One of my favourite ways to get to know new people is through playing 'the question game'. I don't really know where I got the idea from, maybe a book, or maybe a movie, but it's definitely a great way to keep the chat alive, which isn't always easy with new people.

The game is easy; you simply take turns asking questions.

 To make it a bit more exciting, you could throw in a few rules; if you can't think of a question or an answer, you lose. If you repeat a question, you lose. And if you lose, you are required to carry out a dare; as easy or as difficult as your partner chooses. I say partner, because in my experience, it doesn't really work with more than two people.

If you're a bit stuck with ideas, here's a few to start you off! Enjoy!

General Questions

1. If you had to start up a business, what type of business would it be?

2. What's 5 things you think I could improve or work on?

3. What's your favourite colour?

4. What's your favourite place to shop? 

5. What would your perfect week entail?

6. What's your favourite childhood memory?

7. What are 3 secrets you've never told anyone else?

8. If you could have one superpower what would you choose and why?

9. Have you ever said 'I love you' and not meant it?

10. Have you ever been jealous of your best friend?

Deep Questions

1. What's a book, story, or movie that changed your life, your perspective, or the way that you think about a certain thing?

2. What do you think about religion?

3. What's your biggest regret of the last year?

4. Do you believe in the afterlife?

5. If you could send a message to the whole world, what would you say?

Flirty Questions

1. Describe me in 20-50 words (you could then ask them to describe the person they like, and see if they match up)

2. What's a song that best fits your love life?

3. Who's the most attractive person you've ever met? (Apart from me, obviously)

4. Are you single?

5. What do you prefer; kissing or snuggling

Calm the mind, change the world #1

 Last week, I bought the book 'calm', by Michael Acton Smith. I bought this book with the intentions of passing it on to my friend for her Christmas present (I like being organised okay). 

I don't think that's going to happen, because as soon as I flicked through it, I knew I had fallen in love. With a book. Yup, that's me... book geek. 

But here's the fact; modern life is exhausting. That's what pushed me into joining the calm revolution. Trains delayed, non-stop email, endless to-do lists- there has never been a more important time to stop, recharge and discover moments of calm. Using a mixture of creative prompts, activities, instructions, and inspiration, Calm will open up your eyes to the pleasure and richness of your every day life.

Sounds pretty rubbish right? It's so obscure, and fluffy, and it just doesn't sound like it will work. I have real problems. I live through tough things. I'm actually stressed. But trust me; this is coming from a depressed, stressed, worried, panicky, overworking young person. Calm helps. Meditation is useful. I. Feel. Good.

What made you feel calm today?

Listening and watching my friend play Bella's lullaby on the piano.

Meditating to scars by James Bay

Playing truce by twenty one pilots on guitar

Using the 'breathe in, breathe out' meditation technique.

What are you grateful for?

God has given me a home; not just a simple shack, but a beautiful house that I get to share with three incredible people... even if we do drive eachother off the wall every so often.

What were three highlights of your weekend?

Going to the Stirling university open day on Saturday gave me a lot of perspective. Since I can compare it to Aberdeen and Glasgow from my experience in those open days I can say for sure that Stirling is not for me, which I needed to know in order to narrow down my choices to 5.

Being with my boyfriend Matthew; especially out 'walks' ie. alone time. I still can't believe he chose me, and I'm constantly finding new ways to fall in love with him, and new things that I love about him. Also, his dancing... well, let's just say it's on point, haha!

Spending time with my family of friends was incredible; I spent the weekend in Stirling for a reunion weekend with a bunch of friends who participated in Step out (A christian youth mission in Scotland) over the summer and that was just so amazing. I loved catching up with them, and of course ceilidhing was quality! So much banter!

What do you think about the calm revolution?

15 things that I CAN do

"You can't do that" "You're not good enough to do that" "You don't have enough experience to do this" "You're too young/old to do that"

A lot of the time, a lot of people remind us that there's a lot of things that we can't do. But the truth is, there's so much more that we can do. There's so much more that I can do. I saw wonderforest write a post of a handful of things she can't do because a lot of people have been treating her as if she's perfect, but the reality that I have seen around me is the opposite, so I decided to write this post on 15 things I CAN do.

1. I CAN make a killer cup of iced coffee, which is great for when friends are over on a hot summers day

2. I CAN play guitar pretty well, considering I've only been playing about a year and I taught myself

3. I CAN capture some amazing memories in the pictures that I take

4. I CAN do my hair in various different plaits

5. I CAN doodle pretty cute doodles

6. I CAN colour in my art therapy book pretty neatly

7. I CAN find the perfect quote for every situation

8. I CAN compromise on behalf of my friends

9. I CAN work really hard and achieve the results I want

10. I CAN learn to laugh at myself

11. I CAN find new things to write posts about every week

12. I CAN read a good book in one day

13. I CAN make really awesome playlists on spotify

14. I CAN write cute heartfelt letters to my friends

15. I CAN make a list of 15 things that I can do

Life would be better if...

Life would be better if I had a lot of money

If there was no need for maths

If I could have as many CDs as I wanted

If stress didn't exist

If my fridge was full of my favourite food

If life had 'skip', 'delete' and 'unfollow' buttons

If I could reset the bad things in life

If I could turn back time and appreciate the good stuff more

If you and I stayed hopelessly in love happily forever after

If people were less judgemental

If I was more talented

If I was naturally smart

If I was friends with more bandmembers

If being successful wasn't so tough

If life was as easy as fanfics

If I could take my own advice

If everyone I love lived close by

15 things that make me smile

Heartfelt compliments

Looking back at silly pictures I've taken of or with friends

"I love you"'s

Morning messages from him

Talking on the phone to people I've not seen in ages

Watching funny interviews of my favourite bands

Disney

Being with the people I love

Little kids

Watching funny youtube videos

Making other people smile or laugh

Looking through my favourite twitter accounts

Funny tumblr text posts

Pretty dresses

buying or receiving cute stationary pieces

5 happy thoughts

Happy Saturday, friends! Another week has escaped us but hey, at least we're getting closer to the weekend, and that can only ever mean good things! I've been back at school for just under a month now, which has been both good and bad; but certainly not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Being in my last year of high school, I'm finally getting to experience privileges such as cake days, free periods, and actually being able to have a friendly conversation with my teachers. It's going to take some getting used to, but it's good- it's all very good. Anyways, apart from that, here are a few happy things from this past week!

I got to see my boyfriend last Tuesday
Boyfriend?! Boyfriend!? Yes!! It's official, I'm attached! On  one of my visits up to a university open day I arranged to meet up with one of my closest friends -who I had strong feelings for- and by the end of the day, it turned into a date. He's a wonderful guy, and I'm so happy everything has worked out. It's going to be tough -and already has been tough- since he lives a whopping 3 hours train journey from me, but it's going to be worth it!

I got tickets to see All Time Low in Glasgow next Febuary
I don't know how, but my closest friend managed to bag us tickets to see my favourite band again. It'll be our third time seeing All Time Low, and not only that, but we've got STANDING TICKETS!

I finally got around to conditioning my hair

I know, I know.. I always indend on conditioning my hair more regularly, but more often than not, I'll forget to buy conditioner, or once I've bought it, it'll get used up by other people before I remember it's mine... Anyways, this morning I went out, bought my conditioner, and actually used it. Woah, I know. My hair feels so smooth, and it smells so good!

I bought myself a new notebook!

So as you may or may not know, I'm a really big lover of notebooks, and I definitely have more than I need, but nevertheless I always love getting myself a new notebook. Paperchase is just perfect for me, so I went and treated myself to a new journal. I'm not sure what I'll use it for just yet, but I'm sure I'll find a good way to use it sometime soon.

I've started reading again

As a kid, you would always find me with my nose in a book, with my bedside table piled high with books, but ever since the start of dreaded exams I've noticed that I read much less, and that's something I've been meaning to change for a while. I set myself the challenge of reading at least one book during the summer holidays, but I ended up being so busy and booked up that the goal seemed impossible, so I didn't even bother trying. However, now that I'm back at school I've decided to start reading again, starting easy with re-reading the sequel to 'If I stay'; 'Where she went'

little ways to be healthier

I know I'm not exactly the healthiest person on the planet, in fact I'm really just not healthy at all. But this year I've recognised that I need to try and take care of my body a bit more. In the past, I have tried all sorts of diets, and to be completely honest with you, they have never really lasted for much more than a couple of days. So then a few months ago I decided I would exercise more. Yeah, I did a whole 3 runs and then my 'busy' life got in the way. Whatever, so I'm a bit of a failure when it comes to being healthy... I'm still trying, right?

This time, I decided I would set myself realistic goals. Stuff that would be easy enough, but that would be good for my body. So why the hell shouldn't I share a couple of my little ways to be healthier with you? They aren't amazing new revelations, and I'm not going to promise that you'll lose x number of pounds if you do these things, but if you're anything like me (i.e. lazy, not very motivated...) then you might just find these little things that little bit helpful.

So first off, I decided that I would go on more walks. I reckon this won't be too hard for me, as I already walk to school every day. My walk to school is 2 miles there, and 2 miles back, and because of the way my timetable has mapped out this year, I have a bunch of free periods, so some days I'll be able to go home for lunch, taking my total number of miles walked in a day to 8! Also, I live right next to a country trail which borders a river and a cute little farm, which is perfect for a little stroll when I feel up for it.

Another thing I decided was that I would not go on a diet. You're probably reading this thinking I'm going completely off my cracker, but let me explain. See, when I tried out a diet, it would only last a few days, and that would make me gain weight rather than lose it, because for the first few days of most diets your body tends to create its own fat before it's used to the change in your eating. And whenever the day came that I would give up on my diet, I would end up binge eating all sorts of junk... so diets are totally ruled out for me! No more dieting!

I also resolved to drink more water, which shouldn't be too hard for me either. I drink a lot, and I always like to have a glass of some kind of beverage on my desk, so all I really need to do is chuck out the fizzy juices and replace them with water, which'll save money too since water is free! I do love water too, especially with a slice of lemon... 

But on the days I'm not really up to drinking water all the time, I shall make sure that I'm well stocked up on herbal teas, especially when the cool autumn and winter months kick in! Meanwhile, a summery smoothie won't do me any harm!

My third little way to be healthier is to replace one snack a day with fruit or vegetable. Personally, I love berries; especially strawberries! But they can be pretty expensive, so an apple or orange can suffice, and I'll be leaving the berries for a little treat now and then. I really like a bit of raw carrot to munch on every so often too...

Fourth and final, I am going to listen to more music. Actually, scrap that, I practically listen to music 24/7 already so that's pretty impossible for me... but maybe you could listen to more music. I saw a post on my twitter feed a few days ago saying that listening to music actually relaxes blood vessels and moderates the production of stress hormones (basically makes you less stressed) which is well good!

What little things do you do to try to be healthy?

Thursday thoughts #2

One band which has meant a lot to me over the years is this Christian rock band, flyleaf. A month before they broke up in 2012, the bands sound engineer Rick Caldwell died. The band played their last show a few days after his death for the benefit of his wife Katie and their daughter. At the show, Lacey Sturm -the lead singer- spoke a bit about him, saying that "Sometimes we don't understand why these things happen, and there's nothing you can say to make it better. But there's something so honest about having a God to cling to and when we don't understand, just trusting that he is good"

Rick's wife Katie said that she had been listening to the radio, and she had heard this preacher saying that this bad thing had happened. And God spoke to this woman's heart and he said to her "Would you still trust me even if I never told you why" And it's just so hard to do that sometimes. But there's something so honest in coming to God with your questions and your grief and your anger and just being like "Okay hey God what's the deal? But I'm gonna trust you anyhow even though it feels like I've hit a dead end, and I'm gonna trust that you are gonna use this as a piece of your giant jigsaw puzzle"

And God replies to us and he says "Hey, it's okay. I made you and you are mine. I have rescued you, come back to me" In fact, in Isiah 43 (Contemporary English Version) God tells the people not to be afraid. He says "I have rescued you. I have called you by name, now you belong to me. When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you and you won't drown. When you walk through fire, you won't be burned or scorched by flames"

I don't know about you, but I constantly find myself going back to that place where I'm trying to carry everything in my life all by myself. And I end up falling under the weight of it all but that was never Gods plan. He doesn't want us to carry it all by ourselves. We can't do it- Only God can do it. And that's what he says, he says "I never meant for you to go through this by yourself. I wanna go through it with you. I wanna carry it for you"

Back to what it says in Isaiah 43, "I have rescued you" Stop fighting for your freedom, because you're already free. I have rescued you. "I have called you by name, now you belong to me" I love my guitar, for an example, and I would never give it to someone I don't trust, and when I was away from home for a months road trip around Europe, I really missed my guitar. So much so that when I came back, I spent the whole day with it. 

When I was preparing this, I thought a bit about that, and one thing that kept popping up in my mind is that if we know how to look after our treasured possessions, how much better does God know how to look after us? Even when we're broken, even when it's tough, even when we're scared or angry or sad, because we belong to him. So if things get tough this week or this year, or just in life in general, the best thing we can do is turn to God and admit that we can't do this on our own and that we need to rely on him to take good care of us, his treasured children.