October Blogging Challenge #4: My Blog Name...

I'm sure that I have mentioned this a million times before in other blogging challenges, but the reason behind my blog name is reality, pretty boring.

My full name is Alyssia Rose Marie Slade. Not Rosemary, Rose Marie. For some reason my doctors surgery has me down as Rose Maria, I really should get that sorted out...

So I guess I could explain my name a little more fully, that might be interesting right?

Slade is a pretty straight forward surname, which according to a couple of websites comes from the Old English Slaed - a valley. Which I didn't know until right now...

My first name was chosen by my mum, so I've been told. According to her, at the time of her pregnancy, my uncle had a girlfriend called Alicia. Mum decided she liked it, but decided to spell my name Alyssia, the slightly less common version of the name. In case you are wondering how to pronounce my name (I get this a lot), it's pronounced 'ah-liss-ee-ah'. Looking on a baby names website, my name is derived from an old German word for 'Noble'. Not sure how far I'd agree with that for myself...

Rose was my grandmother's middle name, so it's nice to know I'm keeping a name in the family. I could have ended up with her first name 'cecily' which my sister ended up with as a middle name!

Similarly to Rose, my other middle name Marie is also a family name. This however is my mothers middle name, which I think is such a nice thing to share with my mother. On the baby name's website Marie apparently means 'Star of the sea', which I am most certainly not. In fact I have a phobia of swimming in the sea...

So why did I decide to name my blog, Alyssiarose? Well to be honest, I wanted my blog to be somewhere that I could write about anything to do with me and my life, so why not name it after myself. Alyssiarose is somewhat of an alter-ego for me, someone confident and beautiful that I strive to be. OK, that sounds kind of dumb...

October Blogging Challenge #3: September Favourites

Today's prompt was supposed to be an OOTD (outfit of the day) post, however seeing as I didn't really wear anything interesting today I thought I would instead post up this weeks Youtube video. For the first time ever I decided to do a favourites video which you can check out below. I have also added a list of all things talked about below, just in case you don't want to watch the video!

My favourites this month are:

• Garnier Ultimate Blends, Marvellous Transformer Shampoo with Argan and Camellia oils
• Bourjous 123 CC cream
• Collection Lasting Perfection 16 hour concealer
• Rimmel Wonder'full mascara in black
• Sweet Lilac Tangle Teezer
• Switched at Birth (TV Show)
• Once Upon a Time (TV Show)
• CSI (TV Show)
• Little Big Planet (PS3)
• 2014/15 Planner from WHSmith

October Blogging Challenge #2: Thankful Thursday

Welcome to my first (and possibly only) Thankful Thursday post. Here's what I am thankful for this week.

Chocolate Desserts: I've been feeling a little down lately, and as such have been eating a lot of things that I shouldn't. My favourite of which has become chocolate melt in the middle puddings... So far I've had plain chocolate, chocolate orange and even a salted caramel one, seriously yummy.

Naps: Recently I haven't been sleeping well, and as such when I get home I have been taking a nap, I honestly don't know how I would cope without that extra hours napping!

Youtubers: As mentioned above, I haven't been feeling at my best recently. One of the things that has been keeping me sane, is watching videos from my favourite Youtubers. Helon Melonlady, Niki and Sammy, Jacksepticeye, Pewdiepie and Bubzvlogz. You should check them out, they always make me smile!

My Boyfriend: Tim has seriously been my rock at the moment. He knows how to take care of me and asks for nothing in return. I never thought I could have such a wonderful relationship with someone, especially after past ones. Once I get through my rough patch, I'm going to make it up to him. He is my prince, and I love him so much.

Apologies for getting a bit soppy at the end there, sorry to anyone who had to reach for a sick bucket!

October Blogging Challenge #1: My Goals for October

I thought it was about time that I picked this blog up and started working on it. Since moving in with my Boyfriend in March I have been struggling to find a routine that fits everything I love into any spare time that I have, but I am trying. Of course I thought the perfect way to get back into blogging was with a blog challenge. There's nothing like posting every day for a month to get you back into the swing of things. This challenge was created by Gracie of Girl Meets Life, so don't forget to check out her blog.

So the first prompt is all about my goals for the month. I thought I would pick five as I like that number) and I didn't want them all to be blogging related because I have a lot of other things that I wish to achieve.

1. Complete this challenge: This is a pretty obvious one, but nonetheless a worthy goal for me considering my recent posting history.
2. Keep Up my Youtube Channel: If you didn't see my recent post, I have put up a Youtube video every week for 6 whole weeks! I hope to continue doing this for the foreseeable future, maybe even expanding to several videos a week... I post a new video every Friday so make sure you go and check it out!
3. Pick up my diet again: Yes I have been slacking for the last 3 weeks diet-wise. I have been ill, and there are a few personal reasons, but I plan to start that back up again shortly.
4. Read one book: This seems like a simple goal, but actually recently I have lacked any motivation to read. Considering I have a million books to read, I really need to get into the habit of reading at least one a month.
5. Handle my Gerbils: If you read my blog regularly then you may know that I have two gerbils which I got shortly after moving in with Tim. As of yet I have been unsuccessful in handling them. They trust me and will happily sniff my hand, but as of yet they will not let me hold them. So I plan to work on that this month!

I'm hoping to complete at least three of these goals, and if I complete all five then I have promised myself an end of month treat!

Let me know if you are taking part in this challenge as I would love to read your posts, and you can follow the challenge on Twitter using #octbloggingchallenge

Youtubing all over the place...

Hello again everyone, I hope you are all well!

I know I have been terrible with posting lately, and to be honest a lot of that has to do with the fact that I have been finding it hard to focus. I've been finding it pretty difficult to come up with ideas for blogging, but I'm going to try and stick to my Features and see where they take me!

Another reason for my lack of blogging recently is that I have been focusing on my Youtube channel. I've mentioned on this blog many times before, that one of my biggest passions is Youtube. I've watched Youtube videos since I was a young teen, and have always wanted to create my own videos. I have created and deleted several Youtube channels and videos ever since I was a teenager. However since visiting Summer in the City 2013 I have vowed to make a better effort towards making videos.

I'll admit that between Summer in the City 2013 and SITC 2014 I barely made an effort to make videos, it was a MUCH better effort than I ever had before, but still isn't to the level that I want to be making them. Whilst attending a Gaming Panel at SITC 2014, something that one of the panellists said really stuck with me. She was asked what she thought made her popular, and her response was simply, 'Consistency'. If you tell your followers that you are going to put up a video every week on a set day, and you stick to that, the likelihood is that they will keep coming back to your channel, because they know something new will be there. Obviously it's not 100% about making as many videos as you can, your videos still have to be good, and that's what I'm trying to stand by.

My plan is to upload a new video every Friday, and once I get into the routine of this then I may expand it to two videos a week and so on. This will be my 6th week of uploading consistently, and honestly I'm really proud of myself, and I'm proud of the stuff that I have made so far. Don't get me wrong, I am struggling to think of what to make my videos about every week, but I'm still learning, and I'm confident that in time, I'll get the hang of it better, and I'll finally be doing what I have ALWAYS wanted to do.

So below I have linked my first 6 (consistent) videos, and I would love you to check them out and let me know what you think! If I had to say which is my favourite I would probably go with my Student Slang video that I did with my sister.

Insta-catch-up: July/August

I can't believe I haven't done an Instagram post for TWO MONTHS! I am in genuine shock right now... Oh well, better late than never right? Prepare yourselves for a severely photo-heavy post coming your way!

1. I did the Race for Life in the beginning of July, and I completed it in 47 minutes, which considering I walked half of it, I was pretty please with.
2. Pasta bake from Pizza Express.
3. My brother clowning around, as per usual...
4. Drinking Raspberry cider (my new favourite flavour) and playing Xbox One, the perfect way to spend a day.
5. I finally cracked open my monster Easter egg that Tim got me, and I still haven't finished it, even now.
6. Tim surprised me with flowers, he is such a sweetheart.
7. I wore a skirt for the first time this summer.
8. Tim made an amazing Mac n Cheese, it is the best I have ever had!
9. Tim treated me with Pancakes for breakfast, I am the luckiest girl ever.

10. I bought a maxi skirt this year, and this was a photo of the first time that I wore it.
11. I made chocolate bowls, and home-made ice cream for a date night with Tim, you can read all about that here.
12. I painted my nails for the first time in ages, this was also my first experience with Barry M Gelly polishes, and they are so good!
13. I bought two wristbands on the first day of Summer in the City, a Phandom wristband and an ASDF wristband, aren't they cute?
14. I met Toothless the dragon! He was hanging out at Festival Place in Basingstoke, I did get a few weird looks taking this picture I will admit.
15. I tried Bubble Tea for the first time.. and unfortunately I didn't enjoy it!
16. Awkward selfie much?
17. I met Dan and Phil!!! They were so sweet, Dan took this selfie for me, also they are SUPER tall.
18. My queen! Tyler Oakley... We did the same pose as last Summer in the City, mainly because my last photo was blurry! He is such a legend.

19. Niki of NikinSammy signed my wristband that I bought at Summer in the City.
20. A Sneak Peek of the frame that I made for Tim for his birthday!
21. I met the one and only Charlieissocoollike, I asked him to do a rock pose... I don't think he got it though!
22. I facetimed my dog, and she was so confused!!
23. I tried a new flavour of cider, still doesn't beat raspberry for me though!
24. Tim and I went to our local pub, they do these amazing burgers. I had a BBQ Pulled Pork and American Cheese burger...
25. Nothing is nicer than using new bedding, and nothing is nicer than MY new bedding.
26. Tim made me steak last week to cheer me up because I was having a seriously down day.
27. I took my brother and sister to see As Above So Below, the new horror film that came out the end of last month. It wasn't that scary to be honest, it was more that it was so uncomfortable to watch due to the setting of the film.

So there we have it guys, that's what I've been up to the past few months! Let me know in the comments what you guys have been up to!

Weekly Weigh In: Week #13

I know, I know... I've been gone for over a month. I'm sorry! August was a very, VERY busy month for me. I went to Summer in the City, it was my Boyfriends Birthday and then I had a whole WEEK off of work and I've been relaxing. I promise I'm going to get better at blogging more regularly!

Anyway since my last weigh in my weight had been up and down all over the place, what with having a few cheeky weekends and then a whole week off of dieting. I've also noticed that the 5:2 diet doesn't seem to be working for me any more. That's not to say it's a bad diet, because it helped me kickstart my weightloss in the first place. Actually the problem is me. Tell me I only have to diet on two days a week and I will, and then on those other days (despite my best efforts) I ended up snacking a lot in between meals, and generally filling myself with rubbish!

So I've decided enough is enough. I am going on a completely calorie controlled diet, and I'm going to be trying this for a month to see how I get on, and then I may add a couple of weeks of 5:2 in between if my weightloss slows down. Now I'm not going to be dieting all week, as I know it would be far too hard for me on the weekends. so instead what I am going to do is aim for 1,200 calories Mon-Fri, and then eat 1,800-2,000 on weekends, and see how it goes. I'm also going to be completely cutting out sweets, fizzy drinks, chocolate and alcohol, only allowing myself one of these four things on my weekend 'normal' days. I know this is going to be really tough and I'm going to hate it, but I know that I need to do something about my weight now before it is too late.

Now for the weigh in results:

Start Weight: 198.8 Ibs
Target Weight: 145 Ibs
Weight this week: 191.4 Ibs
Weight loss this week: + 3.2 Ibs
Total Weight loss: 7.4 Ibs
Weight still to lose: 46.4 Ibs

Obviously it's not great that I've put on 3.2 Ibs since the last weigh in, but considering that I've had a couple of weeks off of the diet, and pretty much ate what I wanted to, I'm impressed that I haven't put on more!

This week's goals:

1. Drink water only Mon-Fri

2. Cut out most fizzy drinks, chocolate, sweets and alcohol. (only allowing myself ONE of these at the weekend)

3. Log everything I eat on My Fitness Pal app, every, single thing!