Book Review: 'She is not Invisible' by Marcus Sedgwick

Firstly, I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas! I was unfortunately ill with a sickness bug on the night of Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day but enjoyed it all the same!

'She is not Invisible' is a book which was shortlisted by The Guardian Newspaper when they ran a young writers book review competition earlier this year.

Despite never finding the time to actually get the books read and reviewed prior to the deadline, I did prepare for possible entry by reading the blurbs of the handful of shortlisted books and selecting two to read, in the end only for pleasure.

I ordered 'She is not Invisible' from my local library back in August and renewed it an embarrassing number of times before ever getting started on it! But, on Saturday morning, I finally finished it.

Without giving too much away, the story follows a 16 year old blind girl and her peculiar younger brother as they travel across the globe unaccompanied in search of their author father who has a weird obsession with the concept of 'coincidences' and who they believe to be missing.

Their quest is aided by snippets from their father's notebook, which are scattered throughout the book and which include 'research' (presumably factual!) which, as a current student of some philosophy at school, I actually found fascinating!

But as a story it was also excellent. Manageable sized chapters which, as I have mentioned previously on this blog, will always please me to begin with and a really excellent concept.

While elements of the storyline were a little unrealistic, particularly towards the end as the book tactfully picked up pace in order to tie up loose ends and reach it's conclusion, the entire theme made me question why I found them to be so, and the characters, or at least principle character Laureth, were certainly believable.

I liked that I was reading, although in 3rd person, predominately from the perspective of a blind girl because it presented the characters with challenges which aided the excitement element and also allowed for personal trains of thought that developed into relatable messages-How far can I push my own barriers? Why should I not do something someone else can? Not so different from the unanswerable philosophies I present myself on this blog from time to time I suppose!

Overall, a gripping and at times amusing read which is definitely worth a shot!

GCBA Shortlist, Book #1: 'Blood Family' by Anne Fine

(For information on what the Grampian Children's Book Award is and why I am spending time reading and reviewing books aimed at 12-14 year olds, check out my previous post here! )


So, the first book I picked up was by a familiar author to me, Anne Fine. I read her work quite a lot when I was much younger.

This novel is about the life of a young boy named Eddie/Edward, who's mum is domestically abused and his life after being taken away from the home and into foster and then adoptive care.

The book is written from the perspective of several different characters, with the perspective changing to someone different for each chapter, although the perspective of Eddie himself is used most often. This is a technique I first came across in Sophie McKenzie's book 'Blood Ties' and went on to use once in my own writing. Over the years, I have noticed it used as a literary technique far more frequently.

I thought the concept of the novel was excellent and not over complicated, as multiple narrators can cause. It had me gripped from the start, I only began reading on Friday night and was finished by this morning. This was partly due to the fact that the language was easy for someone used to reading adult literature, but not any disrespect to the quality of writing, which was excellent.

Characterisation was well formed, and I took a particular shining to a couple of character's including Eddie's foster mum Linda and his adoptive sister Alice.

As well as each chapter being told from a different character's point of view, a positive of the layout was the short chapters! A very common occurrence in junior fiction, but not in senior/adult fiction as much. I love short chapters because you can squeeze one in in a very short space of time without having to stop in the middle of a chapter!

The book was also split into sections, I think there were 5 in total. The first two sections were my favourite, followed by the final section. Sections 3 and 4 were not my favourite due to the fact that the storyline tuned to a direction I really hoped it wouldn't, but, admittedly, some action had to occur or the book would have lead nowhere.

I would say, if I was going to give one piece of critique, that the 'event' which caused to character's emotions to change and events to turn, happened almost too quickly and without much emphasis until later. But otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, a great read- for any age to be honest. Sometimes nice having an excuse to go back and see what's new in  the junior fiction world, and I've always loved being told what to read too!

I retuned the book to my school library this morning and swapped it for another of the shortlist to keep over Christmas... but it looks awfully scary! Suppose there's only one way to find out! (maybe not right before bed!)

15 Festive Favourites!

Well, Christmas is fast approaching with less than 2 weeks to go!

My presents are wrapped, tress decorated and cards written!

School is super busy at the moment but we do have our Christmas Concert on Tuesday which is always great fun!

I am starting to get a bit stressed about prelims (Mocks) but I should be fine, it'll just be a busy Christmas holidays revising!

Anyway, I wanted to spread some festive cheer on here so I've stolen a Youtube Tag! Instead of a video, it's just gonna be a post and I don't think I'll tag anyone in particular, but if you're reading this and you fancy giving it a go I'd love to read it!

1) Festive Food?

Without a moment of hesitation, PIGS IN BLANKETS! I actually love Christmas Dinner in general tbh, but the roast tatties are amazing too! (Especially if my dad makes them!)

2) Favourite Reindeer?

I have no idea! I discovered recently that I can in fact name all of the reindeer, but I would say, as popular a choice as it is, I would choose Rudolph because he's the outsider!

3) Favourite day of Christmas?

5 Gold rings! Definitely! Even if you don't know the other words you can belt that one out. Plus we're playing "The 12 days of Christmas" at our Christmas concert and that part has a really cool trumpet solo.

4) Favourite Christmas Song?

Ah I have so many favourites that I like for loads of different reasons! I should have thought this through! I'm going to say Fairytale of New York, because it's just timeless and magical!

6) Favourite Christmas Present?

Ooohh I have received so many awesome gifts over the years. My "Main" present from my parents is usually something I've asked for but actually I quite like the little stocking fillers that are surprises!!

7) Favourite Christmas Film?

Nativity! all the way...

8) Favourite Christmas Cracker Toy?

Haha well some of them are just awful aren't they? And others are ok. I think I'd have to say the pen, or keyring notebook because I love stationary!

9) Favourite Christmas Cracker joke?

The Big Chimney said to the little Chimney "You're too young to smoke".. Fairly sure that's a joke my mum told me when I was little and then I saw it in a Christmas cracker later, but it's the only one that comes to mind!

10) Favourite Decoration?

It's not really a decoration as such, but I really love this penguin shaped lamp we have that always goes on in our living room at Christmas!

11) Favourite Christmas Candle scent?

Ok, so I haven't really got into Yankee Candles, and the only Christmas candle we have in my house is our advent candle! So I will just say my favourite Christmas scent: The smell of my mum's carrot and coriander soup- that's what Christmas smells of to me!

12) Favourite Christmas TV advert?

Remember that John Lewis one a few years ago with the boy counting the days down til he could give his parents the gift he'd wrapped for them? Yup, made me teary every single time!

13) Favourite Christmas Tradition?

I really like our Christmas day routine. Like how we open our stockings first thing, then have breakfast, then go to church/enjoy our gifts, then have soup and have some more family time and then have Christmas dinner and THEN we open the gifts under the tree- not til evening! Then we watch tv. Or maybe that we always have After Eights!!

14) Favourite place to spend Christmas?

Home, 100% <3

15) Favourite Christmas fact (pretty sure this is supposed to be a loose interpretation of the term 'fact'!)

If you peek your head out the window, very early ion the morning on the sunny day that takes the snow away, you will see your snowman fly away, and if you wave, he will wave back! ;)










And so there's some festive nonsense! I hope to post a bit more over the next few weeks but I will say here, Merry Christmas to every single person who's reading this. It is amazing if anyone is! And thank you, I'll be posting throughout December and into the New Year! Please let me know if your festive faves are the same or different in the comments!

Catriona xx

3....2.....1....BLAST OFF!!!

A couple of weeks ago, an event happened which sparked a train of thought, which became a blog post idea, and which then got filed away into a far corner of my mind until I had the time to sit and write it. This morning, I switched on my laptop, with the intention of finally writing what I wanted to write, but firstly decided to read some of the new posts from the blogs I follow.

And I saw that one of my good friends and fellow bloggers Holly's latest post was, in many ways, similar to what I want to say. She was talking about the future, the pressures of having to decide what we, as young people, want to do with our lives and how she's been getting help to make her mind up! So please check out her blog www.hollymaae.blogspot.com , and then come back and read what I have to say haha, because, while we're obviously both thinking along the same lines, our trains of though are quite different...

Holly was really positive about what she'd like to do with her future and, for the most part, I am too.

But now and then it just hits me that 'the future' is never really that far away and my future seems to
be hurtling towards me at rocket speed.

The event I mentioned right at the beginning was my driving test which I sat (AND PASSED, 1ST TIME!!) a fortnight ago. Knowing that I can now legally drive, just like my mum or my dad or my grandparents is so bizarre.

And then there's been loads of talk about Uni and my 18th birthday party and all of these things are things that always seemed so far away that they were barely worth mentioning. But now they're a matter of weeks and months away and it seems like I've jumped on a rollercoaster ride of life and the stops are too brief!

 

 

 

 

"I'm on a rollercoaster that only goes up, my friend"

 

~ Augustus Waters

The Fault in Our Stars (John Green) ~

 

 

 

 

 



As TFIOS indicates, maybe being on that rollercoaster isn't such a bad thing? I know I'm ready to leave school, for a start. I'm ready for a new adventure and I'm ready to try new things and passing my driving test not only boosts my confidence for jumping into the unknown but also opens up opportunities to be whatever and whoever I want to be in the future. Yes, it's a little scary (ok, A LOT scary) but I just need to enjoy right now and not fear next week, or the week after, or the weeks after that....

 

So yes, at times I feel like Buzz from Toystory, zooming off. But I'd much rather that than for time to stand still. And I'm very lucky to have a future worth being excited for.

 

So, for the moment, I want to do as much as I can with what remains of 2014... but when 2015 arrives

(which at this rate won't be long!), I'll know that there's nothing to do but to be happy with resigning myself to opening my eyes wide and saying, with confidence, "3....2....1....BLAST OFF!!!"

 

 

The Liebster Award

Ok folks.. A couple of months ago I was nominated by the wonderful 'Don't Burst My bubble' (Check out her blog here) to do the Liebster Award. Not 100% sure what it is but it seems like a really cool way of appreciating each other's blogs so I thought I'd finally do it as an extra post this rainy Monday morning!


So here are the rules :

1.  Post the award on your blog
2. Thank the blogger who presented you with the award and link back to their blog
3. Write 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have less than 500 followers.
5. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions.

 

 

Ok, 11 facts about myself....

 

1) My top talent is probably procrastination

2) I have lived in 6 different houses since I was born

3) When I was little I had a Peter Rabbit themed bedroom

4) As a kid, I has super straight hair and always wanted curly hair.. Now my hair's curly and I often straighten it!

5) My favourite season is winter, and I love the build up to Christmas equally as much/more than actual Christmas day

7) I am someone who adores re-watching films and re-reading books which is why I am never caught up on the latest books/films 

8) I have played violin for 10 years.. holy moly

9) I bought a guitar 4 months ago and am yet to play it..

10) I am a hopeless romantic for the most part and love cheesy musicals and rom-coms

11) My parents changed my name from Catrina to Catriona when I was little, have originally left out the 'o' because they thought it was too confusing and later changing their mind!

 

DontBurstMyBubble's Questions

 

1. Where is the one place you want to go ? New York, at Christmas or New Year!
2. How do you define love ? Feeling so happy around a person that they make you feel like yourself.. whether that's a relative, friend, or girlfriend/boyfriend!
3. What's your favourite thing about blogging ? Being able to put into words little trains of thought in my mind and see them published as a proper piece of writing, sort of...
4. What's your favourite shop ? Erm, I don't know! Waterstones, maybe! Or Primark!! Haha
5. Who's your fictional crush and why ? Oooh good one! The first one I think of is Jam from Sophie McKenzie's 'Girl Missing' because he just seems like the ideal boy best friend turns boyfriend kinda guy...
6. If you could be a Disney princess or prince who would it be ? Not being the most Disney-minded person this is hard, but I'd have to say that being Elsa from Frozen would be cool, but mostly because, in the end, she's accepted for being her. But I wouldn't want *SPOILER ALERT!!!!* my parents to die. That would be the most horrific thing ever.  
7. What are three things you like about yourself ? I like my kindness, intelligence and creativity
8. If you could have one magic power would it be ? Oooh another tough one! I'd love all the cliché ones like being to fly.. or maybe being able to speak any language in the world without any effort would be good, if that counts?!
9. Where are you happiest ? At home, in my living room with my family around me and horrible winter weather outside, watching TV or playing a board game
10. What do you want to do with your life ? Have a successful career as a journalist/author and also meet a great guy and have a family
11. What's your favourite quote ? It's a quote from a song, if that's ok? "I could have been someone, well so could anyone." from Fairytale of New York because it just reminds me that ifs and buts won't get me anywhere and if I want to be someone, I have to do something about it.

My Questions!

1) What's your favourite flavour of ice-cream?
2) If you could spend the day with anyone in the world, who would it be?
3) If you could only listen to one song for a month, what would it be and why?
4) Do you play any instrument(s). If so what?  
5) Team Edward or Team Jacob (or neither.. I may forgive you!)
6) Team Peeta or Team Gale? (or neither, I suppose!)
7) Guilty pleasure?
8) Favourite quotation from a book?
9) Chocolate or crisps?
10) Who is your idol/who inspires you?
11) Favourite place in the world?


My Nominations!

1) Lou's World

2) Holly Mae

3) Katie Cup of Tea

4) Books n Biscuits

5) Kim Jade Louise

6) EyeZedZedWhy

7) The Halfway Point

8) Teenage Londoner

9) Professional Daydreamer

10) The House of Rambles

11) imogengracee.



All of these are blogs that I like to follow/read or that I think have really good potential, so I hope you'll check them out!

I'll probably write some more really soon, especially if this awful weather keeps up! Please feel free to comment what you'd like me to talk about!

Catriona xxx

 

 

Grampian Children's Book Award 2014/15

At school, I do a period a week of what is called 'peer support' which is basically just helping out in a junior class. I help in a first year English class who have been selected by our librarian to take part in something I used to love doing when I was in 1st and 2nd year: The Grampian Children's Book Award (GCBA).



Basically, it's a local award which comprises a long list of books, has this whittled down to a shortlist y  asking young people to vote, and then gets as many young people to read as many of the 6 shortlisted books as possible, before announcing the winner in May next year.

The first year I ever took part, Sophie McKenzie won with 'Blood Ties'. She couldn't make it to the
event, but that was what began my love for her books.

Anyway, the books are aimed at a much younger audience than me, because only juniors participate, but, in an attempt at motivating the kids in the class to give reading a good go, I promised to read the books too.

So I'd run my opinions on the books as a sort of 'series' on this blog. Might be interesting since I never voted for the shortlist, so have absolutely no say in what I'm going to read! So the books are quite likely to be ones I wouldn't normally choose, particularly in terms of difficulty!

I look forward to getting started reading them now!

"Thank my Lucky Stars".... For what?

I've noticed that, in my blog, I often refer to hard work. I think the reason for this is because I like to think that, in my writing, I express the very best side of me for the most part, more for my own benefit that in an attempt to hide my faults. When people are just getting to know me, I'd rather they knew what I am good at that what I'm not, and by being positive and encouraging, I provide inspiration to my own mind too!

But, I don't want this post to become another hard-work ramble, so I will try very hard to make sure it's not.

I do a morning paper round, and that hour that I'm walking on my own is my main thinking time. I think things over that are worrying me and try and reason them out in my head, I make up little stories (which I always subsequently forget to record and later forget!) and fantasies and I think about school things and mentally revise or practice something in my head. But I also mull over things that interest me, or make me curious or confused. And, one morning last week, I was thinking about the concept of luck- what it is and where it comes from?

When things happen to me, or don't, and I take a moment to appreciate how lucky I am, sometimes I think I was deserving of luck and sometimes I think I was just, well, lucky! And I wonder if there's


some being who decided that my "wish" will be granted, or if the power always lies with me and my actions.

There are some things which we would all argue lie purely with luck. For example, there is nothing in the world you can do, no act of goodness big enough, which will give you a greater chance of winning the lottery than anyone else with the same number of tickets, is there? But sometimes things that are lucky happen just as you need them too, making them particularly lucky, and I reckon this is coincidence but I'm not sure.

When people say "Thank my lucky Stars" what do they mean? Is life a game of luck in which we all have little pockets of luck and its just luck who's luck is lucky for them? Wow my head is spinning now...

Or do we "make our own luck", another common phrase? Is that possible?  Or is that not luck at all, is that just a way of saying that positive actions can achieve positive results?

I'll be honest, I do feel lucky in life. I have people who love me, and more luxuries than I deserve. But when I make mistakes, there are consequences and I pay for that, and I don't feel so lucky anymore. Does that mean that my luck lasts as long as I deserve it? Or that I'm still lucky when I don't feel lucky but the fact that I don't deserve the luck is what makes me feel less lucky?

I'm going to quit the questions now because if you've got this far and are still following then I applaud you. My posts tend to be quite advice based, but this shows you that, in actual fact, I have very little clue and an annoying habit of questioning things which I would, before now, have just accepted (and will probably just go back to doing so!).

So I wish you all good luck in what ever you're doing today and continue to sit here, waiting for enlightenment on whether my wish for your luck, and mine, will ever make a difference.

~ I'd love to here everyone's thoughts on luck in the comments below~

Catriona xx

Breaking Barriers

I'd like to start this post by apologising for my absence from BlogSpot over the last couple of months. It's true that I have been really busy but, in all honesty, my reason for not posting is simply that I have not had the motivation to do so, or the creativity to choose what to write about. Sometimes, I go through periods where I suddenly have a mental block and no idea what to put on the page. I have watched 3 great films over this time ('Belle', 'If I Stay' and 'The Rewrite' if anyone's interested!) and read two fab books ('One Million Lovely Letters' and 'Great Expectations') but, despite attempting reviews on several occasions, the words have been refusing to form. I guess that's what they call 'writer's block'. Ah well, the title of this post fits nicely into the situation anyway, as forcing myself to put my phone down and my writing head on is not only good for me, but also a classic example of breaking through a barrier...

The main inspiration behind this post is an event which happened last week. Since starting my final year at school, I have begun my own appeal for a charity called 'The Anaphylaxis Campaign' who provide support for people like me with severe allergies (maybe I'll go into more detail about that in another post!). Any way, as part of the appeal, I decided to do a sponsored swim to raise funds for this amazing charity's work, and chose to swim the distance of the English channel in my local pool over a week. Well, in 6 days I managed all 22 miles which is 1416 lengths! I was proud and I was relieved.

However, it wasn't just the fact that I completed the swim that struck a chord with me, but the fact that I believed that I could do it and the fact that I didn't allow obstacles I faced to deter me from my path. It seemed like a daunting challenge and, recently, I've had some difficulty with self esteem and self belief but somewhere inside me I knew I could do this and so I did. It also caused me a lot of physical pain, particularly as my skin reacted badly to the chlorine and I felt a mess. But I picked myself up from that low point and completed the swim, because people were relying on me doing so.

My swim has reminded me that it is possible to break barriers in life, whether those barriers are cause by yourself, your peers or society. If you truly want to do something, I'm not saying that means it will just happen and all be dandy, because that's not the case. But, with an apology for this paragraph seeming cliché, hard work totally pays off and the vast majority of goals are achievable if you're willing to make sacrifices. I've had a lot of self-doubt about whether or not I am capable of passing my driving test next week, for example, but knowing that I have proven that I have the capability to break barriers injects a little extra confidence in me.

So, amongst my rambling I hope you find some advice! If anyone would like to check out my charity appeal Facebook page and give it a like and share that would mean a lot! Just click here!

And if anyone would like to make a sponsorship donation (even just £1!) that would put a massive smile on my face! Just visit my Justgiving page: www.justgiving.com/catriona-aitken


I promise (mostly to myself!) to post again soon. All comments appreciated below.

Catriona xx

Positive Dilemmas

I've never been a very good decision maker. Although, I've never been very good at letting other people make my decisions either, always arguing with their suggestions!

I often allow decisions which I have to make stress me out, and I always feel 100% happier AFTER a decision is made. I'm not naïve enough to think that I'm the only one that feels that way, but it does seem to be one of the main triggers of my 'panic mode'!

It's not until the past couple of weeks that I've realised that when a decision is difficult to make, it's often because both options are either very (in best case!) or equally (in worst case!) desirable.

One example of this is that, about 3 weeks ago, I was informed that I would no longer have a job at the Coffee House where I've been working. It had nothing to do with my quality of work at all, but there are many changes happening and that includes a change of owners, and so they were unable to keep me on.

This came as quite a shock to me and I was quite upset. But I was proactive and started getting my CVs out to other businesses. I was offered trials at 2 places within a week.

I should have been happy, and I was! My CV had I pressed 2 business owners in the space of a few days and I had the option of two new places of employment!

But I hated the idea of choosing, constantly feeling bad for the other, foolishly thinking that both needed me, I realise now that finding another 17 year old lassie wouldn't be too difficult!

I chose another café btw, so the work's similar!

Then came a mini mid-week meltdown about University options! I'm in the process of applying to UCAS just now and I'm in the very fortunate position of meeting the entry requirements for all the courses that interest me.... now it's just about picking what and where and that's a little bit frightening!

What I need to keep reminding myself, and what maybe everyone else knows but maybe they don't is that it's a good sort of frightening! To be in my position is something that so many people I know would kill for! So It's a positive dilemma, not a reason for tars!

I feel like I can relate this latest Eureka to matters outwith my own personal world too.

Last week, I attended The Big Big Debate in Glasgow, a debate on the Scottish Referendum. Over the past 6 months, I've kept this blog fairly politics free, but I actually have an avid interest for the subject. Between that event, and our local referendum debate at the Town Hall last night, I have been left with many questions and points to consider.

Both a Yes and  No result would bring challenges, but both would bring Scotland positive outcomes of some kind. The question to settle in the next couple of days is, which brings more positive than the other!

So there you have it, my thoughts on positive dilemmas, turning stressful decision making into a good thing, and a little for my readers outwith Scotland regarding the much-talked about Referendum (maybe more on that another time?)

Please comment with your opinions, or some dilemmas you've had to face recently!

Catriona xx

Summer Put Simply

Ok, so recently I've been kinda busy (again!)

I've had some new ideas for my blog, which basically consist or rebalancing it slightly so that it's similar, but there's more blogs with actual topics, and less random gabble about my life! Haha!

Therefore, in future, I'm going to try and not worry if something important-ish happens in my life, or I go and see a movie or read a book and I don't document it! Because it's far easier doing that, than, for example, going to the cinema and then having no time to write a review until 3 weeks later and finding it difficult to focus on that film anymore! So I'll be keeping up the reviews, I just might not review everything!

But, until I get an opportunity to devote more time to regular blogging, and because I feel like the last 6 weeks has brought plenty of stuff to gabble about, I will fire through my life highlights right now!!

1) We broke up for summer and on the same day we went out for tea for my mum's birthday! yay!

2) I went to RYLA camp and it was an incredible week.. Read all about it here!

3) I came home from RYLA and my Uncle and my Granny were here and I hadn't seen my uncle in ages so that was cool!

4) I went with a friend to see 'The Fault in Our Stars' movie FINALLY and loved it but got slagged off because I didn't cry.. although I did well up!

5) I sat my driving theory test and passed first time.. woo!

6) I went out for a meal at Frankie and Benny's to celebrate two of my friends birthdays and we embarrassed them by getting candles in their desserts, the lights dimmed and the F&B's Birthday song! Haha!

7) I went with a friend to see a play as part of my Dad's Youth Festival and we had a right laugh!

8) Also as part of the festival, I spent a week on a traditional music course, learnt loads, made tons of new friends and had a blast!

9) I got my results and was over the moon because the hard work paid off! We celebrated with champagne and a scrumptious curry!

10) I went on holiday with my family to Italy and it was the most amazing, relaxing week I've had in a long time!

11) On returning, I tried to pick up my new tie from school but they had ran out so now I'm kind of tie-less.. stupid uniform company!

12) I had friends over on Thursday evening for a High School Musical Marathon (all 3 movies back to back!). Yes I realise that I'm very sad.

13) I've spent the last 3 days procrastinating like crazy and we go back to school tomorrow and I still have a shit load of homework to do!


So, I don't suppose this was my most interesting blog post ever, but thank you to all who read my (hopefully not unlucky!) 13 snippets of one of the best summer holidays I've ever had! Now that you're all (just about) caught up, let me know if there's anything specific you'd like me to write about soon and I'll be back asap! xx

Ernest Hemingway Appreciation

Ernest Hemingway was born on this day in 1899, so in celebration of that, since this guy did give me my crazy long blog title after all ;) ,  I give you this quote:

"There is no friend as loyal as a book" ~Ernest Hemingway~

Maybe a little exaggerated, but a fair point I think!

Catriona xx

Ernest Hemingway (www.americanlegends.com)

"Those were the best days of my life..."

I'm not long back from what was a truly amazing week at Abernethy Trust Outdoor Centre, Netheybridge as part of the Rotary Youth Leader Awards (RYLA) Girls Camp 2014.

I applied for this through Stonehaven Rotary Club who, along with clubs from all across the district 1010, were sponsoring a place on the camp. After attending an interview, I found out that I was the successful candidate.

The week was aimed at developing leadership skills, and each day included a 1 hour talk from an inspirational speaker, followed by a jam-packed day of activity, with each member in the ten teams of 8 girls taking a turn at playing 'leader', and the teams competing for points overall!!

Over the course of the week, I took part in canoeing, rock climbing, assault courses, challenges, swimming gala, sports day, gorge walking, hill walking, raft building and mountain biking! As well as banner making, zumba, debating, nukem ball and more in the evenings!!

These activities pushed me both mentally and physically, and allowed me to achieve more than I knew I could. They made me change my attitude and convince myself that I CAN do anything if I put my mind to it. I cam home badly bruised & scratched, exhausted and a little sunburned, but I am extremely grateful to have been given the chance to do so many things I never normally would, without having to pay a penny!!






I also gained from RYLA something very special, and that was strong friendship! I wouldn't usually believe that you could become close and attached to girls you barely know in such a short space of time, but when you're with each other all the time, there for each other when your struggling, supporting each other every step of the way and relying on each other's skills, you quickly form a wonderful bond! I genuinely hope that some of these girls are friends for life because I love them to bits! Haha!

I'll put a few more photos below, and  I hope I've done justice in this post to what was quite possible the best week of my life!

Catriona xx

6 Month Celebration!

Just a quick post to say yaay!

I have officially managed to keep my blog running for 6 months, here's to many more posts to come!

The style and standard of writing is a bit hit and miss at the moment, but I'm grateful to those baring with me while I write about what I like and get into the habit of blogging; every view and comment means a lot :)

I (stupidly) made a promise to myself that if I managed to keep my blog running for 6 months, then I'd post a link to it on Facebook, so here goes! If you're reading this, having seen my Facebook post, welcome! Please browse through my posts and keep popping back as I hope to improve and I update quite regularly.

So for now, it's just a huge thank you and if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know! xx

Roles of Responsibilty

"Working hard is important. But there's something that matters even more...believing in yourself." - Harry Potter

Badges

So today I was pretty chuffed to find out that I've been chosen as House Captain of my house at school for the next school year.

On the whole, I tend to thrive off of challenges like these, and I'm, really looking forward to getting into the role and hopefully bringing some of my qualities and ideas to it.

I've been taking on responsibilities for years, because I've always been more of a leader than a participant- I'm a wee bit too bossy and opinionated to always sit back!

I aim to do things to the best of my ability not because it'll look good on my CV, not because I enjoy being considered a smarty-pants or a goody-two-shoes, but because I almost feel as though, when given roles of responsibility, I'd be letting people down if I took it for granted, particularly myself.

For me, the one main focus is to not allow responsibility to become stress, because at that point it becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, I'm not always the best at handling pressure, but I do put on a brave face that's convincing enough that people think that things are easier than they really are.

I've touched on a similar point before when I said that the reason I get sometimes get good grades is because I work hard for them. Well, the reason I can speak to groups is because I make myself do it, I'm no more comfortable initially than anyone else, but I challenge myself. The reason I can organize, is because I offer to do it, etc...

While I'm really pleased to have been given the Role of Responsibility I've wanted since about first year haha, I do, in this and my every endeavour, have to know when to say no to a request, when to take a step back and pass on the weight. I love it, that's why I do it, and I'm really glad that effort is recognised. Not everyone likes leading, but that doesn't make them unable to thrive off responsibility of some kind, and I reckon its a pretty crucial, and enjoyable skill.

Two In One

Well I've been back at school just two weeks and it's already been fairly crazy!!

 

On the first week back we had daily Rock Challenge rehearsals followed By the Scottish Finals where my school came 4th. T'was a fab day!!

 

Then I was helping out with Primary Seven induction which was fairly exhausting. Plus I visited Glasgow Uni on Thursday which was great except that I lost my new phone (thankfully I have it back now!). And the next two weeks are set to be equally as jam-packed!

 

So I really hope I'll squeeze in more blogging time but for now I'd really like to let u know about two films I've seen on the cinema and not reviewed yet! Both in one blog so it's an exclusive Film Review double bill haha ;)

 

 

No. 1- 'Bad Neighbours'

 

The first one I saw 3 weeks ago at the cinema with 2 friends, and that was 'Bad Neighbours'.

It was pretty funny, if a little melodramatic!!

 

The idea of people becoming parents and wanting desperately to hold on to their 'youthfulness' despite their priorities changing made for a cracking comedy, and this theme was very well portrayed by Seth Rogan (who sticks out to me as starring alongside Katherine Heigl in 'Knocked Up') and Rose Byrne ('The Internship') . All the comic stresses of being ne parents were exaggerated and brought to life.

Not to mention the wild fraternity house next door, with whom the young couple find themselves
battling! Lead by hotties Zac Efron, and Dave Franco (21 Jump Street), the college crew are set to cause some serious disturbance!

The cherry on the cake, cast-wise, is Lisa Kudrow as the Principal, I will  never grow tired of her sarcastic tone!

Overall, a pretty good movie!

No. 2- '22 Jump Street'

I recently did a review of '21 Jump Street' and promised I'd post when I saw it's sequel '22 Jump Street' which I did on Sunday!

My sister had been the week before and loved it, and it did not let me down!

Teamed with (my very first) EXTREMELY LARGE popcorn and drinks, my friend and I laughed our heads off as (Channing) Tatum and (Jonah) Hill once again rocked the big screen in their epic undercover drug-dealer-finding mission... but this time in college, and it was Tatum who got to be cool!!

As usual, the unrealistic car chases and shooting sprees were present, however it didn't bother me this time because they were teamed with comments about how expensive the repairs would be for the police department, which at least showed acknowledgement of the scale of their action!! Haha!

Another thing I particularly like about 22, was that the Boss had a bigger role to play. I won't say
much more because I don't want to cause any spoilers, but an unanticipated plot twist casts the police officers boss,  Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) in a humorous and crucial role.

While the final credits rolled, the background was of different scenarios that could be future "films" for the Tatum-Hill duo, leading up to about 40 jump Street!! While this was a great idea, it indicates to me that there probably won't actually be any more Jump Street movies, which may be for the best I suppose... They say you can get too much of a good thing?!

Overall, grab some friends and go and see it if you haven't already! And If you have, let me know what you think!