The two week countdown!

So two weeks today I get the results for my GCSE's. I think it's safe to say that I am very nervous. I know that I did my best, I put in the effort and did the revision, yet I also know that I'm not a particularly academic student, I never have been. 

My results have always been average and I'm happy with average! I wanted to write this blog post today because I know that there's a lot of other teenagers that are in the same position, probably feeling the same way.

These results do not define you. I think that's the important thing. It's no secret that there are a lot of people that didn't do particularly well at school but are still some of the most successful people today. 

Whatever the results I'm determined not to let them affect me too much, what will be will be! 

How are you all feeling about your results? 

x~Jess~x

Two weeks in Corfu!

So recently I got back from a lovely two weeks staying in Sidari, Corfu. It is a lovely place with stunning scenery and there is also lots to do.

I went there last year with my parents and we enjoyed it so much we decided to return again, we may even be going again next year too!

We stayed in some self catering apartments which was the same as we stayed in last time, the staff recognised us and were really friendly, they made us feel really welcome!

Whilst there we saw several tribute shows of Katy Perry, Take That, Olly Murs, Robbie Williams and The Blues Brothers which were all fantastic. We also went to a rock night and a Greek night which were hosted by the apartments we were staying in. 

We also went on a beach BBQ trip which have us a nice break away from Sidari. It was good to experience somewhere new and it was a really good day out!

Can't wait to see where next year will take us!

x~Jess~x

PROM!

So last week was my Year 11 prom night. As I haven't wrote a blog post in a while I thought that this would be a good opportunity to get back into blogging! 

A lot of my friends spent hundreds of pounds on there outfit and I knew from the start that this is something I didn't want to do. I am a MASSIVE bargain hunter and so it just wouldn't be me.

I headed to my local charity shop where I picked up a lovely dress for £15, I had to get it altered to fit perfectly and the lady in the shop said that the dress had never been worn which made it an even better find!

I wore some shoes that I had picked up a while ago in the sale at office and bought my clutch bag from TK Maxx. 

I met up with my friends at one of my friends houses where a limo picked us all up and dropped us off at the venue which was Hemswell Court. The journey was brilliant and we were able to drive around Lincoln a bit before we headed to the venue. 

The venue was lovely as it is in a lovely setting, we arrived as most of our year group was outside watching people arrive, it was very nerve-wracking getting out of the limo in front of everyone! 

We all had a lovely 3 course meal followed by a disco and it was a lovely night! 

Now I'm enjoying the holidays and starting to panic slightly about my GCSE results! 

World Cup fever or not?

I've never been one to enjoy the World Cup or any type of sport. I understand that there is a lot of people that eagerly anticipate the arrival of the World Cup but for me it is something I would rather get away from. 

A lot of my family are football fanatics and they love the World Cup, weeks on end I hear them go on about how excited they are and hear them make their predictions. 

Apart from hearing about it from my family I haven't really researched the World Cup that much and I'm perfectly happy with knowing very little about it.

In the future I think that it would be a good time to go on holiday during the World Cup. That way I would be able to relax and not have to hear about the latest World Cup news - Ah bliss!

So, let me know what you think, are you excited for the World Cup or are you quite happy to avoid the buzz around it. 

x~Jess~x

Positive Thinking

I haven't posted a blog post in a while. I, like many other teenagers, have been revising for exams (yay). 

I've never really been one of those people that can put in hours and hours of revision. A lot of my friends are in top set for most subjects and so they spend their day with their head in a textbook, revising solid. They're not really sure why. They follow the crowd. They'll probably get good results but won't those results become useless in 10 years time. When you've finished school you compete with a lot of others for one job. Each of the candidates have the same grades. There's one person there that has average grades but they've had a lot of experience working in the same industry. Who would you choose? Someone who knows how to read a textbook or someone who knows how to work?

Despite this, I'd still like to do okay in my exams. Which I think is understandable. I believe that positive thinking helps so much. If you go into an exam convincing yourself that you're going to fail, likelihood is that you probably will. I tend to go into exams thinking I've done the best that I could do. I've worked, I've tried and what will be will be. 

Most importantly I remember that there is life after exams. Some of the most successful people in business don't have degrees but that doesn't mean they haven't had to work hard. They knew what they wanted to do and they devoted their time to that one passion, that one end goal. 

I hope that all of you who are sitting exams over the next month do well, as I'm sure you will and I wish you the best of luck!

x~Jess~x 

Aims and goals

As I am currently preparing for my GCSE exams that are coming up in the next couple months. I decided to take a break from drowning in a sea of revision and talk about aims and goals. 

I admit, I've never been someone that can spend hours and hours with my head in a textbook memorising every word from the page, I get distracted far to easily. 

However, I have been doing at least an hour a day making mind maps for subjects which is proving to be helpful. 

The problem is, a lot of people that do get the good grades just don't know what they want to do. They don't really have any ambitions or hopes for the future and so they leave school with no real career path. 

I could talk to you about all my aims for the future but that could end up slightly boring. In shorter terms, I'd like to go into event planning and continue with charity work.

When I talk about aims, I don't just mean education wise. Some people may want to travel around the world, be rich or pass their driving test. Aims can be anything but it's important to know how to achieve them. 

I'd definitely suggest making a bucket list. It's a great way to know exactly what you want out of life and make everyday count. 

Also, don't just stay indoors when it's warm, make sure you go outside, walk the dog, go to the park, go shopping. These all count as experiences, sure, they might not be the most exciting experiences but it's still better than sitting at home on the internet. 

Also a little update to add on. My friend Jenny has started a blog (www.jennyspaceblog.blogspot.com) so go and have a little look. I'll be taking on a similar thing to what she's doing at the moment with advice and will also be doing product reviews so if you have any questions or ideas. Please get in touch. 

x~Jess~x

Asking for help

So after being away from this blog for quite a substantial length of time (let's just ignore the date of my last post) I have been persuaded by one of my good friends to return to the blogging world - yippee!

I may seem like a confident person behind this blog, but in reality, that's not the case. My close friends know me to be quite outgoing and confident. However, looking back at school reports I was the shy girl that "lacked confidence". 

I never really put my hand up in class, I don't know whether that's because I'm scared I'll get the answer wrong and be embarrassed that I even dared to answer or whether it's because putting your hand up involves using my much needed energy because you actually have to physically move a part of your body, probably the first option in all seriousness. 

Because of this lack of involvement in class I also found it difficult to ask for help. When the rest of your class understand something and the teacher resumes to her desk to do marking or check emails (what do teachers do at desks!?) you feel awkward and the rest of the class are silent, you can't disturb that. Well I can't anyway. 

Sometimes teachers look over your shoulder and ask you if you're alright, they're already expecting you to say "yes thank you" like the other 90% of the class has so if you had a problem, you'd be the odd one out. 

I've learnt that actually it is okay to ask for help, the fact that you broke the silence and became the odd one out your classmates won't even remember the next day. Yet, you have learnt something that could potentially save you in an exam. So, what's it worth? 

x~Jess~x

The gift of giving

When I'm older I want to look back on my life and feel as if I've achieved something, as if I've made someone's life a tiny bit better and as if I've made a difference. 

So often we are so caught up in our busy lifestyle that we neglect simple acts of kindness. I'm not saying that everyone should go and set up a charity but even just being nice, putting that extra bit of effort into making someone smile.

For those of you that don't know, I send out gifts to children with serious conditions and illnesses through my charity. I have been asked a lot of times "why do you do it? It must take up so much time". 

It's hard work, there's no denying that but it's the feeling that you get knowing that you've made a child that is going through a difficult time smile, even just for that moment. 

Through my charity I've met so many inspiring families and to know that I've helped them even in a really small way is something that I will be able to look back on in 10, 20, 30 years time and think "yeah, I did that".

Smiles are contagious :) 

x~Jess~x

Unsocial networks

Being a teenager, I spend a lot of time on websites such as Facebook and Twitter, checking them frequently through my phone as they are so easily accessible and a quick and simple way to talk to friends no matter where they are. In that sense, these social media sites are great. 

However, it does make us lazy, it is easier to send a simple message than to actually pick up the phone and talk to people (like who does that anymore) it may also mean that we don't see as much of our friends and family as we feel that we don't need to, because we can talk to them through these sites. 

It is only once they are no longer there to talk to that we realise how much we miss them. My advice would be to meet up with friends, with family. Yes, you may be able to talk to them through these sites which is great but don't rely on them. You're not going to make memories by sitting on a computer all day. 

Unfortunately we are the lazy generation, bought up surround by easy access technology, we do not write letters and very rarely phone anyone but I think we should pick up the phone occasionally (since it's constantly in our hands anyway) and at least hear the voice of those we care about. 

x~Jess~x 

^typed with my phone

Antiques and 80s music

So apologies for not writing a blog post in a while I've had 0% motivation and not had much to write about. 

So these are not two of my favourite things. My dad is obsessed with antiques and when I was young my mum had her own antique shop. I probably know more about antiques because of this than the average 16 year old girl. My parents were keen for me to develop an interest in antiques, this wasn't the case. I looked at antique jewellery and thought "nobody my age wears that" and I couldn't find anything that appealed to me. I did collect cars for a short amount of time and have acquired a box of them in the garage but it didn't last. 

I do however like 80s music which may seem odd, my parents are keen on all types of music and have played 80s music to me since I was born probably, it used to be the only music I knew until about the age of 10. However, 80s music is something I do seem to like.

I'm sure I'm not the only person that has had to put up with doing something they weren't interested in, if you have a similar story why not share it? 

x~Jess~x

Self Esteem

I wanted to do this blog post today because there's a lot of people that aren't confident and aren't happy with the way they look and don't belive in themselves etc.

Recently, a lot of my friends have been talking about dieting and going to the gym etc. 

I've really never been interested in dieting or going to the gym and things like that. I'm not fat and neither are my friends but I really don't eat healthily. I'd like to be able to eat healthier and eat more fruit but I really don't have that much motivation to do that.

I think there's a lot of reasons why people suffer with self esteem issues. There's obviously models that are incredibly thin in the media, some are unhealthily thin and some girls have a desire to be like them. It could be because of being bullied, if someone has been bullied then they're confidence is going to be massively knocked. If you say to someone "you're ugly" a lot of people won't just let it pass, you may even forget that you've said it but they'll still believe that they are ugly.

Another reason is that some people can find it difficult to make friends, which is linked with the confidence issues. I do find it difficult to make friends and find it hard to trust people, I talk to a lot of people on a regular basis but there's only a few of them that I can 100% trust.

You may also have aspirations, for example, you might want to be a lawyer but there's people around you that tell you that you never will be. The right attitude there I believe is to prove them wrong but some of the time people give up to easily and think "yeah, they were right, I can't do it". I know I've certainly done that before.

I think self esteem is a big issue and once you do start to feel bad about yourself or a situation then that can be a very hard cycle to get out of. I'd like to start being more positive and believing in myself a little bit more. I think that anybody can achieve their goals if they are determined to do so and aren't being held back by the people around them.

x~Jess~x

Jumping to conclusions

First off, I should probably start of my apologizing for not writing a blog post yesterday. I can't even make an excuse and say I was busy because, well, I wasn't. 

I went into town to buy two new books, one of which I've almost finished. I'm starting to get into reading again and writing, clearly. 

I think it's really easy to jump to conclusions about people or about things. For example, today there was a chocolate biscuit on the table waiting for me when I went downstairs, now, it could of been my dad but I jumped to the conclusion that it was my mum because she was in the kitchen. 

Not that it's really that important who put the chocolate bar there anyway but the point I'm trying to make is that sometimes people can be affected by us jumping to conclusions. Maybe we presume that someone has done something because they've done it before, us accusing people of something they may not have done could make people upset. 

I'm sure everyone must of done this as some point in there life, I do it without really thinking about it, like with the chocolate bar. However, sometimes I'm accused of something I didn't do, mostly by my parents and it is only then that I realise that everytime we accuse someone of doing something they may not have done, we may make them feel upset or most of the time, annoyed.

It's strange how we can upset people without even realising that we have. Something else I've noticed, is that when someone is upset with someone they don't actually say "you've upset me". We're meant to pick up on the signals that we have upset them, signals such as blunt answers. Things would return to normal a lot faster if people accepted what they had done and told others that they had made them upset/annoyed so that they are able to resolve their differences sooner.

The world is a very weird and beautiful place.

x~Jess~x

Fashion

Fashion seems to be a massive deal in today's society and I really do not understand why.

Clothes are really just a piece of material that you wear, so why are we judged by where we shop? Why is somebody that shops at Topshop automatically more fashionable than someone that shops at Tescos? 

Don't get me wrong, I like clothes. I like fashion. But I also love a good bargain, I love raiding the January sales to see what bargains I can pick up but I'm not one of those people that can spend £100's on clothes. 

Why are we prepared to pay so much money for something that has a label on it, a designer name. Because it makes us look good? Today, we seem to be judged more on the clothes that we wear than the personality that we share. That's crazy.

It's not surprising that there are so many people feeling insecure when magazines encourage you to spend a fortune on clothes over their fashion pages. Girls feel the need to hunt down the most expensive clothes and cake themselves in makeup in order to feel pretty. 

A lot of people can't afford nice clothes, there's some people that probably struggle to afford things such as food and drink to put on the table, why are we never satisfied with the things that we have?

I think that we have to learn that one day it's not going to matter what clothes you wear. I've seen a lot of girls around my age who walk around in a similar style of clothing, it's not their style, it's just the style that some catwalk model was wearing which has become popular, what happened to individuality? 

I've always bought clothes that I feel comfortable in and clothes that appeal to me. I don't see the point in wearing the same style as everyone else, I'd rather save my money on something that's more worthwhile than an overpriced pair of shoes. 

This probably isn't the fashion post that you expected it would be and that's okay because a lot of things aren't what you expect them to be of what they first appear as. 

x~Jess~x

Charity

I started really taking an interest in charity work when I was 12, I'd organised a charity event since it was fun and it felt good to know that you was helping someone. 

I set up my own charity shortly after recovering from an operation where I spent a lot of time in hospital. I started sending small gifts to children with a serious condition or illness to make them smile when they needed it most.

As more people knew about what I was doing, the gifts were able to get bigger and I was able to ask the child's parents what they would like. It was a really good feeling.

I've now progressed into granting wishes which is extremely rewarding and I also continue to send out gifts. I can't describe the feeling when you see a picture of a child receiving their gift and they have a big smile on their face.

I really would encourage anyone, whatever age, to take part in some kind of charity work. It's an amazing feeling knowing that you've made someone smile, even just for a moment. 

If you'd like to know more on my story, please search for Help Jess help others on Facebook 

x~Jess~x

Squires Events

I was 13 when I planned my first event. At that point I had no intention of becoming an event planner, I didn't know such a career existed. 

The event was a small fun day comsisting of various craft stalls, a raffle, an ice cream van and a visit from a Peppa Pig mascot. 

It was great and a lot of people commented on how good it was, I desperately wanted to do more like this but knew I had to focus on school.

Shortly after I did a sponsored swim, that was a pretty easy event to organise as the swimming pool were very generous and willing to help and a lot of my friends liked swimming, it was the ideal event really and it was around that time I started looking into doing events as a career. 

A few years later I went to a charity ball, it was the first one I'd been to and not only was it really well organised, it had a really good vibe to it.

A few weeks later I told my parents that I wanted to organise a ball, maybe I wasn't aware of how much of a task it would be but my parents let me as I hadn't done an event in a while and they knew it was something I was passionate about.

I spent a total of six months organising the ball and blimey it was hard work. Booking a venue, selling tickets, finding decorations, printing tickets, sourcing entertainment and a photographer. It all fell into place in the end though and was most definitely worth the six months of hard work.

Over the next few months I researched and researched and I read blog after blog. I finally felt ready to go into events but I wasn't doing this alone. My mum was actually prepared to go into the business with me as she has also developed a passion for events. My dad, has been supportive with every ambitious idea I've had and this most recent one is no exception, he knows it is something which is important to me.

The business is in early days yet but I'm hoping it all works out. In my school they're always telling us that we should have a backup plan if it all works out, my backup plan is to try again. Giving up is the worst form of failure.

x~Jess~x

Friendship Feuds

So, I'd like to start of my saying thank you so much for the support with this blog. We've got over 100 views in less than a week which is absolutely fantastic, let's keep that up! 

Today I also got sent home with a sickness bug and back pain but after a short nap I seem to have plucked up the energy to write this little post. 

The title of this post may seem odd to the people that know me as I now have a very close group of friends and it's very rare that we argue. 

Despite this, I do have Facebook and I do go to school so I do see a lot of arguments between different friendship groups. I think it's pointless really especially since we are only months away from leaving school - why can't everyone just be happy and get along? 

I'm not denying that I've never argued and fallen out with a friend because quite simply that would be unrealistic. However, something I have learnt along the course of various 'friendship feuds' is that if someone is not making a positive influence on you then you really don't need them in your life, it's not selfish, everyone's entitled to choose who their friends are. 

Luckily now I'm not close to the people I've argued with in the past and rarely even talk to them. I guess the message is that it's your life and your decisions. 

Once again thanks for the tremendous support with this little blog

x~Jess~x

I can relate (to music)

I've always felt a connection with music and felt that a lot of the time listening to music was a way to get rid of nervousness and gave me a little boost of confidence. 

I've always listened to the lyrics of music more than anything as I feel like the artist understands how I'm feeling even when a lot of the people around me might not.

Obviously songs such as "What does the fox say" aren't really meaningful to me, neither are love songs as I can't relate to them. 

However, there's a lot of songs about feeling stressed and having confidence. At the moment I'm especially loving "Little Me" by Little Mix. Not only does it have a really good beat and give of a really good vibe, I feel as though I can relate to the lyrics "I'd tell her to speak up, tell her to shout out" as I've never really had the confidence to do that and I hope that as I get older I will be able to gain confidence.

I also especially like Let It Go from the film Frozen. Although I haven't yet seen this film I especially like this song as it reminds me of when someone annoys you or says something to you but because you haven't got the confidence to talk back to them you have to "let it go"

Most recently I listened to music whilst say in the doctors. From a young age I've hated doctors and hospitals and this was to have an injection and as I have a huge phobia of needles I was getting worked up about it. Listening to music helped me to relax and take my mind of what was to come, as it turned out it went fine and they even did a nasal spray instead as they knew I didn't like injections.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been able to relate to music at least at some point in their life. I'll see you again tomorrow for the next blog post, thank you for your continued support with this little blog!

x~Jess~x

What is smart?

Often, I find that if somebody is referred to as smart they are referring that they are very academic. They're academically smart, an A* student. 

I don't believe this is necessarily true. Some of the people I would see as being smart haven't got A*'s but they have made smart decisions which has led them to be successful today. 

In my opinion being smart means being able to seize and opportunity and make the most of each day. To me it's not about what grades you get, the hardest working people aren't always the ones that get the best grades at school. 

I have a very mixed group of friends, some of them will spend hours revising and they'll come out with A*'s and be really happy with that - as anyone would be. 

However some of my friends are a bit more like me, they still work hard and spend hours revising but the results are still average at best and from my point of view, you feel a bit useless. 

But everyone is unique and has a unique set of skills. Lord Sugar may not have got the best results in school but he hasn't done to badly today. He had ambition, he knew what he wanted and was doing everything he could to make that dream possible. 

It does annoy me slightly when I hear someone say "they're really smart" what makes them so much better than you? Everyone's equal. You don't know if someone that has come out with grades C will do better than the ones that come out with A*'s. Nobody is able to tell the future and personally, although I do revise I would much rather spend my time exploring and appreciating this world as nobody knows when this experience is going to end. 

So I guess this is a message to everyone out there that's in a similar position to me, worries about grades and is an average student. Don't worry. Everything will always work out in the end even if things don't go to plan the first time round. We only have a limited time on this earth and we shouldn't dwell on the things we cannot change, accept that things do not always go the way that you want or even expect them too. Focus on your dreams and how you're going to achieve them.

x~Jess~x

C it all works out in the end

I've never been very good at maths and it has always been my weakest subject. In primary school I was mostly in bottom set but they occasionally debated if I should be moved into the middle set and so I was moved around a bit, I often struggled when I went into the middle though and lost a lot of my confidence. 

Once I started secondary school I was in the bottom set and remained there, I was happy with this as I knew that I wouldn't loose my confidence and I had more of a chance of passing my GCSE when the time came. 

The time came in November to sit the exam and despite working hard revising, I wasn't ready. The exam itself I thought went alright but when the teacher went through some of the questions I had got them wrong and was convinced that I had failed. 

I was scared about failing, I knew that I had the opportunity to re-take the exam but my parents had invested so much into helping me that I felt I would be letting them down if I did not do well. I often spent nights crying over this as I knew how important maths was, if I didn't pass this time then I didn't believe I could do it. 

I got my results a few days ago and judging by the title of this post I assume you already know the outcome. I got a C and I was absolutely ecstatic with this and I gained a lot of confidence, I couldn't wait to get home and tell my parents the news as I knew they had been worried I hadn't done very well too.

My parents were really pleased. My mum was proud of me and was the first of my parents to know when she picked me up from school. As soon as I got home I phoned my dad who was still at work and has always been supportive in everything I do. Despite telling him several times that  I would fail, he always believed I'd pass. 

So I guess the message is, don't be afraid of the future. I strongly belive that everything does work out in the end and to never give up.

Thank you for your continued support with this little blog, see you soon!

x~Jess~x

Six form or college!?

So a few days ago I went for an interview at my local college, it all went great and they have given me a conditional place at college which is fantastic. 

Although, during the interview (which consisted of a few basic questions) I started to question whether or not college was the right place for me. My parents would prefer it if I went to six form and got my A levels there instead of studying a level 3 course at college. I understand where they're coming from. I've always been the type of person that can work hard but no matter how hard I try or how much effort I put in my grades are still average and I'm happy with average. 

Some of the reasons I think I would like college is because it's a lot more laid back, it seems easier and it's something I believe will be of use to me in the future. However, my parents believe I can do better, some questions were asked at the interview such as "have I ever been excluded" (I've rarely even ever got told off by a teacher) which made me think "is this right for me?" 

Six form, I know involves massive amounts of hard work but at the same time the A levels are always behind you and certain teachers have asked if I'm going to six form. Basically, I'm undecided. I'm going to apply for six form and see what happens with that but whichever path I go down I'm confident that it will all work out in the end. 

Thank you for reading my (little) blog. 

See you again soon 

..~Jess~..

A little about me

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. I've always had a passion for writing, attempting to write several books which I admit, were never finished. 

From around the age of 13 I'd set my sights on becoming an event planner and I've kept that aim to this day. I've always wanted to run my own business and get excited about what the future holds although I am a little nervous too. 

I wanted to document bits of my life to share with you. I'll blog as regularly as possible as I am sure I will have a lot to write about. 

I'm currently making the decision of whether I should go into six form or go to college which I will do a blog post on a bit later on. 

I always want to start my own event planning business so they'll be blogs on how that turns out too. 

My life hasn't all been fun and games - who's has? So I'll also be blogging on the not so great bits too. 

I hope you enjoy my little space on the internet and I'll talk to you all again soon. 

..~Jess~..