Shaky Hands and Weird Dreams

So last night, something really weird happened. I woke up at about 3am (I'm not really sure what time it was but it was definitely after midnight!) and my hand was really tingly - which normally only happens if I sit of it for a long time (which I obviously wasn't doing) - and it wouldn't stop. I tried everything to stop it and then I realised it was moving by itself. My fingers were wiggling around like they were alive and it was really painful. In fact, my hand is hurting just thinking about it.

I considered getting up and Googling how to get rid of 'pins and needles' in your hand but I thought it would just go away naturally. Thankfully it did but today when I was in Psychology, we started talking about panic attacks, what they are and how you should never stop someone having a panic attack because that's the body's way of releasing unnessacary energy. So, did I have a panic attack in my sleep?

I was also having a really weird dream at the time which involved seeing my ex-boyfriend and his brother on the way to school but they looked completely different and had completely different (some would say improved) personalities.

I'm not sure if these things were connected or if my hand was just being weird on its own but it was definitely a kind of scary experience! My anxiety was also very high today and I noticed I was shaking a lot.

I thought my anxiety was getting better! Maybe not.

georgiadaisyiv.

NYC

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been in New York the past week and have been trying to get back to normal this week. Not much has happened since then so I've decided to just do a quick post on my time in NYC.

All my life I've felt as though England isn't my home. I dream of moving to America one day but for now holidays are all I can get there. I don't really know much about New York other than things like the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and 9/11 so when we arrived, there was no real plan of what to do and - being still in Winter - it was very cold and snowing there.

One of the first things we did was go up the Empire State Building which was AMAZING. One of the elevators/lifts was broken so we could either wait for 20 minutes or walk up the last 6 storeys to the 82nd floor. We choose to walk because it was something not everyone gets to do! When we get to the 82nd floor, the view was just surreal. Seeing the whole of New York before our eyes was actually very moving and looking out imagining 2 other buildings that aren't there anymore was a little mind-blowing.

Just one view of Manhattan from the 82nd floor of the Empire State Building.

After we did that, we took a boat trip around the top of Manhattan between New York and New Jersery where we saw the Statue of Liberty really close up, Ellis Island and most of the other classic monuments. We also drove (should that be floated? What is the boat equivalent to driving?) past the apartments featured in BIG and saw a boat that was made from the metal left over from the Twin Towers.

My sister has become a little obsessed with the Statue of Liberty because she found out the book on the statue has July IV (July 4th) written on it which is her birthday.

Once we spent that day doing touristy things, we decided to do something a little more chilled the next day. I think we went to Central Park which was basically just a huge pile of snow. It did look beautiful but I would have preferred it if I could actually see the grass!

We went and found the Alice in Wonderland statue first which made me feel like a little girl again and then we saw the Ugly Duckling statue which we found out was dedicated to the children who lost their parents in 9/11. I was trying to read what it said in the book but it was really cold and we had to keep moving but I think it was just an extract from the story.

The Ugly Duckling statue.

We also saw the lake that was in Stuart Little (amongst other things I'm sure) when they were playing with the electric boats but that was completely frozen and then covered in snow so there wasn't much to see! We then went around the zoo there and saw some pretty cool animals we'd never seen before - like the Red Panda - and we watched Ice Age in 4D.

I think we just went shopping for the rest of that day and we were going to go back to go ice-skating but we didn't bother. We also went on a trek to find the Rockerfeller Center to go ice-skating there but again we didn't bother. As you can tell, we're not really an action packing family!

This is us at the Rockerfeller Center just above the ice rink with all the flags in the background.

In the evening, we went and saw the Lion King on Broadway which was pretty cool and we got some travel mugs to take home which was a pretty neat souvenir!

It was raining the next day so we went to FAO Swartz (is that what it's called?) which is the toy store in lots of films apparently and then we went to the Apple Store but it was really busy and hot in there so we decided to go to Macy's and Century 21 which was actually quite a let down because we walked so far, didn't buy anything and was very dissapointed with the quality and quantity of things in the shops. My shoes had decided to let half of the water in New York into my shoes so my socks were very wet and quelching so I was very uncomfortable! We also stopped off at Victoria Secret which has become one of my favourite stores (the PINK part not the underwear bit!)

The next day, we walked all the way up to the Natural History Musuem - the one in Night at the Museum - which was pretty cool but we barely saw any of it because we were so tired and our feet hurt so much because of all the walking we did so we got a yellow cab back to the hotel.

We didn't really do anymore major things other than just shopping and going to Time Square. We went to M&M world which was an absolutely massive store full of bright colours and lots of chocolate! We didn't buy anything but it was still pretty cool to see! We also saw the NYPD building (I think that was what it was) and I brought an NYPD cap which is a dream of mine!

Me and my Dad outside the NYPD building with the Hard Rock Cafe behind!

One of my favourite stores we went in was American Eagle Outfitters which I wish we had in the UK!

I brought this dress (unfortunately this isn't me in the picture)

I also brought this t-shirt and the same one but in a peachy colour.

Overall, my time in New York was really really good and I will definitely be going back some time soon!

georgiadaisyiv

Just Say No

Considering it's Valentine's Day, I decided to make a 'Love and Boundaries' style post.

In the UK, the legal age of consent is 16, but just because you can doesn't mean you have to. Never should you feel pressured and pushed into doing something that doesn't feel absolutely right.

Your body is exactly that: your body.

No one - no matter how important they are to you - has the right to make choices for you and you always have the ability to say no. Even if you are unsure of the consequences and how that person will feel, you should say no if you don't want to do it.

Never be scared of the aftermath, just do what you want to do.

Sorry this has been another short post but hope you are all having a lovely Valentine's Day and just remember it's your choice.

georgiadaisyiv

Raised by Wolves

For those of you that don't know, I was born in the beautiful city of Wolverhampton. Only thing is, it's not all that beautiful. Although we do have local monuments like Wightwick Manor:

Which itself is very beautiful, we also have things that are not so beautiful. Take, for example, the riots of 2011.

The riots began in London after the shooting of Mark Duggan by police. They then quickly spread around the country losing their initial point. A rioter in Birmingham was asked why she was rioting and was quoted saying "it's for taxes, innit". No love, it's not. The riots then started in Wolverhampton. An already lacking city was quickly losing more and more businesses and, although it happened nearly 3 years ago, the aftermath is still apparent. 3 shops in every 10 in Wolverhampton are still boarded up or vacant - an unacceptable amount for a city with such a promising future.

It seems the only place any hope can be found in Wolverhampton is in it's teens. Although the small minority are still out to cause trouble, many others are wanting to make a difference. Out of the 170 pupils in my year at school, a good 150 of them dreamed of living in a city of beauty, peace and promise but in actual fact are living in a city of benefits, dirt and unemployment.

I remember at school being told the West Midlands was the country's hotspot for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and we all cheered. Now why was a class of 13 year olds cheering at that? Because we don't get anything else! Wolverhampton never gets anything and, in fact, the only prize I could name is the World's Worst City in which we got 5th place!

There are however things to encourage development in Wolverhampton. Namely, the WOSCARS - which I proudly won along with some friends when we were about 8! The WOSCARS is a Wolverhampton based OSCAR ceremony that encourages schools to make short films about their city. This is the clip that we made and I tried so hard to find the picture of the award ceremony but I couldn't!

 

Other than that, they never really seems to be all too much to excite children in my city. There's not really anything to excite anyone. Although there are much worse cities in the world, a city with so much history should have a good future but, from what I can see, it's only getting worse.

The good thing about our city however is our desire to protect it. Only people from Wolverhampton have the right to talk bad about it.

 

Sorry this took so long to get up, was having technological difficulties!

 

georgiadaisyiv

Don't Drink and Drive

Most 16 year old girls would boast about how they spent the weekend drunk with friends but not me. From a very young age I have always said I will never drink. Although I do have the compulsory champagne at Christmas, I pride myself on not drinking alcohol.

I recently found out my Grandpa John died of liver damage (caused by alcohol) when I was only 4. This has spurred me on to think responsibly as a teenager and to not let others push me to drink.

When I was about 10, my Dad brought home some kind of chocolate liquor which I was obsessed with and I would have a little cup everyday but as I got older I started to dislike it and now we don't have it any more, but with my 18th birthday next year (OMG!) I have asked my best friend to promise not to let me get drunk in the return for my promise to have a drink on her birthday - we'll see how that works out!

Don't worry though, when we turn 18, we'll be legally able to drink in the UK - which I think makes no sense. At 10 years old, I got to pick a name that will stick with me forever (my Confirmation name) which nearly ended up as Vanessa because I was crazy about High School Musical. Then at 14, we start choosing subjects to specialise in that could affect us right the way through to adult life. At 16, you get this choose again but with much harder subjects (or you could start a family!) and then at 18 you're finally able to drink. It really doesn't make any sense that we are making life-changing decisions at age 10 but are restricted in what we can drink for another 8 years!

Please drink responsibly.

georgiadaisyiv

The Future Is Here

When I look at this mat, I feel a buzz inside my belly.

It brings back so many memories of both pain and disappointment and joy and excitement. 

The words 'THE FUTURE IS HERE' send chills down my spine.

I first stepped onto this stage at 13 years old.

I'm now 16.

When I stepped off for the first time, I remember saying "Can we do it again?"

That's the buzz it gives me.

The flashing lights, the roaring crowd, the pressure, all whisked away by stepping one foot on the mat.

This is where I belong.

The first time I set foot on this mat was in 2011 when I was a Level 1 Junior on a team of just 8 girls. Now I'm preparing to go there as a Level 2 Senior with a team of 20! It excites me to think in just 5 months I will be running round-off back handsprings across an international stage in front of hundreds (if not thousands) of fellow cheerleaders, ex-teammates and parents!

Sorry this was only a small post, was just feeling really excited at the time!

georgiadaisyiv

Accent Tag

Most people do the accent tag on YouTube but I'm going to do it on here.

To start with, you read out a list of words and compare how you say it to your friend (hopefully they have a different accent):

Aunt = "arr-nt"

Roof = "r-uu-f"

Route = "root"

Wash = "wosh'

Oil = "oi-ul"

Theatre = "th-ear-ter"

Iron = "eye-un"

Salmon = "sa-mon"

Caramel = "ca-ra-mel"

Fire = "fie-ya"

Water = "war-ta"

Sure = "shore"

Data = "day-ta"

Ruin = "roo-in"

Crayon = "cray-yon"

New Orleans = "new or-leans"

Pecan = "pea-con"

Both = "bow-th"

Again = "ah-gen"

Probably = "prob-ab-lee"

Spitting Image = "spit-ting im-ige"

Alabama = "al-a-bam-a"

Lawyer = "loy-er"

Coupon = "coo-pon"

Mayonnaise = "may-on-aise"

Syrup = "si-rup"

Pajamas/Pyjamas = "pa-jar-mas"

Caught = "court"

Naturally = "nat-tra-lee"

Aluminium = "ah-loo-min-ee-um"

Envelope = "en-vel-ope"

The second is answering some questions:

1. What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

We don't have this in the UK but it's called tee-peeing
2. What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

Never heard of anything that does this!
3. What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

Fizzy drink, pop or fizzy pop
4. What do you call gym shoes?

Trainers
5. What do you say to address a group of people?

Erm ... Hi ???
6. What do you call the kind of spider (or spider-like creature) that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

Daddy Long Legs

7. What do you call your grandparents?

Grandma & Grandpa and Nanny & Grandpa
8. What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

A trolley
9. What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

Again got no clue!
10. What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Remote, remote controller or TV remote

georgiadaisyiv

Gap Year

At the moment, I am in my first year of sixth form but I'm starting to think about the future and my life after college. I have a series of universities lined up if I want to go there but I'm also considering a gap year.

When I was at school, me and some friends were looking at what we could do when we were older and stumbled across something called Camp America. I got a little too into it and started requesting brochures but when they were delivered I freaked and started to ignore their emails. But now I am considering it again.

Thinking about flying to America to work on a camp with American children really excites me because I think about the (kind of) camps I've been on - like Alton Castle and Towers in Wales - and how fun that was and how close you get to the staff. I've been weighing up the pros and cons but I'm still not too sure!

Pros

1: great experience

2: chance to meet new friends

3: clear your head before univerisity

4: see more of the world than you otherwise would

5: have the chance to start a new life

6: make a difference

7: have something great to put on your CV

8: make yourself happy

9: take a break from education

Cons

1: possible wasted year

2: may not be what you expected

3: too expensive

4: demotivating so you don't want to go to univerisity

5: home will feel awful compared to it

6: home sickness

7: more work, less play

8: unemployment afterwards

I've also found something that looks pretty cool called USA Summer Camp Exchange where you spend a couple months at a camp in the North-East of America teaching children about sports before going on a road trip with the staff. It looks great and the cost isn't too high but you have to be at least 19 by June 1st of that year - which I won't be - so I'd either have to take 2 years off which is a little too risky, or wait until the summer before possibly going to uni meaning I'd have to find something else to do.

The other thing I've heard that's wrong with taking gap year is being behind when you finally do attend university, because you'll be a year behind your college friends or a year older than those in your class. Although at uni this isn't as much of a problem, it will still be very different to school and college!

Instead of working on a camp, you can go on programs especially for students where you typically have to find your own placement which would be slightly harder but more realistic than an organised camp. When I went to Disney World in 2011, there was a girl there helping people onto rides who was from Manchester and was on her gap year so that's always a possibility but definitively more work than play!

I know the first year of sixth form (or lower sixth as some people call it) is a little early to be thinking about gap years but I want to make sure I'm ready and organised before I just throw myself at the world!

That's all I have to say on gap years for now but there is something else I've decided to do: I'm finally going to broadcast my blog on Twitter so my friends and family can read it. I feel like it's time to be honest with people and to face up to any questions people have.

georgiadaisyiv

Grades

Today is a happy day for me, we finally finished the whole course of AS Psychology and, with exams just around the corner, I thought it was only fitting that I write about grades.

From the age of 5, we're judged on our abilities - whether that be the ability to make friends, the ability to cope with stress or the ability to pass exams - and we often punish ourselves from the outcome. But why does that one little letter or tick on the paper matter so much?

After you leave school, you realise that your results really don't - and won't - affect your later life. That doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't try hard, it simply means you shouldn't stress over it.

Stress causes you to panic and panic has no place in the exam hall.

Preparation

Instead of stressing, you should plan to pass. You need to set time aside to revise but don't make drastic changes as this will make you stress even more. Just take a little bit of time everyday when you'd usually watch TV to read over your notes or create new posters. 

Never leave it until the last minute, even though you may think revision close to the exam will keep it fresh in the memory, please ensure you do some revision weeks and weeks in advance. Revising the night before or the morning of will stress you out and cause major panic.

You need to find what works best for you. For some people, mind maps will work best. For some people, mind maps are too confusing. It may take a while, but experiment with different techniques. If something doesn't work for you, there's no harm in writing it again in a different way!

Here are just some techniques that you could use:

1. Mind mapping

2. Booklets

3. Questions

4. Drawing

5. Posters

Once your revision is done and you feel happy (make sure you are confident in your own knowledge before you go into the exam) all you need to do is pass that exam!

The Exam

Exams are stressful and scary for everyone but if you stay calm, have knowledge and know how to answer questions, you should be fine. Besides knowledge of the subject, the one thing you need to know is when and where you exam is. Turning up late never looks good and the repercussions will stress you out even more.

Ask your teacher or exam office where the exam will be and go searching for the location a few days before the exam so you're not searching around when the exam happens and always ask what time it starts. Whether you're the kind of person that turns up late to everything or you're always on time, tell yourself the exam starts 10 minutes before it actually does so you get there with plenty of time. If you need to get the bus or any other unreliable public transport, leave 30 minutes for any delays that might occur because "The bus was late" never sits well especially on exam days.

One thing you can't prepare for in an exam is where your seat is - unless your school is very organised and you're always in the right place! - but don't worry, the exam invigilators (those annoying people that wander up and down the aisles) are there to help you so ask them where they think you might be sat and they'll provide another pair of eyes to search for your name.

Every school or organisation is different and may have a different set or rules but the most common are:

1. No phones [if you have to bring your phone, take the battery out or turn everything onto silent and then turn it off so you have no chance of it going off]

2. No pencil cases [most places will say only clear pencil cases or will ask you to empty them so don't be surprised]

3. No communication [even eye contact with someone else can be classed as communication so keep your eyes on your paper until the exam has finished]

Depending on the subject, there will be a certain way to answer questions, your teacher should be showing you how to answer questions during your course but, if they don't, it is easy to go online and find old papers and mark schemes or talk to other people who have already passed the exam.

Now you've done the exam, the worst is over. All that's left is results day!

Results Day

For some, this will be a good day but for others it won't. Don't have too high expectations about yourself but don't play down your abilities! You may be pleasantly surprised by your results and if you're not, talk to your teacher about re-sitting the exam. Most teachers will encourage you to do so because they want you to reach your full potential but if a re-sit isn't possible, just try harder on your next exam.

You do have to remember that these grades are just letters on some paper but don't forget how important they are for your future. Grades from primary school will help you get into secondary school, grades at secondary school will help you get into college, grades at college will help you get into university and grades at university will help you get a job.

So remember to prepare, stay calm, practise and you'll pass.

Good luck!

georgiadaisyiv

Body Image

Body image is a huge part of everyone's life and our own views of our bodies are often distorted. Girls look in the mirror and see big bellies, big thighs, small boobs and no bum when in reality they are beautiful women created the way God wanted them to be and that is all that should matter.

Too many derogatory words are thrown out nowadays by careless people who - most likely - are insecure about themselves. People don't realise that words are a human's deadliest weapon and what they say can destroy someone else.

When a boy looks at a girl, he may see things he likes and no matter how many times he tells her that, she will never believe him. This is because when she looks down, she sees this:

A body that she may not be proud of, a body that she may wish she could change.

No amount of excerise or dieting or surgery will ever make this image go away and you know what, it doesn't need to be.

Why is being skinny such a great thing anyway?

Why does everyone want to be skinny?

Why is skinny an acceptable word to describe people?

I don't want to be skinny. I want to be me. And that's what you should want to be too. No one should feel that their body is not good enough because God made our bodies for a purpose not for pleasure.

If you want to eat that extra slice of pizza or that extra bar of chocolate - go ahead! 

Who said anyone else had the right to tell you want you have to do?

Who said skinny is best?

As long as you're happy, that's all that matters.

So go grab some chocolate, get a good movie and have a day off!

Please never feel like you're not good enough because you're everything someone wants.

georgiadaisyiv.

The Future

Most young girls spend their life dreaming about becoming a princess and meeting Prince Charming. Of course I had these dreams too but, being a bit older now, I need to have a more realistic dream.

Although I still slip into dreaming of being swept off my feet, my dreams have become a little more reachable. I have 3 main paths in my life which I think I could take and, one day, we'll be able to look back and hopefully see which path I have taken.

Path 1

On this road, I hope to leave college with all 3 (and a half) A-levels at the grades I want - at least all Bs - and go to Liverpool John Moores University to study Criminal Justice. After getting my degree, I want to take a few months off to relax and visit America. Hopefully I will somehow settle into a job there, meet Prince Charming, set up a cheerleading team, be a successful lawyer and have a happy and healthy family.

Maybe the America bit won't come true but I wouldn't mind the rest of it happening!

Path 2

This time, I again hope to leave college with all my A-levels but I'd quite like to take a year out after college to work at a Summer Camp in America with my best friend, then we'd go on a road-trip in the Campervan we've always dreamed of having. Somehow Prince Charming will find his way into my life and I'll either stay in America or stay in the UK and go to univerisity as in Path 1.

Path 3

This is the back-up path where I might start my own business which produces and sells cheerleading bows and set up a cheerleading team that unites a range of religions. In one sense this will be the easier path as it isn't venturing into the unknown like the other paths may be.

I'm not really sure which path I'm going to choose or whether I'll mix them all together, all I know is that I hope for a happy, healthy and secure life filled with people I care for and who care for me back. I just can't wait until I can drive (6 more months!) have my own house, do my own shopping and really start acting like a grown-up.

Of course I know not to expect an easy journey to get to this but I'm ready for the ride!

I am so excited to look back at this when I'm old and haggered and realise I made my dreams come true and I'm glad I can blog the whole way through it!

That's all folks,

georgiadaisyiv

All About Me

As this is the first blog of mine anyone will ever read, I've decided to start with a post All About Me - and I hope, in few years time, we will look back at this and remember where it all started.

So to begin with, my name is Georgia and I am currently 16 years old. I was born in the city of Wolverhampton but spent the start of my childhood in the small town of Hereford. We (my mum, dad and little sister) moved back to Wolverhampton so I could start school where I already had a place reserved (how posh!). My mum is still working at that school a good 11 years on!

At this time, my hair was VERY CURLY and was beginning to get VERY DARK (I was born with quite blonde hair but it grew to be much darker). I obviously have very little memories of these times although I do remember moments of trauma like on my very first school photo day when I was showing how good I was at skipping until I fell onto the hard gravel and busted my face up. Somehow that picture never made it home!

Looking back on days at primary school, it was a pretty awful time. There wasn't a lot of money in my school and so we often had to 'make do' with second best. I don't remember a lot of things about school other than when new things were built and I soon forgot what it was like not to have them. I remember having dirty toilets, wobbly tiles and a selection of pegs for entire classes of 30+!

I was quite popular in school - mostly because my mom worked there - but I think it was because I was so keen to make friends. Up until Year 5 (age 9-10) I don't remember any major arguments but once we reached our final years at primary school, the divides started to show. There were 3 main groups of girls - the biggest group often lead by me, a smaller group lead by someone I actually got quite friendly with in secondary school and a selection of girls who used their older brothers to scare the rest of us - which usually lead to some kind of playground war.

My two last memories of primary school are the end of SATS and the Leaver's Assembly. I'm pretty sure our last SAT was Literacy (English) and I distinctly remember being handed a yellow ice lolly by the Head-teacher who said "Now that wasn't so bad was it?" through her misshaped teeth. My memory of the Leaver's Assembly is strange; I remember everyone stood on stage crying and me with dry eyes thinking "I can't wait to get out of here" and then later crying in the classroom simply because everyone else was. I then remember having to stand up to present the teachers with some flowers (which they didn't know about) and stumbling over my words saying "tanks" instead of "thanks". This definitely made my Most Embarrassing Moments list!

The next school related memory I have was the first day of secondary school. This is a memory that has stayed with me for a VERY long time. I remember pulling up in my dad's little car and waiting to see if I recognised anybody. When a saw a girl from primary school I quickly got out of the car and we walked into the school together. I remember how big and scary it felt just from the outside and I remember it smelt like fish and chips (it continued to smell like this until the very day it was knocked down). I never seem to remember my first day of anything other than getting there as I think I focus too much on not making a fool of myself.

I liked secondary school almost as much as I liked primary - i.e. not very much - most likely because of the lack of money but also because of the lack of excitement. Every day for 4 years we did the same thing and saw the same people and - nearly - ate the same food. We rarely went on trips as something always managed to come up (like that year when everyone went out for 'activity week' and the Year 10s had to go on work experience) and if you were lucky enough to be offered a trip, it was usually because you'd been recognised as 'Gifted and Talented' (a load of Sugar-Honey-Ice-Tea) or you had behavioural issues. I did get to go on one special trip though to the Rock Assembly in London where we saw Diversity, Parade and several other acts that were cool at the time but I don't remember what I did to deserve that! I also went on a trip with the gymnastics team to London to watch an ex-pupil compete but that honestly was it.

After leaving school with a selection of GCSEs (1A, 5Bs and maybe 2 Cs), I decided it was time to move on and I started at a Sixth Form College to do A-Levels which is where I am now. So far I am enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone. I just hope it was the right thing to do!

In the future I simply hope to have a good job, a loving family, enough money and happiness in myself. I am thinking of going to university but I am also thinking of taking a gap year off with my best friend so we can travel America but I'm really not sure! I say all the time that I want to be independent but I was someone to make decisions for me.

And this is where today's post will end. I hope this wasn't too boring to read and I hope one day we will read this back and seek comfort in where we first met.

That's all folks, goodnight.

georgiadaisyiv

My First Time

Despite the title of this post, this has NOTHING to do with anything naughty. Instead, it's a list of questions about all the firsts in life.

So here we go.

First tweet?
Apparently it was "Had enough of doing what people want me to do." on October 14th 2011.
First Facebook profile picture?

How embarrasing!

First love and do you still talk?

Probably a boy who I went to primary and secondary school together so we do talk but not everyday but if I bumped into him I'd be happy to speak.

First person to text you today?

No-one has texted me today :(

First ride on an aeroplane and where was it to?

Most likely Italy when I was 2 and my mom said I refused to put my seatbelt on so I was a bit naughty!

First best friend and do you still talk?

I think my best friend was a girl at playgroup in Hereford but I haven't spoken to her since I was there 13 years ago!

First concert?

Girl Aloud at age 13.

First broken bone?

I've luckily never broken a bone!

First piercing?

I had my ears pierced at age 10 and that's the only piercing I have!

First foreign country you went to?

Most likely Italy when I was little.

First detention?

Probably in Year 4 (age 8-9) because I was talking when we were all in a line or something like that.

First sport?

I didn't do it as a sport but just as a skill but probably swimming. My first sport beyond that was gymnastics or trampolining.

First kiss?

I kissed a boy in nursery once but that doesn't count, I think it was in Year 6 (age 10-11) when I went to a boy's house and he kissed me there.

First word?

I said my first word at 5 months old which was "da da".

First phone?

I think my first phone was a light pink LG Cookie slide up thing. I only got it because my best friend had one!

Phew, that took a while!

georgiadaisyiv

Why blog?

On January 24th 2014 at exactly 2:32pm, I decided to set up a blog. I was mostly inspired by Zoella who I first heard of on YouTube. After seeing one video of Joey Graceffa, I was immediately drawn into the hidden world of the YouTuber. I went a little crazy subscribing to Sprinkle of Glitter, Zoella and their second channels and I also started following their friends like Jim Chapman, Tanya Burr and, of course, Alfie Deyes. I highly recommend following all of these channels as it has brought me great enjoyment in my life!

Now, back to me. As I said, I was inspired by Zoella and seeing her video about using YouTube and her blog to help deal with her anxiety influenced me to start. I have never been officially diagnosed as having anxiety but I know my own body and I know that something isn't right. If you don't want to read my story then I suggest you scroll down very fast!

My Story
I feel that my anxiety started around age 15 when a new girl started at cheerleading (I know that sounds crazy) who I really did not get on with. We tried everything to be friends but nothing worked. Unfortunately, I have quite a public tolerance of people so I was always stunting with this girl. Any cheerleader will know that stunting is one of the most nerve-wracking part of cheerleading and it is CRUCIAL that the team trusts each other - of course, me and this girl had NO TRUST in each other whatsoever.

For most of the time she was there, I would go home crying with frustration. Why did I have to be with her?! I promised myself if I was put with her for the next competition I would stand up for myself and politely ask the coach to switch me into another team but - thankfully - that day never came.

Anyway, she caused me to have anxiety as every time we went to cradle (move down from a stunt) I would panic even though I'd done it a million times before with other teams. I could feel my heart beating faster than it should, my hands would shake, my head would be running at a crazy speed and I'd often end up having to remove myself from class to calm down. I realised this feeling wasn't going to get any better by itself so I had to do something. I had a real good look at myself and decided to just throw myself into it - unfortunately this lead to an argument which I, admittedly, started which made the coach threaten to bench the both of us. Obviously, neither of us wanted this.

After she left, I felt like I could relax, but then I started college. Because my college is so far away, I spend a lot of time travelling by myself. For most people this would be beneficial but for me, it made my anxiety worse. I'm not sure whether this affected things but I started getting really into NCIS - an American crime drama for those who don't know - and although I love it, it was making me really paranoid so I spent most of my time travelling to college looking behind me and reacting to every little sound. I live in a city where one look at one person could virtually end your life and I am very aware of this which makes my anxiety much worse.

Most people who suffer from anxiety also experience panic attacks. I, luckily, don't have any physical panic attacks but I've realised that my head is full of mental panic attacks every single day.

Although my anxiety is very mild, I can understand what others are going through and I find things other people (like Zoella) do to help settle theirs really works for me. This is why I started the blog as Zoella uses YouTube to talk about her anxiety and I found talking in my head or talking to other people takes my mind off my anxiety.

That really is the only reason I started blogging but also because it's something fun to do when I'm bored or need to relax. I will try to blog something everyday except for Sundays when I spend the whole day at the cheer gym.

That's all folks,

georgiadaisyiv