holiday catch-up

This holiday has pretty much turned out to be like most holidays. I find myself making endless lists of everything I plan on doing and somehow find myself watching the days go by with nothing to show for it - well I guess this time it's due to my internship at seventeen which deserves an entire blog post dedicated to it which will definitely appear next week :D.

I had so many goals for this holiday including look posts, a town day with Roxy from the Transform8ion Stat8ion and so much more. Although it's time I get a bit more realistic with my endless list of plans I rediscovered a passion of mine which deserves a mention.

Reading.

I just love it. New or old books and the stories they hold. I've always loved reading and I remember in grade 4 how our teacher gave us a list which we had to fill with the names of the books we read. We were so competitive and often our lists had about 8 - 10 books each week just so that we could be the "winner" and also because a passion had begun to brew within our souls.

I'm not sure if any of you have read the Sweet Valley books but I absolutely loved them ! I reached a point where I had read everyone of the books from 3 or 4 different libraries and from every second hand book store I could find. After I thought I would never find the missing books to this endless series, when I got to high school I made friends with a girl named Miriam who had the same obsession with these books and we'd swap books with one another that we ourselves had not read in turn borrowing a book to the other.

It's crazy how our passions just seem to fall into a slump when we no longer feed it but somewhere through out high school I just stopped reading. Yes, I read the Harry Potter and Twilight series but I just did not have that same craving for a good book. Until recently.

These are the 3 books I am currently reading (yes - all 3 at the same time) and I can say I definitely love each and every one of them.

1. The Honest Life - Jessica Alba

 I can't say that I wasn't slightly influenced to get this book because Jessica Alba wrote it but once I started reading it I really began to love it. It's almost a "self-help"-ish book that really focuses on how oblivious we are to harm and toxicity of everyday products we use and how easily we are fooled by what companies tell us instead of knowing the truth. I especially love the up-close-and-personal images of this perfect family and her easy style of writing. I got this book off Kalahari.com and received it about 2 weeks early than the suggested date which was amazing






2. Lies Young Women Believe - Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Cresh

I'm really embarrassed to say that I received this books for my 18th birthday last year from my friends Robin and Roxy. I can however say that it's a must read for any young (or old) Christian woman. It teaches us about how easily we fall for lies and how these lies consume us. I also loves how it takes so many of these lies and breaks it down using Bible verses leaving you knowing that there definitely is a God watching down over you. I definitely recommend this book as a gift for any girl in your life and can promise that they will be inspired and empowered by it.







3. Committed - Elizabeth Gilbert

Although I've barely started with this book (I am only on page 13 now) I know that if it's anything like "Eat Pray Love" I am going to love it. I found this book in our study nestled among my mommy's collection of books and knew that I had to give it a read. It satisfies the part of my soul that loves a good story and seeing as I am quite soppy and romantic I think it's going to be a great read








I'll be spending the rest of my week finishing my internship and my article (YES - I actually get a 3 page article published in Seventeen magazine so keep your eyes peeled for the October issue) and I am also thinking of starting some DIY's because I absolutely love them!

feel free to leave any comments and names of blogs you think I should check out and follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the little (or HUGE) icon on the side that looks like an Eiffel Tower

and best news of the year: I got my license on saturday :D !

new blog find : Christ Alive in Me

x

holidays

These holidays have come as such a relief. Not because I could not wait for later nights and late mornings or the fact that I have no class, no studying and no worrying. I love holidays because its the perfect time to have loads and loads and loads of "me" time - something that everyone needs once in a while.

I'm HUGE on self improvement. Give me any book with the 10 steps to be a better me, a book to help me learn a new skill or something cool to try out - they're all right up my alley and this is exactly what I'm spending my amazing 6 week holiday doing. I've decided to start gymming again and after not being here for a few months straight I found myself dissapointed with what I've allowed to happen. I've never been super skinny or even really fit but I've always strived to look after my health and this is now more evident. Trying to "clean up" my usual diet of sweets and chocolates or chocolates and sweets into something more healthy is definitely on my "to-do" list for this holiday.

I've planted my own veggie garden to aid my new healthy lifestyle and I'll post pictures as soon as I can actually decipher what is what (maybe I should've put up cute little boards with each of their names on?). Today I repacked my entire room and colour co-ordinated all of my clothes - I'm OCD like that. I neatly filed away all of last semesters work ready for the up and coming semester. I love being organised and I love organising and cleaning as strange as that sounds. When my life gets stressed and flustered you can see it in my room and after the previous exams my room looked like hell.

I'm planning on starting my internship at Seventeen Magazine next week - How amazing is that, I still can't believe I was chosen. And hopefully I'll be getting my license in the near future or going by my track record at least by the end of the year.

The thing is so many people see the holidays as a time to do absolutely nothing but what are your days if you did nothing in them? Rather take this time and do something for yourself. Sit down and put your pen to some paper to decide what you want and how you going to get it because if anyone is going to make you successful at any task at hand it's going to be you.

Remember you determine your own future. 

So for everyone on holiday : enjoy it! whether you choose to absolutely nothing or absolutely everything and for those who aren't remember to take at least 10 minutes a day to just have some time to yourself. Read your Bible, read a book, take a relaxing bath, go to gym, make yourself your favourite meal or what ever makes you happy! Remember to always prioritise yourself

must read blog of the week : Transform8ion St8ion

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16 June 1976 | 16 June 2013

Writing this blog post is frustrating. I know exactly what I want to say but trying to convert these hyperactive feelings into something understandable is harder than I thought it would be.

So I assume all South African’s know that even though yesterday was technically Youth day we find ourselves celebrating it today with Father’s day somewhat taking preference yesterday. To those who don’t know what Youth day is, it is basically the celebration and commemoration of the hundreds and thousands of non-white students who marched to Orlando Stadium in Soweto to protest against unfair education policies being implemented targeting non-white students doing Apartheid. These students were targeted by the police and shot, killed and injured but this was a risk they were willing to face.

Imagine. Imagine not only the atmosphere of excitement and passion of those students as they marched down those streets. But imagine the fear that today could very well be their last. Knowing that when they said bye to their parents that morning it could be the last time they ever saw them and this act of marching could be the very last thing they ever did. Could you even try and comprehend the mind-set those students had as they faced their greatest fears? But their passion, dignity and conviction is what gave them the drive to carry on despite their inevitable fears.

Recently my friend Dain Sisam has been tweeting thought provoking tweets to say the least and when he and his friends began their “Conformists” movement I could not help but be inspired, motivated and somewhat embarrassed. As the youth we’ve taken the backseat to any and everything happening in our country and after our tediously enormous amount of whining, complaining and blaming each and every one of our problems on the government we do absolutely nothing about it. I actually feel like laughing at how pathetic it sounds but then I realise that I am part of this generation and guess what? This generalisation of what the youth is complies to me as well. Because one day when people look back on what our generation did or did not accomplish they won’t refer to it as the generation excluding Zina. No, my name will be lost in the sea of thousands who all fall under the title of “their generation”.

It is time for us as youth to make the sacrifices required for the changes that we feel the need to be made. No longer should we be the youth that complains and waits for something to happen but instead we should be voices of reason. A strong and steadfast generation who knows exactly what we want and who are willing to stand up for what we deserve. We should be protesting for education and change but at the same time we need to realise the consequences of what we are asking for. If we going to ask for an equal education it is expected that we fill up those classrooms and put an effort into learning. If we going to ask to ask for change it is up to us to embrace the change.

Being part of the youth of South Africa is a privilege. We are granted the opportunity to mould South Africa into the land that we want as leaders of this country. It’s time for us to take a stand and demand that we be respected and that our voices are heard across this country. We need to unite and as a generation we need to be so much more. 

Because NOW, is the time for us

* Dain's blog : Dain You and Me

This photo was found on twitter. Uploaded by Equal Education it shows as students marched across the Nelson Mandela bridge to celebrate youth day

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