It's that time of the week again when Mummy From the Heart links us all up to divulge our reasons to be cheerful!

First things first; we have a house!

I'm pretty excited about this, obviously because it means we're not going to be homeless next year! The house is so qwerky, we have a front and back garden - both of which aren't huge but are a nice size, and also plenty of car parking spaces. There's 6 bedrooms, one with a kitchenette, and one with an en suite. The kitchenette room is seriously an odd one...who has a kitchen in their bedroom? There is only person who wants this room and we are more than obliged to give it to him, as he never stops eating. There is also a cute little front room, a lovely kitchen and utility room with a washing machine and a dryer. It's £75/week, gas, water and internet included, all we have to pay extra for is electricity and our TV licence. It's around a 10 minute walk from the Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre, and if you walk a certain way you come out right at the bottom of Wetherspoon's...which leads me to my second R2BC...

...I found Rattler. We've been paying very many visits to Wetherspoon's lately and on Monday - Sara's birthday - we went for lunch and this is when we made the wonderful discovery. I can't describe how excited we were to find Rattler - if you have no idea what I'm talking about by Rattler and are just thinking how simple minded we must be to find a child's toy quite so exciting, I shall now explain what this glorious thing is. In true student style, it's an alcoholic beverage. Cornish Cider to be specific. I despise cider, besides Cornish Rattler. I recommend you try it. We even left a thank you note to Wetherspoon's for serving it...that's how ecstatic we were. I should probably also explain why this is such a momentous discovery - Rattler isn't sold in any supermarkets - supposedly - beyond Bath, and I've checked around in a few in my surrounding area and sure enough, there's none to be found. Hence why Sara and I probably terrified the barman with our excitement.

My next R2BC is certainly a strange one, but I've finally found some motivation. I haven't as of yet really dived into this second semester, except today. I woke up knackered, but surprisingly excited to get to my lecture - this is a truly rare occasion. In my lecture I made several pages of notes, paid full attention throughout the entirety of it and then headed to the post room and got excited about the arrival of some new books. I feel like I'm developing a completely different mindset towards my degree now, last semester it was all drinking and making new friends, less focus on the course because of course 'it's only the first year', but I finally, and gladly, feel like my attitude is changing, or my liver has been having some serious conversations with my brain.

And finally...let the sun shine! The snow has all finally melted - as beautiful as it looked it really was not the easiest to treck through. And now Keele is looking glorious with sunshine...except right now as it's gone dull again. Okay, so it comes and goes, but weather improvements are on the horizon, I'm sure of it! Although, the wind here at this current moment in time would be enough to sweep my 5 year old niece right off her feet.

So there it is, my reasons to be cheerful for the week!

MissIsGoode

...just a shame we don't feel too refreshing after a week of drinking.

We've reached the end of Keele Refreshers week and it went off with a bang! Bond style! Friday was a brilliant night, everyone came dressed up in their Black Tie attire, I've never seen the SU so sophisticated! We had an Aston Martin DB9 parked up in the outback, directed to by a long red carpet with James Bond stood beside it...I joke, but Max Ryder is a pretty good look a like! And a very nice guy! There was also a casino set up in K2 which I unfortunately never managed to go and see.

Three of us started off the night earlier then most with a cheeky trip to Wetherspoons in Hanley after last minute dress shopping - because I'm a very un-organised girl! I managed to get a mixi black strapless jewelled dress, 4 and a half inch heels, 3 rings, some bangles and a new bag all for just over £60! We then headed for a beer and a burger, with two pitchers as well and it's safe to say mine and Sara's heads were spinning just a tad by the time we got in the taxi back to Hawthorns. Lightweights!

The snow was awful! We had intended to head to the SU early, but getting a taxi was a ridiculous hassle. At one point I was worried we wouldn't even get there...that's when we decided to walk in the deep (deep in comparison to what I'm used to) snow. Me and Faye were sensible and took flat shoes, those 4 and a half inch heels wouldn't have got me through it safely! Sara on the other hand wasn't so smart! We managed not to fall over too much and got to the SU safely in time to get some photo's taken by MGThompson Photography - even if my hair was plastered to my face by the snow, and I'd failed the sophisticated look.

I managed to out do myself on the bruises front! I've got a bruise on my thigh 8 inches across and 2 and a half inches down, and the story as to how I got it, is a cracker. Whilst having a conversation about martial arts with one of the bouncers, Faye and I decided to announce that I was a Black Belt in Karate (which is true) and that Faye was a Brown Belt in Kickboxing (also true), he immediately wavered this and said we were too tiny for such achievements. Challenge accepted. I told him how I could kick 6 foot, bad move! 'Prove it?' The floor in the SU was soaking wet from spilt drinks and snowy footprints, I was still in 4 and a half inch heels, neither of which stopped me. I got my leg up impressively high, and slipped, flew in the air, landed on my thigh, laughed out loud and managed to be too drunk to find this remotely embarrassing! The bouncer was extremely apologetic and I went for a much earned lie down on the sofa! I think he's learnt his lesson though, and he shall never be in disbelief when a small girl tells him she's trained in the martial arts.

It wasn't until the morning when I truly felt the pain from this and the big black bruise got shown off all around the block.

The whole entire night was brilliant though! We had a good dance, lots of drinks, we looked sophisticated for a short amount of time, and all made it home safely - though we once again had to walk back, this time fuelled by tea and toast from Keele Chapel! I managed to lose my phone and Keele card (which also happens to be the key into my block) but also got called by security yesterday morning delighted to hear they'd been found...in the snow...after it had all melted...it's safe to say there's a bit of water in my phone. The joys of losing things when one is drunk!

I've had a great time this entire week and everything in my life couldn't be more perfect! Thank you to all my friends for making this week brilliant and blurry! Let the real work commence! After Sara's 19th birthday this evening of course...

If you want to check out the James Bond photo's from Friday night head this way! They're pretty awesome!

MissIsGoode

I appear to have missed out a week on Mummy from the Heart's R2BC! But, here goes my reasons this week, and there are plenty!

Snow - I mentioned yesterday that I was a little excited by it because of the lack of snow in lovely old Cornwall, but it is still a bit of a pain in the bum. It's quite icy, it's a danger walking home after a night out at the SU - I've done it in heels twice. In fact I've been described as a 'battered woman' because of all the bruises I've gathered on my leg from slipping over - however, that doesn't stop it making me cheerful! Keele looks truly beautiful covered in snow, and I can't wait to see it in Summer!

Refreshers - It's been a pretty good yet forgetful week, I've been having such a great time with my friends and it's so different to freshers week where we were all just getting to know each other. Now, we're all pretty close and it doesn't feel like we've only known each other for a matter of months to be honest.

The semester has commenced and it's great being back. It seems crazy that we're actually in the second semester though, I never want this year to end to be quite frank! I love halls so very much, but getting a house will also be lovely, as long as the block all stay in contact! And, I love being on campus, it's such a gorgeous campus and the land just looks like it goes on forever, even if you don't want to go to this university it's so worth a look around because of how pulchritudinous it is - a nice big word is needed to describe Keele.

That someone I was talking about who I went for a drink with has now become a constant person in my life, much to my delight. I've seen him a few more times and we get on like a house on fire, which is lovely.

As I mentioned yesterday, we've managed to get some house viewings! It's pretty exciting getting it all sorted, at the same time it's pretty stressful too. I really hope we manage to get a big enough place for the six of us!

I hope everyone else is having a cheerful week just like myself, and that the jolliness continues over the last weekend of January.

MissIsGoode

Apologies for my absence everyone, my week off meant there wasn't a lot going on up here in Keele...except, snow! It has most definitely arrived in Keele! Living in Cornwall, you really don't see much of it, so I can't lie when I say I was a little excited. Except getting stuck in Stoke for a good two hours after a trip to Birmingham last Thursday due to the weather conditions! 

We're on day five of refreshers week so far, and day three of our second semester. Refreshers so far has been pretty amazing. We've had an end of exams party, a headphone disco, DJ Jaguar Skills play on Monday night, and tonight we've got a 999 themed 'flirt!' night. I myself am not dressing up, we couldn't find any costumes we deemed good enough to wear! What I'm looking forward to the most is the Refreshers Ball on Friday, it's James Bond themed, with Bond lookalikes, a bond car and what the SU claims as their biggest themed night to date! Hopefully I'll get some good photos of all of us in our Black Tie gear.

My results from last semester are slowly coming in, I've received my results for an American Lit module, in which I got a 2:2, not my best, but I'll try to improve on that this semester! I'm now just awaiting my exam results for my compulsory English Lit module and feedback from my two other long essays, and hopefully they shall be good, fingers crossed!

Today, we did a spot of house hunting. The SU held a housing fair where we got information on houses we could go view, lots of numbers, details, and three, possibly four, viewings. So I'd consider it a partial success...the success will be when we actually put a deposit down on a place. Fingers crossed for that too! We're looking for a house for six people, which we've been warned is quite a task, one which we are determined to conquer.

Good luck to anyone else on the hunt for a place to stay next year! And if you, like me, are still enjoying your refreshers week, I hope tonight and/or the rest of the week is brilliant for you!

MissIsGoode

My sister reminded me to post this due to her lateness, but like she said better late than never! So here's last week's reasons to be cheerful:

Firstly, I've finished all my work! My essay was done and handed in on Thursday and my exam was out of the way by Friday evening! I was pretty pleased with my essay and the exam didn't go too bad either! This of course has made me blissfully happy, I have a week off before semester two commences and I shall be wallowing in the relaxation!

Almost everyone's back in the block! It was nice being back last week but now almost everyone's here it's even better - one more person to arrive then M block is complete!

My alcohol is stocked up for refreshers week! Me and two of my friends went yesterday to finish off our stocks and spent a whopping £130 all together! It's awful that the only thing in our trolley that wasn't an alcoholic or fizzy beverage was a £1 pack of straws and three packets of skittles. But it's nice to know (hope) that we won't have to go on any more 'booze runs' during and hopefully a little while after refreshers week!

That leads me to another R2BC...refreshers week! It all begins this Friday with an End of Exams Party followed by the Headphone Disco on Saturday, both of which will be brilliant! It'll be nice to get to the SU again and have a good night out with all my friends.

And lastly...I went out for a drink on Saturday evening with a rather lovely person I met last semester...which made the end of my week very cheerful indeed!

I hope everyone else had a brilliant week last week too! If you're happy to be just as fashionably late as my sister and I then link up below and join in with Mummy From the Heart's R2BC!

MissIsGoode

It's that time of year when everyone's got exams and a large majority of us are not 100% prepared for them. Christmas isn't the best of times to revise - or the best of times to do anything besides eat, drink and get merry with your family and friends.

I handed in the only essay I had left to do yesterday, and right now I'm cramming (sort of) for my exam at 4 o'clock. I'm not totally prepared for it if I'm honest (or at all prepared). I mentioned in my post 50 Things About Me that I was far too relaxed when it came to exams, so this is me, relaxing rather than panicking. I'm not helping myself by spending my days procrastinating, watching repeats of TV programmes and listening to music all day long.

This exam is a seen one - so no one understands how us English students are unprepared and are not having a wonderfully easy time - in my case it's simply because I've been lazy. I should have started revising long ago for it, but I left it quite last minute and to be honest, all that was on my mind was getting back and seeing my uni friends and having a good holiday catch up.

I best get back to my last hour or so of cramming (how much can my short term memory really hold?!) so, good luck to anyone who has exams today and next week! I know I need all the luck I get!

MissIsGoode

I saw this bloghop on Purplecrazymum's blog and I thought about how good it was to know more about the person behind the blog you read. And after going onto City Girl Gone Coastal and reading 50 things about her, I thought I'd also have a go. The chances are, most people probably know these things about me, but for those who don't, here's your chance to find out 50 things about me:

1. My full name is Isobelle - a mixture of the French and English spelling

2. My natural hair colour is a hideous blonde colour - can you tell I disliked it?

3. I used to have an obsession with shirts, and wore them with everything. Yep even dresses.

4. I've had my nose pierced three times

5. I accidentally cracked a friend's head open one time at a beach party and people thought I killed her and buried her in the sand (I didn't just to let you know, she went off in an ambulance and was totally fine)

6. I drink because it's social, not always because I enjoy it

7. I'm quite scared of the sea... (why do I live in Cornwall)

8. I don't go to the beach nearly enough for where I live

9. I love dogs & cats

10. I've been abroad twice to France and Tunisia and want to travel so so much more!

11. My favourite colours at the moment are duck egg blue, mint & light pink

12. I didn't drink on my 18th birthday or go out until about 3 months after it

13. I always carry Vaseline with me - I'm a bit obsessed with it

14. I don't have a specific talent

15. I don't know what I want to do when I finish uni

16. I have a black belt in Karate

17. And trained for it for 7 years

18. I played drums for 3 years

19. There's around 20 or more instruments in my house (many of them different guitars) - none of which I play

20. I hate confrontations

21. I prefer to just pretend something never happened

22. And I let people get away with a lot sometimes

23. I have an awful temper if you do manage to get me into a confrontation

24. That's why I prefer to avoid them

25. I'm far too relaxed when it comes to exams

26. Meeting new people makes me more nervous than taking an exam

27. I've watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End several times in one day before

28. My favourite film is Stand By me

29. I've broken two bones

30. The first was my elbow and I fell off a climbing frame when I was five

31. The second was my wrist and my sister jumped on me for putting cardboard down her trousers when I was ten

32. I genuinely got worried I was going to break a bone every five years

33. I have a cat named after the president Franklin D. Roosevelt

34. We tend to just call him Frank

35. But his nickname is 'Pigwig' because he's really fat

36. My favourite animal when I was younger was a pig

37. I have well over ten teddy pigs from when I was younger still some where around my house

38. I've collected 5p's for 4 years

39. And last year bought a new camera with some of my collection

40. I've had five boyfriends with a name that begins with the letter J

41. And since 2009 I haven't had a boyfriend whose name hasn't began with J, until 2013

42. My parents were going to name me Francesca

43. Until they thought about nicknames and that one could possibly be 'Fanny'

44. I text far too much

45. I used to be terrified of ordering food in a cafe or restaurant so I used to get my friends to do it for me

46. I've camped more times without a tent than I have with

47. I slept in a quarry once

48. I don't believe in love at first sight

49. But I do believe in fate

50. I can't wait to get married, but I haven't been planning my wedding since I was a little girl, only since I was about 19

I hope you enjoyed reading 50 random things about me, there's more to me than just that though I swear! Head over to City Girl Gone Coastal to read 50 things about her and the other lovely bloggers!

MissIsGoode

On the 31st of August 2012 I let my readers know what my thoughts were whilst I was preparing myself to leave home, and now I'm back in Keele for my second semester I can honestly say I've come to terms with the things I was worried about a few months back.

The room size

 - This wasn't a worry, rather something I was actually looking forward to. 

I've loved having a larger room to be honest, it means I can actually have people sit in my room and hang out with me, rather than single filing people into my bedroom to drop off their bags and then quickly manoeuvring them out of the cramped doorway.

The amount I have to read

Here's a confession from a current English and American Literature student in her second semester - I've barely read a thing. It's awful I know, but I just browse through the book, reading pages here and there, get to know the characters briefly and then turn to the internet for any other information I should know - the internet's really corrupted my generation, and most definitely the generations below me.

The amount of people I'm sharing with

It really wasn't remotely hard to come to terms with. So what, it gets a little bit grubby from time to time, but how much do students really care? We've had no serious cases of food poisoning (and I'm not 100% sure if any sickness in our block can be directly linked to the food) We've had some dodgy coloured milk, and I stumbled upon a mouldy bag of salad that had started to produce a disturbing liquid but can this sort of thing really be avoided? Yes, it really can, but it's pretty entertaining and if anything scientific...who knew milk could turn orange?

Also the people I live with are pretty easy going. You can read through all my posts since coming to uni and I praise the lot of them - I'm so glad to have met them, obviously I don't know what it's like to live in a tight knit little group in comparison to my block, but I love it. Sometimes it's noisy, but you get used to it, especially as you know you've committed the noise crime plenty of times, but they're a great bunch of people and I'm so glad I got M block as my accommodation.

My red hair

Did I seriously say I was considering getting rid of it? Who am I kidding, my red hair is part of me. I couldn't get rid of it for the world, at least not until after uni (but nothing's definite). I've had it on and off for three years and I always go back to it. Don't expect a different colour any time soon!

The social life...

...is the best. I've loved almost every night out and we've had some hilarious stories to tell the morning after, and awoken to road signs and traffic cones sitting in the hall way...or even pasta and washing up bowls on the roof...oh and that tiny bit of ice cream on the ceiling. I think the first year is definitely a time to have fun, I have work to do indeed and I get it done. I've made plenty of friends going out and had amazing times with the friends I'd already made whilst knocking back a few drinks.

Missing people

It sounds awful but it took me to about the tenth or eleventh week to really feel like I was missing people from back home. I don't tend to be someone who actually does miss people. I expected to of course, but when you're busy meeting new people, doing work and having fun you don't really sit back and think about how much you miss someone. It was great to go home and see everyone and I actually thought 'I missed you' when I got back to Cornwall, but home sickness really is something I only experienced once.

This is my first whole day back in Keele, but it doesn't even feel like I've been away at all, and I love the place so much. It's strange to think how much everything has changed in comparison to this time last year, but it's changed for the best and I'm having a brilliant time, I hope everyone else is too!

MissIsGoode

I let you all know one of my reasons to be cheerful on Thursday was because I was awaiting my first tattoo, and here it is:

MissIsGoode

My Sister, CupcakeMumma, joins in with Mummy From the Heart's Reasons to be Cheerful almost every week and I thought it was about time I jumped on the bloghop, especially as I've got plenty to be cheerful for this week!

MissIsGoode

Having been away for 3 months and only spending three weeks back down in Cornwall I've been pretty awful at finding a balance between doing work (basically that means I haven't done any), earning money (that's pretty much all I have done but the £400+ I've earned is something I'm very happy to go back to Keele with) and seeing family and friends. So my friends in particular have been having to catch me if they can - unfortunately I haven't seen them all half as much as I wanted to.

Christmas is obviously mainly a time you spend with family, and with my Mum and Dad both having Christmas off, I've seen them everyday. I've got the chance to catch up with my brother, whom I didn't often see when I lived here all the time anyway, we call him the shadow. I don't really feel like I've even seen enough of my sister and her family, which is a real shame. 

Living in a Cornwall means that it's a bit of a pain in the ass to get around and see everyone if you don't drive or don't have a willing chauffeur (fancy a job Mum?) and since I no longer have a beloved college bus pass that let me on to any bus to any where in Cornwall for free (well £300 a year, but it was so worth it) I haven't exactly been willing to leave the house, after all a return trip to Penzance - which is a 45 minute bus ride - cost me £7 earlier.

Aside from working, it's been a pretty lazy three weeks and I really need to get back to Keele now, because I know I'll actually do a little more work up there then the nothing I do down here - fingers crossed anyway!

And may I also just say a welcome to 2013!

I've seen people posting all their New Years Resolutions and saying 'new year, new me', which I can honestly say I completely despise. Someone also posted on twitter the other day 'I respect people who make new years resolutions, it shows that they're motivated to change their life'. I couldn't disagree more, though a person who's motivated to change their life wouldn't wait until the new year!

Rant over about that...I hope all my readers had a lovely Christmas and celebrated the new year in style. I myself stayed in with a friend eating Chinese and we were in bed by half twelve - how rubbish are we?

I hope this year is equally or more so wonderful than 2012 for each and everyone of you!

MissIsGoode