Short & Sweet

So, not only have I given my wee blog a bit of an image change but I have given myself one too!

After a few years of having long/medium hair, I decided that I would go for something a bit different and get it much much shorter. There were several reasons: my hair was getting too long and thick to effectively manage and style, my ends were splitting due to the constant brushing as my hair would often tangle, it's been very warm recently and my hair was just too too warm and finally, I just felt like a change. 

There are going to be many changes happening in my life in the coming weeks as I head off to university, live on my own for the first time, meet new people, go to new places, learn new things etc. and so I thought, why not change my hair too?

Isn't it funny what a new haircut can do for your confidence and perspective? The cliche, "It's like a new me" is one that I am unashamedly embracing at the moment.

Change isn't so bad I guess - especially when it means you can save on a bucket load of shampoo.

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♥

Get Those Goals | Mollie'sThoughts

Hello everyone.

I hope you are all feeling very good about yourselves if you managed to reach the "20 Acts of Kindness" goal I set for you in last week's post- link. I've done my best to achieve it myself and I've found it very rewarding. I've also noticed that whilst focusing on doing more kind acts for others, I've been able to see all the kind acts that others do for me much more! It can be anything from paying someone a compliment to helping someone carry a heavy suitcase off of the bus.
I hope you enjoyed this challenge and found it rewarding too if you joined in and if you missed it, then set it as this week's goal - you won't regret it.

Speaking of goals, this is exactly the topic I would like to focus on for this week's "Mollie'sThoughts" edition. Although last week's goal was set to encourage everyone to put a bit more thought into demonstrating kindness, it was also to help illustrate this week's topic too - see, I do plan my posts in advance occasionally!

Goals are something we are all familiar with setting in a professional environment from agreeing the grade you hope to achieve in a class at school with your teacher to getting that promotion at work. We even set goals in our personal lives for things such as learning a certain skill, becoming the sort of person you want to be, saving up money to buy that new car etc. - basically, our dreams for the future. But the thing is, goals and dreams aren't the same thing. We could have a dream to be a successful musician for example and we could fantasise about being on stage in front of adoring fans, but if we don't take practical steps and set practical goals such as learning how to play the guitar, then all they'll ever remain is just dreams. Dreams are what we hope to achieve but goals are what make us achieve. Without goals, we'd have no direction.

That's why I think setting goals is so important in life. They keep us motivated, helps us to measure our successes and lead us in the right direction - forward. Not to mention that they help give meaning to our lives.

***

"Reaching for goals is an important part of strengthening self-confidence. It helps shape and update how you define yourself while at the same time helping you add to your sense of accomplishment." - Marci G. Fox, psychologist specialising in self-confidence building.

***

Everyone wants to feel like their life has purpose and everyone wants to make a difference somehow and what better way to assure yourself that you are achieving these things than to tick them off as you go along? It is a proven fact that simply crossing off items on a "to-do" list can increase your self-esteem significantly. This is because you are taking the time to appreciate what you have accomplished so you are able to feel good about every little milestone you cross.

That's something else to keep in mind, the size of the goal you are setting. To begin with you want your overall goal and as an example I'll share one of mine which is to increase the success and popularity of my youtube channel. Now if I just left my goal at that then I wouldn't know where to begin. That is why it is important to set yourself short-term goals aswell as long-term ones as these are what will eventually lead you to your overall goal. So in order for me to do this, I set myself monthly goals.
This began recently after I bought a new diary (half way through the year... but I needed one so I'm sure I can find a use for the unused months' pages) which I am absaloutely in love with but that is a different story. In my diary though, at the beginning of every month, there is a specific page dedicated to "My goals for this month" and I can't tell you how useful it has been! For someone as unorganised as me, being able to sit down and consider practical steps to achieving my long-term goals is so much more efficient and much less stressful that just making it up as I go along.
So continuing my example of my goal to improve my youtube channel, last month I set a goal to make at least one youtube video that month - a goal which I managed to achieve. This then led on to this months goal to do the same but with a video that is a little longer. These monthly goals will then continue and progress each time for however long it will take until I eventually achieve my overall goal!
It's not just about only setting big, long-term goals because though they're what you're eventually working towards, they aren't going to tell you how to get there. It's the job of the monthly, weekly and daily goals to get you there step by step. And as you cross those goals off week by week or month by month your confidence will increase as will your chances of achieving your dreams!

I strongly suggest (if you don't already) that you begin keeping a record of your goals weekly or monthly so that once you achieve your dream you can appreciate all the hard-work you have put in and you can see how far you've progressed.

Don't just follow your dreams, make them come true.

Mollie

♥

Present Purchasing and Shoe Blues

Hello everyone.

I know, I know. I'm a little late with my post but I have at least two reasons why! One being that I have been working so much that as soon as I get home I'm already beginning to fall asleep so my blog would consist mostly of "zzzzzzz"s and two, because I've been working so much I hadn't really done anything to interest you for more than two lines. That's why I waited until today because I actually had time/energy to do something yesterday which was quite fun. I'll still fill you in with the more interesting parts of my week though.

So this week began with a bit of a panic when my ipod beeped an alert at me telling me to "Make sure you've bought Kirsty's present!" - this is not the "chummy" Kirsty who I mentioned in my last lifestyle post but my other friend called Kirsty. Confused? Me too.
I'd been wondering what I should get her for ages and after trawling through pages of gift sites I still wasn't sure but, with Kirsty's birthday on the 11th, I knew I had to get my act together to make sure that whatever I ordered would be here in time - a downside of living on an island is that things take longer to arrive. It's strange that despite spending almost everyday both in and out of work with Kirsty, I couldn't for the life of me think of a suitable gift for ages! Thank goodness I pulled myself together though and it's all sorted now.
(I know she'll be reading this post so don't panic Kirst, your pressie's sorted now!)

Wednesday was my day off and with plans to go out for lunch with some friends I was ready for some chill-out time away from work. That was until I found out we were having lunch at the cafe where I work... This was chummy's idea (my other friend who's also called Kirsty) even though she too works there. However it worked out quite well because we were able to sit in the up-stairs area of the cafe where there were no other people therefore no cafe chaos so I could almost forget we were at work on our day off. Almost.

On Thursday it was back to work and there certainly was a lot of work. It was a very very busy day with hardly a moment to catch your breath. We were so full in fact that when staff went for lunch, rather than sitting at the always free tables that we usually do in the upstairs part of the cafe, we needed to sit either in the back kitchen or on the table used for stacking dirty dishes before they're taken to be washed because everywhere else was in use! Madness. What was also mad was the lack of some people's manners and understanding when we were so busy. I can't count the times when I had drinks to make, orders to take and dishes to collect all in the same moment and a customer decided to come and pay at that very moment in the slowest possible way and with all the change they had whilst I just had to stand there with my (now slightly forced) polite "thankyou" and smile.
I did have something to keep me going however and that was the thought of the lovely roast dinner we were having at the apartment my grandparents are staying in whilst visiting later that evening. Not to mention just the idea of being able to sit down. Both of these I enjoyed so much when I'd finally finished work.

On Friday I was working the morning shift and the idea resting my feet was already on my mind at that time but not because I was tired. The reason I needed to sit down then was because my shoes were killing me. Really badly. It was 100% my own fault though. The day before I had worn my black dolly shoes because the pumps I usually wear to work were wet and gross from the rain - lovely - and because our shoes need to be black for work, the dolly shoes were my only other choice (I don't enjoy black shoe items it seems). I failed to realise that I hadn't worn these shoes in a while so by the end of the day my feet were a little sore from them rubbing but the next day, with my usual shoes still gross, I thought "Oh, they'll be fine today I'm sure!". No. No they were not fine. Within two hours the idea of walking another two meters in them made me want to weep so after 5 hours you can imagine how badly I wanted to sit down and get them off. So when I finished work and got to the bus stop I was thrilled to be getting on the bus to rest until I saw how full the bus was when it turned up. I was basically sitting on the bus drivers knee because it was so full! Like a tin of sardines and I was right at the front so I also had the joys of getting off the bus every time it was someone's stop. Not the best ending to my afternoon. It didn't matter though because I had another lovely dinner with our grandparents- this time at our house- waiting for me when I finally got home and some fluffy cosy uggs calling my poor feet.

The evening was much better because my new camera had arrived (yay!) and I was off out with my friends to Kirsty's house for a sleepover where we got to drive her dad's Kubota (like a farming version of a golf buggy) which was hilarious (and a little scary if you were sat in the back and Iona was driving) before we went in to watch some good films with lots of yummy chocolate goodies. A lovely ending to a not-so-great day!

This is a Kubota

Me and Chummy.

 Iona saying "I'm going to kill you." after I drove a little speedy when she was in the back. Oops.*mwahaha*

So that was my week, how was yours? I'd love to hear about it in the comments! Until my next post, have a lovely few days with lots of smiles and comfy footwear.

Mollie

♥

My Week In A Nutshell

Hello my lovely ladies and gentlemen.

Sorry I’m late with this post but my internet’s been down since Thursday (when I usually upload) so I shall upload Thursday’s post today. Here it is…

***

I'm feeling a little drained today so I don't have a big exciting post lined up - though I hope to have some later in the week. So today shall be another lifestyle post about what I've got up to this week.

On Saturday my grandparents arrived from England for their holiday here on Arran. They'd began their journey at half four in the morning I believe, when they were driven to the train station. (Does that time even exist? It's so early!) This was so that they could arrive on Arran during the afternoon and it was a great time to arrive as it was a beautiful sunny day as it has been for a long time! I can't believe how fabulous the weather has been this year!

Sunday was the "weird day". That is quoting one of my bestfriends, Iona who I might add, began her day by trying to hitchhike the 8 1/2 miles home at 8:30 in the morning because she forgot the buses were different on a Sunday and needed to go home from a friend's before work. One of the many reasons we love her.

The reason it ended up being a "weird day" however, was mainly because of the evening. This is when me, Iona and Chummy (her real name is Kirsty but as we have two bestfriends called Kirsty so we call this one chummy to make life easier) met up after work as usual whilst we waited for our bus. During this time, Chummy wanted to look around one of the shops in the village - where she later purchased another one of at least ten trinket boxes for her room's storage - but me and Iona had ice-creams so we waited outside. After about 10 minutes we began to get a little bored and decided we'd run and hide for chummy to find us once she'd finished shopping. So off we toddled with our ice-creams like little kids to hide near the bank - convenient as I needed to get some money out. This was when I told Iona that I sometimes pay money to my parents for my living costs as I now work and earn enough to do so to which she replied, "What? You pay rent to live in your parents' house?" and I told her "No, I contribute to the house for how much I cost. I cost a lot you know.". We then finished our ice-creams and decided to pop into the co-op because chummy still hadn't made an appearance out of the shop.

Whilst in there, we went to the alcohol section for a while as Iona is now 18 and we felt that it was almost mandatory to do so. In this time chummy had still not turned up and just before we were about to go and rescue her from buying anymore trinket boxes we bumped into a lovely regular from our work who is notorious for hugging everyone who works there whenever she sees us. So after a cuddle we had a bit of a chat with her during which Iona, of course, became distracted and walked away only to return a few moments later with a chocolate cake to show me. After agreeing how nice it looked the ‘hugging lady’ said she was going to buy it for us and before we could say no she had put it through the till and handed it to us whilst we stood there motionless not sure how to cope with this sudden awkward but pleasant position we had just found ourselves in. Our way of coping seemed to be one of a hasty "thankyou" and exit as this is what we did. So out we walked back to pick up chummy and her new trinket box with our gift of a chocolate cake and a few funny looks from the people around us who must have thought that was our only intention of visiting the co - to get cake from nice, hug-giving old ladies.

Tuesday had a similar feel of weirdness as it was the first day in a long time that it properly rained. And I mean rained. I was working that day and within seconds of me arriving the lights in the cafe were flickering and the deep rumble of thunder was echoing. And then the rain started; the kind of rain that if you stood out in it for even a second you'd be drenched. It was so heavy and loud! The building I work in has a metal roof as well so it sounded quite scary. 

Not as scary however, as the sight of 18 damp lady golfers arriving for coffee to escape the rain all at the same time. I'll tell you now, trying to ask who's coffee it was in your hand with the rain hitting off the metal roof and 18 poshly dressed ladies shouting across to one another is not for the faint hearted. "Who's is the white coff- THE WHITE COFFEE!!"

Wednesday, I'm glad to say, was a much quieter day as it was my day off. It began with a much needed lie-in before my grandparents arrived to take me and my sisters out for the day. We had a stroll down to the village and had lunch at a cafe before getting some ice-cream from my mum's shop which is also in the village. (I had the lemon cheesecake ice-cream which was better than my words can express.) After that, we went to the apartment my grandparents are staying at to chill for a while before visiting the beach beside it.

Here me and my sisters worked together - for a change - to create a big heart of sand and some little masterpieces of our own.

My grandparents.

Today was my second and last day off until next week and so my initial plan was to just sit and do nothing. I had forgotten thought that I was meeting with an art gallery owner from the island to get some feedback and advice on my paintings from my Advanced Higher concerning how to go about selling them. It was very useful and he told me that my art, being abstract, may be quite difficult to sell which was a little disheartening but he then said that some of my biro work might be better suited to interior design. In other words having my floral designs on lamps and things. This was really exciting for me to hear as a goal of mine since about half-way through doing my art course was to one day make a business of my own where I sell cushions, aprons, curtains, mugs, you name it, with my art on them. This is why instead of selling my paintings on there own I am going to look into finding some way of getting my art onto the latter list of items beginning with cards. This I hope to do very soon and I will of course share these with you on a future post.

Another exciting thing that happened today (well, for a quiet day anyway) is that I have now ordered a decent camera for my film-making since I have saved up some money to do so! There are so many different budget cameras on the market these days which did not make mine and my dad's job easy as we searched through page after page of "the best budget cameras". I have found one I like though and cannot wait for it to arrive so I can try it out. I think I'll post a review on it as well once I've got a handle of it so that'll be coming up in the next few weeks as well as lots of videos hopefully! Yay!

That's pretty much everything of interest that happened this week. Not one to blow your socks off but still a good week. I have also decided this week that I will definitely be posting more than once a week so prepare to see me more than just every Thursday. *distant scream*.

So until my next post, I hope you have a lovely couple of days and make many happy memories, 

Mollie

♥

P.S. I almost forgot. Me and my mum have also spent today setting up and starting her new blog and I know she would love it if you would check it out HERE. Thanks <3