Sorry, have to do this again!

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Sorry everyone, but I changed the blog url (because how did "the happy chatter" make sense?!), so now I have to do this again...

Merry (late - sorry) Christmas!!!

So, I'll start this belated post by saying I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and that Santa got you all the presents you wanted. 

I also had a good Christmas, although it didn't go quite to plan. 

If you don't live in Britain or Southern England you may not have heard what happened over the past few days. Well, without having to go into too much boring detail, there was a big storm. Aka, an event that messes everything up...

If you're not from the UK, you may also not understand the British's weird obsession with pantomimes (I have nothing against them though - I love them). As a family, we always go to our local one every year. But due to complications with the storm, we didn't. 

Then came the powercut, which left thousands of homes without electricity or heating over Christmas. This meant that we had to shower at my auntie's house and then go home for Christmas Eve, which was quite exciting;) . 

I have to say though, it didn't go so badly. We got our electricity back that night, but there were many who didn't, so I'm so sorry to any of you reading this if you were one of those unfortunate families; I hope you had a wonderful time despite it.

So there's my little life update for you! I'll leave you with some arty-farty festive photos (Bit of alliteration for you there, woop woop).

Much love, the (very) happy blogger xxxxx

Ps: a 'what I got for Christmas' post is on the way - plus a possible product review (because I've never done one before and it might be fun haha)!

My Bucket List

So, as the title of this post so helpfully suggests, I have a bucket list.
 
But rather than bore you all with endless text, I thought I'd switch it up a bit and use illustrations (on Paint - so they're not fantastic, ie, now is not the best time to admit that I am actually doing an art GCSE):

1. 
2. 
3. 

Hoping that you've recovered from how awful those drawings were, I'll just...um... stop now. 

Thanks for reading! Sorry this was so random and short, but you have no idea how long it takes to draw an inaccurate stickman on Paint... Much love and hugs,

The (weirdly proud of herself) happy blogger xxxx

PS: If you had absolutely no idea how to decipher these illustrations (I don't blame you), they are: (in order, because I feel oddly organised for once) 1. Climbing a mountain of some sort, maybe start with Snowdon, then Ben Nevis, then maybe even go onto Kilimanjaro or possibly Everest if I'm feeling especially reckless; 2. Skydiving  - let's take a moment to appreciate the attempted perspective with that plane; 3. To see the Northern Lights (I looked at lots of pictures of this for inspiration for my wondrous artwork, and in the process I've made myself even more depressed about it and desperate to go, whoopsies).

PPS: I changed my theme! Great joy all around!

Rant - Unhappy chatter moment

Ok, so I don't want all of my blog to be this serious, but I need to get this out of the way.

I don't usually cry but I am at the moment, because someone I know just openly disapproved of homosexuality in front of me, and it shocked me that someone i love so much could have such a different opinion to me.

I'm straight, but of course that doesn't make a difference. I'm EXACTLY the same as someone who likes another of their sex - we're both humans, live on the same planet, and are fundamentally the same. How does being attracted to others of their sex make someone different? And why are people so adverse to it? It doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

Granted, if someone's religion or fundamental family or national belief is against homosexuality then I'm not accusing them of anything, but if they're against it simply because they feel they should be then maybe they could rethink the circumstances. After all, people can't help who they fall in love with.

Anyway, it's someone's own decision when they choose what to think of something - I'm just saying it's not fair to them or the 'something' in question if they don't really, truly believe it, but feel they need to due to peer pressure.

But on the subject of homosexuality or LGBT people, as I was saying earlier, they are no different. 'Gay' and 'lesbian' have become labels which people use without thinking twice. It really doesn't matter; they are the same. How many times does this need to be said for people to understand?

As for same sex marriage, I fully support it. I was moved to tears (yet again!) the other day when I saw photos of two men getting married. Their happiness was just as great as that of a heterosexual couple, and two men doing their first dance looked no different to a man and a woman. In fact, their matching suits made them look maybe more stylish!

All I'm saying is, every little step towards changing people's opinions is a positive one - so please do whatever you can. Even if it's just mentioning same sex marriage more to your friends and family or just promoting it and homosexuality in general to make them more widely accepted, it all contributes.

There are many charities which support the LGBT community, but I feel they still don't get the recognition they deserve. A prominent example is Straight But Not Narrow, which uniquely encourages straight people to openly say it's okay to be gay. They have many celebrity ambassadors, including Josh Hutcherson, the late Cody Monteith, and Victorious star Avan Jogia. It's charities like this that help spread awareness and acceptance.

To finish my little rant, I have a friend who feels just as strongly as me about this subject. She has said many times, and I'm sure she will keep to this, that she refuses to get married until everyone in the world has a right to marry whoever they want to. You may think this is a drastic thing to do and that it won't help anything, but actually it's acts like this that really help. When people see how strongly she feels, they may stop and think and reconsider their own opinions, and make the world a happier and safer place for those who are not appreciated enough just because of who they fall in love with. And that's definitely an improvement.


If you agree with me and/or want others to, please feel free to share this and spread the message.

Thanks for reading, I'll try not to make all of my posts this serious!

Much love xxxx
 The (not so at the moment) happy blogger

Ps: the link to an amazing video is here: http://youtu.be/CnOJgDW0gPI

And another, more recent video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWIaYZEHOIg&list=UUe9y167ik8jcUYMxKLX6iGg (I'm writing this bit on the 25/2/14)

Also, the link to the Straight But Not Narrow website is here: http://www.straightbutnotnarrow.org/home

You can donate or buy merchandise, and there are loads of links and videos on how you can help:) thank you if you do!

Christmas Tree Antics & Lots and Lots of Questions (sorry)

Hey everyone,

I did promise a photo of our Christmas tree, so here we go:

Before... (I apologise about the generic snapchat format, when you're a teenager you kinda have to conform to society with at least one app, let's face it - although if you don't, well done to you)

The crazy amount of tinsel we have - if it was left to me I'd literally just put this and a few lights on the tree

We need to light this! (Note to self: would have made a much better photo if lit, silly me)

And finally, the tree... after!

So we're quite happy with it, if we do say so ourselves. 

Sorry this has been such a short post - I break up from school on Tuesday so hopefully I'll be able to write more in the holidays.

Also, I would be so, so, so, so, so (you get the picture) happy if you could comment or anything and suggest thoughts on this: I love writing, and becoming an author would be a dream job, so would anyone actually read them if I put up the occasional excerpt from a budding story? Just a thought. I also love art and quite like photography, so maybe if I put up a bit of my work on that more visual side of things? Also, I know what you're thinking, and I don't massively like my current blog theme either (but all creds to you if you created it...) but haven't had time to change it. 

If you read this, then you're a wonderful person and I wish you many hugs. 

Thanks ever so much, much love,

The (very) happy blogger xxxx

Ps: should I end it with Xs? Sorry, SO MANY QUESTIONS -  I can't handle them either (which is sort of why I'm asking you them, but meh, you get the point).

Whoops, this seems to have re-published itself, when I did actually write it in December. Sorry!

Dennis, Maurice and Brian

So, the title of this post refers not to my numerous secret husbands (whoops, not so secret anymore...), but instead to the best friends, ie, reindeer I met today when we got the Christmas tree. I took a ridiculous amount of photos, but here are my favourites:

Dennis, whom every single one of these photos is of, because his antlers (no offence to the others) were the most impressive.

Dennis and Maurice (foreground)

The observant of you would have noticed that Brian doesn't actually feature in any of the photos (sorry Brian) because I think his antlers are still developing. Next year, Brian, next year.

 

If you're wondering, yes I did come up with the names. I thought Dennis was naturally an impressive name, so the big one gets that as a title....

 

We did actually get a tree, it's not like we spent all our time looking at reindeer! But I'll put photos and jargon about that in the next post.

 

Thanks for reading lovely ones, much love

 

The (very) happy blogger xxx

The Countdown to Christmas

So, if you aren't aware, (in which case I could start to debate your ability to live under a rock) it's nearly Christmas. But do you know what that means? It's still NEARLY Christmas, not actually Christmas. This period is always a frustrating one for me, and (I'm sure) many others, mainly because school work still exists, everyone is ill, and it's dark and cold, but still not Christmas.
     Now, don't go mistaking me for a Grinch - I adore Christmas, and certainly the later run-up to it, but this little bit before, say, the 13th of December is just exhausting.

Last week I went for a stroll around town and saw these Christmas lights:

Sorry they're a bit blurry, I was trying to avoid looking really touristy taking a photo of lights with my phone...
    Anyway, so the lights and pretty shop windows excited me.

   But ANOTHER thing (believe me, I'm not normally this ranty - sorry) that frustrates me about this time of year is the weather. I admit, I love wrapping up in cosy fur coats, scarfs, hats; all that jazz, but when you're shopping, you're cosy as soon as you enter a shop and BAM, you're boiling. To stop the inevitable, embarrassing perspiration you of course take off your coat, and do the awkward coat-draped-over-the-arm thing whilst trying to balance everything else you're holding. If you're awkward like me, this makes you panic that you'll run into someone or something will surprise you and you'll drop everything and be embarrassed and run out of the shop without paying for anything and nearly get arrested. Sometimes it's hard being a teenager.
    Then, when you leave the shop, it's TOO COLD and you have to awkwardly balance everything else or put it all on the ground (at the risk of, I don't know, a  winter buffalo attacking it) and put your coat back on. Then the whole process repeats again with every darn shop you go to.


Well, yes, that is my rant for today on some of the things I dislike about the run-up to Christmas, and this time of year in general.

I have to say it, but I'm new here, so if you took the time to very generously read this then I love you and want to give you a hug (all that is mentioned in my description too - what wondrous planning ahead!). Also, any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated, because I'm sure you're all far more experienced in the art of blogging than me, and I would be honoured to read your beautifully typed words (getting a bit poetic - shows I'm tired).

Hmm, I really should think of a better way to end this. Ah well, I'll find one hopefully. Until next time, much love xxx

The Very Happy Blogger

ps: Just realised my blogger name is kind of ironic considering the fact that I just did a rant. I promise to not make every post a rant in the future! (I pinky promise you, if you're into that kind of thing)

♡♡♡

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