Let's Get Festive!

Ever thought of reading a review on one of the most dominant occasions of the year… No? Well, me neither, so let's give it a go.

Yes that time of year has come around again, let's see what we can find to say about this wonderful festive time of year.

I know, it’s that two syllable word that most people tend to dread. Christ-mas!

The first thing we all need to do is start with the positive. We get to shop, admittedly not for ourselves, but we all know that we will slip into the odd shop and spend a penny on ourselves. Then there is the wonderful yummy food we get the privileges of consuming over a glass of bubbly. Best of all – with all of this, comes smiles, and happiness. What we live for right?

The Christmas trees, the lights, the memories, the love, no matter where you are, Christmas will always be in our hearts and although it may seem like the time of year that people dread for having to see family they haven’t seen in years, or gaining weight, or even a religious time of year.

Let’s face it the most important things in life come with negatives, but let's overlook that and look forward to this beautiful time of year and be grateful whatever your age, whatever your gender or race, that we all come together on one day and celebrate this one occasion. To be honest, we all know Christmas is never quite the same when we find out Santa isn’t real, but let’s make it special for the next generation.

Let all of the memories be joyful, let them all carry you through to the next year, and best of all let your memories be a lesson, to always enjoy the next year that little more. 

Make a wish that every Christmas will be merry! (In more ways than one I would hope!) 

Twilight Review - Solent Splash

X Factor

The nation faced shock last night as Ella Henderson left the X Factor (maybe not a favourite due to the fact she was voted out.)

Ella Henderson and James Arthur were in the sing off during last night show. As emotions ran high on the stage, judged faces turned pale at the thought of sending one of the acts home.

As the judges simply couldn’t come to a conclusion and with two votes each the acts faced deadlock.

Where is the future of the X Factor?

Well, every year there has to be that one act that makes us laugh or cringe (or both in this case) this year it’s Rylan Clark.

The fact that an act like this is making it further than someone with talent, says to me that the public are assuming that acts like Ella and James will be safe. They won’t.

Week after week Rylan is making it closer to the final, the only solution here is for Rylan to pull out of the competition. There WAS bundles of talent in this year’s competition and now the show is rapidly turning into a joke.

Ella left with pride last night – who will be next? James Arthur (no doubt the best solo male talent seen on the show since Olly Murs in 2009.)

This show was once about finding unique talent and watching them transform into a star. Now it’s all about the entertainment and the ignorance of the public is turning the music industry into a clown show.

When will the X Factor realise that they will eventually lose viewers to real talent shows like The Voice if they don’t start to show real appreciation for a beautiful talent like Ella’s.

Something new and exciting!

http://issuu.com/magazinejournalism/docs/mayhem_/2

Issue.com is another form of showcasing my work - I have recently uploaded a freelance article for Mayhem! based in Portsmouth.

Your Past Will Always be Your Future...

One day your feeling down, and it hits you that there was a moment in your past that you felt nothing but happiness. It's not like you to feel like this because everything seemed to be going just fine - then that one thing happens that flips your day upside down.

You just want to curl up in bed, eat all the calorific food in your cupboard and well, cry. Your not alone, there are countless times of the year you feel like this and the only way to solve it is to dig deep and find that time in your life where you felt happiest. You may be asking yourself why is it that a writer like me is feeling like this... I could sit here and write all day long, but the truth is that if your reading this the chances are your looking for your own solution. Maybe hearing mine might make you feel a little better, and it might point you in the right direction to finding your happiness.

I study, all day, every day. I am constantly questioning my own thoughts and feelings and the question why is always there. The one thing I can't question myself on is that one feeling that we always dread in our life. Love.
I have an amazing boyfriend, and what is soon to be an amazing career but there are days like today that I feel down. The way i deal with my unhappiness is to look back at my photo's on Facebook, and through my tweets to remind myself that life isn't so bad.
Arguments will always come your way, there will always be a brick wall along your path, big or small you will climb it. There is no stronger tool than your heart and you will find that this will guide you to do whats right.
It's been three years of what feels like a rocky path, but for every section i get past, there is always happiness for a little while. You would never be human if you didn't feel sad - but sadness is something you will overcome; not something you should fight.

So here I am, eating my sweets, my flat mates are on a trip to the shop to get me more... but you know what; this time I might just put them in the drawer for the next time I'm feeling like the whole world is against me.

Local Hero in Bittern

Abigaile Entwhistle, 10, was saved from Telegraph Woods in Bittern whilst walking her dog on October 8^th.

Abigaile’s dog Angus ran into a muddy pond as Abigaile ran after her Terrier dog she got stuck in thick mud up to her waist.

The woods were left in a terrible condition after the recent heavy rain, leaving the day dull and overcast.

The accident happened at 7.30am when a passer by heard screaming after which time Abigaile had been struggling for 15 minutes.

Hero Micheal Jones, 32, a returning soldier from Afghanistan, pulled Abigaile out of the mud with a plank of wood and blue towrope from his nearby car.

He laid the plank on two rocks either side of the muddy part of the pond, crawled on to the plank and coiled the rope around Abigaile under her arms - He then lifted her out.

Micheal said “My Army training came in handy. I am just pleased to have been in the right place at the right time.”

The Local hero was said to have saved Abigaile’s life, Bobbie Robson, one of the paramedics who attended, said “He was a hero. He probably saved her life. The heavy rain had turned the pond into a death trap.”

Abigaile was treated at Southampton General and released later that same day.

To prevent any further accidents in the Telegraph Woods the police have now sealed off the pond with tape and put up warning signs to avoid a similar incident happening again.

What's a Girl to do?

Your going out. It's a special occasion. You think to yourself that you want to stand out, but not too much - just enough for people to think 'wow she is looking well' but then suddenly your world turns upside down when you realise you brought your fake tan in a hurry and its a shade too dark, oh and you forgot to buy a mitt. Oh yes and one more thing, your have left it till the last minute so there is just no time to do anything about it! 
So your in your room and you spray this orange mist upon your beautifully shaven legs and exfoliated arms and chest (one of the first things you much do before fake tanning) and a few minutes later, you look in the mirror and think wow this was easy and hey it doesn't look half bad.... 
4 hours later you seem to be 3 shades darker than you were when you were telling yourself it looked great. Brilliant, you end up looking like Ann Hathaway in Bride Wars.

Well whats a girl to do! I have some fantastic tips for you which involves minimal pain, no alcoholic beverages and well little embarrassment! The trick is to scrub, I know that this advise is plastered all over the internet so now you ask yourself why is my advise any different? My trick is don't use a mitt, or a sponge - use a brand new washing up brush. If you soak this in lemon juice (fresh) then shower with a cheap brand bar of soap - your problems will all be over. Of course my best piece of advise is don't fake tan because it almost always goes wrong! 
But just incase your have the friends or relatives that like to look at you and judge how crappy your year has been just by the colour of your skin and the frizziness of your hair - and you have a complete disaster (we all do it!) then give it a go! 

Sara-Beth x

The joke of an Immune system...

You wake up - something occurs to you! This makes you unhappy and blissfully aware that student halls is not a good place to be when you are ill. Sleep Deprivation. 

A recent study shows that a night out on the 'piss' will lead to a somber sleep - one that can easily be disturbed. You now find yourself asking well I didn't go out on the 'piss' last night? Well, nor did I. Illness also has a tendency to not only make you feel like death is at your doorstep, it also leaves you sleep deprived. 

There is a link!

If you do go out on the 'piss' and have a nice long somber sleep with the occasional chunder to wake you - lack of sleep will weaken your immune system, according to our fellow student scientists at Yale University. 

Your immune system is like a car, if you don't use it - it will break, and we can all relate to this because our automobiles are currently sat in our home towns because we cant afford to run them. Besides the point... The weaker the immune system the quicker and easier you will catch an illness resulting in further loss of sleep. 

It's all a ridiculous cycle really! So here is my advise, follow this and you will be forever right as rain and quite frankly the sharpest of the bunch! 

DON'T go out on the you know what,

DON'T leave the house,

DON'T discard out best friend sugar from your diet,

DON'T eat ready meals and sugary foods,

DON'T shove the vitamins in the cupboard! (Throw them in the bin and eat REAL food) 

DO quit your job,

DO have a bath every night and buy a stress ball,

DO take antibiotics but only as a last resort,

DO sit quietly on your own to avoid contamination with fellow students,

DO maintain a healthy diet on your minuscule budget of £5 a day! 

I hope that by reading this you realise that if your going to get it your going to get it. The only cure is sleep! 

Determination By Many...

http://mjfreshers.tumblr.com

Some fantastic writers on my course - Here highlighting some fantastic features! 

Mixed Emotions...

There are days you feel unsettled, and lonely here. There are days that you feel homely and loved here. Today I knew where I was - I knew that this was home for the next 3 years, maybe even more! I got up feeling terrible because I am ill, but that didn't bother me. I stood in a huge puddle when I was walking to university, but that didn't bother me either. 

The one thing that did bother me was knowing that after having been at uni now for a week I still didn't have a blog... 

So here I am! 

I hope over the next few years a head that you can watch me grow, and see my writing skills develop. 

(One day i will proudly put a profession and my name beneath a piece of writing however today, its just -)

Sara-Beth x

An experience worth waiting for!

Have you ever met someone and thought - what must it be like?

When I was sat on the edge of my seat listening to the most inspirational woman I have ever met – this is how I felt.

It only takes a few wise words from someone great to make you see that your career is in your hands; all that needs to grow is the experience you hold within it.

I hope that in 5 years time, I can stand in a room full of people that have a dream, and make a difference to their lives. My interview with the Editor of Women’s Health, Farrah Storr was beyond inspirational – I was so amazed by her life story as she spoke “I am where I am today through experience, I stuck out the jobs I hated most to get to where I am today”

Stood in front of me was a women with such an incredible career – this is where I want to be – this is the life I wanted for myself, the thought of a career suddenly became less about money and more about a dream.

The most amazing aspect of Farrah’s life was that she never switched off, she later said “When you work in the industry, you find that you never switch off. I have a note pad next to my bed, and I will wake up in the night if I have an idea” It was so clear that Journalism was such a passion – she added “The most rewarding part of the job is when you see someone reading your magazine. The other day I was on the train and I saw a lady reading the magazine. It makes you realize all those long days are worth the end result”  

The Boring Stuff - 300 Words set in my first Seminar Group.

You know all the boring stuff – I like similar things to you – watch similar things to you, but I guess there are a few things that you are yet to find out…

I am not a city chick, I am a small Devon girl, I come from a land filled with green patchwork fields, I am used to waking up to the smell of, well, cow poo. Here I am in the big city of Southampton and I feel suddenly overwhelmed with the amount of new things to explore, instead I now find myself waking up to the smell of hairspray escaping under the doors of the beautiful girls I live with! – Much nicer I might add!

I find myself asking where I go from here. Truth is I don’t know yet. Where will I be in 5 years’ time? I can’t tell you. Where do I want to be in 5 years’ time? Living the dream! As a very intuitive man once said “I have a dream” this is me today – speaking to you because I have a dream. For my dreams to come true as a writer and for me to give you all the write impression I am thinking ‘this needs to be brilliant’ but how do I know what you are writing? I don’t. I am not a mundane person who is going to sit here and ramble on and on about my life story that 1. You’re not going to remember and - 2. You’re not interested in.

This text isn’t going to make you like me – you will like me for who I am and I will make it in the industry for who I am. I have hope my dreams and all of yours will come true – Just be inspired and be fearless.