What I’ve been up to | Lockdown

2020 has taken a turn that no one expected.

For the purposes of the future 

- We are currently living through a global pandemic due to a virus called COVID-19 aka Corona Virus. As I am writing this we are currently on week 7 of lockdown which means not going to work/working from home and only going out for essentials. it's been weird. 

- As I am posting this I have no idea how many weeks it’s been I mentally disassociated in March. It's currently September and I'm back at work after having 12 weeks off.

I wanted to share a couple of things I have been doing during lockdown, not going to lie I wanted to be a lot more productive than I have been. I have been in the mindset of "i'm never going to have this much free time again..." so I cant decide whether to relax or be productive, i've decided to be a bit of both.

Driving

In January I passed my second test and bought a little red Suzuki Swift named: Taylor McQueen and having a car has been a real life saver for me this year. During lockdown I was able to safety travel to the supermarkets as well as I had somewhere I could be safe but out of the house. I went on endless drives as-well as just spending time at the beach in my car. 

Now we can socially distance within our bubbles it's been perfect as myself and my friends have been able to go for drives, go through drive thru's and just be in each others company without having to venture into the outside. 

Reading

I love reading and I kept wanting to just pick up a book and turn off for a while but I never knew what I wanted to read. The world of books is so vast I didn't know where to start, I decided to google 3 things I find intresting;  the 1920's, superpowers/fantasy and murder.

I found the book; The Diviners by Libba Bray 

I am about half way through and I am really enjoying it so far. I always find that reading before bed helps me switch off easier therefore fall asleep better so I've been loving that.

Entertainment 

Althought I've been trying to limit the time I am using screens, before lockdown I was doing really well due to being a work all day and then driving for 2 hours a day. Within the first week of lockdown my phone told me my screen-time was up around 300% I was gagged. 
Aswell as watching TikTok's for hours on end I have been watching lots of Disney Cruise Vlogs and Disney+ think im just bitter my Disney Land Paris trip was cancelled.

Evening Walk

I have been using my hour of government alotted hour of exerise to go on an evening walk and have a good natter on the phone. I've been trying to go a little later around 7/8 to try and limit the amount of people I could come into contact with not trying to get corona. I have loved this time to just chat with my friends and get some fresh air.
Due to lockdown restrictions starting to loosen I have been going in walks with my friends, meeting up for coffee or chilling in back gardens. Being able to see friends and family again has been a real game changer.

Gaming

I'm not the biggests gamer in the world my main gaming achievement is 100% in both Lego Harry Potter games, that being said Animal Crossing has once again taken over my entire life 200+ hours spent and really not that much to show for it. I used to love animal crossing on my Nintendo DS so when we were going into lockdown my want for a switch grew astronomically and my mum very kindly bought me one as an early birthday present and I have been addicted.
For my birthday in May my brother kindly bought me Luigi's mansion and my auntie Claire has kindly lent me some of her games to try out and I am loving it!

Volunteering 

My mum works in the NHS so once I was furloughed I decided to do something with all my free time and help out. I have been going into the practice two days a week (8 hours a week) calling patients ti see how they are doing during this time. I am really enjoying helping out, thankfully having previous work in a call centre has been really helpful!

Mental Health & Covid

Anyone with mental health issues will know that some days are better than others, I want to be more open and talk more about how my brain works on here as I find it helps me a lot to publically admit it to myself, my twitter can sometimes be a personal diary.

Covid has really been a rollercoaster in regards to my anxiety, I really struggled at the beginning panicked beyond belief I was going to catch it, as I think many people were. As the world started to change it and masks and social distancing have started to become more normal my anxiety started to calm a little.  

I am taking each day as it comes, we'll be alright.

Please speak up if you have any mental health issues people are great and they will help.


I want to remind you all that we are living in a pandemic you do not have to be productive! Use this time to do whatever you need to do, if that is sitting on the sofa watching Netflix all day, starting your own buisness or writing a book. Take this time to do what you need to do.

Stay safe and stay smart.

2019 Round-Up | 2020 Goals

I am truly shocked that another year has passed feels like yesterday I was leaving Leeds. I wanted to do a little look back upon what I have done and achieved since leaving Uni. Graduating with a 2:1 was amazing but I was left with the overall dread of what do I do now? what was it all for? was it worth it?

The thought of moving back home was daunting, I didn't know what to expect losing that freedom and going back to living under my parents roof but it's been totally fine, enjoyable actually. Since I work full time and basically spend the majority of my time out of the house it doesn't really feel like I've lost my "freedom". Now just under 2 years on and it's still so nice to be living back at the coast.

I felt a little lost when I first came back, I knew I wanted to be a photographer but I just didn't quite know how to get there. Although I did a Film and TV Studies degree I knew that wasn't my path anymore so I was driving away from my friends I have lived with for 2 years and the house that I loved, Chapel Lane baby we all miss you, it was just a lot.

However, a year on and it's totally Gucci. I wanted to give you a little update about what I've been doing with my life since I haven't really been blogging or posting on my personal instagram apart from stories of Amy's dog.

I have no idea where to start so let's just begin.


Job

So when I first moved home my relationship with work-life was rough, I was working two jobs one in retail and one in health care. Life without student finance is just hard but it was a great way to fill my days. I am a person who needs to be doing something, I can't imagine anything worse than sitting in bed all day on my own.

In October I finally secured a full time job, 35 hours a week earning enough to pay board, buy what I want and to be able to fund my photography business I have met so many amazing, funny people and it was just a laugh. Of course it's not my dream job but it doesn't make me miserable and that's all I care about.

Fast forward to October and I landed an image retouching job for a high-end fashion brand. It's not my perfect dream job but it's a start. I am really enjoying it I work more hours for more money but overall I have more work satisfaction. I'm praying I get to stay at this job for a good few years.

Friends & Family

I have to say I am truly blessed with the most amazing friends and family in the world. 2018 was so hard for all of us we lost some really important and incredible people last year but we all got through it together. I spend the majority of my time when not at work with my friends. I have gone down to Leeds a couple of times to see my uni pals and last winter I went down to Norwich to spend some time with Maddy, this year she came up to Newcastle and I think we've accidently created a tradition. I don't see my uni friends or my Vamps friends i.e Molly. As much as I would like but it's so much harder when you don't like 10 minutes away.

Lets all go on one big holiday? Cottage anyone?

Photography

I have been working really hard at my photography, when I first moved back up north I spent every waking moment I possibly could focusing on my photography work to a point where I was exhausting myself so I took a step back. Photography isn't as black and white as taking some pictures behind the scenes, I am messaging models, planning shoots, blogging, researching, learning new editing and shooting techniques, practising my editing, researching marketing techniques and building a website. Put that all on top of trying to be a functioning member of society it was just a lot for my brain to take in.
In 2019 I feel like my skill level has jumped mountains every new shoot I do I surprise myself  and as more and more people reach out to shoot I just feel this dream job might actually become a reality. Let's hope it doesn't crash and burn in 2020.

Mental Health

Okay its been rough but overall I have came a thousand miles even since leaving uni, yes I still have anxiety issues and I have the odd panic attack here and there but in all honestly I am a different person.
Since leaving uni I have done things I never imagined I'd be able to do i.e going to the cinema on my own, learning to drive, meeting models and so much more.
My mental health has came so far that sometimes even I forget I have anxiety issues, yes certain places or situations freak me out but it's hard to believe at one point I struggled to even leave the house.
Don't know about you but I am super proud of myself!

Life
This year in my life I have done a lot of things, 365 days is a long time lots can happen. I did some really fun things this year, from visiting Rome with my Dad, Florida with my aunties, London with Molly and Maddy visiting from Norwich. That being said I have loved all the little things, cinema dates, meals out, walks along the beach just hanging out watching horror films they are some of my favourite memories of 2019.

2020 Goals

I don't let myself make resolutions because I never ever stick to them, the classic "eat less chocolate" well I don't think i'm capable of doing that. However, every year I try and set myself little achievable goals that I hope to achieve by the end of the year.
- Pass my driving test
- Write more blog posts
-  See friends who live far away more
- Read more
& finally I want to continue to improve my mental health.


Here is a collection of photos from my 2018