Wedding Planning: “It’s Research, Honest”

It’s never too early to start planning your wedding – especially when that planning involves a holiday. 

I guess that this isn’t really wedding planning – it’s more I want to go on holiday with my other half and seeing as we’re engaged, we may as well say we’re scouting for a honeymoon location (partially true), I’m sure we can get away with that. 

On a more serious (and wedding-y) note, this post marks the first in what should be a long series of wedding planning posts. At eighteen I don’t quite feel old enough to get married, but in five years time (2018, which would be my ideal year, I think) I’ll be 23, and I think by that point I’ll feel ready. May as well start preparing now!

I am the least-organised person in existence, which is why I’m starting now – because, if I start now, there’s a chance I MIGHT be organised in time for 2018. Seriously, my “planning” so far has consisted of putting songs in a Spotify playlist entitled “Wedding” (I got the free trial of Premium yesterday and I love it, but not sure I’d pay £10 a month for it), and attempting to figure out Pinterest so I can make a mood board. I failed, so the mood board is out of the window. Oh, and I searched on Tumblr for “Winter weddings”. That’s pretty much the only productive research I’ve done.

Back to the “research” holiday – I want to go to Ireland. I don’t know why, but this summer I want to go to Ireland with my other half, and if it’s nice I’d quite like to go on honeymoon there – not too expensive, and it looks quite pretty from what I’ve seen. 

So, today marks the beginning of my wedding planning. We’ve got quite a few years (and a LOT of saving up!) to do until then, but I’m already feeling just a teensy bit excited! 😉

What a year it’s been.

2012-2013

• Stayed single almost the whole year? I haven’t been single at all in 2012.
• Were involved in something you’ll never forget? Absolutely. The Great Birmingham Run was just a phenomenal experience.
• Tripped over a coffee table? No but I have fallen over a couple of sofas.
• Came close to losing your life? Nearly got hit by a bus, if that counts!
• Saw one of your favorite bands/artists live? I saw Idina Menzel live. Amazing moment!
• Did something you regret? I don’t think so. I’ve been trying to live without regrets and so far I think I’m doing pretty well.

2012: Friends and Enemies

• Did you meet any new friends this year? Yes! Going to uni has just been the most amazing experience because of all the people I’ve met here!
• Did you hate anyone? Nope, I’ve realized hate is just pointless. Kill ’em with kindness.
• Did you lose any friends? Again, I think this is the first year where I don’t think I’ve lost any friends, which is awesome!

2012: Your BIRTHDAY!

• Did you have a cake? Yes I did 🙂
• Did you get any presents? I did indeed.
• Did you get what you wished for last year? I don’t think I made a wish last year, but something amazing happened that day 🙂

2012: All about YOU

• Did you change at all this year? Quite a lot. I’ve become more comfortable with being myself, not putting up a front, and I’m quite proud to say that since I started uni, I’ve been very much “what you see is what you get”, and if people don’t like that, it’s not my problem. My confidence has also grown.
• Did you change your style? I wasn’t aware of ever really having a style, let alone changing it. I think this one goes hand in hand with the self-confidence thing in that I now actually own three dresses, something I didn’t own last year – and I’ve worn all three of them!
• Were you in school? Finished college and started university.
• Did you get good grades? I got an A and two Bs, I was pretty damn ecstatic!
• Did you drive? Once or twice 😛
• Did you own a car? Nope.
• Did anyone close to you give birth? Don’t think so.
• Did you go on any vacations? I went to Trecco Bay in Porthcawl and it was great 🙂
• Would you change anything about yourself now? Nope. I’m happy.
• Did you dye your hair? A fair few times, I think I’m closer to my natural colour now than I have been for a while, although it is a bit pink/purple at the moment.

2012: Wrap UP:

• Was 2012 a good year? It had it’s ups and downs, really.
• Do you think 2013 will top 2012? I think it will 🙂
• Best thing that happened in 2012? I have three top moments, and I can’t even arrange these three into an order of first, second and third. That feeling of success after getting into university, the complete overwhelming emotion I felt after crossing the finish line at the Great Birmingham Run, and getting engaged – all three were just perfect moments in 2012.

IN THE YEAR 2012 I CONFESS THAT I….

• Kissed in the snow? Don’t think so. .
• in the parking lot? at the beach ? in secret ? Yes to the car park, yes to the beach but I don’t think in secret 😛
• Had your heart broken? Nope.
• Painted a picture? No.
• Wrote a poem? Can’t remember if I’ve written any poetry this year.
• Ran a mile? I did a half marathon actually 😉
• Visited a foreign country? Not this year.
• Cut in a line of waiting people? Ooh no, I hate people who do that!
• Told someone you were busy when you weren’t? Probably at some point.
• Cooked a disastrous meal? Don’t think so! Survived three months at uni without burning the place down!
• Lied about how old you were? Maybe once or twice!
• Cried yourself to sleep? Nope.

IN 2012 I….

• Broke a promise? No.
• Lied? No major lies I don’t think. Little white ones don’t count.
• Disappointed someone close? Probably! I have a habit of doing that…
• Hid a secret? Don’t think so.
• Pretended to be happy? Doesn’t everyone occasionally?
• Slept under the stars? No! I really want to!
• Met someone who changed your life? I’ve met a lot of awesome people this year, whether they’ll change my life remains to be seen 😉
• Changed your outlook on life? I’ve met some people who make you realize that there are truly good people in the world, and that crap happens to good people. I’ve met others who make me loathe humanity and fear for the future.
• Sat home all day doing nothing? Spent a few months stuck at home doing nothing with a kidney infection. It was horrible.
• Lost something expensive? Nope!
• Learned something new about yourself? I learned that I may not be fast, or a particularly good runner, but by god it doesn’t matter if my feet are about to fall off and I have tendonitis, I will keep walking if it’s for a good cause!
• Tried something you normally wouldn’t try and liked it? Jaegerbombs 😉 hah I’m kidding, I’m not a huge fan of them. Drunk karaoke.
• Made a change in your life? I’m bettering myself by going to uni 🙂
• Found out who your true friends were? Haven’t had one of those moments this year I don’t think.
• Met great people? YES!!!
• Stayed up til sunrise? Are you kidding? I love sleep too much!
• Cried over the silliest thing? The Snowman and the Snowdog the other night. Oh the feels 😥
• Had friends who were drifting away from you? Don’t think so.
• Spent most of your money on food? Nope, majority goes on accommodation.
• Gotten sick? Oh yes 😦
• Liked more than 5 people at the same time? No, because I’m not a whoo-er.
• Became closer with a lot of people? Yes 🙂

 

Time for a light-hearted post!

I’m going to ease myself back into blogging with a couple of light-hearted posts. To be honest, I’m not feeling an awful lot better, which isn’t a good thing when I’m on the last day of my antibiotics, but I guess it’s going to take a while. So, for my first light-hearted blog, I’m going to basically just post pictures of things I really really like. Sounds a bit simplistic – that’s exactly what it is, and that’s why I like it so much. I’ve been posting all these “Moom’s Views”, which I will continue with eventually, I have a draft of a post about Samantha Brick floating around somewhere that needs finishing and posting, and it’s all well and good but it gets a bit upsetting and miserable after a while, because it seems like there’s not very much about the world to celebrate these days. So, I’m going to celebrate some of the things that I like about life. Obviously top of the list is my boyfriend, my family and my dog, but I’m not going to post pictures of them – I want to protect their privacy and not force them to have their pictures broadcast all over the internet by me!

1. VW Campervans

  

If you’ve seen my Tumblr, you’ll have realized by now how much I love VW campervans. I don’t know what it is – maybe it’s the distinctly hippie air they all carry, which I do love, or just how amazing and rounded they look and how much they make me think of holidays and fun, and I love them! Personally my ideal one would be sunshine yellow like in the first picture, or sunset colour ❤

2. Disney

I love Disney, more than any other film genre (I think it’s possible to call Disney its own genre by now, because there’s nothing else that really applies to it. Animation could refer to anything and cartoons don’t quite cover it, so I’m gonna say that Disney is a genre of its own). There’s so many things about it – there’s always a happy ending and I love the fairytale ones. My particular favourite is “Tangled”, the Disney re-telling of Rapunzel, because of the amount of just plain beautiful scenes in it.

  

3. Gaming

I wouldn’t call myself a mad gamer, as in it’s not my whole life, but I am partial to the odd go on the PS3 every now and again – particularly Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Now, I wouldn’t say I’m a violent person, but I love that game – mainly because you can get rocket launchers and blow things up, but also because I’m fairly good at it considering I don’t think I’ve ever been good at shooting games before. I’m not going to post any pictures of this because I think everyone knows what MW2 is, and if you don’t, try playing the game – it really is quite fun. Downside is, I’m one of those annoying girl-gamers, who puts her clantag as “Girl” so that all the guy n00bz playing know that they’re getting decimated by a girl. I’m not just a mindless killer, however – I do also like playing games like The Sims (the third is my favourite) and Spyro 🙂

4. Haribo

Yep, I love Haribo. Not going to lie, I prefer Haribo to chocolate. Yes, I am a disappointment to the entire female side of the species, but what can I say? Chocolate gets sickly, I’ve never known Haribo to. And the variety! With chocolate, you’ve got three types – milk, dark and white. Yeah, you can have your fillings or whatever, but with Haribo, there’s just so many different types! In just one bag you can have foamy eggs, little hearts, cola bottles, gummy bears, rings – *sigh* it’s amazing! And then you’ve got Tangfastics, Super Mix, all the seasonal variants, mini packs – it’s just wonderful. And it’s happy! It really is a happy world of Haribo ❤

  

5. Llamas & Alpacas

Yes, I think we’ve all ascertained by now that I like llamas. Perhaps not to the extent of my little April Fool’s Day escapade (not enough to dedicate my whole blog to, and certainly not more than life itself), but I do really like llamas. I’m not averse to their fluffier cousins, the alpacas, either – in fact, I might even be inclined to say that I prefer alpacas to llamas. But really, how can anyone dislike the fluffy long-necked goat things? I mean, just the description of them is amazing! And their faces! Look at their cute widdw faces!

  

 

Aaaand that concludes my light-hearted post. Normal miserable service will resume shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition!

So, as you may notice, I’ve spruced things up a little around here. I liked the old design, but it was a little big dark, the writing was a bit too small and.. I don’t know, it didn’t really seem to have the pizazz this new one has. I’m feeling really summery at the moment and the bright oranges and the big font and the funky letters that this one has really reflects my mood, so this theme should last the blog the whole summer! Unless everyone absolutely hates it and stops reading my blog because of it, that is.

Another thing that’s new is that I’ve added two new pages, across the top of the blog. The first one, titled “Christopher Maine”, basically means that I won’t be bombarding you with publicity in the future about him, but I’d love it if you could have a look if you haven’t already, follow his blog and consider purchasing/sharing the link to his book. The second is somewhere you can ask me questions (either about myself, my writing or whatever else within reason), make suggestions about the blog and just express your views on it in general. It’s all explained in the page itself, go check it out!

Last but not least, as well as being able to follow me on Twitter (@maddyleigh94), you can now also follow me on Tumblr! I warn you, I’m a lot less “delving into serious issues and giving my opinions” on there – today my posts have consisted of things related to Glee and alpacas (my first favourite animal, closely followed by Adelie penguins and red pandas, if you were wondering), and before that it was mostly Disney. Tumblr is where I let my “Maddy” side out – on here I’m Madison, I’m all business-like and blogging (pfft, yeah right!), on Tumblr I’m Maddy, where I’m 17 going on 7 and still obsessed with cute fluffy things, glitter and Winnie The Pooh!