I am sorry that I haven't updated my blog in a while - deadlines have been getting me down. I have History essays to write, an English presentation to perform and a show to put on because I'm directing a play this semester. I am always so stressed this time of year! But, on a more positive note, it's less than a month away until Christmas. Yay!

With the holiday season fast approaching, if you are struggling for gift ideas, a DIY Memory Board is the perfect present to give to a friend, family member or significant other. My boyfriend made me one for my birthday and I absolutely loved it - so much so that I even cried when he gave me it! I asked him how he created it and I wanted to share it with you (because it is too cute not to!)

So here is a step by step guide for the memory board:

You Need...

• A solid but spongy board
• A cute material which will be your board background
• Thick lace
• Pins
• Strong liquid glue
• Ribbon
• Black material
• Personalised accessories

How to make your student room feel like home

It is normal to feel home sick, especially if it is the first time you have moved away. We all go through it. I remember my family dropping me off at university and leaving me there for the first time ever; I just stared at the bare walls in my bedroom for 20 minutes. For weeks my room dragged me down because it felt so lonely. How was I supposed to call somewhere 'home' when it didn't feel like it? I watched everybody else settle into their nicely decorated rooms, and that is when I finally said to myself  'it's time to do something'. So I did. I did everything I could to make my room seem like home.

Here are 5 simple steps I took to improve my room significantly:

1 - Personalise your room

This is perhaps the most important step. How can your room feel like yours if it has nothing in it? I would definitely recommend buying posters - it will be an investment in your future. The more comfortable you feel in your room, the more time you will want to spend in there and not at your friend's house. This definitely stopped me from buying as many take outs (after the first few weeks, I preferred to stay tucked up in bed with a hot chocolate) and it also gave me the incentive to do university work in the warm because my surrounding was nicer. To personalise my room, I've started to buy postcards every time I go on holiday. I stick them around my room to remind me of my travels, but to also make my room look prettier and less bare. It really does work. Try it and see the difference yourself!

Volunteering in Thailand

Last December, my best friend asked me 'what would you like to do before you die?' I gave it a lot of thought and finally, I said that I would love to volunteer with animals abroad. To my surprise, he said that he has always wanted to do that, too, and that we should plan a trip for the Summer of 2015 when neither of us were at University. I agreed, secretly knowing that nothing would come of it.

However, over the next few months, he kept asking me questions like 'what animals would you like to volunteer with?' and 'if you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?' We both came to the conclusion that working with elephants would be a dream come true, and that we definitely wanted to go somewhere in Asia.

The company we went with, PoD Volunteer, offered a 3 week program: 1 week volunteering with elephants in Thailand and 2 weeks volunteering with general wildlife (monkeys, bears, nocturnals, birds etc) for the charity 'Wildlife Friends Foundation, Thailand' (WFFT). It cost £949 each, flights not included. It was perfect - volunteering would cost just under £2000 each for 3 weeks, our breakfast, lunch and dinner would be included and we would get a room just for the two of us. We couldn't believe it! What a bargain! We booked it as soon as possible... and then we started dating. We worked out that by the time we went, we would have officially been together for 4 months and that made us both pretty nervous. What if we argued all the time? What if no one wanted to talk to us because we were a couple? What if we split up? After a couple of weeks, we somehow managed to stop thinking about what could go wrong, and we started to actually look forward to it. Before long, we were both strapped into the plane jetting off to Thailand - we couldn't change our minds now!

When we arrived, we saw the view over the river which was incredible. We couldn't believe that we would be waking up to this every morning.

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my new blog!
In the upcoming weeks, I will post some exciting things about my adventure in Thailand...

My tips for having a student budget wardrobe...

My obsession with make up...

And my new-found love for the gym (which I am sure you do not want to see).
Thank you for stopping by, and don't forget to click the 'Follow Me' button to keep up to date with my posts!
Much love,
Bethany x