones going through this.  During my time back at home during Easter, I found that I was extremely low with my body confidence and just wanted to be in slouchy clothes. I was just so unhappy with my body that I didn't want it on show a...

So it has been a long while since I have written or shared anything with you and I guess that is because a number of different reasons. Like having so many deadlines this term that I have pretty much lost my head, not having a lot to say but also that anything I have got to say, I don't know how to say it. As you can probably see, I have had a pretty busy time this term but that has been both academically and personally, I have had to face many mental hurdles that I wish to talk about.  After returning back to university after the Christmas break, I felt very confused because I really didn't want to go back. I wanted to stay at home with the people that I loved as well as feeling so disconnected from university and the life that comes with it. I guess I really questioned what I was really doing with my life because I wasn't happy and for a good few weeks I felt like that. But I guess with time, I got over it and settled back into university life. I had started to make mor...

1 WHOLE month seems like it will last forever, it doesn't! It goes so quick that you don't even remember what you did half the time. It goes so quick that you forget to do things, you forget what you wanted to do and you forget to remember all those little moments because there will be another one. Although the month went too quick for my liking, I had the best month of my life because I was able to spend it with the people I love. I was able to make amazing memories, like the frequent trips to Brighton or taking part in my favourite things about the Christmas holiday like Ice Skating, or eating as many mince pies that I could possibly eat. It was about building new relationships, making memories with loved ones and enjoying some relaxation time, even if I didn't really stop the whole time.  The worst thing about moving out is going back because you can be sure that you are no longer a resident of that house you used to call home. You are now a guest and everything is d...

University is like your first steps, it fascinating and freedom building but also its frightening and you don't know whether you would accomplish it. You are so happy that you have made it and that you are making the 'first steps' towards your dreams but then you are also thinking about whether you can do it, whether you have what it takes to make it through. Unlike taking your first steps, university is more than the activity it is about everything else that comes with that activity. So not only do you have to deal with the struggles that come with the course that you have taken, you also having to deal with meeting new people, adjusting to total independence, living without family and loved ones and adjusting to a whole new lifestyle. It may sound like my experiences at university have only been negative but there has been positives.  Positive experiences of my first term:  Going home, releasing how much I had grown up and knowing that I had changed for the better ...

Going home for just the weekend was a rollercoaster, it was so strange because although I was so happy to be home, I felt lost and like I wasn’t really at home. Seeing how much I was missed and how much I am missing out on, kills me. Watching my little sisters growing up without me being there to support them through everything and help them through struggles was hard. You can be informed of what is happening at home but until you actually go home, you don’t really know. However, it feels you with joy to know that you are finally with the ones that you love again and you are so happy to be spending time with them again. You feel like your complete and you know that your safe and comfortable again but in the back of your mind you know that you are going back in a few days. When I lived at home, I didn’t really think that home was that important to me and I completely didn’t respect it and appreciate it in the way that I feel I do now. Coming home and being at university has made me...