My Little Corner of the Internet

I just wanted to make a quick little blog post to celebrate the night. I hope you're all having a fun and spooky night. And I hope you all stay safe!
I have never really understood the fun of Halloween after you are told you are too old to trick-or-treat but lately I have. It's so much fun to get dressed up and go out with friends, I went on a pub crawl the other night and it was really cool to see everyone that dressed up for the occasion. I particularly enjoy seeing people who have put a lot of effort into their Halloween costumes, to me it's not enough to put some fake blood on, you gotta go all out.
That being said, there is also nothing wrong with staying in and having a scary movie marathon. Sometimes it's also good just to stay in and enjoy not freezing outside in a costume made of thin material.
I don't usually have Halloween plans, but this year I did go out and celebrate so that meant I got to buy a costume! Yay! It's really hard to find costumes for girls that aren't revealing though I think mine is pretty fab.



So what do you guys think? I think I made an awesome crayon. And no one else was dressed up as one so I felt special. :P
What did you guys do for Halloween? Were you dressed up, if so what as?
~ Courtney x

Hey guys,
So today I thought I would give you an insight into my student life so far. I wouldn't say it's the most exciting thing in the world, but it's definitely a huge change from school.
After the whirlwind that was Fresher's Week, classes began and I had to develop a new routine for myself. Which I have to say, was harder than expected.
With university, the timetabling for classes can be very awkward. Especially for me. My timetable goes something like this:

Doesn't sound like the nicest timetable in the world does it? One thing I will say though is that even though I am in all day on Monday and Tuesday, I am not constantly in class. I get breaks!
Even though my timetable sounds horrible it's not as bad as it seems. I mean over the past month I have been adjusting quite well and have established some sort of routine for myself.
Mainly for me, if I'm not in class I am in the Student's Union. If you don't know what that is, it is a place with shops and areas for students and extracurricular clubs to meet. It is also a source of information for student's and holds events from time to time. I spend a lot of time there because I don't live on campus and can't go home between classes. But the Student's Union has quickly become a second home. I know some people prefer to go to the library between classes to work but for me, I can't work in that silence. And the Student's Union has just the right level of noise that is enough you can still work there.
Other than that, I do spend a lot of time in classes. Which was to be expected for my course. I knew going into it that I was going to have to work hard and so far I have. Overall the course hasn't been so bad. I find the pace easy enough to keep up with and I haven't been having too many difficulties.
I have had a few problems with programming (which if you follow me on Twitter, you know all about) but I have been working on it a lot and I understand things better now. Considering I have never coded before in my life, I think I'm doing well. Which is a great because I wouldn't want to be failing out of uni in the first year.
We are also learning about databases right now and since I studied that at a level it's nothing to worry about. We are also doing another module which is also new to me but is easy to understand.
As for homework...I don't get any.
I know, it sounds great, but we always have work to do even if it's not set homework. If, like me, you have never programmed before it is best to practice programming at home and do the recommended reading. Otherwise, it can be hard to keep up with class. So I always have something to do even when it seems like I have nothing to do.
 Even though we don't have set homework, we do have assessments. These are things that count towards are final grades so we have to work for those. But like I said, so far everything is fine. No major problems so far.
Moving away from school and talking about the other half of student life....socializing!
If you guys read my Fresher's Week blog post then you know I met a lot of new people on the first week of university and luckily for me, I have made friends with them. I am so glad that we had to do team building on the first day because otherwise I would find it so hard to talk to people. Especially because I am staying at home for university, I don't have the advantage of meeting new people in university accommodation.
So I now have a small group of people in my lectures that I know and we all sit in our little area in the lecture hall which is fab. It also means that I have friends that understand the ups and downs of my course and that I can talk to about it. Which I appreciate because my other friends don't understand anything I say about computing haha.
It is so great to be around new people. Especially when you have been going to school with the same people for seven years. It is also amazing to find new friends who have similar interests to you. One of the first people that I became friends with also loves RuPaul's Drag Race and that's when I knew we were going to be great friends.
It's things like that that make me really happy.
As for going out and partying...I haven't been out much since Fresher's Week. I mean I am not one for going out a lot anyway but as a student it's a rite of passage to go out and party. Which isn't for everyone. But for the vast majority of student's it is.
For me, I feel I am somewhere in the middle. I can appreciate a good night out, but I can also appreciate a night in a whole lot more. So I have enjoyed the occasional night out since Fresher's and it's been a well-needed break from class and coming home every night.
When I am not at university I do prefer to stay home rather than go out most of the time anyway. Mainly because after spending so much time at university I just want to sleep! Haha. One of the downsides to being a student is that sleep can sometimes be lacking. And I know it's no one else's fault but my own. Especially when I don't live with noisy roommates and I'm in my quiet house haha. But oh well...you can't be a student without sacrificing something.
On a whole, university so far has been amazing. At first I was a little bit unsure about the choice of studying Software Engineering in case I didn't like it but honestly, I don't regret it at all. We have been getting so many talks and emails about the opportunities that are available to us and it makes me super excited for the future. Which is something I thought I would never say.
So if I've learnt anything from being at university so far, it's that you need to follow your passion. Because if you don't you won't enjoy it. You study what you want and it will motivate you to do the rest. It sounds really cheesy, but it's true. If you make choices for you and not for others you will be happier. Because I don't think I would be fine with studying anything else and I don't think I've made a huge mistake either.
I'm content with how things are going and I'm just excited to see where they go next. :) Thanks so much for reading, and I will keep you updated as the school year progresses.
~ Courtney x

Hey guys!
So today I am going to be giving you my first impressions on Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. For those of you who don't know, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a spin-off game in the Animal Crossing series. And being super obsessed with Animal Crossing meant, I needed to get this game right away.

It has currently been in my possession for three days and I am already obsessed. I tend to get hooked on Animal Crossing games right from the get-go. There's something about them that I can't resist, they are just so adorable and easy to play so I just get sucked in. And this was no exception.
Since this is a spin-off game is has a lot less content than a main Animal Crossing game. I mean the main goal of this game is to design houses. That's really it. Nothing else to it. You can also design the shops/facilities in the town area which is known as Main Street. But other than designing this game doesn't have a lot else going for it. So if you are considering getting an Animal Crossing game that's something worth noting.
At first I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this game. If I'm honest I kind of thought I would get bored of it right away. But that's not the case. I mean I play a lot of Sims and so I do like designing houses and things but something about this game gave me the impression I would play it for two days and get bored. I actually find this game really satisfying to play. Which is kind of the feeling I get with every Animal Crossing game.
There's just something really peaceful about designing animals' homes. It's really cute and I love seeing the villagers' interact with their new surroundings. It is definitely a different approach to the Animal Crossing series. But I love it.
For one thing, it is so much easier to create houses in the way you want to in this game. Which is obviously one of it's major selling points. If you have ever decorated a house in Animal Crossing then you know the pain of putting something out and dragging it around the room trying to get it into the right position. With this game, you are able to place furniture with a touch of a stylus.
Another thing I really love is the new additions to furniture. We can now place rugs, hang lights from the ceilings, and even change our curtains and windows. I like these little touches because they can add so much more to a room than before.
On top of these new additions I have noticed there has been a whole load of new items added to the catalogue which is to be expected for a home designer game.
Something I was most excited about when I heard about the game was the addition of designing the exterior of the house as well as the interior. In past Animal Crossing games we haven't been able to place furniture outside with the exception of Animal Crossing: New leaf public works projects. So this was something I was really excited about. I like having that extra bit of freedom.

A house I designed by the sea

One thing that is annoying with exterior design is that you can't rotate the houses. They are always facing forward which isn't great when you want the villager to live on the beach and their house looks like it's going to be whisked away by the sea. You also can't rotate the camera outside to see things from different angles which again is quite limiting.

A school classroom

I have also really enjoyed building the facilities in Main Street. Mainly because you are given so much space to create these rooms. In previous games, if you wanted to create a school themed room you would have to do it in your tiny house. Now, we can create them in an appropriately sized room and make them look any way we want to.
While I enjoy this overall game concept as a whole, it does have it's flaws.
For example, I am not a huge fan of the item catalogue interface. I find it really tedious to swipe to each new page of items. I wish we had a scroll bar at the bottom to make it faster to find items. I know you can search with the search feature, but I like to look through all my items to make sure I have used everything I want to when designing a house.
I also don't like that this game doesn't run in real-time like all other Animal Crossing games. We now have to save every time we are done creating a house. Which wouldn't bother me but it's the fact you have to keep going all the way to your desk. I know in past Animal Crossing games we would have to go to the attic to save, but even then we had the option of pressing start to save from wherever we were. Once we save it turns into a new day in the Happy Home Designer game, which to me just wastes a lot more time. Although it does teach younger children the importance of saving your game. But Animal Crossing has always stressed the importance of saving your game with the character Resetti.
Oh and I also dislike how we have to wear the red Happy Home blazer all the time. You can change your clothes if you are visiting a house or facility but any other time you have to wear the blazer. You can however accessorise your uniform with other clothing items and accessories.
As for the amiibo cards...I did end up buying a couple of packets of them as well as an amiibo card reader as I will use them in the future but so far I have only used one. I can see the appeal of them as many people will want to collect their favourite villagers and I believe it's the only way you are able to design a house for a special character such as Isabelle. However, I do feel like if you are on the fence about getting amiibo then don't. It isn't worth it if you are not up to the challenge of collecting all of the cards. Amiibo cards aren't essential to the game either so you can still enjoy the game without having them.
I also can see how having an amiibo card reader can be a hassle if you are travelling and want to bring your amiibo cards. It's just an extra thing to carry around. And you do need to get an amiibo card reader if you don't have a new 3DS but want to use the amiibo. So there's that to think about too.
But overall I am really enjoying this game. I have already created half of the facilities on Main Street and am well on my way to designing homes for every villager in town. So despite the few little issues I have with the game I definitely recommend it if you enjoy designing things. Plus, the cuteness of Animal Crossing is definitely a major selling point for me.
So those were all my thoughts on Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer! I hope that you guys enjoyed this post. If you guys want to see more of my Happy Home Designs then follow my Animal Crossing Tumblr: antrim-in-animal-crossing.tumblr.com
And if you are interested in seeing the unboxing of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer with the amiibo card reader and some amiibo cards then check out my video below:

Hey guys,

Bobby Davro's impression of Jenna Jameson

Hey guys,
I feel like I'm going to be making a lot of posts about Big Brother this year. Today I want to talk about nominations. It's interesting to see who was up for nomination. There were the two I expected to be nominated and then everyone else that was nominated seemed like a bit of a shock haha.
So without further ado here are the nominees for this week's eviction:

Chris Ellison - This surprised me. Although he was only nominated by Jenna because they don't talk very much and he was also nominated by Scoop because Scoop says he reminds him a bit of his dad hahaha. So really I think he'll end up staying. Nothing to worry about there.
Daniel Baldwin - I was really surprised about Daniel. I know a lot of people said he is very loud and doesn't really care about others opinions but I haven't really seen that. I mean, if you aren't in the middle of a fight on the show then you kind of don't really exist because the camera doesn't show you a lot.
I know he made that comment about Janice being in the bedroom and packing but that's the only negative thing I've seen of him, and as for being loud...I've seen Scoop be louder...

Stevi Richie and Chloe Jasmine - At first I was surprised but then not really. I mean...they are annoying. Mainly because they are never away from each other and always complaining they can't be intimate. And it's so rare to see them apart, in fact in the last episode they were apart quite a bit and that is the most I have ever seen them apart.
But then there was Stevi accusing Chloe Jasmine of making eyes at James, what even was that? Like really? I guess it goes along the lines of Chloe Jasmine being annoyed with Stevi for being in a bath with Jenna and Farrah. It's really stupid. Especially when in the last episode we saw Chloe Jasmine and Stevi all over each other, and Chloe Jasmine was even putting makeup on Stevi and trimming his ear hair....if that isn't true love I don't know what is.

Farrah Abraham - Of course Farrah was gonna be up for nomination. I had no doubts about this. She started a lot of conflict in the house and every time she speaks it's confusing. Like I don't know how she forms her sentences, and then when she's in a fight and doesn't have a proper argument she just continues to call people names. So it's kind of obvious why everyone wants her to leave the house.
As for my personal opinion, I kind of don't want her to go. I know she's annoying and everyone in the house can't stand her but I think if she goes it won't be as interesting to watch.

Jenna Jameson - A little surprised. I know Jenna has started some things but like...definitely not as much as Austin. I feel like Jenna is very chill about everything, unless you come for her kosher food. But I mean we're all a little sensitive about sharing food so it's understandable. Other than the food thing she's been fine and you know if she were to go and Farrah were to stay then Farrah would have no one to talk to. I feel like Jenna is the only one that can stand her sometimes haha.

Janice Dickinson - This wasn't a surprise. Janice is annoying as anything. I mean, yes, I felt bad for her when she got stung by a bee/wasp and had an allergic reaction. None of us could have predicted that. After that happened, she seemed to become more friendly and I assume it's because she realised karma's a bitch but then when she tried to get out of helping everyone else clean up it was just so annoying. I get that she might not like being bossed around and, therefore, doesn't listen but all the USA housemates are in the same boat on this task, so if she could just cooperate that'd be great.
I just don't like the way Janice is always just around and listening to other people's drama. I mean when that Farrah, James and Austin thing exploded she but in and made things worse. So I really wouldn't miss her if she were to go.

And so, those are our eviction nominees. I'm excited to see what will happen and who goes home. If anything I'd prefer if Janice or Stevi and Chloe Jasmine got evicted. They are the ones I have the most problems with, everyone else I can tolerate, but I guess we just see what the public decides.
One thing I will say is that I'm surprised they aren't actually airing Celebrity Big Brother in the US too because it's UK vs USA. I know that it is technically UK Celebrity Big Brother but because they chose to make a big deal about UK vs USA I was sure they'd air it in the US and let them vote too. Although I suppose that'd be hard to keep count of voting and things...I don't know.
Other than that, I'm excited to see how the USA housemates deal with waiting hand and foot on the UK celebrities. I know they aren't exactly thrilled about it and Janice is against doing most of the work but I wonder if they'll be able to pull it off...
~ Courtney x
All photos from the Channel 5 CBB website.

Hey guys!
So today I am giving you my first impressions on this year's Celebrity Big Brother housemates. Now it's been about four years since I watched Big Brother, I used to be a big fan of it when I was younger when they showed it on Channel 4...Chantelle and Preston were my OTP back then haha. Since then, the show has moved to Channel 5 and I lost interest.
But this year, when I heard that Farrah Abraham was making an appearance I decided to give it a go. Mainly because Shane Dawson is obsessed with her and talks about her non-stop on his podcast so I wanted to see what she was like on TV. Although I have to say, I'm excited for this season of Big Brother. It has a lot of promise.
Anyway, let's get on to the fun part, judging the celebs:

Austin Armacost - never heard of him before Big Brother, but he is easily a favourite. His bromance with James is very enjoyable to watch, I like that they have bonded so quickly. So far he hasn't caused any conflict in the house and so to me, he's a really nice and likeable guy.



Bobby Davro - I have no idea who he is. Also, he hasn't been on screen a lot so I don't have a lot to say about him. He seems pretty quiet other than when he entered the house. I wonder what kind of special roles he'll have as prime minister of the house.
Chris Ellison - Again no clue who he is, this is a running theme in CBB, I never know the celebrities haha. Again, he doesn't have a lot of screen time so I can't say a lot about him. The UK housemates all seem to be a lot more quiet and reserved compared to the USA housemates.
Daniel Baldwin - From what I've seen he's probably one of the least controversial USA housemates. He's very chill about everything and that's what I like about him. He doesn't want any drama so he stays away from it.
Farrah Abraham - Wow. She really does give you a first impression. From the first night, she was already starting something with Natasha, and then the next night it was James. She was definitely a sore loser after the first night, so maybe Natasha was right to send her to the tower...as for the thing with James, I have no idea what that was even about. I feel like Farrah blew that out of proportion. Like the only person I think that can tolerate Farrah properly is Jenna haha.

Gail Porter - Someone I recognise other than Farrah! Took me a while but I recognised her from when she presented on the Gadget Show. Gail is a super nice housemate, however, I really feel like she's letting Janice take advantage of her...Like girl, you should not be making that woman's bed when she's out smoking. No girl, just no.
James Hill - Another person who is easily liked. James is so sweet. I like him a lot. He definitely doesn't want to start conflict in the house and will go out of his way to make sure he's on good terms with everyone. Again, I love the bromance between him and Austin, super cute. And I know if Tila had stayed in the house James would be in so much trouble haha. I liked what had started between Tila and James, sad we never got to see what that could have been.

Janice Dickinson - I don't like her. I thought she was cool to begin with, but that quickly changed. I feel like she also is someone who will make a bigger deal out of something than it needs to be. I mean the way she started that whole thing with Jenna was just rude. And there was that thing with Austin...And the way she's getting everyone else to do things for her. I get that she's older than some housemates but like...girl...unpack your  own bags, don't ask someone else to make your bed...
Jenna Jameson - I like her. She's really chill. Plus she doesn't want to start shit if she doesn't have to. I think she's being really smart about the whole thing. And she seems to get along with everyone in the house so that's always a plus.
Natasha Hamilton - I liked Atomic Kitten back in the day but never learnt any of their individual names haha. She's kind of disappeared off the radar since the whole Farrah thing from the first night. I think she realised what she started and backed down because who can be bothered with that drama. So I'm interested to see if something happens with her again, I imagine it will because she seems very opinionated.

Fatman Scoop - Another chill guy. He understands everyone's gotta do what they gotta do. He gives great girl advice to James haha. He also gives good advice to other housemates on occasion. Plus he stresses the importance of having your own bed in the house. I like him.
Sherrie Hewson - I've seen her on Loose Women. She's another person who hasn't had a lot of camera time, but I sense she's going to be nice to everyone in the house and avoid conflict. Which a lot of the older housemates seem to be doing. Which is fine, it just makes them seem a bit boring.
Stevi Richie & Chloe Jasmine - I don't know why they are counted as one housemate. I don't see how that's fair when team USA only have five housemates now that Tila got kicked out. Also, they are kind of annoying, I'm not all about that PDA. I get that they are a couple and in love, but to see them always together and kissing and stuff...no. I can appreciate it every once in a while, but I agree with Jenna and Farrah on this one. It's just not good. Plus they're already sexually frustrated and have only been in the house for four days...how will they cope two weeks from now?

Tila Tequila - I liked her. I have heard her name before but never really knew who she was. From what we saw of her I could see she was going to be a problem for James haha. I can only imagine how that would have went if she had stayed in the house. As for her being kicked out of the house for something she said years ago...I think Big Brother should have done their homework before letting her into the house in the first place. Plus, haven't we all said stupid things online at one point or another?
And so those are my first impressions on this season's CBB housemates! I'm sure these opinions will change as the show goes on because we are still in the early stages, but I'm excited! As for being team UK or team USA, I feel like I have to be team UK because I live in the UK but to be honest I find the USA housemates much more entertaining, so we'll see if that changes in the future. Look out for update blog posts in the future on the show, because some thoughts are just too long for 140 characters.
~ Courtney xx
All photos from the Channel 5 CBB website.

Hey guys!
So today I thought I would introduce you to my Sims 4 family. This is the sim family that I have been playing with when I am not playing my Legacy Challenge save file.
These are the Allgoods.

I originally started with two sims, but their family grew pretty quickly. I have decided that I will talk about each sim individually and then talk about my experience with playing with such a big household of Sims. I have never played with eight sims at one time before, so this was kind of new to me.
Before we even get into talking about my sims, let me give you a peek at the family tree.

The Allgood Family Tree

So there is Jen, who is the mother, Tanner the father, Alice and Amber who are twins and both married, Elle who is the second youngest and Patrick the very youngest of the family.
Now I can introduce you to my sims! Let's start with Jen.

Jen was the first sim that I created. She is basically the same as my Aria Montgomery sim however I changed her name, her clothes, and her makeup. She started young adult and originally had the Painter Extraordinaire lifetime aspiration.

Since then, Jen has completed the Painter Extraordinaire lifetime aspiration and is now pursuing the Bestselling Author lifetime aspiration. She is in the painter career, is reaching the elder stage of life and has gained quite a lot of traits.
One of my friends reminded me of the lifetime rewards panel and since then all my sims have been racking up the traits haha.
Next we have Tanner, Tanner is just my Tanner Patrick sim. He started as a young adult and had the Musical Genius lifetime aspiration. As you can see in the photo, he has aged quite a bit.

Since we started, Tanner as aged up twice to become an elder, I find it weird that he ages up slightly faster than Jen because they started at the same time. And he has completed the Musical Genius lifetime aspiration and is now working towards the Successful Linage lifetime aspiration. He works in the entertainer career and, like Jen, has accumulated quite a lot of traits.
Jen and Tanner soon became pregnant with a set of twins. Which was surprising, I was definitely not prepared. The oldest one (or the one I'm going to talk about first) is Alice. She is a young adult and has the Master Chef lifetime aspiration.



Alice currently has a culinary career, and is married to Johnny Zest.
I won't say a lot about my sims' significant others. Mainly because they haven't been part of the family for long. Johnny is one of the premade sims in the game and is an adult, he has the Joke Star lifetime aspiration and is an adult.


Next we have Amber, who is Alice's twin sister. She is a young adult and is following in her father's footsteps and pursuing the Musical Genius lifetime aspiration.

Amber is currently in the entertainer career and is married to Alison DiLaurentis.
Alison is a sim I created and added to the neighbourhood in this save game, as well as the other Pretty Little Liars. She is an adult, has the Party Animal lifetime aspiration.
Then we have Elle. She is a young adult and is, unfortunately, the awkward middle child.
Elle has the Friend of the World lifetime aspiration and is pursuing a business career. Elle is also looking for love, but unfortunately due to the size of our family it'll be a while before she gets married.
And finally we have the youngest of the Allgood children and the only boy, Patrick.
Patrick has the Serial Romantic lifetime aspiration and is currently a high school student. I have tried my teenage sims with a job and school, but that was next to impossible because their needs always dropped so rapidly so, until Patrick graduates he will remain unemployed.



And so they are the Allgoods! Now to talk about how I have been playing the game.
I don't really have a challenge I have set myself with this household, I've kind of just been playing and trying not to cheat. Which has been going pretty well.
The only times I have cheated were to one, get a better bed for Jen and Tanner and two, reduce the ages of Alison and Johnny because they were elders when they married Amber and Alice.
As for the house they live in, it's not great.

The Outside

The Inside

Although everyone's bedrooms are essentially the same, mainly because like I said, we have been low on funds and so it's not easy to give them everything they should have so as long as there is a place to sleep it's fine.
As for playing with eight sims on a whole, it's a lot. I find myself pausing the game a lot to make sure all my sims are doing actions to further their lifetime aspirations. I know I could make the household smaller by having older sims move out on their own but I don't like the idea of getting rid of sims. I like to have them all in the same place, otherwise I'm not going to play as them again.
The only downside is that now as the younger sims get older, they can't have anymore children to expand the family. So I don't know what I am going to do about that.
One thing I will also say about playing as a large household, or just because I'm a lazy sim player is that I never travel outside my lot when I play. I feel like there are too many sims for that and if I just leave with one of them something will happen to the others. Also I can't be bothered to sit through the loading screens that come with leaving a lot.
But overall I think it's great to play with so many sims, there is never a dull moment. And it's great to explore all different types of aspirations and traits at the same time.

The Allgoods pursuing their passions

Another thing I have become obsessed with in the sims 4 is the photography skill. I decided to add all the other sims I had created into the neighbourhood so that the Allgoods could be friends with them and take photos with them...and I think I've gone overboard.

All the photos in my sims house

As for exploring the Get To Work careers and the Outdoor Retreat game pack in this save game, I haven't really been using them. I think it's because one, when doing the Get to Work careers it takes you away from all your other sims and two, I think my sim family is too big for an Outdoor Retreat. But I will have to get back to using the features of them, mainly because I paid for them so should really use them.
And so I think this is a good place to end this blog post. I know it's a lot longer than normal but I just love to share my photos. I hope that you guys enjoyed reading, and getting to know a little bit more about how I play Sims 4. Obviously everyone plays their game differently so I'd love to know how you like to play Sims.
Also if you are wondering where I get all of my custom content from (i.e all the clothes my sims wear and the fancy hair) I get it from the Sims Resource website. It is a wonderful place and I love everyone who makes pretty sim clothes. I love them so much.
Again thanks so much for reading and if you want to check out my other Sims 4 save file that I use to do a Legacy Challenge on my YouTube channel you can find it here.
~ Courtney x