What 2014 Has Taught Me

So it's the end of another year here on Earth and oh boy has it ever been a busy one for me! I honestly think this has been one of the most hectic years of my life, and one only has to look through one's photo albums for evidence of this. So much has happened over the last 365 days, and I feel as though a lot has been learnt (for me anyway). Not just academic facts, but things on humourous topics, as well as the subtleties of life. I'm here today to share a few of these with you, and hopefully by the end of reading this post you will have learnt something interesting too. And before you ask, yes, the number of points was intentional :)

1. The RSPCA advises 90 minutes to come in and choose a new furry creature to take home with you. Never has an estimation been so underrated. Instead of 90 minutes, plan for it to take 3-5 hours.

2. University is hard work, but worth it in the end. Studying is better than failing (or not doing as well as you would have hoped).

3. Never accumulate 47 spare notebooks. You will spend much of your free time searching for ideas on how to use them all.

4. Moving house is a pain. Throw out anything you don't need, and unpack boxes asap.

5. People are stronger and braver than they think they are. You always have the willpower to keep fighting whatever it is you are going through. With hard work and persistence you can make it through anything.

6. Friends come and go. That is okay. Not everyone you meet will be your friend forever. This is okay too.

7. Never lose your hope. It will come in handy when you least expect it.

8. Take every opportunity offered to you. Likelihood is that it won't come around again. This point stands whether you are talking about being offered a scholarship, the chance to go overseas, the opportunity to try something new, anything.

9. If you have the chance to be paid $30 for doing an online psychology study - do it! It may not seem like a heap of money, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it.

10. Talk to interesting people, ask them questions. You may not get the chance again.

11. Look at the washing & drying instructions before you wash your favourite dress. This may help avoid them from shrinking.

12. Don't procrastinate writing assignments. Often you lose marks for submitting them late. And get people to read through them before you submit. My teachers have talked about some very odd spelling and wording in essays they have marked in the past. Don't let yourself be one of those people!

13. Make a playlist of study and concentration music which works for you. This will be your saving grace when writing assignments and studying for exams.

14. Finally, don't let the world of academics swallow you whole! Take time out to have lunch, see plays, and laugh with your friends and family. They are your biggest support network.

And on that note dear readers I bid you all a happy new year. Here's to 2015!

5 Highlights of 2014

Since we are nearing the end of the year I thought it would be nice to have a little reflection of how it went, namely, what the best parts were.

1. Getting a cat

2. Going to Coronet Bay - this was just heaps of fun, a great way to relax with my friend before we started university.

3. Starting university

4. Going to Les Mis - nothing much to say about this, except that it was a heap of fun!

5. Visiting London - I think this was by far my favourite part of 2014. My family and I lived there for such a long time, and I hadn't been back since we left (7 years ago!) so it was so lovely to go back and catch up with old friends, and just explore from an 18 years old's perspective, rather than looking around as a 10 year old.

Let me know in the comments what your favourite parts of 2014 have been!

A Little Update

Hello dear readers! First off I would like to apologise for a complete lack of posts over the last week. Things have been really piling up over the last couple of days and I simply haven't had time to type up any new posts.

Yesterday my family and I celebrated Christmas. Now, most of our family lives overseas so there's only five of us in the house, which I honestly quite like - I don't know how on earth people manage to host Christmas lunches for the entire family!

We started out the day in true tradition, opening our stockings and watching some old family videos, before gathering around the tree to open our presents. Then lunch. Ohh lunch! This year we had a barbecue Christmas lunch for the first time and I must say it turned out deliciously. Everyone contributed a little bit - through salad making, sausage cooking, dessert baking. And all the food turned out great!

Anyway, I know that hearing about what I did for Christmas isn't the most exciting thing in the world, so I'm going to end this post in a moment. But first, a quick overview of some upcoming posts.. German Christmas biscuits recipe, Christmas photography, Lost marathon wear, and highlights of 2014.

I hope you are all having a happy holiday season and I'll see you next time!

DIY Craft: Fairy Garden

A few weeks ago I watched this great tutorial by Dazzle DIY on how to make a fairy garden. I thought what she did was really neat and immediately wanted to make one of my own. I put it on my list of things to over summer. The other day I went to Bunnings with my mum to get some supplies. Admittedly, we were in a bit of a rush, so I couldn't get quite all the right things, but I'm happy with how it turned out, and hopefully I'll get a chance to make another one soon.

The tutorial is here, you guys should definitely check it out because this was such a fun project to do.

Chicken & Veggie Kebabs

Life has been slow lately, I'm doing a summer class, and working, but nothing much else has been happening. The best thing I've done so far was being on the media team/camera crew for my Church's christmas service. Although I was the only female amongst 14 guys (which wasn't as bad as it sounds), I actually really enjoyed myself this year. Ahh life... it's almost more enjoyable when life is stressful, because at least you're not sitting around doing nothing hey?

Anyway - on with the actual post!

Once again charged with making dinner I decided to turn to something a little more simplistic, yet still a little fancy. Kebabs were clearly the answer! I'm not going to include a recipe since you could probably tell what's in them and how to make them from the looking at the pictures, but if anyone desperately wants it, let me know.

Feeling Burnt-out

When we stress a lot, and focus all of our attention and energy into being active in our lives (whether this be through studying, working, doing art, or spending time with others) it is easy to get burnt-out. It happens to everyone at some point, and I believe that it is just a part of life that we will all go through.

If you're not too sure what I'm talking about, being burnt-out is when you still want to do things, you still want to achieve those good grades, you still want to write the next chapter of that book, but you just can't summon the motivation or energy to do so. It becomes this big struggle between what you want and what you can (be bothered) doing.

The best thing to do when this occurs is to take some time out for yourself. And when I say 'time out', I don't mean one afternoon, or going over to a friend's house, I mean take a whole week off (or at least a weekend).

Here are some of the things I do on my days off when I feel overwhelmed:

• Having bubble baths
• Going shopping or out to lunch/coffee with friends
• Making my favourite foods
• Catching up on all those tv shows
• Unplug from the social world - not checking emails, facebook, etc. as often as I usually would
• Reading my favourite books
• Sleeping in, not setting an alarm
• Going for walks in the parks that surround my house
• Not setting a huge agenda, doing what I feel like doing

Even if you end up falling behind on your workload or homework, it will be worth it in the end, because after your mini break you will feel more refreshed, and you'll be able to get things done a lot easier and more efficiently.

I thought this would be an important topic to talk about today because, as well as feeling burnt-out myself, this is a stressful time of year for many people - there is holiday homework to be done, work deadlines to meet, christmas parties to plan, etc. So I would encourage all of you who are feeling overwhelmed by life right now, to plan to take a week, or a few days, off from whatever it is that's causing you to feel that way.

May you all be feeling de-stressed and calmer soon xx

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

One of my favourite Christmas day traditions is getting up with my sister around 7am and rushing downstairs to look at all the goodies in our stockings. Actually, that's partly a lie. It's the whole family who gets up and opens stockings - we maintain that you can never be too old for Father Christmas!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you all a collection of ideas for small/not pricey items that you could put in a loved one's stocking this Christmas.

Listed Above:

Cookie Monster Socks // Love Me Sunglasses // Meow Meow Earrings // Pen Set // Novelty M&Ms // Luggage Tag // Cooking Timer // Nail Polish Set // Notebook // Comb

All things listed above are under $30. I know I go on a lot in my posts about prices, but I think it's important to be aware when it comes to money.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what your favourite gifts to put in Christmas stockings are!

Little Christmas Trees Cakes Recipe

These little christmas trees were the first of the holiday baking I have done this year. The last time they were made in our household was when I was about 10 years old, so they were a real treat to make again. The recipe is pretty simple, the hardest part is cutting out the shapes at the end.  So definitely give it a try if you are into celebrating christmas!

Little Christmas Trees

Adapted from: Usborne's Christmas Cooking Book

Makes: 10 trees, 16 presents

Time: 30 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking

Ingredients:

• 275 grams of self raising flour
• 225 grams of softened butter
• 3 1/2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 225 grams of caster sugar
• 3 drops of vanilla essence
• 3 drops of almond essence
• 4 eggs
• icing - I used the recipe listed for these cakes, but this didn't make nearly enough, so I would recommend using either pre-made icing, or make your favourite icing from scratch
• food colouring (green & any other colours)
• lollies for decorating

Method:

Step 1. Mix the flour, butter, milk, sugar, baking powder, vanilla essence & almond essence together.

Step 2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl with a fork then add them to the flour mixture and mix well.

Step 3. Pour the mixture into a large rectangular tin lined with baking paper and cook at 180 celsius for about 45 minutes.

Step 4. Once your cake has cooled, split the icing into separate bowls (the number depends on how many colours you want). Mix in a few drops of food colouring into each bowl.

Step 5. Split the cake into two sections, similarly to the photos below. One section will be for the presents, and the other for the trees.

Step 6. Ice the separate sections and then cut according to the image below (they did it the other way around - cut, then iced, but I found it easier to swap these steps).

Step 7. Decorate with an assortment of lollies and serve.

These cakes are best eaten within about 2-3 days of making.

Enjoy!

Quick Tips: Saving Money at Christmas

Buying presents for every single person you know plus getting food for any parties you attend at christmas time can really add up. As a student, I try to be conscientious about how much money I am spending on things, especially at this time of year, since christmas is such a big thing in my family.So here are some ideas for some cheap but good presents to give to someone, and also just general ways to spend money at christmas.

1. Budgeting
This point is probably the most important point. Make a budget and stick to it.

2.Team up with someone to buy a joint present for a mutual friend/family member

Doing this means splitting the cost of a present in half (or even more, depending on how many people you team up with)! I have done this on more than one occasion and it's such a good way to save a bit of money, even if you don't do it for everyone you know.

3. Hand make a gift or card.

Often handmade gifts and cards are the ones that are treasured the most. Personally, I love receiving a present that someone has made especially for me. The internet is littered with ideas if you are struggling to come up with any.
A couple of years ago my younger sister made me a denim bag covered in badges of things I liked out of a pair of jeans. This was such a great gift to get - she put so much work into it and it looks fantastic (I still use it now).

4. Have a potluck dinner
A potluck dinner is when you and your friends arrange to have a christmas dinner together and each bring a plate of food, and also agree not to bring gifts for each other. This is a good way to go if you are looking to save money because it means you aren't spending copious amounts of time or money on catering, preparing a large meal, and buying presents.

5. Make cookies in a jar.

I hadn't really heard about this until a few days ago, but I thought that it was such a neat idea, and if done right it can look so pretty! Here is a link to Connections We Share's chocolate chip cookie recipe. And don't limit yourself to just make cookies ones - this kind of thing can be done with brownies too (you might need a massive jar for a cake, so unless you have one, I would recommend keeping clear of that!). These are great to give to friends or family who love home baked goods, but either can't cook to save their life, or just don't have the time.

So there you go. Stephanie's top 5 tips to save money during the holiday season. Hopefully these will be useful for you and you can utilise them this year.

What I Made For Dinner

I love it whenever I am asked to make dinner at home. For me, there is something fun about coming up with a good combination of recipes that all fit together well enough to enjoy a good meal with your family, friends, or even by yourself.
So, the other day when I was charged with preparing dinner for everyone I headed to all the good food blogs I follow and checked out what recipes looked tasty. In the end I came up with sweet & sticky baked chicken drumsticks, bacon & cheddar macaroni, and cheese souffle.

Before this meal, I had never made a souffle in my life, so I was pleasantly surprised when it came out of the oven light and fluffy. When marinating chicken (and I learn this over and over ever single time I do a chicken that needs marinating time in the fridge) it is so important to actually let it marinate in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Not just for this chicken, but in general as well. I mean, it still tastes good without the full time, but somehow never quite as good as it could have been.
I really enjoyed making this, and somehow I had it all timed perfectly so that my sister could eat before going out. That was a feat I had never quite seemed to manage before. So yes! Progress is happening!

Recipe Links:

Bacon and Cheddar Macaroni

Sweet and Sticky Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Cheese Souffle