Moving Back To Scarfieville

I never took many photos while I was living in Mornington. I have moved out now, and I am quite upset about it to be honest.
Mornington is a world far removed from what you experience in the flats around campus, it is warm and quiet and there are dogs everywhere!
I tried befriending one of the neighbourhood dogs once, I never really saw it again though so I don't think I was very successful.

Regardless, my time in Mornington was everything that I needed for the super intense season of craziness I experienced last semester.
Never have I been so stressed out before in my whole entire life.
I cannot imagine being in a flat while so completely frazzled all of the time.
The fact I was boarding with a family meant that my responsibilities were minimal, and instead of being expected to cook flat dinners, do grocery shopping, wash dishes etc. I could just focus on my work.

IT WAS FREAKING SWEET!

I am so grateful for the family I lived with. They are honestly some of the nicest people I have ever met.


Last night was my first night in the new flat.
I am still settling in. I don't feel comfortable there (how could I?!) but I know its just a matter of time.
I at least got my room all sorted today which will help.
Played some guitar, that's always something that helps to "break in" a new flat.

Its weird being so close to campus, its only a ten minute walk. I didn't actually time it... I need to do that...

Right now I am back in Mornington, I asked if I could have dinner here because our new flat has no food or cooking equipment. I was almost teary-eyed as I walked in before. Only one day away and I miss it so much.

I miss Pipi a lot, the family cat. I befriended her instantly after moving in back in February. For the first day or so I didn't know her name so I just called her Kitty. She used to sleep in my bed while I studied. She's cool. If you have read enough of my blog you would have noticed I am obviously a dog person, but Pipi is all good. I kinda like her a lot.

I'm only going to be at the new flat for basically four and a quarter months, so I'm sure it will be fine. Its nice to be somewhere more accessible, I'm sure we'll be getting visitors (I never really got any in Mornington) so that will be nice. And since my semester will be a billion times less intense than the last one, I should be able to cope without going into a psycho spiral.

I am hopeful for the future of living back in Scarfieville.
Joella and I are going to have epic singalongs, and I am going to steal her dresses.
People should come and visit me.
We don't have internet yet though which is lame... But there's always Uni so I guess we'll see how long we can go without it at the flat... my guess is not very long...
Must procrastinate by looking up funny memes on 9gag...

Anyway. Wrapping this up now.
My time in Mornington was fabulous.
I will look back on it fondly, and I will miss it.
But the family I lived with have already asked me to come back and make them pizza and risotto for dinner sometime in the near future (those are my specialty dishes) so I'm definitely going to be doing that.
And when I do will also sit in front of the heat pump and be nice and warm, and I'll give Pipi a cuddle because I deprived her of my bed to sleep in.

I don't care what other people say about you, Mornington. You're alright.

Honours Panic/Guilt

It has been three whole weeks since my last blog entry.

I was waiting until I had something interesting to write about.
What I think is kind of interesting/funny are the many mood swings I have been getting as a result of my Honours course.

People always told me Honours was going to be hard, but I didn't know it would be quite like this. It is really hard. I think the hardest thing about it is the constant panic/guilt you feel.
I've never had this kind of thing before.
I am more stressed out now than I have ever been before in my life.
I am living in a period of fluctuating stress levels, some days I feel like I am only a little stressed and am coping, other days my stress levels are through the roof and I feel like I am drowning and cannot possibly save myself.

OH DEAR!

I don't realise I am stressed out all the time, but then when I find myself waking up in the morning at 8am in a panic because I need to study, I start to believe it.

ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAEEEEEERRRRR!!!!!

I was never good at handling stress. If anyone ever tells me they need to talk to me about something serious I completely flip out and can't handle it. If someone is mad at me, can't handle it. If I've potentially upset someone, can't handle it. If someone is having a hard time and I can't help them, I can't handle it.

The Honours Panic hits me in the early morning/late evening. It is the little voice that says: "YOU NEED TO DO MORE STUDDDDYYYY!!!! YOU AREN'T DOING ENOUGH!!!! AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
Its fueled mainly by a fear of failing, and it is terrifying.
I have had spells of Honours Panic that have led to near-hyperventilation. My being overdramatic does not help this.

The Honours Guilt is potentially worse though. I get this whenever I am not studying. Which, unfortunately, is too often. The little voice pretty much screams the same thing as the Honours Panic, only its more of a niggling. It also leaves me feeling really bad if I haven't studied enough at any given time.
Today for example, my lecture was cancelled because my lecturer is sick. I spent the day hanging out with people. When I drove home at 7pm, THE HONOURS GUILT SETS IN!
So while I eat my dinner I also do a reading and try to take down some notes.

Curse you Honours Guilt.
Its probably for the best that I have it though.

I am usually like this, still stressed but it doesn't show outwardly too much. I can laugh and smile and be happy, but if someone asks how I am I tell them I am BUSY BUSY BUSY. I lull myself into a false sense of security, thinking I can take a break from my study and it'll be fine.

NEK MINUTE...

I FEEL LIKE I'M FAILING AT LIFE! I HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH WORK! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PASS HONOURS IF I DON'T DO THE WOOOORRRRRKKKKK!!?!??!?! OH MY GOOOSSSSHHHHH!!!! !!#@$!#%$^$^*%&(#%&#

Yep. Its great.
But anyway, don't get me wrong, I am stoked I have the opportunity to be at Uni doing Honours, I just need to do some more work or the guilt will begin to set in again.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I SHOULD BE STUDYING!!!!
:)

Happy Birthday Joe!

Today is my good friend Joe's birthday.
He is sneaky about it though, doesn't have his birthday on Facebook.
The sad thing is, this might mean that the majority of his friends won't know its his birthday.

That's why I felt compelled to dedicate this blog entry to him.

I will also give a little fun story about Joe, seeing as that is what you all probably expect from me at this point.

This was taken at Joel's 21st in 2011. It was funny because I freaked out Huei (the photographer) because after she asked us if we wanted a photo I told her that it was awkward since Joe and I had just broken up. A few people in earshot instantly walked away from us. Hahaha, classic!

I don't remember the first time I met Joe, maybe he does, it wouldn't have been til my second year at University though. I began going to church more regularly once I joined Student Life, and because most of the friends I was making at Student Life also went to Elim Church, I got my ins with different people in that way.
Joe isn't exactly part of the Student Life crew, but he still associates with them. I honestly can't say how I became friends with him.
I know at some stage we became friends and he nicknamed me: Minion 23. I think this was a joke that implied he had 22 minions before me. Hahaha, as if!
But anyway...

I was Minion 23, and didn't know Joe very well, up until I moved in next door to him in my third year.
Our friendship was solidified by Joe introducing me to this awesome show called: How I Met Your Mother. Since I'd arrived in Dunedin weeks before University was set to begin, I spent a lot of my time hanging out with Joe, watching How I Met Your Mother. I even convinced him to make a deal with me, that neither of us were allowed to watch any episodes without the other. This carried on into the year until Season Six of the show finished. Joe and I didn't hang out so much after that, but it was still good bonding time.

Joe and me chilling in the Gables, 2011.

When I lived next door, Joe would CONSTANTLY hide behind doors so that when I came down stairs he would jump out (or simply walk out casually) and I would get a massive fright.

These days I don't see Joe as much as I'd like, we are both really busy and hardly ever hang out, but I still think he is a great friend and I wish him all the best. It is his birthday today, so I wanted to make him feel special somehow.
I don't plan on leaving the house today so this was the best thing I could think of...
YOU BETTER LIKE IT, JOE!

This was taken at Elim Student Camp 2012. It demonstrates Joe's awesome photo-bombing skills. Are you impressed?

p.s- Joella and Chloe I will dedicate a blog entry to you guys sometime in the future. Just be patient. ITS JOE'S BIRTHDAY! GO AND HUG HIM!