NaNoWriMo and Life Updates.

I know, say what you want, I'm a bad blogger. But while you've been busy complaining about my lack of blogging, I've been writing a novel all month, so there :P. I finished earlier this evening with a current total of 50, 124 words. By all means, the story is not finished yet, it's barely even begun but I had to ramble on for 50k about something so shush :P. I am very pleased to have won this year as I failed last year and was more determined than ever to win again! I couldn't have done it without the help of the Nanoers in the All-Ireland chatroom as well as my housemate Jesse who was full of useful information about demons and other magical beings when my brain decided to die. So many thanks go out to all of you.

In other news, last time I blogged I said I had ticked off another thing on my 21 list. I have since ticked off a further one. Those two things, which I can happily tell you now are: Go on a date - On halloween night I went on a date. Suffice to say, things have worked out very well and I'm quite the happy chappy. The other one I've ticked off is getting a job. My dad knows an owner of a restaurant and they happened to be looking for staff and hence, I got a job. Which is another reason why I'm quite cheerful these days because there was a point during November where I couldn't afford to live and now I can. It's brilliant :).

November has been a bit of a mental month for me. The first two and a half weeks were full of stress due to coursework essays needing to be done and handed in. I had three to do, I got two done the first week and handed in and the second week when I was in the middle of doing my essay I recieved some bad news. My cat whom I've had since I was 3 was killed in the throws of an angry dog. This news was really upsetting and I was unable to focus on my essay for a while and ended up with an extension. I got it done eventually and was then able to come back to NaNo and end up where I am today. As well as these distractions, the two I mentioned above were quite good at distracting me at points but I through raw determination, I made it across the finish line and a day early too!

So there you go. I was waiting until I made it across the finish line to post about everything because I thought firing it all out in one go would be better than wasting time writing here when I could be writing NaNo. But I'm alive, I'm happy and I hopefully will post more often now that Novembers over and the crazy times have died down. Of course, don't hold me to that.

Hope things are well with all of you,
Sami
:)

21 by 21: The Final

So I am now officially 21. I had a party at the weekend to celebrate and had a great time being surrounded by people I love and having a jolly old time together. Since my actual birthday was on a Monday, I had uni lectures but I spent the evening having a laugh and a few quieter drinks with more of my best friends. A lot of people have asked me why I didn't go out to celebrate but to be honest, I'd rather spend the time with my friends talking and laughing rather than screaming over loud music and trying to push past strangers all night.

Anyway, as you know it was my aim to complete a full set of 21 things by the time I turned 21. It is unforunate that I didn't get to complete the list in its entirety due to life constraints but I do feel like I accomplished things that I set out to do and so for your pleasure, here is the list. If the action is scored out it means I have completed that task. If I haven't, then there will be an explaination beside it as to why not.

1. Learn to Drive - This is due to the fact that I didn't have any money this summer to try and learn. However, I did purchase my provisional license and plan to start lessons soon.
   
2. Get a Job - Dear god, you all heard me rant and complain about the lack of employment over here so this one is no part of mine, i sent in at least 20 application forms and had 2 interviews and no one wants to hire me.
   
3. Be able to play Expert on Guitar Hero - Well, I was playing Guitar hero in my uni house then realised I wouldnt have it for the summer so never got to complete the game. I can play a healthy medium though. Stupid orange button.
   
4. Write something publishable - For me, writing takes time and effort and inspiration and I didn't have much of any of those, however, I do have a big story idea in research stages so hopefully something comes of that! :)
   
5. Make a new friend
6. Reconnect with an old friend
7. Read 50 Books (and subsequently, post the finished list here)
8. Make a photo album containing photos of friends and fun times.
9. Keep a notebook of quotes that I like that I have heard/read throughout the year.
10. Get another tattoo
11. Save £1000 - Again due to the lack of job and saving skills I have.
    
12. Visit another country
13. Get an O2 number
14. Master one recipe to perfection and post it as a blog!
15. Buy something from a designer label (Prada? Jimmy Choo?)
16. Go to a concert of a band I enjoy listening to.
17. Learn to speak a different language or how to play an instrument. - I think you should all let me away with this one considering I posted an Italian phrase of the day everyday for a month :P I do know a lot more italian than I did before. La bella donna!
    
18. Go on a proper date (like, for dinner, with a boy I like and whom likes me :P)- I just haven't found someone to complete this one with yet. I did actually have a date planned for last week but the guy postponed as he had something else to do but here's hoping I can complete this one soon!
    
19. Have a spa day with someone.- This was again due to the lack of funds. But I do want to got to the spa with a friend and have a massage and stuff!
    
20. Try and have a successful blog with readers that comment (who are more than just my personal friends and family).
21. Fall in Love (Here's hoping!) - Well, I knew this one was unrealistic when I wrote down. I can't just put a time limit on love and expect it to happen. However, while I may not have found a lover to love, I found and made plenty of friends and family whom I love dearly and wouldn't be able to survive without. So this is for them.

So there you have it. I did just about half of my intended things to do but as you can see life got in the way a lot of the time and I was just unable to compelte them unfortunately. But here's hoping I can complete them in due course. By christmas maybe? Hmm, should I give myself a "10 Things by the 10th day of christmas?" Or something? What do you think?

Thanks for sticking around and keep coming back for more future husband letters and general sami-rants about life.

Sami

It's That Time Of Year Again.

It's that time of year again.

The one where the nights get dark and cold way early and you stick the lights and heating on as soon as you can. You climb into your woolly jammies and make hot chocolate and bring the blankets down and watch a movie.

And if you dare to adventure outside, it's that time of year where you wear a thick coat,a hat, a scarf, boots, maybe some gloves. It's not entirely winter, but the ground is thick with leaves of various different colours and sometimes you will feel good and you'll kick them up and dance about and others you will feel too cold and run for the door and the house and the safety and comfort of warmth and light.

It's that time of year again, where after messing about doing absolutely nothing all summer, things go back to normal and you have to get serious and knuckle down and do your work, so that come summer, you can afford to mess about and do nothing again. It's that serious, stressful time of year again where you might feel tired and cold and cant be bothered, but you have to be.

Mainly though, it's that time of year again that makes you nostalgic. Nostalgic for that time you watched the fireworks together. For that time where he gave you his jacket because you didn't wear one because you were trying to impress him with a nice outfit but forgot that it would be freezing. It's that time of year again where all the memories from all those years ago come flooding back.

It's that time of year again, where you wish that things hadn't changed so dramatically, or that at least you could be friends again. That time of year, when you dream about those times you shared together and wished you could be back there, young and innocent and in love with not really a care in the world, apart from for him, for you, for the two of you together.

It's that time of year again where you will look at the pictures and watch the videos of you two together and then you will cry about how he broke your heart and how you will never really be the same again. How you will never really be over him and how you still love and hate him at exactly the same time. And how it was easier when you didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Where ignorance truly was bliss.

But then after that time of year again, will come the next time of year, when once you've done all that, you'll remember the life you have now. And when you've watched the videos and had your cry, you will run into your best friends bedroom and tell her about him even though shes heard it a million times. And she will tell you that it's okay to be sad, because it's that time of year again. But if you didn't do the things you did after him, you wouldn't know her, or be where you are now. And then you'll smile and say 'Yeah I guess' and you'll go to bed and lie awake all night thinking about him.

And then come morning, after having not slept, you will sigh, get out of bed, make two cups of tea, take one to your best friend and crawl into bed beside her and forget about him and remember that it's that time of year again and that's okay. But you are in a better place now and that place contains loads of friends and family who care about you and whom you care about. And it contains places and fun times and new memories that you cherish just as much as the old ones. So you will drink your tea and forget about him and that it's that time of year again, because now, this new life, these new people and places are better than those old ones, they help move you forward in life.

And moving forward in life is what it's all about. Some people will come with you and others will stay in that time of year again and you will remember them when you feel the chill of the air, when you put on your thick coat and your hat and scarf and boots and gloves. But you will smile and laugh and climb on the bus and move forward.

Because even though it's that time of year again, you want to move forward and not back. Forward gives you more chances to be who you are, to meet somebody new and maybe next year, you will have better old memories. And though you won't forget about him, that time of year again won't always remind you of him. It will remind you of that crazy party you went to dressed as a mermaid and how you drank too much and had so much fun that you didn't even realise that it was that time of year again.

So forget about it and move forward. Your life is better now even if it is that time of year again.

Future Husband Series: Letter 3.

Dear Future Husband,

I hope you enjoyed my ten days of stuff that you will need to know obviously, ha. Sorry I havent written sooner but I am exhausted and I have no idea where to go with these letters anymore. Starting them was a good idea at the time but in the long run, what am I supposed to tell you?

I still haven't got myself a job (more about that tomorrow folks ;) but I do have temporary employment for a day where I do get paid for my services. It's nothing dirty either you brats. It's being a tour guide for a day :).

So Husband. We're married and stuff. I hope life has treated us well. Now, did we have a good wedding? Because if we arent married yet and you are reading this, then here's what we should do:

- Not sign any big particular certificate, or have a minister or exchange of vows.
- Buy ourselves some nice outfits
- Send out invitations for a reception.
- Have one big partay instead of a traditional wedding were we tell people we are married, but on paper we arent really.
- Buy me a nice ring and vice versa
- Spend as little money as possible on this reception and use the rest for a fantastic holiday somewhere fancy, just us two. We'll call it the "honeymoon".

Yeah, sounds good. I hate all the fancy minister fussy stuff. 50& of marriages end in divorce anyway. So if, further along the line we want to get metaphorically divorced since we're metaphorically married, then it wont cost us ten bazillion bucks and we'll be able to just say "that was good" and move on as easy and painless as possible. Agreed? Good boy *patsonhead* :P

Well Metaphorical-Future-Husband, I'm off now to do something or other with my life. Probably sleep, or eat, or something.

Until next time,
Love always,
Metaphorical-Future-Wife

Three Turn Ons.

1. Wear a suit. Yep. My friends will tell you about the way I react to men in suits. Even if we're in a library.

2. Eyes. If you have really nice eyes, like deep brown or bright blue, I will like you.

3. Intelligence. I like it when you are smart, or that you dont mind sitting down and reading a book. It gives us something to talk about and connect on.

Until tomorrow,
Sami

Amusingthingmycatdoesoftheday = Drinks the water from the glass on my bedside table, that was for me. Frickin cats.

Four Turn Offs

1. Arrogance. It's okay to have self-belief and self-respect but to be cocky and arrogant and think your God's gift is just one big turn off for me.

2. Smoking. I've kissed a few smokers, I'll admit but smoking is the one thing that makes my blood boil, I just hate it. So no.

3. Violence, If you like hitting people for fun or whatever, that's not cool. It could go wrong one day. So not putting up with that shit.

4. Immaturity. So they say that women mature 8 years faster than men, but that's no excuse. You are an adult now, so wise the fuck up and start acting like one. It's okay to act childish and have fun sometimes but when it comes down to being a man, just be one and stop acting like an idiot. Kthanxbye.

Until tomorrow,
Sami

Six Things I Wish I'd Never Done.

1. Sent that one letter that ruined everything.

2. Kissed that one guy who was also kissing everybody else.

3. Said I wasn't annoyed when I was. It probably could have changed a whole lot of things.

4. Liked the wrong guy on more than one occasion.

5. Gotten incredibly drunk and not remembered anything.

6. Let people come between me and my friends. Also on more than one occasion.

Actually there's a lot of things I wish I'd never done now that I've taken the time to think about it, but this 6 will do.

Until tomorrow,
Sami

Italian phrase of the day = Vuoi bere qualcosa? = Do you fancy a drink?

Eight Ways To Win My Heart

1. Wear a Suit. Men in suits are sexy.

2. Have respect for yourself. Then for me and the people in my life that you will meet.

3. Have some sort of intelligence. Be smart and have a niche that you can talk/teach me about.

4. Be able to laugh at yourself and take a joke. I hate arrogance.

5. Be able to go off with your friends and let me go off with mine. Clingyness can be annoying.

6. Like animals. Most especially cats. Because you'll find where I am, there'll be a cat.

7. Buy me something nice. It doesnt have to be a big thing. Take me out for a day and buy me a cupcake. It'll be sweet that you thought of it.

8. Be able to sit down and watch girly movies or tv programmes with me without moaning about how its "so gay" or "shite" or "really girly". I'll watch your manly movies with you too. So Deal!

Until tomorrow,
Sami

Italian phrase of the day = FAIL.

Future Husband Series; Letter 2

Dear Future Husband,

Sorry it's taken me so long to write again, I just seem to lose track of time and days and weeks and I've no idea what's going on. Currently, I'm trying to find a job so I can pay my rent which I owe from last month and I've got a month to find the money. I've a feeling it's not going to be very fun, or even happen.

So forgive me for not feeling so up to writing to you, I don't want to bother you with my current worries. You and I will have plenty of other things to worry about, rent will be one of them I think. But so will other bills and so will having fun and keeping the spark alive, let's do that, okay?

Maybe get a bottle of wine on the go, to help us along the way though. I don't really know what to tell you now. I've given you a physical description. Maybe I should tell you more about me and how I work which I am not sure I even know, but I'll try.

I am a human being. I am complicated, complex, confusing and I contradict myself all the time. I like sleep, yet I am often an insomniac. Don't worry, I'll figure out a way to let you sleep while I lie awake. I don't want to get married, yet here I am writing letters to you and calling you 'husband'. I'm not sure I want kids either, but apparantley that'll grow out of me eventually.

As for complicated, aren't all women? We get moody and annoyed and easily upset over the silliest things. I know it's annoying to you, but what can you do other than detail with it/us.

Apart from all of those things, I am cool. Definitely cool :P. I read lots of books and sometimes attempt to write them as well as some poetry and blogs. I also spend lots of time online chatting to my friends and stalking people on facebook, or playing farmville and a whole host of other fbook games, haha. I also drink lots of tea and stalk around looking for the best cupcakes in n.ireland. I swear if being a cupcake reviewer was a job, id do it. (Anyone care to pay me to do that plz?!)

Hmm, what else? I volunteer during the summer, helping with a summer scheme that takes kids out on trips everyday. I used to be one of the kids so to help out the next generation is kinda nice :). As well as that, Im spending my summer trying to find a job which sucks since the level of unemployment is so high. Rawrr. Other than that, Im spending time with friends and stuff and thats about it.

So, I'm not really sure what's next for us. But I promise it'll be sooner than this one came.
Love always,
Future Wife
xoxo

The Book Of Love Is Long and Boring

"There comes a point where you just love someone. Not because they're good, or bad, or anything really. You just love them. It doesn't mean you'll be together forever. It doesn't mean you won't hurt each other. It just means you love them. Sometimes in spite of who they are, and sometimes because of who they are. And you know that they love you, sometimes because of who you are, and sometimes in spite of it."

I'm not going to lecture you on love. I just thought this quote was rather apt for certain people and things atm and I liked it, so I thought I'd share.

I know I promised a future husband letter and trust me, I'm working on it. So for now, you can just mull over my quote, leave a comment and send me abusive msn/facebook msgs to update more often.

Sami
xox

Future Husband Series; Letter 1.

So recently, I've been reading round some blogs tryna up my blogosphere-presence by commenting and stuff and I discovered PeterDeWolf via one of my favourite blogggers, Hope Dies Last. In Peter's blog he likes to write poetry and letters to his future wife which can both be beautiful and heart-warming or sexy and steamy!

The discovery of his future-wife-letters timed with the arrival of one-very-sexy-australian named John James entrance into the uks ultimate reality tv show, Big Brother 11 and his talks about what he does and doesn't like in bed and other places, have lead me to believe that he is my future husband. So I decided, until BB11 ends and to give me something to write about, I'm going to run a future-husband series of blogs where I will write letters to future-husband and I may even get some of my friends to guest-blog some letters for hilarity's sake. So, lo and behold, Future-Husband Letter 1 is included with this entry.

Also, as a side note, if you're reading this blog, can you comment? Really, it gives me more incentive to write more because I know you're commenting and reading and wanting more. So, please comment. Even if it just says "Okay Sami", just write that if you cant be constructive, please? Thank you. Moving On.

Dear Future Husband,

I am Sami. I am your future wife, just thought I'd introduce myself. Im sure you'll learn a lot about me from these letters anyway.

I guess since we haven't met yet, I should give a physical description.

I'm a brunette technically. But after going through some gothic-emo stage in my life, my hairs a bit worse for wear, not that you'll mind as you run your fingers through it gently, which I hope you will, cause I like that.

And let's be honest, my boobs are a bit of a handful. But you can handle it, so don't worry about that. And my booty. It's a bit like beyonce's. Well maybe a bit smaller and not as toned. But booty and boobs, thank my mother for those genes if you will.

Also, I'm quite short. I reach a mighty 5'5ish. But I like being small. Good things come in small packages, most of the time.

I've got good legs for being short. I inherited those from my mother too. Shes cool, she'll like you, I hope.

I've got 2 tattoos also, a result of my time at Uni. One is on my inner right leg, it's a small butterfly, with two pink flowers. I decided that the butterfly is me and the flowers represent family and friends. Some people say the placement is unusual, I like to believe its intimate.

My other tattoo is on my lower back, it's a butterfly with cherry blossoms. I like it. It doesn't really have meaning yet. Can you tell I like butterflies?

Well, kind of. I like that butterflies are beautiful, that they grow from caterpillar, into a cocoon where they immerse unique and gorgeous into their freedom and independence. It's kind of like the transition from young girl into young woman. Our knowledge and experiences help us form our older, more beautiful selves.

I wear butterflies round my neck as a necklace too. Im currently wearing a small silver one my mother bought me. I also have a swarovski crystal butterfly that changes colour with the reflection of the light, i did wear that for a while but im saving it for my birthday now.

I also only wear one ring at the moment, on my middle left-hand finger. It's small, white gold, with silver and sapphire diamonds. I like small and dainty things (thats a hint for you dear, a small and dainty ring will go over way better than a huge rock ;)).

Im not going to lie either, I am not skinny. I would actually be what we know as an average woman depending on how much you buy into the skinny-girls thing. But I hope you like curves. It's way sexier to be able to outline the curve of a woman's body than have a stick thin straight up and down woman (no offence to readers there).

One of my favourite features is my eyes. They are a coffee-bean brown and though they hide behind glasses half the time and are quite small (and i look a bit chinese on occasion) they are still nice to stare back into. I believe eyes are the windows to the soul, so it will take me a while to be able to stare at you completely. Don't be offended by that, it just takes a lot of strength to be able to stare at someone so seriously, to look deep into their eyes and further into their soul.

My neck, as far as necks go, is pretty normal. But if you want to lay some sweet kisses on it, I would thoroughly enjoy it. And you will too, when you learn how to work it, work me.

So there you go future-husband, a small snippet of me and plenty more to come.
Love always,
Future Wife.

Love Cats, Hate Insomnia

So you think any normal 20 year old during her summer, would you know have a job, work some days and then go out on her nights off and stumble home drunk at 2am and crawl into bed and sleep it off before working again and the routine goes on and on.

Well, I am not a normal 20 year old. I don't have a job, though I am trying my hardest to get myself one and since I dont really have the money to go out night after night, I spend my nights lying awake til 4am because I cant sleep due to some darn reason or another.

Then when I finally get to sleep, I have weird dreams. So late last night, I was tryna sleep and my cat Twix decided to amuse me so I decided to compile a list of reasons a) why i love cats and b) why I hate Insomnia. So here we go.

Why I Love Cats
1. Because they are soft and cuddly and cute.
2. Because they are highly amusing when you are eating crisps and they paw at it and knock it out of your hand.
3. Then when they eat the crisp they proceed to lick their lips 100 times over because of the flavour.
4. In your attempt to try and sleep, you get yourself a glass of milk, your cat then tries to drink it at the same time as you and fails. So then decides she'll dip her paw in and drink it that way. Then when you finish your glass, she dips her paws in and basically washes the dish clean.
5. When they nudge your nose with their nose, it's like a wee cat-kiss.
6. They always know when you feel sad and will come and cuddle you.
7. When they do that funny meow when they are sitting on the windowledge and they see birds they want to catch.
8. When they are so attached to you that they follow you about the house as you go to make tea, or use the bathroom and back again.
9. When you scratch behind their ears and their back leg goes as if they are scratching it themselves.
10. When you are lifting them to put them outside and they clung on to you for dear life like "nooo don't put me outside!".

Why I Hate Insomnia.
1. Because lying awake at night when everyone else is asleep is highly boring.
2. Since you dont get to sleep until some ungodly hour, you sleep until some late hour of the day and then it's too late to be bothered to do anything.
3. It royally fucks up your eating pattern too.
4. Because there are only so many times you can play farmville, petville, read facebook or listen to your ipod before you go insane.
5. Because everyone thinks you're lazy because you sleep all day, but really it's because you can't sleep at night!
6. Unless you know other insomniacs, you have no one to talk to so you just lie in bed, awake, thinking of all the things you dont want to think about.
7. When your friends try to contact you at like 9am to go into town but your like "I just got to sleep dont disturb me!!!!" and then they're all like "Jesus, whats up your arse?" haha.
8. Because its just generally shit.
9. Because when you do eventually get to sleep, you have the weirdest dreams that don't make sense and wake up confused.
10. Because when someone asks what you've been up to all day and you say "Sleepin lolz" they're like "You're so lazy, get yourself a life!!". I have oneee, it just involves being awake at ungodly hours of the night, maybe you should try it sometime!

So there you go. 10 reasons why I love cats and hate insomnia, because I've nothing better to blog about right now. Sigh.

p.s. Since I was talking about cats, thought I'd give a shout-out to this lovely tumblr blog: Cute Boys With Cats.

One Moment At A Time.

So this entry is kind of a culmination of two previous posts. The one where I talked about the 88 truths of life and how comfort is an addiction. I went back and read those truths the other day and I found another one I enjoy which my friend also pointed out in the comments of that post. And it is this:

You never have to live for more than one moment at a time.

This one has been particularly useful to me the past few weeks as I've had a few ups and downs lately. The 2nd post that this entry relates to is the one where I wrote about being a writer. Or failing at being one. But finally, both of my posts have come to action. I live for moments at a time and I have finally written a poem! Although inspiration seems to strike me best in that state of half-awake-half-asleep but I managed to get it down before the land of nod takes over. It could probably still use a bit of work, but for your um, delight? I've decided to share it here with you. You'll maybe understand the moments part of it when you read it :P

Love me in a moment,
When time shall stand still,
As we gaze,
Deeply,
Longingly,
Lovingly,
Into each others eyes,
The windows of our souls,
As they intertwine,
Like your fingers,
Laced with mine,
As our hearts beat rapidly,
While lips caress,
Skin on skin,
And love fills,
The empty void,
Hidden deep within,
Then the clock [tick tock],
Ticks and it chimes,
As we fall together,
Apart,
You loved me in that moment,
Then you broke my heart.

Until next time,
Sami
:)

Love Harder

I promised you all an update and so finally, I have something to talk about! It might sound a bit dorky by the way, but awk well!

Last Semester I took a module entitled "Love Poetry". The first lecture in this module was about the stages of love and the types of love. Some of these might be pretty obvious to you, friend love, family love etc. However, our module went a bit more in depth right to Erotic Love and Idealistic Love and Romantic Love. As interesting as that is, I am here to talk about the three most identifable stages of love, which are: Lust, Passion and Attachment and in that order.

The theory goes, that when you first meet a person you find attractive, you lust after them, which is pretty obvious. At this stage of love, hormones named testosterone and estrogen are released, which is also pretty obvious.There isn't much to say about this stage of love, it's obvious, we find a person we are attracted to, we lust/desire to have them and develop a relationship with them and we try our hardest to make this happen. Without lust, we might not find someone special but it is our desire for more intimate relations that lead us to passion.

Passion is the second stage of love. When we fall passionately in love (which occurs more frequently in men believe it or not) we are said to be blind. We are unaware of all of our partner's flaws. We fall head over heels, blindly, passionately in love with each other. We idealize our partner and we can't get them off our minds. In this stage, partners get to know each other on the most easiest and most intimate of levels and if after that, they decide that a relationship is worth pursuing, the third stage of love is then entered into.

Attachment then, is the third stage of love. When we have fallen in love with a person, we have gotten past the passion and intimacy and have reached a comfortable level in our relationship with each other. It is this stage of love that is most difficult, it is when arguments arise and the relationship needs to be strong enough to withstand problems in order to continue. It should also be noted, that in this stage of love, oxytocin, vasopressin and endorphins are released in our brains, which are also chemicals that come from having sexual intercourse that make us happy.

I know that all sounds like a bit of a lecture. But I found it quite interesting to note that we all fall into different stages of love. I admit here and now that I have been in all 3 stages of love. I am currently still in two - lust and attachment and it so happens, it's with two different people. It's complicated for me to be attached to one person, to not want to let them go because I am secure with where I am with them and at the same time, be lusting after someone else. This is a normal situation by the way, during my studies, I read manys a poem from sappho to ovid about how they were married and attached to their life partners and yet lusted after mistresses and things. So there you have it, next time you find yourself feeling loved up, you'll be able to understand the reasons why, or what stage of love you happen to be in and you might find you are in more than just one.

I am no expert on love, I just wanted to share what I have learnt from my studies - my degree had to come in useful somewhere haha. But from experience, having experienced love once (mainly passionate love) I admit to you that love is strong and complicated and powerful and it's a mess. But it is also something great and nice and amazing and hopefully one day, myself and the people around me will fall in love with someone who loves us back and loves us completely, for who we are.

And while I am on the topic of love, I want to bring your eyes to the title of this post - 'Love Harder'. I am not a big person on the blogging scene as you know, but I am an avid reader of regular blogs, such as Hope Dies Last and Hayley G Hoover which are two very unique and interesting bloggers. However, I happened to be a regular reader of a blog entitled "It's like I'm...mmmagic!". The writer of that blog is called Brandy and she is in love with a H.A.D (Hot Awesome Dude). Recently, her H.A.D. has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. This is devastating news for Brandy and H.A.D and just before Christmas she made a plea to all of her blogger friends who in turn set up a website entitled Love Harder. I encourage you all to click here and read her story and if you fancy it, make a donation, buy a hoody or a t-shirt, or a mug. As for me, when I decide whether I want a new hoody or t-shirt, I'll make a purchase too!

In conclusion readers, I say this, Live, Laugh and Love Harder because you never know what lies around the corner!

Sami
xo