The end . . .

I have finally finished high school. For ever and I honestly do not know what to do now because I don't need to study and most of the time I don't have a specific place to be.

I'm happy to be finished exams, I found that they were a lot easier this year. I found scholarship English a lot easier than level three English, which is good because I've decided to double major (Psychology and English) next year.

Anyway here are the pictures from the last day.

The Japanese room. We folded cranes for six months
 to be able to do this!

This teacher turns up to every cake day, so some girls
decided to make him a cake shop.

Also girls often say that he has a nice butt.

We turned the chemistry lab into a meth lab.

This particular teacher constantly handed out post-it
notes, so we decided to give some back.

physics

The history teacher is British and we learned 

about Irish history this year, so naturally the class

 was a mini Ireland.

We like Photoshop.

This was the only entrance to the class

These are students cars and seats out of the staff room.

I also found this picture of me in year 7, when I first started high school. I can't believe that these amazing seven years have finally come to an end, but it is probably just the beginning.

Have an amazing week :)

Butterflies and buzzy bees is officially one year old today. I can't believe that it has already been a year!
And tomorrow I will be 18 and officially an adult. It's crazy.

This year has been amazing and I really don't want it to end, but the end of the year will be fun too. I still get to 'trash' the school (We're trying to avoid making it look trashy this year), dance in an assembly with all of the other 13's of '13, get free ice cream on the last day, attend the leavers party, sit exams, graduate and go to the graduation ball. I've also got to start christmas shopping, finish enrolling for university, buy everything for next year and help organise a conjoint 18th/21st birthday party for my sister and I.

I'll post pictures of the 'trashed' school in my next post.

Have an amazing week :)

Everything . . .

Wow.

I haven't blogged in so long I'm not even sure quite where to start.

Mid year exams were about a month ago now, they were easier than I expected, but that might just be because last time I sat exams I was taking physics and chemistry. My friends and I have decided that the proper way to decide how much an individual has procrastinated during an exam is to see how much water they have drunk and how much they have drawn on the resource paper. Because of this I have realised that I procrastinate way too much.

I only have 18 school days left EVER and to be honest I don't want it to end. I get along with my entire year level really well and don't want to lose any of them but I know after this year I will probably never talk to half of them ever again. I can't wait to wear mufti all next term (A year 13 tradition) and trash (Or rather theme) each room of the school, which is another tradition.

I will be 18 in about three weeks, which is exciting. Because my sisters birthday and my birthday are only one week apart we're having a joint 18th/21st with all the family, which should be interesting. My Mum can't seem to understand why I want an adorable jellybelly dispenser for my birthday. Apparently I'm 'Not a child' and am getting jewelry instead, which I don't mind because I love jewlry.

Finally about two months ago I started applying for residential colleges for next year. Today I got an acceptance email for Aquinas College. I am super excited because Aquinas was my first choice and being accepted into a college means that I have preferable entry for the university.

Have an awesomely amazing week :)

I've decided that I am completely obsessed with Les Miserables. I've read the book twice now,  I've seen the movie at least ten times, and discuss it one of my friends (Who has also read the book) most days at lunch. A lot of people think I'm absolutely crazy when I say "I was  reading it last night then she die and I cried and he died and they died and I cried even more", but my awesome friends all know what I'm on about because they've all seen/read it now.

I've started to re-read Pride and Prejudice again and I still think that Mr Darcy is a complete jerk and will probably never like him as a character.

I have decided to sit the English scholarship exam, but at the moment my focus is entirely on the mid-year exams which are coming up in two weeks. It's absolutely crazy how fast the year is going, we are already applying for halls to live in next year and ordering leavers gear. I suppose I should just make the most of this year while I still can, and stop worrying about how fast it's going.

Have an amazing week :)

It's finally the school holidays, which means sleeping in, extra hours at work (Extra money!!), more study time and being so bored that you learn fifteen new songs on the guitar in about seven hours.

Listening to classical music is really helping with study at the moment. I really should be studying more than I am because mid-years are in six weeks but I can't be bothered. I was supposed write an essay for English. So far  I have "Shakespeare exposes our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improving our lives." (Yes that is just the question statement). We are meant to watch two movies with political issues in them for English, so I have an excuse to watch Les Miserables again. I was also supposed to plant mung beans a week ago for bio, but that hasn't happened yet either.

I still have an entire week to sort it all out and I will get everything done, eventually.

Have an amazing week:)

This year my friends and I decided that we would all learn how to play a new instrument. I picked the violin, it is not entirely new to me because I took lessons for a little while when I was 11/12, but it will still be a challenge because I mainly learned theory (the stuff the internet can't teach you very easily).

So last week I took my old dusty violin off it's shelf for the first time in years. I played a simple scale, and although it was really badly out of tune, I absolutely loved playing it.I re-learned to read sheet music and  I am now trying to learn how to play Brahms lullaby, and I have the fingers down but I still need to work on my bow skills a lot.

Wish me luck and have an amazing week :)

The ball.

So the ball was last night and it was absolutely amazing. The theme was James Bond, and although it is way over done, it turned out to be an amazing night.

Rather than paying for hair and make-up I had my sisters and aunties do it for me. All up I only spent
$375 for the entire night, which is less than the price a lot of girls dresses. I got my jewelry and clutch from pagani, which was really cheap but not tacky at all. I will definitely be shopping there again. I got the dress on etsy.com for $120 (NZD). I borrowed some hair pins that match my jewelry, but They haven't been put in in this picture.

We had poker chips  to vote for best dressed, but i just couldn't decide who to vote for because all everyone looked stunning the guys were dressed similarly (And half of them were wearing their school shirts). In the end I didn't vote at all.

I just wish that I went to more than one ball dancing lesson, so that I could have danced. I'm not much of
a dancer anyway.

All in all it was a perfect night full of elegance, with no drama at all. It was definitely worth all of the stress.

Rather than going to the after ball, my friends and I went to McDonald's because I really couldn't be bothered with all the extra effort.

Have an amazing week :)

The ball is now in five days. I have my jewellery, my dress and my shoes. So far it has cost me $300, and I still need to buy my ticket ( roughly $50). The sad thing is that I am doing it the cheap way, other girls are spending up to $1000. I'm saving by not getting a fake tan, having my sister do my make-up and doing my own hair and nails.

 I didn't end up finding a date, but I'm completely fine with that, three of my friends and I are group, which will be good because it means that I won't have pictures with a random that I don't even know.

Now all I need to do is learn how to dance after only going to one ball room lesson, and break in my shoes.

Have an amazing day:)

Does classical music really help with study?

I think that most high school students have heard that listening to classical music will help concentration and study. Today my English teacher was talking about it, so I decided to test the Theory.

How does this work?
Firstly there are different types of brain waves:
  -Alpha waves which are normally present just before you go to sleep or are really relaxed.
  -Beta waves which are generally associated with normal thinking.
  -Theta waves.
  -Delta waves.
  -Gamma waves.

People generally are more creative and focused when alpha waves are present.

The connection is that classical music encourages the presence of alpha waves, hence the theory of classical music being good for study. As I was writing this I listened to Clair De Lune and did not get distracted once, so maybe it will help with focus, but if it doesn't I'll just be more culturally aware, which would be a good thing.

Have an amazing day :)

Just really Creepy.

I was recently reading a list of  Creepy things that kids say on reddit.com and thought all of those kids must be really stuffed up to say these things, until I remembered that my mum told my mum that I said creepy things all the time when I was little. When I had just turned two I told my mum and one of my Aunties that my imaginary friend 'Nebulizer' (I was quite badly asthmatic until I was 14) had died in a fire in a red brick house and now she was my friend. Apparently I gave a lot of detail and really scared them.

I was reminded of this today when I was putting my two year old niece into her onesie pajamas and she told me "I want to take your eyeballs out Aunty" She then started talking about putting them on her ears. I was wearing pearl stud earrings and she couldn't find the right words to explain what she wanted. She just wanted to borrow my earrings even though her ears aren't pierced. It kind of creeped me out for the two seconds before she started to play with my earrings and I realised what she was talking about.

My sister has pet chickens and a couple of days ago she told me that she wanted to eat a chicken. For a split second I assumed that she wanted to eat her pet before I realised that we eat chicken all the time.

Shes still not as creepy as me, but I'm sure that in time she will get there.

Have an amazing day :)

It is amazing how much busier I am this year in comparison with last year. In the past two weeks I have had one English internal, two biology internals, a five credit history internal and a six credit classics internal.

 My ball dress finally arrived last week and is absolutely perfect in every way, although my friend ordered hers at the same time to get cheaper postage and it is way too long.

I signed up for English scholarship yesterday so I'll have to study even harder in English to make sure that it isn't just a huge waist of my time.

Have an awesome week :)

So, today we had a class trip to the University of Otago open day, which was awesome.

I had to get up at 4:50am because the bus left at 6, but, although none of us had gotten no sleep, we talked the whole way there (Three hours in a bus).

It took 45 minutes to get to my first lecture but after that it was amazing. I attended three lectures all together. English and classics were my favorites.For classics we had my current teachers old lecturer, who is absolutely crazy, but I've found that the best teachers are the ones that are pretty much insane.

Have an amazing week :)

DIY book pillow tutorial

So last week I was on pinterest and i come across this adorable picture of pillow shaped books.

 

I soon decided that I had to have some, so I made them, but I couldn't find a tutorial online, so I made the pattern myself.

For the front/back cover and lining used an A4 sized piece of paper, the spine is around 1cm longer and can be almost any width. The pages opposite the spine are the same as the spine but 3cm shorter, and the other pattern piece for the pages is the length of the shorter side of the A4 but 1.5 cm shorter.

You can make your own pattern for this quite easily because it is just a lot of rectangles.

You will need a few different fabrics for this.

1. Cut it out

2. Print or draw any details on the front cover. I stenciled the deathly hallows on my front cover.

 3. Attach lining to the front and back covers

4.Add any more details, like titles or borders.

 

5.Sew the spine to the covers.

 

6.Then attach the 'pages'.

 

This is what it should look like after you attach them to both the front and back covers.Make sure that you leave a little bit open.

 

7.Stuff the pillow.

 

8.Sew up the opening that was left open to stuff it.

 

Here are some (really bad) pictures of the final product and Alice in wonderland. :)

 

Have an amazing day :)

It has been such a busy month. I have completed one internal in stats (Merit!!) and I am in the middle of three others (Biology, English and History). The schedule for dance lessons for the ball are up and according to my calculations it is now only 75 days away.

All of the SGHS year thirteens (The thirteens of '13) are going to Dunedin to see the uni on the thirteenth of may!! I can't wait.

Also the first set of school holidays are about to start, which means a Harry Potter movie marathon, lots of books and even more study.

Have an amazing week ;)

So its been another long, busy week and its getting colder now, although half of the country is in the middle of a drought. I decided since it was especially cold today that I would start reading The Scarlet Letter, although I just finished act four of Othello, and hate reading more that one thing at a time. I also stated to knit a scarf, which is currently 30cm in length (about quarter of the way done!).

School is getting progressively more challenging, but still no where near as difficult as last year, which is great. I have decided to do scholarship English, because it is my best subject and I actually don't mind thought of the extra external exam or learning twice as much in that particular area.

Have an amazing week :)

Shakespear day 2013

Shakespeare day is another tradition of the SGHS year thirteens, we all dress up as people form his plays. Two of my friends and I decided to dress as the three witches from Macbeth.

The school day started as usual; we went to tutor time, then to first period. We headed to the west hall to see a performance of King Lear by The Ugly Shakespeare Company, which was absolutely hilarious.

Mrs Browning (The principle) then came to talk to us about the ball. We now have a date, which is later in the year than normal. I see that as an advantage rather than an issue because I have longer to get ready and buy everything I need, but I still do not have a partner to go with.

After that we paraded around the quad and then finished by having a Shakespearean banquet style lunch and a quiz (which was actually fun).

Here are some pics from the day:



Have an awesome day :)