Speak to my soul,

Its not secret that music is a big passion of mine. I really cant imagine going even a day without listening to a tune. At the moment though, I have been listening to 3 or 4 albums, over and over and over again. In fact in the last week I have probably listened them through more than 10 times each. As I sat down after a long day at school {more about that later...} to catch up on a bit of blog reading, I noticed that a couple of my favourite bloggy ladies Jess and Claire had recently written about their eclectic iTunes collections, so I thought I would play along and shuffle up my iTunes to see what 25 songs pop up to speak to my soul this evening. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the list that I managed to compile... I have so much music on my iPod that sometimes when its on shuffle I don't even really know that songs that are being played, but this list, well it pretty much reflects me perfectly at the moment...

Wish you were here - Incubus
Hey Jude - The Beatles
All for you - Goodnight Nurse
Pure Massacre - Silverchair
The man who sold the world - Nirvana
Misery - Pink
Get Fighted - Alexisonfire
Brightest - Copeland
Painting - Blindside
Everything We Had - The Academy Is
Drink the Water - Jack Johnson
Almost Golden - Courtney Love
Saviour - Rise Against
Light My Fire - The Doors
Sunday Morning - No Doubt
Always All Ways - The Lost Prophets
Betty - Brooke Fraser
Three Simple Words - Finch
Franklin - Paramore
Breathing Room Barricades - The Bled
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Never Take Us Alive - Madina Lake
Seize the Day - Avenged Sevenfold
Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars
Estranged - Guns N Roses

If you play along, let me know so I can check out your list! Or maybe you should just tell me all about your favourite bands, I never say no to new music, and I get the feeling my 4 albums on rotate are going to need to be switched out soon!

Disaster Strikes

It seems we have had a bit of a run in with Mother Nature on this side of the world. Just after lunchtime on Tuesday, Christchurch NZ was hit with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, a follow up to the 7.1 magnitude quake which was felt in September 2010. The city has been devastated, buildings have collapsed, Homes have been lost forever, Roads torn apart and pipes burst causing huge problems for the whole city. Unfortunately, this time around, the quake has also seen causalities fallen. The death toll continues to rise as the rubble is slowly removed. The search and rescue attempts are quickly turning to search and recovery missions. This has quickly become one of the most devastating Natural Disasters ever to be seen by my small country. The images of the desperation of the people of Christchurch will be burnt into my mind forever. These are the days that my heart breaks for my country, these are the days I wish I could do something to stop the suffering and heartache. These are the days that I mourn for the lost and grieve for the broken.

And even though, this is one of the most tragic things I have ever really encountered, its during these times, that I have been the most proud of my country. Not only have we, as a people, come together in this time of need, to donate, not only financially but emotionally as well, we have come together to encourage, and to support those, sometimes perfect strangers, who just need someone to count on. The messages of hope, and love, and encouragement that I have seen over the past few days make me so proud to be a New Zealander. My people, truly, have the most beautiful kind spirit.

I just wanted to share a few of the images that have become so familar to all of us over here in the last couple of days. I think these pictures will stay with me forever.

This one might be the most devastating of them all. The Christchurch Catherdral. One of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen. I am lucky I got to experience it, before its destruction.

This ones for you

I don't really have an opinion on Valentines day. I can take it, or I can leave it. In the past I have been in relationships on Valentines, and well, of course it is nice to get flowers, or wine, or other special little gifts, but I guess the old fashioned part of me feels like its a little superficial. I mean, Isn't it more fun to come home to a surprise on the 5th of April, or the 17th of October.. Just because? I dunno, maybe I am just feeling a bit bitter because its the first time in my grown up life {I totally don't count high school valentines haha!} that I haven't been 'seeing' someone on Valentines {even though clearly those relationships didn't last haha}

So this one, this one is for you.
This is for the single ladies, the broken ladies, the ladies who are sick and tired of being alone. This one is for the hurt, and the scared. This one is for the vulnerable. This one is for the girls who love the boys they can never have. This is for the ones who have never been in love, and are afraid they never will. This one here, this is for you, the girl that sits and waits for him to call, the girl that watches but doesn't act, the girl in the background. This one is for the girls who have been told to change, or choose, or both. This one is for the times that you wanted more than anything to scream from the rooftops but held it in because it was the 'right' thing to do. This one, this one is for the regrets, the moments passed. This one is for the friends lost, and the friends found. This one is for the lovers. This one is for the tears and the laughter. This one is for the raw emotion, the heartache and the overwhelming sense of love. This one is for every time you wondered 'what if'. This one is for you.


Because you are beautiful, wonderful and quite simply perfect just the way you are. Happy Valentines day beauties. And if you didn't get anything on this silly hallmark holiday... Know this.
That this one, is just for you.

Deux

Day Two.

Your longest friend.
{There are a few... But heres the one I picked.}


May I introduce to you, the most beautiful girl in the world. Her name is Dom, and she is amazing. That's all you really need to know, but, I guess I could tell you a little bit more about this special little lady. Dom and I met 6 years ago {holy moly} when our local Boys only school was putting on a production... a musical no less... called back to the 80's {imagine, big hair, star wars, 80's high school and all your favourite 80's tunes} After a bit of persuading by another friend, I was enlisted to play one of the lead roles. Dom had also been cast in the production, and the rest... well as they say was history. Air Bands, Concerts, Picnics, Hang outs. I honestly cant pinpoint my favourite memory with this girl. {there have just been too many good ones} Dom has been there for me through so much, and even though right now we live on different islands in this beautiful country, I know that she is always there for me. We may not talk every day, we may not even see each other for months at a time, but our friendship is one of those real ones, you know, where you can be absent for periods of time, and then the minute you are together again, things are just as they always were. And the most exciting thing... She is thinking about moving to Auckland! Oh boy! That would see me wearing my glad face all the time!



Oh and! Five days till I start school... I may, or may not be starting to get a little nervous!

A vent, and A first.

I haven't even been anywhere, and yet, I have been oh so absent from thee blog. Maybe its because Ive been a little stressed, A little uninspired. I don't want this place to become somewhere that I just put things for the sake of it. I don't want it to be a place where I just dump sad/angry words because its an easy option {although I do love the ability to vent here... dont get me wrong}. I have an update of changing perspectives to post soon, but I didnt want to just put that up and not write anything else.. I want this blog to spring to life again, and Im hoping that once I start school {yip! its finally here...6 days and I'm officially a student again} that I will have a bit more inspiration, a few more stories, and a little more drive to keep my little corner of the web updated a little more regularly. {either that or ill be so busy you may never see me again...}

So I've seen around lately a few blog challenges. And some of them {I'm not ganna lie} seem a little boring or maybe just a little tedious, but I think I have found a little one that I quite like the look of, and well the bits that I dont like, Im just going to opt out and make up a few of my own. That way, I get to share a bunch of awesome things with you that I love, and I also get to keep the inspiration and mood of the blog on the up and up. So thats right kiddies. Its 30days, and its 30 posts. Now, Im not going to say that I will do it every day, because some days things just get to busy. But there will be 30 posts in 30 days. Maybe just a couple of double ups perhaps even a couple of triple ups {I know you will forgive me.}

So here we go. Bottoms Up. Ready. Steady. Go.

Day One.
A photo of you, and 10 facts.

Taken by my flatmates 3 year old son. Some reason... I like it.

1. I am a big fan of TV on DVD. Boxset Marathons pretty much rule.
2. I think more people should wear red lipstick. Its my favourite.
3. Chai Latte is my standard order.
4. Whiskey is my poison.
5. One of my best friends got engaged recently, and she asked me to be her bridesmaid. I'm pretty darn excited.
6. I like to make things. Cross stitch, Jewelery, cards, brooches, journals, mail art. You name it, I probably have made it, or want to.
7. I already have one degree, and I'm about to start my second tertiary endeavor in 6 days! I'm excited.
8. I'm addicted to the instagram app on my iPhone.
9. I like to change my hair colour regularly, and I think I might just be getting bored of the blonde... Uh oh!

10. I have the most amazing friends and I love that they've become my family. I would do anything for them, and I know they would do anything for me. I'm pretty much the luckiest girl alive.

x