My first hospital experience!

Now, I'm not a clumsy person. I take care not to take very potentially-dangerous risks and I don't put myself in situations where I'm likely to get hurt. I've never broken a bone. Never had any deep cuts/injuries. 

Yesterday was a very normal, boring day at school. I had 3 hours of English in the morning (yawn!) and was tucking into a laaaavely slice of pizza at lunch with two of my best friends at my side. A few seconds after I swallowed the last piece of pizza, however, I felt like I'd got something stuck in my throat. Not in my airways, thank god, but in my oesophagus. My friends started laughing at me as I tried to cough whatever was in my throat out while I laughed as well, but I had to run downstairs to the water fountain to try and wash it away. It didn't work, so they took me to the school nurse (I felt like a little year 7 again!). She was so baffled when I came in and didn't really know what to do. She suggested I try to eat more, so I went and bought a second lunch, but it didn't work. 

I returned to the nurse, who suggested, as a last resort, I try and make myself vomit. Embarassingly enough, I had to go into the gents toilet (to avoid the other girls in my school thinking I were bullimic!) and I had random male teachers ask why I was in there when I came out. 

That didn't work though.

Then, cue my horrible anxiety problems, I started getting panicy and scared and randomly crying for no reason. I started to go bright red, blotches and sores all over my body.  

My mum was called and I started getting faint and dizzy and was sent in a taxi home. When I got home, I changed into some tracksuit bottoms 'cause my whole body was getting itchy and awful, but I almost fainted at the top of the stairs. My mum had to guide me to the car once I'd gained a bit more consciousness, and she drove me to the local hospital. 

So I spent 2 hours in a hospital bed being seen to by a hilarious doctor who kept cracking jokes and making me feel a little less embarassed. I have an awwwwwful phobia of needles, but I was forced to get my finger pricked for a blood test, and an injection in my butt to stop me feeling so sick. Oh dear. 

Turns out I had a severe allergic reaction (to something unknown they'd accidently put into the school pizza!), tonsilitis (hence the feeling of something stuck in my throat), and severe dehydration (the reason why I kept fainting, feeling dizzy, and feeling unable to sit up for longer than 20 seconds without wanting to puke). 

So, this was my exciting hospital trip that I thought I'd share with you :) 

I got the day off school today and spent it drinking these vile sachet things with electrolytes and whatever else in them, having tomato juice and worcester sauce (YUM) and sleeping. 

Other than this 'traumatic experience' my life has been quite exciting! This weekend was a lot of fun - I went to my first university open day on Saturday morning, making me feel so unbelievably old! Then in the evening, I went to the joint birthday party of two of my good friends and got very drunk. 

My final exams are loooooooming. We're already getting notices from teachers about revising for them and preparing, I'm terrified! 

Reflecting on 2012

Every new years eve, for five years, I have made a New Years Resolution list (I love lists, if you haven't already guessed from my previous posts). It's funny looking back on the lists I made when I was much younger which mainly consisted of 'be nicer to your brother', 'don't be so weird', 'work hard', and 'exercise more'.

I've made my list already for 2013, and also included a list of things that I would love to have achieved by the end of the year (which I will include in another post soon!).

I thought I would spice it up a bit and dedicate this post to the things I have achieved this year, and reflect on what I have done and what has made me happy...

(This may be of no interest to you, but I hope it at least inspires you to reflect on your own 2012 and be proud of yourself for what you have achieved!)

1. I concluded what I wanted to do with my life after sixth form, what course I would like to take at university and which universitie I would like to apply for.
2. I chose my A-Levels and am relatively happy which my decisions. 
3. I have improved a lot of my friendships with people, however also drifted away from some as well
4. I turned 16
5. I saw The Wanted, Lawson, BigKids and The Suburbians (whom I got a signiature and kiss on the cheek from!) in concert (separatly)
6. I did my GCSEs and achieved decent results!
7. I got an A* in my GCSE art!
8. I went on holiday with a large group of friends to a friend's country house in Lancaster for her birthday
9. I did work experience with one of the nicest people I've ever met at a place that I would love to work at when I'm older
10. I realised I'm capable of liking a guy that's not a complete douchebag
11. I went to the London 2012 Olympics
12. I lost weight (...and then gained it on again this month, but at least I now know I'm capable of losing it if I want to! :P)
13. I went to Mauritius and Norfolk with my family
14. I went to Brijuni (a tiny island off Croatia, absolutely beautiful!)
15. I broke my record for shopping with two of my friends - 9 hours non-stop :) (not really an achievement to many, but it is to me, haha)
16. I tried lots of new foods
17. I've achieved A's in the bits of biology coursework I have already done
18. I finally finished the massive notebook that I've been using at my diary for the past 3 years and started a new one

I admit this year hasn't exactly been extremely eventful, I haven't done anything that major or done many good deeds, but it was generally a very good year and an extreme improvement on last year. 

How was your year and what have been some of your best achievements?

Lots of love, 

Ellay xxx 

P.S I can't wait until NYE!

                            

*photos taken by me*

Goals & Ambitions

I love setting myself goals. I love giving purpose to the amount of effort I put into things, in hope that it will all pay off. It makes the work and time I spend on whatever it is I'm doing more worthwhile, and it also motivates me to work harder in the future.

I have a fair amount of ambitions/goals/things I want to do before I die, and with 2013 just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about the resolutions I’m going to make for the upcoming year…

♛   Stop biting my nails

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this nasty habit and every year I’ve vowed to stop, but alas no success. However this year, with such a massive selection of nail polishes and techniques to decorate our ‘claws’ everywhere, I’m desperate to grow them long enough for me to actually paint!

*image from weheartit.com*

♛  Exercise more/eat healthier food

In short, I'm a lazy arse. I've never found that inner sporty passion and I'm more likely to be found sitting in front of the TV with a jar of peanut butter/crate of chocolate that working up a sweat in the gym. I envy the people that enjoy waking up early on a Saturday morning to go jogging for an hour, and those who actually want to go to the gym. But I'm determined to make 2013 the year that I become this person! 

I also have a deadly sweet tooth - I really think I could live on chocolate for the rest of my life. Another resolution of mine is to cut down on the sweets and junk food and stock up on the dreaded fruit + veg (although it doesn't help that I've just recieved a pile of sweet treats for Christmas!) 

♛  Stop stressing

I'm naturally an extremely nervous person and I tend to stress about the smallest thing - I'm convinced I'm going to die early from a heart attack! My friends and family are constantly telling me to relax and not freak out about so much about everything, but I put it down to my genes - my mother's just as nervous. I'm going to try much harder next year to 'chill out' and not overexaggerate situations in my head so much. I'm also going to try and think a lot more positively as well (I'm way too pessimistic most of the time...)

♛  Do more photography

When I realised that I actually enjoying snapping photos and wasn't just 'following the indie crowd', I became a lot more interested in the art of photography. Earlier this year, I used my money (that I'd saved for over a year, may I add!) on a wonderful Canon EOS 1100D, but if I'm completely honest, I don't feel like I've really embraced this passion as much as I could have and don't think I've got as much use out of the camera as I had first intended. 2013 will be the year I become that annoying girl at the party whose constantly in people's faces with a big camera lense, asking for poses and cheesy smiles, and taking those embarassing-moment shots! 

*image from weheartit.com*

♛   Have more confidence/self-belief

I have a tendency to put myself down a lot of the time and it's getting to the point where people are actually getting irritated about how negative I am about myself and what I do. I'm a pessimist in every sense of the word - I always expecting the worst-case scenario but I use it as preparation in case it does actually happen! However, next year I'm going to try a lot harder to have a bit more confidence in the things I do and have more self-belief, especially with my AS Level exams coming up in May - hopefully this confidence will lead to more positivity, resulting in better exam results! It's worth a try...

What are some of your resolutions?

Lots of love,

Ellay xxx