Randomness & Sacrificing Books

Hellooooo my beauties! Sorry for this post being a day late - it was my brother's birthday yesterday :)

My wrists smell really nice because I used some of my friend's Lady Gaga Black Fluid perfume and it smells AMAZING.

That was completely random, I just thought I'd let you know haha! XD

I'm not really too sure what to post but I don't want to ruin my good streak!

Ummm...

I got my mock results back! They were the reason for my absence - working hard - and I did really well!

English Literature - A*
English Language - A*
Maths - A*
Chemistry - A*
Biology - A*
Physics - C (I'm rubbish at Physics... think I'm going to get a tutor)
French - A
History - A
Religious Studies - A*

So I'm really happy :D School has calmed down now, so I've had more time to read but still not as much as I'd like, which is annoying. Currently Reading Shatter Me, and really enjoying it! Why are the bad guys so attractive?

I saw Big Hero 6 on Wednesday! It was reeaaalllyyyy good. :) I cried a lil bit... I was the oldest person there that wasn't a parent and the only one crying.... so emotional :'(

I really have no idea what to talk about, so I'm going to do the Book Sacrifice Tag from YouTube because it looks really fun!

1. You're in a book shop and suddenly there's a zombie apocalypse. It's announced over the speakers that the only way to kill the zombies is to throw an over-hyped book at them. Which book do you choose?

Definitely the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver. So many people adore this trilogy and I just URGH. Lena annoyed me, Alex annoyed me, Hannah confused me, the romance was annoying. Just everything was frustrating, did not enjoy it at all. :/

2. You've just got a beautiful new hair-do at the hairdresser's when you look outside and it's pouring with rain. Which sequel do you sacrifice to use as an umbrella?

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. I loved Uglies - such an amazing premise and I found the writing and plot really interesting and yeah, just great. And then Pretties was just like a repeat. As was Specials.
Pretties was just so bleh and bleak - was not a fan.

3. Your English teacher is going on and on about how this one classic is amazing and revolutionised literature. You hated this classic and end up throwing it at your teacher. Which classic do you choose?

This is quite hard because I haven't read many classics, and the ones I have, I've loved. Does Romeo and Juliet count as a classic? Because I despise that play. They've literally known each other for a few hours, and then sUDDENLY THEY'RE MARRIED AND COMMITTING SUICIDE FOR THEIR PASSIONATE LOVE WOAH HOLD UP WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?! So stupid.

4. You're in a library and then global warming strikes. It's freezing outside so you have to stay indoors and burn books to stay warm. Which book do you run to first to burn?

Either Gone Girl or the Beautiful Creatures series. Either way - DESPISE THEM. Gone Girl was so hyped and I got 30 pages in and was like "I can't" The writing was awful, the characters were horrible and I just wasn't interested. So I Googled the ending.... And Beautiful Creatures.... The first book was okay.. and then the rest of them..... *shudders* never again.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. Have a lovely, week, I love you all ♥

Bethan
xxxxxx

Load of tags smooshed together

Hello!
Now... I know I didn't post anything on Thursday. But I have so much homework and stuff and then on Thursday my brother was doing this sports coaching thing and the beach was quite close so parents just said "Let's go to the beach" So we did. I took quite a few pictures but I can't really be bothered to upload them today... Sowwy. I'm tired. What my plan is it to write my Monday/Tuesday post and my Creative Thursday post on the weekend and then all I'll have to do is open up blogger and click Publish instead of spending a while typing when I should be doing homework. I'm actually doing that now - today is Sunday. But when you read this, it'll be Monday. I especially need to do the writing ahead of time thing because my Thursday posts are going to be longer as I need to be writing my chapters for the C.C.C.WC. So that's just my plan.
Anyways! I've been tagged for a couple of cool new tags so I've (as you can see by the title) smooshed them all together to make this post. :) I'm just going to dive right in.

The first tag is the Tribute to Writers tag. The wonderful Kat from (Almost) Completely Mad tagged me in this. Thank you, you beautiful girl. ♥ Go check out her awesome blog!

{via}

Rules:
1. Answer all the questions
2. Put the button in your post and link it back to Jollygirl
3. Say what you love about writing. If you don't like writing, then there's no need for you to do this tag
4. Share one piece of your writing
5. Nominate 3 other writers/bloggers and make up 5 new questions for them to answer
6. Have fun!

Questions:

1. What is your favourite type of writing?
Novels/stories, poetry and those little paragraph things I do. (like Kat said) I don't know whether they're poetry or what, but yeah. Those types.

2. When did you start writing?
I actually can't remember. I don't remember learning to read or write stories or deciding my dream was to be an author. They've just always been part of me.

3. Your favourite author?
We've been over this. I have several. Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Cassandra Clare, J.K.Rowling, John Green, Rick Riordan. Many others.

4. Have you ever finished a novel?
Nope. Never. I have always given up and thought it wasn't good enough. I got to one of the last chapters of one before, but then I stopped pursuing it. I really want to though.

5. On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate writing?
I can't rate writing because it is who I am. I am writing. Writing is me. I am incomplete without it and I cannot rate part of my soul with a number.

Why I like writing:
As I just said, writing is part of my soul. It's the only way I can express my feelings and thoughts without screaming and crying. I just let them flow out of me so that I don't explode.

A piece of my writing:

The sky is dark with grey clouds and I hear a faint rumbling coming from above. The rain will start soon. I need to get under cover. I re-adjust the bag strap on my shoulder, causing the satchel to bump against my thigh. It's heavy, filled with boxes of hair dye, different pairs of glasses, several sets of clothes and shoes, a variety of makeup and contact lenses for each eye colour. Everything in the bag is different. Different colours, different shapes and sizes, different styles.

The wind is cold today. It's harsh and cruel, unlike yesterday's light summer breeze that cooled my hot cheeks and brushed my hair away from my face in a gentle caress.

Yesterday, I was a petite girl, with straight blonde hair and blue eyes. I wore a colourful dress and shoes with bows. I had pink lips, rosy cheeks and gold eye shadow to bring out my eyes. My nails were long and fake, painted a pastel blue.

Today, I am tall, the heels inside my black trainers hidden. I have wavy brown hair and grey eyes, hidden behind huge glasses. I wear a minimal amount of makeup, a deep red lipstick and a smudge of eyeliner all that is noticeable. My nails are short and bitten, drumming a fast beat against my leg. I wear ripped jeans, a plain t-shirt and a dark jacket. I blend in to the grey setting, invisible, just like the girl I was yesterday - the same as every other girl walking on the beach,

The ruthless wind presses an escaped curl across my neck like a noose and pushes my hood down. I yank it back up and hold it around my face. I don't think anybody saw me. I quickly glance around before prying the strand of hair off my neck and pushing the fake glasses up my nose. They're a bit too big, but they're do for now. I just need something to make me look different until I get to the train station. The glasses, plus the dark lipstick, plus the brown hair, are all I need to blend in, to become someone else.

As long as I look nothing like the girl in the posters.

I tag:

Rose // Truly. Madly. Deeply.

Madeline // In the Wind

Lauren // Pretty Things and Polka Dots

Your Questions:

1. Your favourite author?

2. Would you like to write professionally?

3. Your favourite book?

4. What is your favourite type of writing?

5. When did you start writing?

Tag number 2! Tour Through Blogland. I was tagged by the absolutely amazing Eve from Eve of Womanhood. Check out her beautiful blog.

{via}

If you are tagged, answer the questions I answered:

1. What am I working on?

I am currently working on Celia's Writing Challenge. It's so much fun, but I'm just trying to find the time to write. I'm also working on several book reviews for Anna's new book review collab blog We Are The Readers which I am an author of.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I'm not really sure... I'm quite honest with you all. I tell you when I've had an awful day and I'll usually express that in writing. I tell you what's going on in my life and I'm quite friendly with you all. I like to think of you all as my buddies, so I treat you as such. XD

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

Because I love it. That's the simple answer. I love writing for you all, reading your lovely comments when I get home from a terrible day at school, talking to new people who share the same interests as me and making new friends. I blog because I love it.

4. How does your writing/creating process work?

Well, I'll try to think of a post idea, or in cases like these, I'll have something I need to do, like a load of tags or a book haul or a monthly wrap up. Then I'll type it up, add pictures if I need to and link to people's blogs that I've mentioned. I'll scan through it once more and then publish it. If I have writer's block, I'll just post a general life update.

I tag:

Rose // Truly. Madly. Deeply.

Madeline // In the Wind

Megan // The Life of Meg

Number 3! The 20 things tag. Thank you, Lizzie from Castle in the Air, for tagging me and answering a very sweet question with my name. :) You magnificent girl. :)

If you're tagged, just answer these questions:

1. How tall are you?

I think I'm around 5ft 2"

2. Do you have a hidden talent? If so what?

Um... no, I don't think so. I can touch my nose with my tongue?

3. What's your biggest blog related pet-peeve?

When blogger changes the size of my text halfway through a post and it's either too small to read or too big so I have to type it up all over again... -_-

4. What's your biggest non-blog related pet-peeve?

When people say "It's more funnier than" or "It's more simpler". No. It's either more funny or more simple OR funnier or simpler. Pick one! Also when people mix up your/you're. I'm a grammar freak.... which is why I have a heart attack when I notice a typo in a blog post >.<

5. What's your favourite song?

I have three at the moment. It changes all the time. But at the moment, I'm loving:

Shake it off // Taylor Swift

Amnesia // 5sos

Say you love me // Jessie Ware

That last song is AMAZING. Check it out please. So good. But all of them are. :)

6. What's your favourite Etsy shop that isn't yours?

I don't have an Etsy shop and I don't really shop on Etsy because it's all American so it's pain to ship.

7. What's your favourite way to spend your free time when you're alone?

Reading. Reading. Blogging. Reading. Reading. Reading. Reading.

8. What's your favourite junk food?

I mean, I love popcorn. But definitely chocolate!

9. Do you have a pet or pets?

Yeeeesss, I have a super cute 4 year old golden retriever dog called Ruby. I've shown you her before. :)

10. What are your number one favourite non-fiction and fiction books?

Hmmm... I don't read a lot of non-fiction books. I love Anne Frank's diary. Or my Greek myths book. Does that count as non-fiction? As for fiction, we've been over this. Hunger Games, Divergent, TMI, TID, tfios, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc.

11. What's your favourite beauty product?

Um... I don't wear a lot of makeup. So, my concealer. lol.

12. When were you last embarrassed? What happened?

I can't remember as I'm embarrassed a lot... But when I met Peter Capaldi and Jenna Louise Coleman, I turned around and walked right into Peter Capaldi.... and I stepped on his foot..... Pretty sure my face was bright red. He still asked if I wanted my notebook signed though, sooo.....

13. If you could drink one beverage (besides water) for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Hmmm.... I love smoothies. Or lemonade. Or Diet Coke.

14. What's your favourite movie?

Again, I have loads. I'll go with non book-to-movie adaptations. All the Marvel films. About Time. The Way Way Back. Prisoners. The Dead Poets Society, which I just watched today. Yeah, I'll go with those.

15. What were you in high school: prom queen, nerd, cheerleader, jock, valedictorian, band geek, loner, artist, prep?

Well, I'm still in high school. Somewhere between a nerd and artist. But I'm just sort of normal really.

16. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Where I live now or Greece. :)

17. PC or Mac?

PC.

18. Last romantic gesture from a crush/date/boyfriend/girlfriend?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

19. Favourite celebrity?

Benedict Cumberbatch. David Tennant. Jennifer Lawrence. Tom Hiddleston. Shailene Woodley. And others.

20. What blogger do you secretly want to be best friends with?

Too many! But why does it have to be a secret? Rose. Kenzie. Madeline. Kat. And of course Lizzie.

I tag:

Rose // Truly. Madly. Deeply.

Madeline // In the Wind

Megan // The Life of Meg

And finally. The Chocolate Book tag! I was tagged by Eve again. The link to her blog is up by the Tour Through Blogland tag. I'm going to bed soon, so I won't be putting any blurbs, just a brief description of the book.

1. Dark Chocolate - A book that covers a dark topic

For this I chose The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks. Basically, this boy is kidnapped and is trapped in an old war bunker with five other people and they have to try and figure out a way to escape.

Really good. Really dark. Really creepy.

2. White Chocolate - Your favourite light-hearted, humorous read

Definitely Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Cath is one half of identical twins. She goes to college and her twin begins to pull away. She has to deal with a load of stuff but it is so funny and so relatable!

3. Milk Chocolate - A book that has lots of hype and that you are dying to read

Definitely the Throne of Glass trilogy by Sarah J Maas. The main character is an assassin. That just instantly sounds amazing

4. Chocolate with a caramel centre - A book that made you feel all gooey inside

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith. I don't own this book but I borrowed it from the library and LOVE IT! So cute and adorable. Hadley has just missed her flight to her dad's wedding, but Oliver is on her new flight and it's just super adorable!

5. Wafer-free Kit Kat - A book that surprised you

Hmm.... 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad. Such a brilliant sci-fi book - it would make an amazing film! I wasn't expecting a lot but boy was I surprised!

6. Snickers - A book that you're going nuts for

I have just finished the Vampire Academy series and oh my goodness they are amazing! I won't go into too much detail because I'll make them sound so cheesy, but just... just pick them up and read them right now! Rose has such great character development, it is unbelievable. I wasn't too fond of her in the first book - she was quite arrogant and annoyed me a little bit - but by the end of Last Sacrifice, she's a proper heroine.

7. Hot chocolate with cream and marshamllows - A book that you go to for a comfort read

Hmm.... The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's not exactly calming and comforting, but it doesn't get any worse and it always hooks me and drags me away from this world and into that world. Which is good. I probably want to escape from this world if I'm seeking a comfort read.

(this is the original cover that I have :D )

8. A box of chocolates - Which series have you read that is great for everybody?

Either the Harry Potter series or the Percy Jackson series/Heroes of Olympus series. Because there's a good balance of male and female characters in both, so it's not strictly a male or female book. The humour is great, as are the plots, characters and action. They're just great for everybody, read them!

(These are the UK Harry Potter covers. And these are the US PJO and HOO covers because I couldn't find a picture of all of the UK covers together. I couldn't even find a picture of all the US covers together - this one misses out House of Hades)

I tag:

Meg // The Life of Meg

Madeline // In the Wind

Rose // Truly. Madly. Deeply.

And that is the end of this tag post! I hope you enjoyed it. I now really want chocolate.... mmmmm...

Thanks for reading. Love you all. ♥

I'm back! - A tag, London haul & photos

Hello! I am back - for good now. I got back from London on Monday, but I was so tired then and on Tuesday that I just read and watched Torchwood (I cried at the season 2 finale. So emotional :( )
But I'm posting now! First I'll be doing a tag created by MorningTime4. My friend Megan tagged me so... I'm doing it. (congrats Bethan, stating the obvious there. Well done)
It's the Summer Rewind tag!

[source]

Rules:

1. Thank the person(s) who tagged you.

2. Post five to eight things that you did over the summer or upcoming in your summer schedule. Pictures are optional.

3. Answer the ten summer/autumn (fall) questions given to you.

4. Tag 5 or more bloggers and tell them by commenting on their blog.

5. Ask ten new summer/autumn (fall) related questions.

7. The banner above must be in the post and you must credit the photo and the tag origin.

1. The first thing I did in the summer was go on holiday to Devon with my family. It was so relaxing and I really enjoyed going swimming twice a day, every day. Half way through our stay, my brother's friend, Jack came to stay with us and we had a little table tennis tournament. I didn't win any games until the last day where I beat Jack 11-9. I was so happy haha! 

2. I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy in the cinema and it was absolutely amazing! I love Chris Pratt. >.<

I also went into town early on Thursday morning with my brother and we got some autographs from the Dr Who cast as we were waiting around by the Dr Who premiere place. That was super fun.

3. I had a sleepover with this lovely girl. We went into town for a little bit of a shop and I bought an amazing Gryffindor t-shirt. We had a really nice picnic-y lunch in the grounds of Cardiff Castle - we bought a meal deal in Tesco (British equivalent of Walmart) and then used our visitor passes to get into the grounds for free. The sleepover was also really fun. Lauren melted some galaxy chocolate in the microwave and we dipped marshmallows into it while watching a film called Starter for Ten with James McAvoy (X-Men First Class) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) in it, as well as James Corden, Catherine Tate and Mark Gatiss. It was a really good film! We're definitely not being biased because of Benedict Cumberbatch.... Seriously, how does he still manage to look good when his character looks like this?

It is beyond me.

4. I met up with Charlotte for a little chat and she gave me some lovely presents that she got from Cyprus, where she went on holiday. I then went ice skating with her and my friend Olivia on Tuesday, which was really fun. I hadn't been ice skating for around 5 years, but I found it came relatively easily once I got into it. It was so much fun.

5. I stayed over my godmother's house with her two children, Daniel (7) and Oliver (4) I was actually staying there for Oliver's 4th birthday which was really nice. We went to loads of lovely places, including National Trust parks, the swimming pool and a little park area for Oliver's birthday where some of his family and friends came and we sat under a little gazebo with a picnic - it was really fun. :)

6. Once back, my cousin Alice came over and we watched Lilo & Stitch and Catching Fire as she hadn't seen either of those films. I then met up with my friend Ellie who had moved to Ireland in a few years ago and has since moved to England. I was there with Lauren, Megan and their friend Lucy. It was really nice to catch up with Ellie and to see the others. I had loads of fun. :)

7. And then I went to London! Oh my goodness, I did a lot! But more on London later on.

Questions

1. When did you get out of school?

I got out of school Friday 18th July.

2. When are you heading back to school?

Tuesday 2nd September - I don't want to go back!

3. Name three songs on your summer playlist.

Riptide - Vance Joy

Rude - Magic!

Don't - Ed Sheeran

4. Do you prefer beaches or swimming pools?

Swimming pools. I don't go to beaches often enough to say I love them. I mean, I do enjoy going to the beach. But I just don't go enough to love it. So, pools.

5. What's your favourite summer treat?

Ice lollies! Or popsicles for you Americans. They're so yummy and refreshing. :)

6. Does your skin tan or burn?

Burn! I have really pale skin so I need to coat it in SPF 50 before leaving the house...

7. Name a summer activity you love and one you despise.

I love love love swimming. That is my favourite summer activity. Hmm... I despise feeling hot and sticky. Not that we get that much in Britain... -_-

8. Something you discovered this summer?

Umm... how much I love my friends. I knew I loved them before but I never knew how much I loved and needed them.

9. If you can, post a picture of of your summer outfit.

I've used this photo so many times but I can't be bothered to take another one because I'm lazy...

10. Something you will miss from this summer?

Freedom. I'm going into year 10 - GCSE year - and I just know as soon as term starts I will be stressing and worrying about everything and will be working constantly so that I'm not the failure of the family. Year 10 is the beginning of endless exams and worry and work. And I'm not looking forward to that. I'll miss being free and not having to worry about anything too stressful.

Okay questions:

1. Does your skin tan or burn?

2. Dresses or shorts?

3. Swimming in the sea or sunbathing?

4. What is your favourite summer activity?

5. What is your favourite memory from this summer?

6. If you can, show a picture of your summer outfit.

7. When do you start back at school?

8. What are you most looking forward to about school and what are you dreading the most?

9. Name three songs on your summer playlist.

10. Something you will miss from this summer?

I tag:

Madeline // In the Wind

Rose // Truly. Madly. Deeply.

Elly // A Girl

Anna // Banana and Bear

Eve // Eve of Womanhood

Now, about London. :)

I went on the Friday and arrived at London Paddington at around 12:30. Had a little cup of Peppermint tea before heading off.

I did so much in London. Seriously, I cannot believe how much I did!

Day 1

Went to Oxford Circus and Picadilly Circus.

Went into giant Hamleys - bought a cola lolly (yum).

Saw Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Went on the London Eye.

So I basically walked all. day.

Day 2

Climbed the O2 dome, which was absolutely amazing! The view was beautiful.

Went to Cafe Rouge for a nice brunch-y thing.

Travelled on the cable car.

Went back to Piccadilly Circus to go to Waterstones - Europe's largest bookshop!

Went to King's Cross Station to the Harry Potter shop at Platform 9 3/4 - it was so busy but I got the things I wanted!

Day 3

Went to this little restaurant place, The Haberdashery, for breakfast. So sweet.

Went to the Natural History Museum

Wondered around Stoke Newington, and their various independent bookshops

I was super busy! I bought quite a few things, so here's a little London Haul for you. :)

The first thing I bought was this cute little teddy at the O2 gift shop. I just couldn't leave him! I needed a souvenir from there, so I chose him!

I called him Otis. Because O2... Otis. Haha. Haha. I'm funny. >.<

I also bought a paintbrush pen from the Tate Modern. I love it - it's so cool!

As I said, we went to the Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus and it was buy one get one half price so....

 Oops...
My godmother Niki asked me to choose a book for her to buy me for my birthday. So I chose Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas as I have been wanting to read the series for ages. So when the second book, Crown of Midnight and the book of novellas, The Assassin's Blade, were buy on get one half price, naturally I had to buy them. The third book, Heir of Fire, comes out the day after my birthday, 11th September. Guess what I'll be spending my birthday money on...
I also bought a nice bookmark there. It's plain black faux leather (but it's really soft) with Waterstones stamped into it at the bottom.

At King's Cross Station, I bought a ticket from Platform 9 3/4 to Hogwarts.

I also bought a Ravenclaw keyring, as that is my Hogwarts house.

As you can she it's on my locker keys.... which have a lot of other keyrings on it. Maybe I'll show you guys one day. :)

After we went to the National History Museum, I saw a small independent bookshop and decided to have a look inside. They had quite a good YA section for an independent shop and I ended up buying Pandemonium and Requiem by Lauren Oliver.

I have Delirium and it has always annoyed me that I don't have the second and third book, despite having read the whole trilogy. So when I saw them for £3.99 each, I grabbed them!

My last buy is also a book. While wondering around Stoke Newington, I found a little secondhand bookshop and had a little look. I ended up finding Hexed by Michelle Krys, which is a book I have wanted to read for ages. And it was £2.50!

I love independent bookshops...

I did buy a few other things but they are presents so I can't show you in case the gift-receivers are reading.

So that's the end of my London haul. :) Now for a photo dump. Yay! Enjoy. :)

Paddington Station

 Trafalgar Square

 Trafalgar Square

 Trafalgar Square fountain

 Trafalgar Square lion

 I don't know what this is called, but it's beautiful

 The Mall

 Buckingham Palace

 Buckingham Palace: the Victoria Memorial

 Buckingham Palace: the Victoria Memorial

View of the lake in St. James' Park 

 Houses of Parliament

 Big Ben

 The London Eye

 View from the London Eye

 View from the London Eye

 London Eye and Big Ben

 Peppermint tea in Cafe Rouge

 The cable car

 The Shard

 The Shard and Southwark Cathedral

 Brownie and Coke in Southwark Cathedral (dedicated to my bro ;) )

 Awesome 'book bench' depicting Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

 Another angle of the book bench

 The back of the book bench

 Bridge (I don't know what it's called...)

 Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

 View of St Paul's Cathedral from the Tate Modern

 I love these so much! They are love locks. Couple will put a lock on a bridge, lock it and throw the key into the river. I love this one especially that says Forever and Always which I found on the Millennium Bridge :)

 St Paul's Cathedral

 St Paul's Cathedral

 Platform 9 3/4. There was a lady there with the four house scarves around her neck and you could choose which house scarf you wanted, wear the Harry Potter glasses and hold a wand while hanging on to the handle of the trolley and have your picture taken. Unfortunately, there was a massive queue, so I skipped it.

 The front of the Platform 9 3/4 Harry Potter shop

 King's Cross Station

 Peppermint tea at the Haberdashery (as you can probably tell, I love Peppermint tea...)

 My breakfast at the Haberdashery

 The Haberdashery. How. Cute. They had a stack of Penguin classics on the shelves which you could borrow in the restaurant, toy cars with the prices on and mismatched cutlery and crockery. Everything had a home-made feel to it.

 A gravestone in Abney Park

 A sleeping lion in Abney Park

 Another gravestone. When someone died young, the top of their mast gravestone was cut off to symbolise a life cut short.

 Part of a (very scary-looking) gravestone

 Part of a grave that a tree has grown around

 The front of the Natural History Museum

 The entrance hall in the museum

 Stained glass window in the museum

 Stairway in the entrance hall

 Monkeys carved onto the pillars in the museum

 Another monkey :)

 The mammals section

 The Baker Street stop on the Underground: Bakerloo line

My hot chocolate at Paddington Station before I boarded. I made a heart out of the white frothy milk on the top. :)

But wait, there's more! The rest of these photos are pictures my dad took - most are of me with some of the tourist attractions I saw. Enjoy. :)

 This is me outside Buckingham Palace

 The O2 arena

 The climbing trail on the O2 dome

 This is moi on the top of the O2

 Pointing to a You Are Here sign on the top of the O2

 Me, having a little sleep on a book bench outside St Paul's Cathedral

 These are the cars with the prices in the Haberdashery

This is me with ma buddy Charles Darwin, We're besties, as you can tell. ;)

So yeah, there we go! The London photo dump is done. :)

As a lot of you may know, there's this thing going around called the Ice Bucket Challenge. It was created to raise awareness for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) a disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Loads of people have donated to the ALS Association thanks to the ice bucket challenge.

I am now one of them.

^ This is me having ice water dumped on me. My mum enjoyed it far too much...

And yes, that is my dog in the background. She was loving it...

It was far from enjoyable, but I feel good having done it and donated to the ALS Association. Any of you that haven't done it, I really encourage you to. You don't even have to pour cold water over your head - you can just donate.

Thanks for reading guys ♥

UPDATE: You now have 3 days to enter my 50 followers writing competition. 3 DAYS. So if you are planning on entering, get your entries in. Either post it on your blog and leave me a link in the comments or email it to me at bethan{dot}thinkreadwritedream{at}gmail{dot}com

Also, I will not be posting a Creative Thursday tomorrow as I will be busy! So sorry about that, but I just won't have time. There will also be no Words post, as I will also be busy then - nothing exciting Thursday or Sunday, I just won't have the time. But I will be posting Monday. Love you guys ♥

UPDATE 2: You have all of today and all of tomorrow to enter my writing contest. It ends Sunday 31st August, midnight, YOUR TIME. If you are wanting to enter, do so quickly and within that time period.