Olympic Torch Relay

Yesterday I went to watch the Olympic Torch go through the city where I live. I'm not a sporty person and  I'm not really interested in sports, but I would support the Olympics as it promotes sports and being active and also being competitive. It's really nice that the Olympic Torch is traveling through Britain as it involves all the communities making everyone feel like they've seen part of the Olympics themselves. Although, I was quite surprised by all the entourage that came along with the runner carrying the Olympic Torch, and how much it must have cost for all these vehicles.

Slightly out-of-focus!

The Coca-Cola bus.

Samsung bus, cheering on the crowds.

I thought the back of the Samsung bus looked more like the back of a boat than a bus!

Lloyds TSB bus.

Olympic coaches.

Balloons, flags, ribbons and whistles were handed out to the crowds.

Camera people filming the event.

The runner carrying the Olympic Torch!

Map on the back of the Olympic buses showing all the places where they were traveling to.

Coca-Cola 'Mini' Sound system!

I'm glad I didn't miss this event as it's something I might not be able to do again.

Book Review: Chosen (House of Night Series #3)

I started reading the House of Night series about a year a go but haven't got round to reading the 3rd book in the series until now. Yes, this is another vampire based story but as with most of them the author (or in this case authors) have their own interpretation of what a vampire is. I think to exaggerate that their definition of a vampire is quite different to some others they have spelt it differently as vampyre in these books.

The House of Night series is named after the school in which the majority of the story is set, and follows the life a a girl named Zoey Redbird who is sixteen at the beginning of the series. In this story the vampyre world is well known by the human world. In a small percentage of teenagers, adolescent hormones trigger a strand of what is otherwise junk DNA, which can eventually cause them to change into vampyres. When this happens they become 'marked' by a sapphire blue crescent-shaped outline on their foreheads. This signals the start of their change to become a vampyre and at this stage while they are changing they are called fledglings before they become an adult vampyre, although it takes four years to complete the change and not all the fledglings survive. Once they have been marked they must attend the House of Night boarding school, where they are required to take the Vampyre Sociology 101 course where they will learn the dangers of the vampyre world. If a fledgling is not in constant close proximity to adult vampyres, they will die. They will also die if their body rejects the change. Adult vampyres are super-gorgeous and super-talented and this is what a fledgling has to look forward to if they complete the change. All vampyres also follow what could be called a religion. They worship a goddess named Nyx and there is also an element of magic which gives them what could be called supernatural powers.

This novel, Chosen, is full of drama. From what could be normal teenage drama like being disappointed at getting Christmas presents on your birthday just because your birthday happened to be on the 24th of December and falling out with your parents to the complications of living in the vampyre world, but even Zoey's life is far from normal for the average fledgling. In this book she has to deal with many issues and learn from the consequences of her actions. Most of the story is set around her trying to find a way to save her best friend Stevie Rae who she saw die but is now an undead dead person. Zoey believes Stevie Rae is different from the other undead dead people as her affinity for earth has allowed her to retain some of her humanity and Zoey finds a way to 'fix' her best friend. But Zoey can't tell anyone about her best friend in case Neferet (Hight Preistess, who is seemingly wonderful to everyone else, but who Zoey knows is evil) finds out. So she keeps this a secret from her friends and boyfriend as well as the fact that she has been secretly seeing the hottest guy known in the vampyre world, Loren Blake. None of this goes well for Zoey as secrets always come out in the end. 

"Remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good."

I read through this book in the last 3 days. Although it is not a book that leaves me deep in thought after I have finished reading it, it is a book that is hard to put down as you get so sucked into the story and finding out what happens next.

Finding books - goodreads.com

Recently I've started getting the books I read from my local Library. It's great because I don't have to spend lots of money buying books to be able to enjoy reading, and most often once I've read a book once I won't read it again so there's not much point owning and keeping all the books I read. The only bad thing about choosing books in a library is you don't get any ideas of what might be good to read you just walk into a room with shelves and shelves full of books and have to find something yourself. Not like in a book shop where they'll have popular/recommended books, or say the paperback charts and more books that are sorted into genres to help choose something that's good. So to find something in the library you pretty have to know what you're looking for and search for an exact book. I don't know the names of many authors and don't really know whats good and whats not, which is mainly why I've been sticking to reading Nicholas Sparks books as I know they're all highly recommended.

So I've been looking out for books that people would recommend, watching book reviews on YouTube, reading the comments on books on Amazon and then I found the website www.goodreads.com. It's kind of like a social network site for book readers. You can list all the books you've read, rate books, write and read reviews on books and use this to make a list of books you'd like to read. They also have their own charts on there as to what the most popular books are. So if you're someone you enjoys reading make an account on goodreads and add me as a friend: http://www.goodreads.com/BeanyJane Or leave a comment with any book recommendations...

YouTube Obsession

I love YouTube. I'm subscribed to so many people on there and my 'watch later' playlist is always full!

 I started off just watching music videos on YouTube. Then I found a love for finding unsigned singers who recorded themselves singing covers or their own originals, and shared the videos on YouTube. It's amazing that this is how some singers have actually been discovered and signed and I remember watching some of these people before they were discovered (singers like Esmeé Denters, Mia Rose, Conor Maynard etc.) . Lately I haven't been doing this so much.

After that it was around the time that I really wanted to pursue a career of becoming a Midwife and was interested in pregnancy etc. So I started watching pregnancy vlogs where pregnant women would do weekly videos updating on and recording their pregnancies. It's great to follow these people as they put up their videos each week, and it really makes me realise how fast time flies when I think about when I started watching a certain person and they were say 4 months pregnant and now they've got a one and a half year old! I think my favourite channel to watch is GabeandJesss. I still do watch these videos but not so much now as I've not been finding new channels to follow and most of the ones I was watching have stopped putting videos up.

Now though, the videos I mostly watch are about make-up, skincare etc. by the 'beauty gurus' on YouTube. I think I started off mainly watching make-up tutorials, but now that I'm subscribed to many of them and follow their channels there's quite a variety of beauty orientated videos. I love watching videos on product reviews, monthly favourites, top 10's, what's in my make-up bag etc. mainly because I'm nosy and like to see what products other people are using! I like to see what people like/dislike, what a lot of people are using and would recommend as it influences what I choose and buy when it comes to make-up, skincare, hair etc. products. Plus I guess I'm quite girly in that way that I just like to watch people talking about beauty and it's something I love and am interested in. Some of the channels I love watching are: FleurDeForce, missglamorazzi, pixi2woo, meganheartsmakeup, AllThatGlitters21, to name (and link) just a few. Because I love watching these type of videos so much I thought maybe I could do a similar thing on my blog and do some product reviews/things I'm loving. Maybe monthly favourites posts on my blog but there wouldn't be many as I mainly stick to the same routine.

There's a few other types of videos I watch on YouTube. As I've been watching the same people for a long time you get to know them a little and so I also watch some of their vlog channels. These can be talking about book reviews, health tips, food, exercise, daily life, fashion etc. And I'm also subscribed to the Sorted cooking/recipe channel. This is the only cooking type channel I am subscribed to and I think all the recipes they do are amazing. Their cookbooks are also on my wishlist to buy!

Book Review: 'Nights in Rodanthe' by Nicholas Sparks

Wow. How a story can move you to the point of tears. After turning the last page of the book I was left with the numb feeling caused by the pain of love and loss. I think the message of this story is learning to move on and live again after losing the one person you loved more than imaginable, but also to appreciate the time you spent together knowing that you wouldn't trade it for the world.

After Adrienne's husband leaves her for a younger woman she has rethink her life and future. When a friend asks her to look after their inn in Rodanthe for a weekend Adrienne sees it as the perfect opportunity to get away, but when a major storm is forecast for the same weekend she thinks her time away will be ruined.
On the other hand Paul has also recently divorced but realises his mistakes and wishes to change his life. He sells his medical practice, house and most of his belongings and is due to stay at the inn in Rodanthe for a few nights before traveling to Ecuador in the hopes of making a mends with his son.
Paul is the only guest due to stay at the inn while Adrienne is taking care of it. Both still coming to terms with their recent separations, they have no one else to turn to other than each other while alone together at the inn. Though at first their conversation was light and easy they soon started to open up to each other about their lives and feelings. And not before long they find themselves falling in love more deeply than either of them had ever experienced before. But all too soon their time together had to come to an end when Paul left to go after his son. I won't spoil the rest of the story but for the last part of reading the book I constantly felt like I was stopping myself from crying.

I really liked it when Adrienne said to her daughter "You're stronger than you think you are, but only if you want to be." because this is similar to something I always say: You can do anything if it's something you really want to do, but you won't be able to if you don't truly want it.

I would highly recommend this book - not just one of the best books by Nicholas Sparks that I've read, but one of the best books I've ever read!

Don't ...

Don't make promises you can't keep.
Don't say something you don't mean.
Don't say something if you're not going to follow it through.
Don't build someone's hopes up only to let them down.
Don't give someone a reason not to believe what you say.

Baking: Wholemeal Muffins

I was looking for something I could eat for breakfast when I get to college, that was fairly healthy and easy to eat. I've started making these recently and take one every morning to eat at college as I leave the house at 7 and don't have time to eat breakfast at home.

Recipe:

Makes 12
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
375g wholemeal self-raising flour
75g demerara sugar
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
75g of butter (melted)
315ml buttermilk*

* This is what was stated in the recipe I used but I use less than this as the buttermilk comes in a 284ml carton and so I use this amount.

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C (415°F/Gas 6-7). Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tray.

 

 2. Add the flour and sugar to a mixing bowl.

3. Stir well, making a well in the center.

4. Melt the butter in a bowl. This can be done by putting it on the microwave for 1 min.

5. Add the buttermilk and mix together.

6. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl.

7. Add the buttermilk, butter and eggs into the well in the mixing bowl.

8. Mix until all the ingredient are combined and it resembles a dough consistency. Don't worry of it looks lumpy.

9. Spoon the mixture into the muffin holes.

10. Bake in the oven for about 20 mins, or until starting to brown on top.

11. When cool enough to touch, lift the muffins out and put them on a cooling rack.

Ready to eat! You could also freeze these to keep for longer, and take them out when you need them. And although these look quite boring they do have a hint of sweetness to them so taste good!