It's Always Been You...Tube

I feel like I have kind of talked about Youtube a lot on this blog, and many times, because the truth is I have been trying to become a 'Youtuber' since I was 13/14 years old. By 'Youtuber' I don't mean someone famous on Youtube, I just want to make videos regularly and because I enjoy doing it. I mean let's not lie, having a career in it would be amazing, but that's not my end goal, for me it's just about something that I love. So instead of giving a million excuses as to why I haven't been making videos, I thought I'd talk about why I want to make videos, and a little history of my Youtube life. If you would like you can watch the above vlog which covers everything, but in case you prefer to read I'll also do a short write up of everything I talk about below!

So let's start on why I love Youtube...

I started watching Youtube videos when I was around 13/14 years old, and I watched Youtubers like Charlieissocoollike, Shane Dawson and Meekakitty, mainly daily vloggers, although Shane also did some sketch videos. I can't remember the exact reason why I first started watching videos, but the reason that I stayed was down to a sense of personal connection that you get from watching a certain Youtuber. I had plenty of friends at school so I wasn't lonely, but I think I was still working out who I was as a person, and watching people who were either going through the same, or had already been through it really helped. Even now I watch Youtube videos when I wake up, when I'm on a break, and when I get home, I consume so much Youtube that it's probably a little unhealthy, but I really don't care!

My first Youtube channel...

It wasn't long after starting to watch videos that I made my first Youtube channel, and I kept getting into the loop of making videos, and then deleting them, and then trying again a few months down the line. For some reason I could never make it stick. That channel is still up today and there is a clip of one of my really old vlogs in the video above, if you want to check out cringey 17 year old me! I even tried a couple of times (unsuccessfully I might add) to take part in VEDA (Vlog everyday in April) but only ever kept it up for a few days at a time.

University and blogging...

When I went to Uni my Youtube obsession was at it's height, I went to study Film and TV and I was hoping to make a lot of friends that also wanted to make Youtube videos. Thankfully there wasn't a shortage on people who were into Youtube, unfortunately I was rubbish at sticking to making videos. Then in my final year of Uni I got into something entirely different, blogging. As you can tell it went pretty well as I have been blogging for almost 3 and a half years now! I've told the story many times about how I got into blogging so I won't bore you with it again now, but if you really want to know I do talk about it in the video above!

Gaming Channel...

When I left Uni and moved back home I lost a lot of my creative outlet because I wasn't making films for work anymore, so I knew I really wanted to try and get a channel up and running again. At this time the type of Youtube videos that I was into the most was Gaming paythroughs, this was about the time that Pewdiepie started getting popular. So I got ahold of  a recording device and started recording myself playing on my Xbox 360. This was probably the first time since starting Youtube that I actually felt like part of a community, and I even did a collab with another small Youtube gamer. In the end I couldn't keep up with recording, it was mainly because I lived at home with my Mum and my brother and it was difficult for me to find time when it was quiet enough to record. So in the end my gaming channel fizzled out but it's something that I really want to get back into in the future.

Where we are now...

About a year ago I got really good at making videos and made one a week which went on for a good few months, and that is where I plan to get back to! Tim and I may be moving into our own place very shortly which will make it even easier for me to film, as I won't have to worry about his parents being around. In the mean time I plan to upload a new video once a week on either a Friday or Saturday, whether it be a vlog, a makeup look, or a challenge video, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

Let me know in the comments what kind of videos that you want to see on my channel, and I may just make them...

24 Years Old Today...

Left to right: Me one year ago, Me last weekend

Today is my 24th birthday, and honestly I feel really unprepared this year. Normally as soon as Christmas is over I start planning for my birthday, and I always have some sort of plan. This year however I have nothing. To be honest a lot of it was down to how I have been really struggling with my mental health, and seriously haven't even been motivated to do anything interesting. Tim did take me to Cardiff for my birthday last weekend, posts on that will be going up later in the month! As for today we are going out for a posh meal together, and then later in the week I am going out for a meal with my family, so it's not really as if we are doing nothing for my birthday.

To celebrate my 24th, I thought I would share with you 24 memories (some good, some bad) from my life so far, in no particular order...

1. One of my most vivid memories is the day that my brother had an epileptic fit. It was summer, I must have been about 7/8, and my dad was looking after us, I was outside riding my bike with a friend and an ambulance pulled up at the end of the close. They wound down the window to ask for directions, and the address they gave was for my house, so I immediately panicked. They rushed in and I remember that my dad wouldn't let me in, and watched through the letterbox. It was such a surreal day... thankfully everything turned out OK though!
   
2.  One of my favourite things that we used to do at School every Easter was to paint eggs. There was a contest every year where you could paint eggs as your favourite characters from books/TV etc. and there were always prizes for the best. I just remember making these with my mum and it was always so fun.
   
3. When I was four my sister was born, when mum brought her home my first question was 'Where is my baby brother?', because my parents had really wanted a boy, and even made me waste a birthday wish on one. It wasn't for another two years that I finally got my baby brother.
   
4. I went to a Church of England primary school as such we celebrated all of the major Christian holidays, one of my favourites was Christingle, because we would spend a whole afternoon making oranges with little skewers of sweets on and a candle on top. Instead of concentrating on making as many as possible, I spent my time eyeing up what everyone else was doing and sussing out which one had the most sweets. This was so that later, at the church service, I could pick up the one with the most sweeties!
   
5. McDonald's birthday parties... I must have had a least four of them, and all it involved was trying to hide in the upstairs area of our local McDonald's playing hide and seek. By the time they actually got a proper party room I was too old for it, and resented them.
   
6. When I was about 6/7 my parents took us all to Disneyland Paris, I was ecstatic. My dad took me on the ghost train a.k.a Phantom Manor, it seriously terrified me. So much so that my teeth started chattering, much like Scooby Doo's, and they wouldn't stop for like an hour afterwards.
   
7. Also during that Paris trip my dad and I started to climb the Eiffel tower, whilst my mum stayed at the bottom with my brother and sister. When we got about half way up dad said, 'Let's get back down, your mum's probably getting cold', so I never got to climb to the top. I think my dad was just scared of heights...
   
8. When I was younger I overheard my mum talking to a friend and they swore, I copied them, and this resulted in my mum shutting me in the garden as punishment, in the dark, and I'm still afraid of the dark...
   
9. Back in my childhood one of mums great friends lived only across the road with her daughter, who still remains one of my best friends. One day we were in her back garden, mum and her had a few drinks, and we were eating ice cream. In their tipsy state our mothers were pouring ice cream sauce into our mouths, this resulted in us getting covered. So my mum decide's she'll run us a bath at our house. I used to have a MASSIVE crate of bath toys, and mum tips it into the bath, and with the toys is a giant spider, so we both scream and get out, and won't get back in until my mum fishes the spider out, which she had to do, whilst drunk...
   
10. In Primary school we always did a nativity play, one year when we had a new teacher they decided to do a 'proper' nativity, it was a play which I believe was called, 'Give thanks to the Angel' and revolved around how the angel was the most important part of Christmas and the Nativity story. Everyone in school wanted to be the angel, but I got chosen, and I was super smug about it!
     
11. One time Me and my mum were watching TV downstairs and my sister was awfully quiet upstairs, so my mum went to check on her. Mum called down to me to come to the bottom of the stairs, and she made my sister show me what she had done. She'd gotten into my 'play make up' and made herself look like a clown, she cried so hard that I couldn't be mad.
    
12. My brother used to have terrible anxiety/travel sickness, and he would always be sick in the car. Mum would make him have a carrier bag in his lap to be sick in, and me and my sister would always scramble to get out the car if he was going to be sick... it was so annoying because he would always do it at the most inappropriate time, thankfully he grew out of it.
    
13. I was bullied a lot in Secondary school, like most people right? Anyhow one time this girl poured a whole pot of yogurt on my head and I had to walk right through the busiest part of the school to get to the teachers lounge. It was the most embarrassing thing ever.
    
14. My childhood dog, Sadie, used to have what we called, 'a funny five minutes' where she was zoom around the living room. She also liked to pull out socks off of our feet, which always made us giggle when we were kids. She was the best dog ever.
    
15. When I was in year 9 I had a fight with a girl from my village. A lot of people had been gossiping and fuelling both sides, telling her I had said things which I hadn't and vice versa, anyway it culminated in her hitting me. So I flew off of a bench at her and we were rolling around on the floor hitting each other. We got in pretty big trouble because potential head teachers were visiting that day.
    
16. I used to be best friends with the vicars daughter, and I'd always go over there to play and stay for dinner. Much to my mother's dismay I repeated a lot of dirty jokes that I overheard at home to the vicar. He was pretty cool about it though, and even found them funny!
    
17. In my younger days we always used to holiday at Butlins in Minehead, and I had a mega crush on a red coat called, 'Shiny Shaun', my parents still taunt me about this.
    
18. In year 10/11 I was a 'Bus Prefect' which meant I oversaw everyone on my bus journey home, and made sure no one got bullied etc. This privilege got revoked however when a year 7 boy at the front of the bus was getting bullied by all of the other year 7's, so I moved him to the back of the bus with me. He clearly wasn't happy with this and his mother complained to the school because I should have moved the boy who was bullying him. Even if I had removed the one main bully the others would have carried on bullying him... I couldn't win.
     
19. When I was applying for university, the head of our sixth-form wrote my reference to the universities, due to a very personal issue that was going on at the time (outside of school). When he gave me a copy to read I was so angry and upset because there were several spelling mistakes in it... I genuinely cried for the rest of the day and thought he had ruined my chances of going to Uni. Thankfully that wasn't the case.
    
20. At university, out at my first social for the student radio station I tried to out-drink a second year. It was pub golf so we had to have a certain drink at each bar, and drink in a certain number of swigs to hit 'par'. This guy kept shouting fresher at me so I said to him if I beat him at pub golf, then he could never call me a fresher again. I was doing so well, then in the second to last pub I threw up. It's the only time I have ever thrown up in the toilets of a pub/bar, and honestly it was the worst, I was so ill that night.
    
21. My graduation day was one of my proudest moments, but at the same time it was SO boring. Sitting through a graduation ceremony takes serious patience. Oh and the guy calling our names pronounced my name wrong... despite me telling the ushers how it was pronounced...
    
22. I once got an after school detention for drinking beer on the bus journey home, I had one sip. I literally had the worst luck with getting caught out for things like this.
    
23. I once turned up for a Lady Gaga concert a whole day before the actual date of the concert. For some reason myself (and my boyfriend at the time) were so sure it was on a Wednesday night, so we got ready and my dad drove us all the way up there. When we got to the gate the guy informed us the concert wasn't until the next day, needless to say my dad was really pissed, and I felt like a right muppet.
    
24. I went on a Spanish Exchange trip when I was in year 9/10, and we visited a monastery, and did a Tai Chi class. Whilst we were doing some breathing exercises my friend had a really funny turn and became faint. A teacher and instructor took her and I aside and we got to me what I believe they called the 'head llama' of the monastery. He told my friend to close her eyes and picture him if she ever felt faint ever again. I was thinking, 'well this is a load of bollocks' and he turned to me, looked me deep in the eyes, and said, 'and you also'. I was convinced that he had just read my mind...

So there you have it folks, 24 memories from my life so far. I hope they have been an interesting read for you all. Let me know in the comments if you relate to any of these?

The "Me Time" Tag

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you are starting your week off on a good note, I certainly am! I saw this tag on a blog a few weeks ago and thought it would be a good one for me to attempt. It also got me to thinking about how much "Me Time" I really spend on myself, and I found myself saying... Not a lot... I do want that to change though, and this tag is the perfect place for me to start!

What do you watch/read during me time?

I like to watch my American TV shows, and also Disney movies when I am trying to unwind. As for reading, I just pick up whatever I happen to be reading at the time.

What do you wear during me time?

Definitely PJ's, and my brand new fluffy slippers! Or my cat onesie ;)

What are your me time beauty products?

A facemask, and some mousturisers...

Current favourite nail polish?

Anything sparkly!

What do you eat/drink during me time?

Chocolate, wine... Basically all the naughty things...

Current favourite candle?

My current favourite candle is one that was hand made for me as a Christmas present. It's set in a cute little teacup, and the scent smells like a cupcake... soooo good

Do you ever have outdoor me time?

The outdoors??? What is this place you speak of?

Would you ever go see a film alone?

Probably, when I was doing my GCSE's I went to see a play by myself, because I couldn't go on the day the school had booked the main trip. So my parents had to book me to go another time and at another theatre. No one wanted to come with me, so I ended up on my own, in a theatre I didn't know, taking notes on a play for my Drama exam... I actually quite enjoyed it, and if no one wanted to go see a film with me, I would probably go on my own!

Favourite Online shop?

Does Amazon count, because I buy a LOT of stuff from Amazon... They have so many different things and it's just so convenient...

Anything else to add?

I definitely that I need to start having a little bit more "Me Time" and I think I will start setting aside at least an hour a day for myself.

My Wishes Tag

Yes I have finally made a new video! It's the My Wishes Tag created by Cutiepiemarzia, you can see the original video here. Below are the seven questions that I answered, and I tag you all to take on the Tag as well!

QUESTIONS:

1. What do you wish you knew when you were younger? 2. Where do you wish you could live? 3. What is one thing you wish you could do? 4. What would you wish to be better at? 5. What did you wish to become when you were little?6. Is there anything you wish you could change about the world? 7. What is your "biggest wish"?

I also tag my sister Letitia, Beth from Beth Tinkerbell and Becky from Becky Bedbug to take on the tag!

Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed the video and also whether you would like to see me take on Vlogmas!

#BEDM 1: What is your blog about?

I only just found out about this challenge when I saw some other bloggers posting today, however you all know how much I love a good Blog Challenge. Especially as I am trying to kickstart my blogging again, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! This challenge is being hosted by the lovely Rosalilium, and you can check it out here.

Today's prompt is 'What is your blog about?'. I can answer this question in short, my blog is about me. I write about my day to day life, and what I get up to, my hopes, dreams, goals and I even write about some of the items I use that I love! I've been writing this blog since January last year, and I cannot believe how much it has grown since then. never in my life did I think my blogging would ever turn into anything more than being my online diary. I'm happy to say I've met some wonderful friends through blogging, and have certainly had more opportunities, and I can't wait to continue to grow my blog futher!

If you've never read my blog before click the links below to find out a bit more about my blog, and about the features I regularly write!

• About Me
• 23 Before 23
• Wishlist Wednesday
• Friday Favourites
• My Week in Pictures
• Getting Personal

I even wrote a roundup of what I got up to on my blog for the whole of 2013! You can check that out here.

Finally, If you want a feel for what I am like as a person, then direct yourselves to the photos below!

The A-Z of me: A is for Alyssia, That's Who I Am...

I was born on the 2nd of February 1992, and was christened Alyssia Rose Marie Slade. Ever since then I have been causing trouble, obsessing, and being a general weirdo! So how about I answer some questions about me.

1. What is your middle name?: I have two! Rose and Marie...
2. What is your favorite drink?: A nice glass of rosé wine
3. What is your favorite song at the moment?: 'Love is An Open Door' from Frozen
4. What is your favorite food?: Rare Steak with Bacon, Red Wine, and Mushroom sauce
5. What is the last thing you bought?: Chocolate...
6. Favorite book of all time?: The Hunger Games trilogy
7. Favorite Color?: Blue
8. Do you have any pets?: I have a dog that lives with my mum, and two gerbils that I just got!
9. Favorite Perfume?: One Direction Our Moment. NOT because it's by one direction!
10. Favorite Holiday?: Halloween
11. Are you married?: Nope, not yet!
12. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: Four or five times I think. Mainly to Europe, but once to America! That was the best trip ever.

13. Do you speak any other language?: A little bit of Spanish, but I'm trying to become fluent in it!
14. How many siblings do you have?: One brother and one sister, both younger... it sucks being the oldest...
15. What is your favorite store?: all of them?
16. Favorite restaurant?: Nelson's Diner in Kingsclere has the best milkshakes and American food I have ever had...
17. When was the last time you cried?: Probably watching one of my favourite American TV shows, I get very emotionally attached...
18. Favorite Blog?: Definitely Becky Bedbug's Blog. I've also had the pleasure of spending time with Becky, she is seriously wonderful!
19. Favorite Movie?: I seriously cannot pick a favourite, but instead I'll offer my two favourite genres. Horror and Disney.
20. Favorite TV show?: Once again I find it hard to pick, some of my fav's are Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, Doctor Who, Eastenders, The Great British Bake Off... I could go on...
21. PC or Mac?: PC, mainly because I can't afford a Mac...
22. What phone do you have?: I have an Iphone 5S! It is my baby, and I cannot live without it!
23. How tall are you?: 5’4” I think, this is a total guess..
24. Can you cook?: I love to cook! Me and my boyfriend take it in turns every night to cook, and we've been eating great since then! Such yummy, yummy food...

So there you have it, the first of my A-Z of me posts. I hope you will enjoy this series as much as I will enjoy writing it!