My Little Corner of the Internet

This month was definitely a busy one. That's why I thought that I would finally be able to post one of these and say I didn't struggle to get 30 things but even when a lot of things go down in a month, I still seem to struggle. I got to about 20 and then I was stumped.
That being said I think this might be the end of these type of blog posts. Which is kind of sad because I wanted to keep doing them to see it through to the end of the year. But at the same time, I want to do a bit of redesign on the blog. Every so often I get these bursts of inspiration for things like writing and it makes me want to drop everything and start fresh.
But instead of deleting yet another blog, I have decided to just change this one. I have now had this blog for about 3 years and I think that's a pretty big accomplishment so I want to keep it going, but change up the style. Hopefully this means that I will post more often but I have no idea. Let's just see where it goes.
Anyway, for the last time, here are 30 things I did in June:

1. Played a lot of Sims 4 with the new Parenthood game pack. It's just so great. I haven't been this excited about a game pack since Dine Out was released last year.
2. Got annoyed at the bugs that came with the new Sims game pack. With every new addition of course things aren't going to run perfectly but still, experiencing bugs aren't great.
3. Enjoyed seeing the return of Nashville. It was on a super long hiatus and I almost forgot about it. But it's back and it's fabulous.
4. Got sucked into playing Stardew Valley after my brother bought it for me as a birthday present. I resisted for a while because I didn't think it would be my thing, it is heavily based on Harvest Moon and the one Harvest Moon game I played, I didn't like. But I have been really enjoying Stardew Valley.
5. Played through my first year in Stardew Valley. Kind of sad that during winter we can't actually plant any crops. Makes for a very long month.
6. Attended my third hackathon. We threw together a team last minute and powered through from 4 p.m to 4 a.m. Definitely a challenge but I had a lot of fun. We didn't win but we did come close, another team just had a better idea.
7. Went to England to visit my friend Jasmine at university. I flew on a plane by myself for the first time and I survived so I think that's pretty great. It was also great to see Jasmine again.
8. Had Stardew Valley withdrawals when in England. I missed the farm life.
9. When in England, at the amusements the ticket prize people were super nice and one of them gave us a free wonder woman bobble head haha. It was worth 2000 tickets but we got it for free.
10. Died in the heat in England. So much warmer than I'm used to and trying to sleep was next to impossible. How people wear jeans in that weather I will never know.
11. Crashed a 7 year old's birthday party with Jasmine. She was invited by her boyfriend's family but we literally knew no one else there haha. Still had fun though.
12. Played Overcooked with Jasmine and her boyfriend's family. I really liked the game and decided to buy it when I came home from England. It's definitely not as fun to play by yourself but it is twice the challenge haha. Definitely something to play with friends and family.
13. Celebrated my 20th birthday. I made last minute plans when coming back from England so basically no one was available because they are all working. Such is the struggle when all your friends are growing up but I still had a good time.
14. Went to the ballet for the first time with one of my best friends. She had to review it for a magazine and got a plus one and who was I to turn down such an offer? It was interesting and I enjoyed it as my first ballet.
15. Went to Dublin with my boyfriend for the weekend as a birthday surprise. He's so cute. I love him.
16. Celebrated pride in Dublin. It was my first time ever going to a pride parade and I loved every second of it.
17. Got rejected entry from a bar in Dublin as you had to be 21. It was kind of a bummer because it wasn't something I was expecting but we found somewhere else to go.
18. I was sad that another year went by that I was not able to attend Vidcon LA. I will one day though.
19. Freaked at the PLL finale. 7 years of my life and it's over. It's just kind of hard to believe. I mean the finale lacked in some areas for sure but I am content enough with the finale to let the show go. Hopefully the show I find to replace it is just as good.
20. Made a lot of Pretty Little Liars videos coming up to the end of the show. I had to get my thoughts out there into the world and with so little episodes left there was so much to say.
21. Loved the crowning of America's Next Drag Super Star on RuPaul's Drag Race. This season they did the finale differently and I wasn't sure how to feel about it but when I saw Sasha lip sync I knew she was the clear winner.
22. Binge-watched Orange is the New Black in 2 days. Guys, this season was kind of crazy and I found it hard to believe everything that happened in the riot only lasted a few days. Also hate how they ended on a cliffhanger. I just need to know what happens now.
23. They finally announced the release of Dr. Kawashima's Devilish Brain Training: Can You Stay Focused? In Europe. I have been waiting for this game basically since I found out there was one. I have the other two Brain Training games so naturally I was excited for this one. So I got to preordering and I can't wait to get it.
24. Started an Instagram for Sims 4 gameplay. I'm not really sure why but I had all these pretty screenshots from a Sims wedding and thought, yes Sims needs Instagram haha. I don't post anything different than what I post on my Sims Tumblr but I thought why not? Just something a little extra to do.
25. Turned my Snapchat map off. There's something not right about knowing the exact location of someone all the time. Although I did see a meme about it trying to be the next Gossip Girl spotted map and I totally agree.
26. Showed my family my Echo at my birthday and now they all want one. I honestly didn't think they would be that interested but apparently I was wrong.
27. Unsuccesfully tried to make plans with people now that I was off for Summer break. Everyone is working and then there's just me... 
28. Celebrated my 4th year being mayor of my Animal Crossing: New Leaf town. Can't believe the game is 4 years old now. I can remember how exciting it was to get a new Animal Crossing game. I'm patiently waiting for them to announce the game for the Switch. At least I hope they will make one.
29. Slept a lot. Basically just enjoyed not having to stress over uni work for once haha.
30. Became obsessed with the song One Last Time by Ariana Grande after the One Love Manchester concert. I never properly listened to the song until then and I really love it.

1. Went out with a friend for drinks for the first time in ages. Sometimes it's just nice to get together and gossip.
2. Got sick. I feel like I get sick a lot, I think it has to do with stress weakening my immune system...
3. Pulled an almost all nighter finishing off a project before the deadline. Sometimes you just need to do that last minute refactoring.
4. Had some issues with my tablet. It kept restarting itself so I left it for a week and it reset to factory settings. Not sure what that's about.
5. Finally set up my Amazon Echo and kind of fell in love with the speaker. The Amazon Dot is great for most Alexa functions but if you want a music player the Echo is where it's at.
6. Made several videos talking about PLL because with the final 10 episodes, of course, I have a lot to say.
7. Spent so much time revising for exams. Tis that time of year.
8. Stressed a lot about the exams. They all went well but that didn't stop me from freaking out jus ta bit.
9. I didn't cope well with the random heat wave we had when I was trying to study for my exams. As a computing student I need to see my laptop screen so sitting outside wasn't an option, so I just tried not to melt in my flat...
10. Played Sims for the first time in a month and it felt great. I kind of abandoned it for Another Brick In The Mall...
11. Started to get back into writing again. I go through phases where all I do is write and then I don't do it for months. Uni usually keeps me busy and I usually forget about it. But when I'm in the zone I love it. I used to write all the time when I was younger, fictional work and blog posts. It was great.
12. Watched a season of Project Runway: Junior and a season of Project Runway: All Stars. While I like the spin-offs no one can replace Hiedi Klum and Tim Gunn as hosts for the show.
13. Was surprised when one of the best queens from season 9 was sent home from RuPaul's Drag Race after a terrible lip sync. If you don't know the words you're going home, we all know the rules.
14. I bought a capture card to try my hand at recording console games. Specifically Sims for the PS2. I have never completed a single Sims game for PS2 but I have about 5 of them so I want to do it. It'll make me feel accomplished. So watch out for my Sims channel this summer.
15. Got excited for a new Sims 4 game pack being released this month - Sims have just been doing some great things lately and I'm excited for more.
16. Started playing Magikarp Jump and fell in love. It's a really simple game but I love how it's designed. Just so cute. If I could have made that my game for uni I think I would have had so much fun.
17. Went out for drinks with some people on my course. I was hesitant at first just because I am not the best at socialising with new people but it actually turned into a really good night. I definitely think since coming to uni I have become more confident.
18. Left it too late to make plans to go see Latrice Royale whenever she was in town. I always want to see the queens from RuPaul's Drag Race when I'm in town but it usually never works out. The only queen I have been able to see and meet is Bianca Del Rio. Which I have to say was one of the best experiences of my life. So I hope to meet plenty more drag queens in the future. It's a magical experience.
19. Tried to go to a cool bar twice but the first time I went, it was dead and the second time it was packed and so I didn't end up staying long both times. It was kind of disappointing because the place sounds so great. Too bad I haven't really been able to experience the awesomeness.
20. Started posting on my Sims YouTube channel again after finishing exams. I am motivated to get back into making videos, I always do when I have a lot more free time.

Well...This month I really struggled to get 30 things. Mainly because I really didn't do much over April. It was a lot of me sitting in my room coding or watching something or sleeping or playing Another Brick in the Mall. I mean I try to update these posts as the month goes along so I can keep track of things I did but definitely not a lot of things going on. But yeah, I'm proud I was able to get at least half a list of things I did in April, so without rambling anymore, here is a list of things I did in April:

1. Watched 13 Reasons Why. I normally don't jump on things as soon as they are released and while everyone is talking about them but I wanted to watch this because I read the book it was based on. It broke my heart. It was really good and had a great message but I only recommend if you are in a strong state of mind because it is a really heavy show.
2. Bought the Sims 4 Bowling Stuff pack and didn't use it. I bought it to check out over Easter but got sucked into playing Another Brick in the Mall instead...
3. Bought and started to play Another Brick in the Mall. I decided to buy it after watching Conflict Nerd's Let's Play on it and I'm obsessed. I could let it run and watch the little people running around all day.
4. Was off for Easter for 3 weeks and it was wonderful to catch up on all the sleep.
5. Went on a road trip with my friends to the coast for the day. Was successful as we did not get lost but at the same time it wasn't a very nice day but at least the rain stayed away.
6. Prepared to say goodbye to Pretty Little Liars as the second half of the final season premiered. I have dedicated a lot of time to this show and I will be sad to see it end. At the same time, I am dying to find out who A.D is.
7. Bought a new colouring book and fell in love. I found it very relaxing. Until I coloured a tiny bit outside the lines...
8. Went to the amusements with my family and won a lot of tickets. Too bad I couldn't find any prizes that I wanted. But I have the tickets for another day.
9. Regretted not getting tickets for Vidcon Europe. It looked like a blast...maybe next year!
10. Spent a lot of time staring at code trying to get my uni assignment finished. You think it would be easy to make your own mobile application but it's really not haha. I don't know how people do it for a living.
11. Watched Girl Boss on Netflix. Not my favourite thing. Took a while to get into because the main character was not my favourite. Felt like the story was missing a lot.
12. Was a little bit disappointed by the Snatch Game on this season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It felt shorter or maybe the characters weren't as strong as previous years which is sad. But there's always next season!
13. Started watching Gossip Girl yet again. It's become one of those shows I stick on TV when I don't know what to watch. It's something fun and good to tune into when you want some scandal in your life haha
14. Attended a hackathon with my boyfriend. It was my second hackathon and we actually ended up joining up with a team sitting next to us with a similar idea. It all turned out for the best though because we came second!
15. I won an Amazon Echo at the hackathon in the raffle. It was totally unexpected. I usually never win things like that.

Today I thought I would talk you through my current TV shows. I felt the need to do this because I feel like I am posting about a lot of TV shows lately and sometimes it is hard to keep track haha. So if you were ever interested to know what shows I am following and currently watching then this is the blog post for you. Although, if you follow me on social media right now you probably think the only show I watch is How To Get Away With Murder...but that is only the tip of the ice burg with the shows I watch.
So yeah, these are all the shows I am currently watching that are still on air. I am also going to put them in the order I started watching them because that might help me remember them all. I swear I don't think I watch that much TV until someone asks me what I watch or I am talking about the shows to someone else...

The Vampire Diaries (2009 - 2017)

This was one of the first TV shows I really got into and started following. I think Glee was the first. But Vampire Diaries came up behind it. At first, I didn't want to watch it because I thought that it was going to be similar to Twilight. You know, a vampire falls in love with a human, there's a bit of a love triangle, they have werewolves...But no. Completely different.
I'll admit when I first started to watch it I couldn't get past the similarities because I was hardcore Twilight fangirl at the time but as the show progressed I realised it was so much more than I originally thought.
I got into this show around the time it was halfway through season 2. My friend would not stop talking about it and so one night I caved and finally decided to watch it. From then I was hooked. I fell in love with the Katherine - Elena's doppelganger - and everything about the show and the characters.
And now, I am dreading the end of this series. I was sad to find that season 8 was going to be its last season. I was hoping for more. I wanted the show to go on forever. But I guess all good things must come to an end. All I hope is that everything works out because from the last episode that I saw, things were not going well. I hope we get the ending we deserve.

Pretty Little Liars (2010 - 2017)


I started this show on a whim. Didn't really know much about it. Started watching it after I had finished watching Gossip Girl because I love my high school drama shows.
I quickly realised this show was more than just about high school drama haha. But I fell in love. I'm not quite sure what it was about the show that made me fall in love but once I was hooked I was all in. I needed to know who A was.
And when we found out that Alison was alive - that was a big shock to me. The show just kept stepping up its game so how can you not love it? I even got so into the show I started making YouTube videos about it, talking about my own theories on who A might be and sharing my thoughts on the show.
When the show was put on Netflix, it wasn't long before my entire school year at the time was talking about it, which made it very hard to avoid spoilers if you didn't keep up with the show. Luckily, I always did. It was always interesting coming into school to hear about people's theories on who  A was.
It was safe to say we were all disappointed in the last A reveal but it's now at the point where we are 10 episodes left from the show ending and so, we might as well stick it out and see who the real big bad A is. I haven't read the books, but I do know who was revealed to be A in them. But something tells me the TV show is not going to end the same as the books so, who is A? I have no idea. But I'm dying to find out.

Nashville (2012 - 2017)


I started this show after Glee ended and my friend suggested it to me. They said it was similar to Glee because they also had original songs. Definitely not like Glee but I do like the songs haha.
Honestly, it took me a while to get into this show. I only really stuck around for Juliette in seasons one and two but then season three hit and that's when I really fell in love. I think I started watching this show during season 2. I seem to always find good shows when they are in their second season haha.
But what I didn't expect from this show was just how quickly I actually fell in love with it and how attached I would become to the characters. I have been through quite a few emotional ups and downs with this show but none can compare to the latest episode with Rayna. I made a video on my feelings on that one.
I just was not expecting her to go that way or that the actress wanted to leave the show. But I will forever be glad that the show got picked up for season 5 after it was cancelled. I don't know how I would have coped knowing it had ended on a cliffhanger.

Orange is the New Black (2013 - )


This show might be the reason why I decided to start up a Netflix subscription. I started it on a whim during the summer 2 years ago and since then I have been hooked.
Basically, when season 3 was released everyone online wouldn't stop talking about it so I finally wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And now I know, it's a really good show.
Like everyone I have my issues with Piper but everyone else on the show is great. As it is a Netflix Original, the show is highly binge-watch worthy but also it is agony waiting every year for a new season once you finish the current one.
I am still not over how they ended the latest season and so, I need the next one ASAP.

RuPaul's Drag Race (2009 - )


I never intended to actually get into this show, it just kind of happened haha. I was at a sleepover one night with my friends and one of them put it on for something to play as background noise and suddenly we were all paying more attention to it than anything else.
This was definitely the show I didn't realise I needed into my life until it came into it. It is fabulous. I have made blog posts talking about it before. I have met Bianca Del Rio, winner of season 6.
This show is amazing. I can't say enough good things about it. Meeting Bianca was a dream come true, and finding out that drag queens come to the UK on a regular basis is also a dream come true. I mean forget meeting other celebrities, drag queens are who you really wanna meet.
Also, the last All Stars season was definitely something that's not to be missed. And season 9 is right around the corner. This is one of those shows I can see going on forever and I need it to, because I'm not sure I am going to find something equally as fabulous to replace it with.

Suits (2011 - )


This was a recommendation from my boyfriend. I wasn't really sure if I would be into it but it turns out lawyers are something that I can be into.
I'm not really sure what it was about the show that got me into it, I think it was mainly just the whole thing of Mike being adorable and also how they were managing to get away with Mike being a fraud for so long.
Part of me does wonder how long this show can go on though. It's one of those things where it's based on something and then once that thing is gone, what direction can the show go in?
That being said, the season 6 finale was everything I needed it to be. I am so excited for season 7. But please can we let Louis find love? That's my main concern right now.

How To Get Away With Murder (2014 - )


My newest love. I have probably talked about this show enough for you to know how I feel about it and how I got into it. So I'll just not say anything more.
If anything I just wanted to know how they would progress after season 1 because they got away with the murder. But hey, they pulled it off and we are now gearing up for season 4. Am I prepared? Definitely not.

And those are all my current TV shows. To be honest I did think I had more shows than that, but I guess not haha. I guess in my head I was also counting shows I rewatch and ones that I tune into from time to time. But these are the ones that I watch every week without fail and can't wait for new episodes of.
I know some of them are ending really soon which is why I need to work on finding some more shows. Or maybe I need to take a break from TV shows and do something else. Maybe read more or something. TV has just become a really easy thing to turn to at the end of the day. Even though I did make a New Years' Resolution to read more this year.
But no matter what I always have time for a little TV, especially if it's for one of my favourite shows.
Anyway, I think that's everything that I had to say. Well, I could probably talk more about these shows if you wanted but I feel this blog post is getting a bit long so I will leave it here. Let me know what your favourite TV shows are below, and if you have any suggestions for shows I might like that would also be great. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some more TV to watch.
~ Courtney x

Last night, while trying to sleep I had this idea of making a monthly blog post letting you know about things I did within the last month. It's kind of inspired by Tyler Oakley's YouTube video "100 things we did in [insert year here]". I thought it would be something to help keep me blogging throughout the year and also something cute to look back on and remember.
I was going to try and think of one thing I did for each day of the month but that's not always possible. So basically, I'm just going to list 30/31/28 things I did in the month, depending on how many days there are in that month.
So without further ado, here are 31 things I did in January:

1. Celebrated the new year with my boyfriend and his friends. I finally had someone to kiss on New Year's. :P
2. Shared a montage video of my 2016 on YouTube. It was a really fun year for me. I also made a blog post about it.
3. Made four New Years' Resolutions hoping that I would stick to them. So far, so good!
4. Shared my winter makeup look in a YouTube video. I hardly do makeup tutorial type things but when I do, it's usually at the start of the year haha.
5. Played Pokemon Moon for about an hour and decided I didn't like it. The storyline is too different from other Pokemon games and I'm not a fan.
6. Started watching How To Get Away With Murder and fell in love.
7. Made two videos talking about How To Get Away With Murder and fangirling/freaking out about it.
8. Started posting YouTube videos on my Sims channel again after a long hiatus.
9. Went shopping in the new year's sales hoping to find clothes for work placement but was unsuccessful.
10. Went to see Marvel Live: Superheros Assemble.
11. Revised C++ and was surprised to find I didn't forget how to code over Christmas break. You never know, it could happen.
12. Suffered in the cold for a week because the boiler in my house broke and it needed to be replaced. It was not pleasant.
13. Cleared out my pyjama drawer and found out just how many pairs of pyjamas I own. (It's a lot)
14. Stayed in a beautiful apartment for two days with my boyfriend for his birthday.
15. Took a day trip to Dublin.
16. Played lots and lots of Sims. They gave us toddlers and vampires in the same week. I had lots of free time to explore.
17. Watched my TV shows return and reacted to them on Twitter. I love my TV shows and I love using Twitter to share my thoughts. Someone on Twitter can always relate.
18. Started to work on my Android group project again and encountered some problems with Git. When you have to merge your branch into master and have a load of conflicts - it's not great.
19. Filmed a YouTube video in the middle of my kitchen/living room in my uni flat and it felt super awkward while doing so. One of my flatmates could have walked in at any minute. It would have been awful.
20. Had a lazy day where all I did was read Buzzfeed articles. It was a very productive day.
21. Attended a gaming event with my friend where we quickly realised that we did not belong. The event was clearly for established game developers, which we are not.
22. Tried to fix my sleeping pattern multiple times and failed.
23. Started rewatching Pretty Little Liars and remembering all the things that I had forgotten over the years. How did we not know CeCe was A, season 4 practically shows you she's part of it lol.
24. Caught up with a friend I hadn't seen in three months. It was nice. Uni has made me realise how hard is to keep in contact with people when you don't see each other at school everyday.
25. Started a Gossip Girl inspired Sims story thing on my Sims 4 blog. I created the characters of Gossip Girl on the Sims 4 a while ago and so decided to start some Sims gameplay as the Blair Waldorf sim, she was my favourite character on the show.
26. Reread the first Pretty Little Liars book with the intention of reading the whole series. I bought the first book on my Kindle a couple of years ago and read it, didn't think about getting the rest of the books until now because with the TV show ending I need some more PLL in my life.
27. Listened to one of my best friends tell the story of her first date with a guy through voice notes on Whatsapp. I loved it.
28. Came back to my uni house after being away for a month and a half. It felt weird to be back there but also kind of nice at the same time.
29. Reminisced about the time my boyfriend and I were at the same club one time and he saw me but I didn't see him. We weren't together at this stage, we were just friends. He jokes that I saw him and ignored him but I swear I didn't.
30. Started to get back into using Instagram. It kind of became my least used social media for a while because I used to never be good at keeping up with my timeline but now I check it almost every day.
31. Bought a scrapbook with the intention of properly scrapbooking. I was going to start one a few years ago but never did but now I am determined to do it.

This show.
I swear.
If you guys have been following me on social media for a while then you know all about how Pretty Little Liars makes me feel. And now that we are into the second half of season six things have never been so intense.
We are only three episodes into season 6B and yet I'm already freaking out hysterically. I have so many questions and thoughts about how this season has been going. The five-year time jump has really changed the game and it's hard to believe that just a few months ago we found out the identity of A.
So much has changed and yet it still has that PLL flair that makes you want to come back for more. I love it, so much so that I have already made two videos talking about the second half of season six already. If you want to know all my thoughts on Pretty Little Liars right now check them out below:

And if you want to know my thoughts on future episodes then follow me on Twitter. I always tweet when I'm watching the show because I always have so many thoughts to share.
I'll be so sad when the show ends because I don't know if I'll ever find a show to replace it. But I don't have to worry about that for a while. I just have to think about making it through the rest of the series without freaking out too much. Although I don't think that's possible. It is Pretty Little Liars after all.
~ Courtney x

Well guys, it's the end of another year. And that means it's time for a reflective blog post.
I used to make these blog posts all the time back when I had Bebo. I used to blog about all the big things that happened that year and talk about what I hoped for the next year. I actually think it's a really good thing to do because I like looking back and seeing how far I've come.
This year in particular has been insane. So much has happened and I have no idea where to start with it.
I think I'm going to start chronologically and work my way from there because it seems like it makes the most sense.
So according to my Twitter, 2015 started off quite boring. I was pretty lazy. Which tends to happen when you are off school for Christmas. And even though you have a ton of work to do that's due for when you go back, you always leave it to the last minute. Luckily the work didn't seem to weigh me down too much as I still had time to tweet about it.

On top of trying to get through my a levels, I was also very distracted fandom-wise. Four words. Fifty Shades of Grey. For the first two months of the year I was busy trying to get as much information about the movie as possible. And I was freaking out at every glimpse of Jamie Dornan in a grey suit.
Unfortunately the movie was not all that I had hoped it would be. Yet I still enjoyed it for what it was. And I am still excited for the sequels, even though we will be waiting until 2017 to see Mr Grey again.





The start of 2015 is also when I started this blog! I have had many a blog in my life and I decided that this would be the one that I stuck with, for better or for worse. This would be the one I stuck with. I have taken many different directions with blogs before but I feel good about this one.
The only other blogs that I have had for more than a year are my Tumblr blogs, and while they are great I wanted a more serious blog to post to. One that I could look back on and read like a journal. And so this fabulous blog was born. Here's hoping we make it through another year here and I don't randomly change my mind and start a new one. *Fingers crossed*


2015 also saw the start of my love for Tanner Patrick. His cover of Love Me Like You Do was a related video on my YouTube and I clicked on it on a whim. Best decision I ever made. Since then I have been loving Tanner's music and have been an active part of his fandom since around March maybe the end of February. He's a talented musician and I would definitely recommend that everyone check him out.



In April, I was introduced to the show RuPaul's Drag Race and that opened me up to the world of drag queens. I have to say that I love it. I find it so fascinating and I enjoy the show a lot. Everything about it is just fabulous. From the drag queens themselves, to their amazing costumes, to the challenges, to the shady drama. It's all very entertaining and so much fun to watch. I also think it's interesting to learn about drag culture and how much people give up to do something that they love like drag. It's an amazing commitment, and I commend anyone who does it because it's amazing.
After that, school was stressful as we headed towards exam time and the end of an era. Officially leaving secondary school was a huge accomplishment this year. I didn't think I would make it haha. It's crazy to think I left school seven months ago. I don't even feel as if I really left. It just felt like the natural next step which was good.
If I had to say anything about my time at school I would say it was good. I know that it wasn't always that great. There were always stressful times and you didn't always get along with everybody in your class but overall I had a good school experience. I worked hard, got the grades I needed and made some amazing friends I know I'll have for life. And some really great memories but also some not so great ones. Like I said, it wasn't perfect but I had a good time there.


Once exams were over and I hung up uniform for good summer had officially started.
Over summer, I decided to put my focus on YouTube and begin posting videos on a regular basis. I aimed to post five videos a week, one for every weekday. It was a challenge, but I did enjoy posting regular content to my channel. I felt like I was being productive with my time rather than just sitting around playing Animal Crossing.


During the summer I also started watching two new TV shows, Orange is the New Black and Young and Hungry. Both really enjoyable shows. Both completely different. I'm really excited to see where they go with the new seasons.
Another big event that happened in June was that marriage equality was brought to the US as gay marriage was legalised in all fifty states. That was a really big step for the world and I couldn't be happier about it.


June was also the month where I turned 18. However, I don't feel any different than I did when I was any other age haha. Are we supposed to feel really different when we hit a big milestone age? I never have. I just feel the same, it's just that now I say I'm 18 when people ask me my age hahaha.


I also went on holiday with my friends in the summer. We rented a house for the week in Portrush and it was a lot of fun. I did manage to vlog a little bit when I was there and I got to spend some quality time with all of my friends before we went to university. It was very memorable and I'm sure we will be planning many more group holidays in the future.


The rest of the summer was spent playing Sims or working on YouTube. I still made the occasional plans with friends to keep in touch too. All of this was just a distraction from the approach of results day.
Results day was pretty nerve wracking. It's the moment when you find out if you are going to university or not. I tried to remain pretty calm about the whole thing but there was a tiny part of me that was worried that I didn't do as well as I thought I did.


Luckily I didn't have to worry much because I was able to get the results I needed to go to university.
That's when the real nerves started to kick in.
I was about to start the next chapter in my life. I was going to be in a new place with new people...I didn't even know if I would like my course.
Something else I knew that would really suck would be my friends leaving to go to university. I had went from spending everyday with them to never seeing them. It was an adjustment to say the least.
I was so happy that my transition from school to university was pretty smooth. Like I said, it felt like the next natural step for my life to go in. And I am so grateful for that. I know a lot of people that go to university because they were told to rather than that they wanted to and it doesn't always end up going so well. So if you are thinking about further education then it has to be your choice, someone else shouldn't be making the decision for you.


So for the past few months my life has been all about getting used to university and trying to make sure that I balance everything in my life again. Since starting university, my everyday life has changed dramatically and so I need to establish a new routine.
I have really enjoyed everything that university has been able to offer me so far. I have made some new friends, while still being able to keep in touch with my old ones. I find my course interesting and I am enjoying what I am learning. And I have been enjoying university nightlife.


Also during this time I was also trying to keep up with my TV shows. Most of them return after summer break in the autumn and so I always had to make time for them. In particular I have really been enjoying Nashville and The Vampire Diaries. I also decided to start watching Scream Queens this year as there is no more Glee to look forward to.
This year, my TV shows have really been on point. They have been so good lately that I really can't get enough of them. And I haven't even mentioned Pretty Little Liars in this post yet. Y'all know about how much I have been freaking out about Pretty Little Liars this year. It's been insane.


The latest TV show that I have gotten hooked on is 90210. I started to watch it just before Christmas and am almost finished with season 2. I wasn't sure what to think of it at the start but I have really gotten into it and am really enjoying it so I'm excited to see where that goes. I know the show is over now but I prefer to watch shows like that so I can binge-watch it all in one go. Waiting for new episodes of TV shows sucks.


And finally, the last big thing I can really think of that I have done this year is Vlogmas. If you don't know what Vlogmas is, it is when YouTubers vlog for 24 days leading up to Christmas from the 1st of December to Christmas Eve. It's actually not as easy as it looks to produce daily content like that. I was always staying up ridiculously late at night to make sure my vlogs were edited and uploaded for the appropriate times.
But I have to say it was definitely worth it. I really like vlogs because it's just another way to capture memories and look back on them. So I felt really accomplished about that because I thought that I was going to get through the first few days of Vlogmas and then quit.


So overall, it has been a successful and productive year for me. It's probably been one of the years in my life where I have experienced the most change. It hasn't always been plain sailing though, like everyone I have my ups and downs, good days and bad days. But I would say that the good definitely outweighed the bad this year.
I am definitely looking forward to next year and all that it will bring. I have no expectations at all other than I just need to keep doing my best and see what happens. And of course I will keep you all filled in on anything big that happens.
So thank you so much for reading, I hope you all had a wonderful 2015 and that 2016 will be equally as wonderful. Or if your 2015 wasn't so great that 2016 is your year and that it is so much better to you than last year. At the end of the day, I think the year is only as good as you can make it. Things might not always go your way but I think if you keep trying and don't give up then life can be amazing.
Happy New Year guys! Make it count!


~ Courtney x

Um...what?

Oh my God.

Speechless.
Literally how I felt at the end of this PLL episode.
I don't think I've ever felt this way about an episode. This was the most intense one yet.
And I have so many feelings that I don't know how to express them properly. And I have so many questions that I need answered.
I just don't know.
But one thing's for sure, we are in for one hell of a ride this season. It's going to be more than we have ever experienced before.
If you guys want to see my initial reaction check the video below:

I don't think I will film my reaction to every episode but for the mid-season finale and things like that maybe. Sometimes I watch these things before my friends and need to discuss them with someone and I can't so I need to get my feelings out there in other ways.
In other news, I have no theories about this season. I have no way of knowing what's going to come and what we will find out about Charles. I just have a hunch it's not Andrew. Okay, I know why everyone would think Andrew is Charles but I don't think so. He is part of it though, I don't know what part but we can't act like he's totally innocent.
I just want to know everything. But I know we are not going to get another episode where Alison comes back and tells us everything we need to know like before. Charles isn't just going to sit and talk to us and tell us his life story....
If anything, it's going to be one hell of a summer and I hope you're ready because I know I am (not)!
~ Courtney x

So after posting about PLL yesterday I have decided to rewatch all five seasons.
Not only that but I am going to note down every observation possible that might give us hints as to who A is.
Now I know in seasons 1 and 2 A is Mona...but I never actually went back to see if I could figure that out from watching the episodes.
After seasons 1 and 2 I know I am going to be nitpicking every tiny thing because if there are clues as to who A is after Mona in seasons 3-5 I have to find them...
I mean this really is my taking things to the extreme haha.
So far I have already rewatched the first episode and created two word documents to write notes in. The first one is on all the characters and the second document is just for the messages A sends.
Like I said I'm taking things to the extreme.
To be honest this is probably not healthy. But I don't have anything better to do with my free time and so this is what I'm doing. I've been debating on whether or not I should create a blog specifically for all my PLL findings but I don't know...I guess it depends on what I find.
I mean I can always post here but then I don't want this to be an overrun PLL blog...
Let me know if you'd be interested? Let me know if you think I'm crazy? Haha...
Here's sort of what I have so far...

Oh my God.
I have no words.
Well I do have words. Just not coherent ones. If you guys would like to see my initial reaction to the big A reveal then please watch the video below...
*WARNING SPOILERS FROM BELOW THIS POINT*

So it's been a few days since I watched the episode and tonight I decided I would watch it again to talk about it.
I'm still pretty unsure of everything.
I mean I'm not actually one of those people that comes up with PLL theories. Which seems weird when you watch the show because I think everyone has their own theories from time to time about this show. I think it's gotten to the point where I just don't anymore because there's so many things in the show to consider when coming up with a half decent theory.
But I think it'll be a project for me over summer - rewatch PLL and try to connect the dots.
They say there are major hints in seasons 3-5 to the identity of A and I have yet to really pick up on any but I am seriously set on going through every episode again and trying to come up with a solution.
I'll probably blog about it.
Anyway...onto the actual episode.
On a whole I would say this is probably one of the best PLL episodes to date. I mean it was amazing and it was intense and it was just so...everything. I mean I don't really know how else to describe it I just loved it so much.
The big reveal was of course disappointing. I mean Charles DiLaurentis was worked out from the previous episodes when we discovered that Mona's random sentences were anagrams of Charles DiLaurentis. And when I say "we" I mean hardcore fans because I definitely didn't get Charles from those sentences haha.
However I feel like he's A.
I mean I like to believe he is because then we have a person who A could be. Plus he's keeping the girls in this house for a reason.
Yes there is always the chance he is doing this for someone of a higher power a.k.a Black Widow who is supposed to be Uber A. Like I really don't know how many of these people there can be.
But I did do a search and Big A - Charles - is different from Uber A.
Which means...Charles is like second in command.
I mean they said they'd reveal Big A. And they said at the end of the episode #CharlesIsA. Like I kind of take that to mean Charles is A.
People tend to think different but this is what I'm going with for now.
The real question is though who is Charles? We don't see his face but from the build of him and his height it is only assumed he is a male. However I have seen several posts who think it's actually a woman. I have no idea where that comes from.
I mean after I watched the episode the first time I went online to find out what everyone else's reactions were and not a lot of people were happy about this reveal. And every so often on Tumblr you would scroll past a post that said "WHO THE FUCK IS CHARLES?!" which I found quite funny because everyone else was posting serious theories and then you'd get one confused person haha.
A lot of people seemed to think Charles is a brand new person but I don't know why? I think because we haven't heard the name before everyone assumes it's a new person but apparently it is someone we've seen on the show before.
Which leads into this idea that Andrew is Charles. I don't believe this. I mean I believe Andrew is part of it but I don't think he's Charles. I mean clearly Andrew is part of it he was listening to Melissa's phone call to her parents. Which leads you to wonder why Melissa was calling...
I have also read theories that Charles wanted to be a girl but the DiLaurentis family wouldn't let him and so sent him to Radley and that would explain his obsession with dolls...
Some people don't think Charles is Jason's twin and that he's someone else entirely...
I kind of go along with the Jason twin thing. I mean that video shown in the nursery room place where Spencer gets approached with Charles suggests that Jason has a twin as these two boys are seen with Mrs D and a baby which we assume is Alison and her two brothers.
However watching it back I realised only one of the boys kisses the baby and the other one sort of stands by so maybe it's not what we think?
I mean all Mrs D says is "come over here and kiss your sister.."
OMG I just had this idea...
What if the baby Mrs D is holding is not Alison? What if it is BETHANY. What if one of the boys is Charles but it is Bethany's brother?! Who is to say that Mrs D and her family were there alone? What if they were with the Young family?!
Mind blown.
Not even kidding I kind of think that.
But then the pictures Mona is looking at in the room focus on the two boys...there is a connection. But I don't know what and it's driving me insane.
Like if they aren't twins what are they? Because they look extremely similar.
Also during the episode I had this idea that maybe Charles is someone's twin but it's not Jason and it's someone else like a girl. I kind of got this because there were two puppets in the room one a boy and one a girl so it's a bit far fetched but what if someone random like CeCe had a twin. I mean they said there was going to be a twin thing but not like the books and it's not 100% clear that it's Jason...
My head is hurting trying to think this through haha.
There are so many theories.
But the main focus is definitely on Charles.
However when I was searching for information on Charles people also suggested that the name is actually Rachel S and not Charles at all. But I definitely think it's Charles because the figure in the episode is male.
Out of all the characters on the show we have seen so far I have no idea who could be Charles. I mean I guess we have to start looking for characters of a similar height compared to Spencer...
Plus I was even trying to tell who it was by their hair? Like their hair was bothering me but then I was reading that it could have been a wig so that kind of rules that out.
I mean it's safe to say this whole thing is just a really big mystery. And if the show doesn't have a wonderful explanation of it I know everyone's going to be mad. Including me.
I mean I can't have this show turn into How I Met Your Mother...when we found out who the mother was but then found out she dies...and Robin goes AWOL and so does Barney and they don't even stay together...
Like that can't happen to this show.
I can't have a random person be A they have to be tied to the girls in some way...
There's just so much going on right now...
I don't even think this blog post makes sense.
So I think I'll leave it here haha. I mean I think I'm just typing whatever comes into my head and that doesn't always make sense and can seem disjointed. So yeah...
What do you guys think? Who is Charles? Is he the twin of Jason? Do you think someone else is A? What are your theories?
I am very interested to know.
Also if you want to find out who I thought was going to be revealed as A before the episode ended you can watch the video below...it's quite long but there was a lot of people to consider...


Apart from that I hope you liked this blog post, even if it was a bit unstructured and I will hopefully be back soon with more PLL theories...as we still have two more seasons to go and it can only start to make more sense from here...right?
~ Courtney x