Somewhere Over the Rainbow

As the days tick by into weeks and weeks into months, I have somehow gotten here. In just less than a month I'll be heading off to the "big wide world"! (I hear they have stocked supermarkets and working buses there).

University has been my dream since I was little. I've always loved learning and always loved being around those who have a lot to teach. How blessed I am to be going to one of the best universities in one of the loveliest cities in the country to learn about my passion! Everyday I feel so grateful and blessed. The word blessed here is one of importance.

I believe that this wonderful opportunity has not simply occurred through the work of my hands or that of others' alone, but from the work of God's hands. He has put so many opportunities before me this year which have led to my successful application. Opportunities such as a "chance" meeting with a graduate of Edinburgh University's Film & TV Course who has been able to help me critique and better my work for my application; surrounding me with the right people at the right time in order to produce the films for my application; turning me away from a university I had originally intended as my first choice and showing me why; guiding me to another university (Edinburgh University) which coincides with my career goals better and will offer me greater opportunities relating to my career. There are so many more ways I have seen God shine through this whole process this year. It has been a complete journey of faith, growth and blessings in many different ways.

You may still be wondering about the title of this post. You see, every time I was approaching a new stage of my application, feeling anxious about the future or simply just needed to know God was still there beside me, a rainbow would appear in the sky - on that day or in that week - and always just after I had been praying about the situation. That to me is not a coincidence, it is a God-incidence.

God sent Noah a rainbow as a reminder of a promise he made to him (Genesis 9:12-17) and in the same way, each rainbow I have witnessed in the midst of fear or uncertainty has reminded me of God's promise to us: "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

So as moving day continues to draw near, I will find comfort in knowing that I am not alone in any of this, but that God is with me and He will guide me. So I will simply let go and let God.

People Pleaser | Mollie'sThoughts

Hello everyone.

It's been a while. I'm glad to be returning after lots of university application organising - applied to all my unis now, hooray! Today I thought I'd do a Mollies Thoughts post as it has been a very long time since I last wrote one. Today's post is about people pleasing.

Since being little, I have always enjoyed helping to make other people happy. Everyone does; there's no feeling like putting a smile on someone else's face. Being a people-pleaser is a noble profession and in a world of many "how will this benefit me"s, it is an occupation which could do with more takers. It is not, however, an easy job.
People pleasing is, just as the name implies, pleasing other people even sometimes at the cost of your own happiness. This is really what I want to talk about today. Sometimes in the process of trying to please others we can forget that we also need to be happy ourselves. It's not selfish, it's life. No one is responsible for other people's happiness. We are responsible for not negatively affecting someone's happiness, but it is not our job to create it. That is far too much pressure for one person to take on. Nobody can make everyone happy; nobody can please everyone. There are going to be times in life when what you want isn't what someone else wants and there is nothing you can do about that.  This is something we all have to cope with because in life we change and we grow and in order to do this you can't question every move you make because somebody else might not like it. Life is yours to make and life is yours to live. So long as you're a kind and compassionate person, there is nothing more anyone can ask of you. A way of making others happy is by being your fun and happy self and you cannot be that if you spend your life shaping yourself to other people's expectations.
Live for you.

Just something I've been pondering recently. I will see you soon now that I'm a little more organised again. Until then,

Happy-Sad

Hello everyone.

So I'm not too sure what to do with myself today. There have been lots of different emotions - both happy and sad - and it's only 11:11. (Make a wish!) Today is the day that Kirsty (my bestfriend) is leaving to move into her accommodation in time to begin university. So this morning I got up bright and early to meet her at the ferry terminal so that I could see her before she goes. I'm glad I did have a reason to get up so early because it was such a beautiful sunny morning with one of those really Autumn-y orange sunrises.

So after a lovely short walk down to the bus stop at 8:30 in the warm sunshine I was on my way to see Kirsty. During the bus journey there I told myself "Right, pull it together. Don't start crying and being all pathetic." and I was all ready. That was until Kirsty came to meet me at the terminal and within 2 seconds of her sitting next to me, we were both blubbering and hugging and laughing at how pathetic we were being and then hugging again. We must have looked like a couple of loonys. I then gave Kirsty some little presents: A friendship bracelet of which I made a matching one for myself and another one of our bestfriends (so mainstream, i know), a card with a Smurf, naturally, on the front as Kirsty loves a good smurf and a letter which I told her she wasn't allowed to open until she had got on the ferry.

The beautiful sunrise.

 After that, it was time for Kirsty to go back to her car with her parents and get on the ferry so after another hug and some more tears off she went. I stood in the carpark and we waved to each other until she got on the ferry and then again as the ferry left. *sigh* I'm so happy for her to be beginning such a big step in her life and I know that she will have a fabulous time! I'm also excited to visit her and see her accommodation in a week or so when her course starts.

I will miss her lots and lots though.

It's not all sad today though! Now I'm back home and packing the last bits a pieces into my suitcase in time for travelling to Rome tomorrow! Ahh. So excited. Though trying to squeeze everything into a bag that cannot exceed 10kg is a bit of a strain for someone who packs about that much just to stay one night at a friends...
I am planning to blog about what I'm packing either later today or tomorrow once I'm in Rome. Either way there will be a few bonus posts up this week! Until then my lovelies,


Mollie♥

Kindness | Mollie'sThoughts

Hello everyone.

As promised, I’m here with a bonus post which will be a more regular occurrence! For this bonus post (which also happens to be my 20^th post), I thought I’d do another ‘Mollie’s Thoughts’ edition focusing on kindness.

The word “kind” is one that we say many many times in our sentences and it is one of those go-to words that just springs to mind and is recognised by everyone. It’s a word that is one of the first we use when listing a friend’s personality traits – kind, thoughtful, funny etc or to round up a letter/ e-mail ("kind regards,"). We use this same word so many times that sometimes we can just use it like any other, without much thought or attention; we forget it’s real importance and meaning.

The online dictionary’s definition of kindness is:   “The act of being friendly, generous and considerate.”

In today’s world, everyone seems to always be in a hurry without even enough time to say a passing “hello” to a neighbour. But I think it’s so important to always make time to show people a little kindess.

For all we know, the other person could be having a terrible day and your kind smile and cheerful “hello there” could be just what they need to pick themselves back up! We all know that scenario very well don’t we? We’ve all been there and felt how much of an impact a strangers’ kindness can have. We also know the impact of when someone simply avoids an act of kindness because they’re being too self-focused to notice/help you. For example, if you’re carrying heavy books through a corridor behind someone and they simply let the door swing shut behind them rather than holding it for you. Or when you’re in a rush somewhere and you’ve dropped something and though people around you have noticed, they keep quiet - leaving you to realise what you’ve done yourself about 50 steps later.

It’s these simple acts of kindness that can make or break someone’s day so why don’t we make the effort to be more "friendly, generous and considerate" to others and make a difference?

We all know a smile is infectious, but so is kindness! When we demonstrate an act of kindness, it will touch and inspire those around us to go on to do something kind for someone else; the potential for a whole train of kind actions and happier people is held in the hands of someone who offers a tissue to a stranger who is sneezing or says “thankyou” to someone who serves us at a checkout.

Adults spend most of their time teaching their little ones to “say please and thankyou” and “don’t be rude” but we ourselves let our actions slip sometimes. So next time the occasion arises, let’s give a stranger a smile, help someone who looks lost, say our pleases and thank yous and hold the door open for someone whether they’re holding heavy items or not. Let’s bring back the old-fashioned manners and courtesy that Britain is famous for and let's show everyone around us some kindness.

20 Acts of Kindness

Now, as this is my 20th post on my blog I thought, why not incorporate it into this theme? So this week (by next Monday), I challenge you to carry out 20 significant acts of kindness and either blog them and link it back to this post (if you're a blogger), leave them in the comments or even write them down somewhere such as a notebook if you'd rather keep them personal and let's see how many people's lives you're able to touch in a positive way in one week! You can also write down their reaction as well if you'd like.

Everyone wants to change the world, so let's begin with baby steps and help make some people smile this week!

Mollie

♥

P.S. I'm so grateful to have this blog and have reached even a small milestone of 20 posts! I'm even more grateful to have every one of you who reads my blog and I want you to know that you're all very special to me.
Don't forget to follow me on Blog Lovin' or add my blog to your 'reading list' if you have an account on blogger! See you soon. xx

7 Things I Love About Summer

Hello everyone.

I hope you've had a lovely, sunny week! I also hope you had the chance to read my first post in the Mollie'sThoughts series (if you missed it then there is a link HERE) and enjoyed it. If you don't know what this series is, it is (going to be) a collection of posts where I talk about issues that I feel very strongly towards for example yesturday's was about being your own bestfriend. If you'd like to follow these posts, look for the titles containing "Mollie'sThoughts".

Now, back to this post. 7 Things I love about Summer. There are  of course lots more than just 7 things I love about summer but I don't want to keep you here all day so here are some of my favourite things about summer- in no particular order.

1. Summer clothing - namely dresses and playsuits.

(Clockwise: George at Asda, Primark, Ebay but maker is "Influence", George at Asda...cheap and cheerful. My kinda thing.)

I love that in the warm weather, dresses and playsuits become a practical item of clothing because I just love them! They keep you cooler whilst still looking stylish. I'm always on the look-out for new summer dresses and playsuits as I think they look cute and girly and can be dressed down for daytime and glammed-up for evenings. I am particularly fond of ones with prints on mine (if you can't already tell...).

2. Summer music

 I find that in the Summer months I tend to listen to music a lot more. I think it's because my taste in music is very swingy and summer-y anyway so the songs seem to fit the surroundings better in the summer. For me, there's nothing like listening to a bit of Eliza Doolittle whilst walking down the sun-streamed beach!

My personal favourite artists/songs include:
-Eliza Doolittle (all of her songs)
-Corinne Bailey Rae (all of her songs)
-Nicki Minaj: Starships
-Caro Emerald: Riviera Life
-A Fine Frenzy: What I Wouldn't Do
-Ariana Grande: The Way
- Taio Cruz: There She Goes
...to name but a few.

3. All the beautiful colours

I love seeing the grass look greener, the sky and sea looking bluer and the flowers looking brighter. It's a beautiful sight to behold and I can't resist taking a few snaps of the beautiful views and sights around Arran. Well, I say a few, but I often see something that catches my eye and end up taking about thirty photos of it - no exaggeration. Everything's just so gorgeous!

4. Waking up and going to bed with the sun still shining

I'm not one of these people who want to block out the light in the morning when I'm trying to have a lie-in or who curse the sun's brightness when trying to get to sleep. In fact, I'm quite the opposite! I love getting up early to watch the sun rise and I will happily have my curtains wide open whilst I'm trying to sleep. You see living in Scotland, we don't always get much sun so I always make sure to make the most of it. Also, there's nothing like waking up with the warmth of the suns rays tickling your nose.

5. Bright and pastel summer nail colours

Clockwise in top photo. MUA in Bold Blue, Coral colour from a Boots "Colour Unlimited" boxset, MUA in Ameretto Crush, Rimmel Lasting Finish in Pear Drop and OPI Nail Laquer from a special Spiderman edition boxset.

There's something about having coral, powder blue, mermaid green and peachy pink nails that just makes me so happy. I love Spring/Summer because the pastels and neons come out to play and though I'm a sucker for deep reds and auburns in the Autumn/Winter months, there's nothing like having a pop of colour on your pinkies. Unfortunately for me, we are not allowed to wear nail varnish where I work and so on my days off I make the most of it by throwing on some bold beauties.
My personal favourite look from the colours above is painting my ring finger nails in the Bold Blue by MUA and painting the rest of my nails in the coral colour from the Colour Unlimited set from Boots.

6. Beach days

There's nothing like kicking of your flip-flops and walking bare foot along the beach with the sand between your toes and the sea washing over your tired, warm feet. Or building sandcastles (you're never to old for a good sandcastle) and sand sculptures and burying your feet in the warm sand just to have your toes peep out whenever you wriggle them. Bliss. It's also great fun to swim in the sea in the summer because despite the often freezing temperatures of the water, it is often a refreshing and welcomed relief from the heat. But see if that seaweed comes anywhere near me...

7. Spending time with friends

Last, but definitely not least. I don't know about you but I always seem to be much more sociable during the summer months. I'm like a hedgehog who's come out of hibernation and is ready to mingle with my prickly friends though, I'm glad to say my friends are much smoother than your average hedgehog.
Wow. That got weird fast.
Anyway, my point is, there always seems to be so much more to do in summer and with the days getting longer there's all the more time to do these things. I'm privileged to have made some really great memories already this summer and I am treasuring every moment of them. My time with my friends is all the more important to me just now because pretty soon they'll be leaving the island and going off to do their own thing whether that be uni, college, a job etc. whilst I'm staying put - or at least that's the plan just now.
I've been blessed with some truly amazing friends and I cannot express how much I love and cherish them being in my life.

***

So that's everything I love about summer in a nutshell! Well, my main favorites anyway! I'd love to hear your top 7 favourite things about summer too! Feel free to leave a comment telling me yours.
Until next week, I hope you have a great couple of days and make many happy memories.

Mollie

♥

Be Your Own Bestfriend | Mollie'sThoughts#1

Hello my lovely readers.

This is technically a "bonus" blog today as it is not yet Thursday (when I usually upload) so I am technically not late. Technically.

As promised I am writing my first installment of "Mollie's Thoughts" today - how exciting! - and I thought I would begin  by talking about something we should all try to focus on -being your own bestfriend.

(This is not my photo but I found it on various instagram pages so I'm not sure where it's original source is.)

Being your own bestfriend is something we have all heard about from inspiring youtubers and celebrities and read about in the occasional motivating articles we find in magazines. It is not, however, something we always put it into practice. 

Being your own bestfriend isn't vain or selfish in anyway and it doesn't mean sending our friends packing just to sit in a corner and hug ourselves -even though hugs are the best. It's about putting your wellbeing and your happiness first in order to maintain your mental health and to prevent you from feeling rubbish about yourself.

Sometimes, for whatever reason, we can have those days where we look in the mirror and just don't like ourselves. We begin to point out our flaws and re-live everything we've done wrong and everything that we'd like to change. It's when the little voice in the back of our mind speaks up and tell us we're not pretty, we have no friends, we have no talent, we can't achieve our dreams etc. and if we're not careful, we can begin to believe it. 

So let's think about this for a moment. Let's imagine that we said the things we tell ourselves to someone else. Imagine you told your bestfriend that they were fat, ugly, useless, alone etc. Do you think they would still be your bestfriend? The answer, unless you have a one in a million, should be no. We would never tell our bestfriend cruel things about themselves and yet we can quite easily sit and say those same hurtful things to ourselves. Nobody wants to hear that; nobody should have to hear that. So why do we do it to ourselves? Why do we make ourselves feel rubbish when we're the only person that we are guaranteed we will always be around? Why do we bully the one person we're going to spend every minute of our lives with? Life would be so much easier and we would be so much happier if instead of being our own worst enemy, we became our own best friend.

So instead of dwelling on mistakes we've made, let's learn to laugh at ourselves and learn from them. Instead of telling ourselves that we look terrible today, let's tell ourselves that we'll try to be extra beautiful on the inside. Instead of treating ourselves and our worries with little respect, let's make ourselves feel special and learn to love our quirks, flaws and weaknesses equally to our strengths - just as we would a friend. Because that's what being a friend is all about; accepting and loving the other person for who they are - flaws and all.

Let's give it a go! I challenge you (once you've finished reading this post) to write down 10 things you love about yourself (either in your diary, on the back of a bus timetable or even better, in a comment below). It can be anything from your smile to the way you make a mean cheesecake - anything. You deserve to know everything that makes you special and who knows you better than you? 

People come and go in our lives, but we will never be without ourselves so why not make life better by showing ourselves some love?

Mollie

♥

The First Day of Summer

Hello everyone.

So, following my last post which was a little deeper and thoughtful I have decided that once a month I am going to build up a series of posts under the heading “Mollie’s Thoughts”. (Please leave your jokes about how that time scale may reflect how little I do some thinking…)  These posts will address those issues I have strong feelings for and that really matter to me such as, the idea of living for you, not to please others as discussed in my last post. Is that something you would be interested in?

Anyway, back to business. This week began with the first all-day rehearsal on Sunday for the school play I’m in (The Importance of Being Earnest) which is something I look forward to every year when I’m in a school show as it used to give us some hope that school was nearly finished for Summer and also it is a time when everyone in the show can mingle and chill out whilst doing something that we all love – acting in the play. I especially love it this year as I am doing the play with my best friends.

The weather was really beautiful on Sunday as it has been on-and-off this week and so after rehearsals me and my friends decided to go for a swim in the sea for a few hours and it was lovely.

Up until then, on sunny days I have always been working or completing art coursework but Sunday was the first day when I could relax and enjoy one of the hopefully many to come sunny days and so for me it was the first day of Summer.

 Speaking of the school show, it only yesterday dawned on me that it is in fact less than a week away. This time next week we’ll be performing our second show and in true show business manner, we are not feeling very ready. I am now beginning to count my blessings that I have a smaller part! I cannot wait though and would like to encourage any Arran readers to come and see it at the High School on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night – or even all three if you’re of a particularly theatrical demeanour.

On the topic of not being ready, I am ashamed to say that I have only just finished editing Fiona’s video in the past few days following her Butterfly Tree Tea Party a few weeks ago (You can read about the day HERE). It was not an easy task I can tell you because the software I was using kept crashing and so I had to re-load everything and footage kept refusing to upload etc. but it is now done and delivered and it will be up on my channel tomorrow sometime. 

Me and my parents visited Fiona and Pete (her husband) an hour or so ago and they seemed to really like it so it was all completely worth it! Especially if it can be used to help raise more money for The Butterfly Tree Charity! A copy of the video is even being sent to the charity in Zambia! How amazing is that? Lots of excitement there.

So that’s pretty much everything in my life this week for this life post - well, everything of interest, even though I’m sure you would love to hear about what I had for dinner last night or how many hours I worked this week.

I have lots to look forward to this week - the school show as I mentioned, a much needed sleep-over/catch-up session with my friends, a party on Saturday and next weekend my School Leavers Do! I shall have much to report in my next post. Until then I hope you have lovely sunny weather and have a great week.

Mollie

♥

Highschool Memories

Hello everyone.

How have you been spending your week? I’ve spent mine chilling out, studying and planning for the future. I’ve also spent a large proportion of my time wondering around the house thinking “what should I do?!”. This has been my first week of no-school since leaving (read about my last day HERE) and it’s fair to say I am missing the structure of a school day. It’s so easy to get distracted at home and for plans to be delayed with the excuse, “I have plenty of time”. Deary me. I’ve decided I’m going to take the necessary measures and begin scheduling my day more effectively and sticking to that schedule. I hope this is just a phase.

In other news I found out this week that I have in fact got the job I applied for! Yay! This means I can spend my summer waitressing with three of my best friends.

Anyway, to the point of this post, I would like to share with you my experience and memories from my time at Arran High School.

I began my first year of high school in 2007. This was a terrifying time for me as I was not only entering into a new school but I was entering into school itself. I was home-schooled with my two sisters from primary six to primary seven so I had not experienced being in a school building and learning with people other than my sisters and parents for two years. Scary stuff. I remember on the three full practice days at high school when everyone else was dressed in their primary school uniform I was dressed in a white shirt feeling very out of place. I also remember for the first time hearing someone from my old primary swear and being shocked to the core. How innocent I was.

Luckily for me I managed to make friends quite quickly as most of the girls in my year were lovely and welcoming. I remember that we all used to meet at the front of the high school in the morning and the boys would all meet a few feet away from us (I mean, they wouldn’t want to catch our girl-germs would they?) and whenever someone arrived, we would all hug them as though we hadn’t just seen them the day before.

“Darling it’s been so long…*kiss kiss*”

My first-year of high school went pretty well and I met lots of friends who are some of my best-friends today. My class was also the first first-year class in the new high school which was built just behind the old (very old) one.

   

My second-year was very much the same; me and my friends spent our lunch-times on the swings or slide outside whilst taking lots of photos, I got into bother about wearing various scarves and necklaces in an attempt to jazz-up my uniform, I was still very shy and quiet when not around my best friends and boys were still an un-known species. Me and my friends also took part in the school's Stars In Their Eyes contest as "Girls Aloud plus 1". I can't believe we had the courage to do that back then!

Third-year was when we got to choose some of our subjects for the first time. It was in my third-year that I got to take business management for the first time and met the very inspiring and lovely teacher of that subject. That was also the year that I first took part in one of the school shows. It was We Will Rock You and me and some of my friends were in the chorus so we were on stage a lot with lots of different costumes. I absolutely loved it and have taken part in every school show since: Midsummer Nights Dream, Wizard of Oz and this year’s Importance of Being Earnest.

Fourth-year was when I had my first proper boyfriend. He was called Robbie and we went out for 6 months. I also experienced exams for the first time with my Standard Grades and despite all the sleepless nights and tears, I didn't do too badly!

I uploaded my first Youtube video in fourth-year too.

Fifth-year was the year of the “real” exams though-Highers and Intermediate 2s. I took Higher Art and Design, Business Management, Graphic Communication and English and Intermediate 2 Maths. With a lot of hard work I managed to achieve 3 As in Art, Business Management and English, a B in Graphcom at Higher and an A in my Intermediate 2 Maths.

This was also the year that I feel I began to find myself as a person and realise my love for film-making. My confidence grew a little more in fifth-year and I applied to become a prefect. However, to my utter disappointment, I wasn’t successful.

In sixth-year I re-applied and this time I was successful! I also applied for the role of Head Girl and after an interview stage I was made Deputy Head Girl and one of my current best-friends was made Head Girl! That more than made up for being turned down as a prefect in fifth-year to me.

This year, me and my best-friend set up a Scripture Union group in our school with the help of our other best-friend (Miss Head Girl who I previously mentioned) which has been a goal of mine since I was little. It turned out to be successful and I’m hoping to continue supporting it during my gap year!

I also had the amazing opportunity to take part in a short-film with my friends in our Island’s McLellan Festival. I got to learn some film-production skills, use film equipment and act as the character Rosalind in the film. It was truly amazing to be a part of. My name suggestion for the film title also ended up being the chosen one!

Now here I am a week on from my last day of school. It really has been the best time of my life so far and I have so many amazing memories. I also have some truly amazing friendships which I am so grateful for.

Now I can’t wait for my class’ Leavers Do Party in June!

I hope you’ve all had a lovely week and I’d love to hear some of your memories from high school in the comments!

Mollie

♥